Can I surprise everyone by saying that I think that disciplinary action should be taken by David Shearer.
There is a member of caucus who has destabilized the party for the past few years by continuously leaking to the media. Last weekend was an example. In a clusterfuck of gigantic proportions he managed to undermine all the good that Shearer’s speech achieved by feeding the meme that Cunliffe is running a challenge.
Cunliffe did refuse to say how he would be voting in the future on the leadership as his right. Others also refused to say how they would vote, including one Trevor Mallard.
Loyalty to a leader should always be conditional on the interests of the party and a review is perfectly appropriate. Blind loyalty is not in the interests of the party.
But by continuing to feed this meme this leaker has not only sought to undermine Cunliffe’s future but has also undermined Shearer’s leadership.
And the biggest joke of it all, is if Shearer just watched TV3’s destabalising of the Labour party he could then have a go at them. and know that Cunliffe was bending over backwards to be polite at the end. Hipkins should immediately be dumped as whip, and a back bencher he should be. As should Mallard, King, Dyson, and Goff, they should ALL be on the back bench for the LAST months of their political lives. And as to the leak to the media Dump that lot and the leaks should stop. but yesterday (Monday) on Firstline at 8.25am was the interesting bit.
It is just QoT’s posts that you should avoid. Authors are allowed to moderate comments on their own posts. It serves two purposes.
Firstly, there is nothing as irritating to an author has someone sidetracking their posts from their intent in writing it. And you’ve got to admit that the arguments between you two are pretty full on and tend to take over the posts – which rather defeats the purpose of writing it. The editorial moderators probably wouldn’t interfere because generally the comments are acceptable but they may frustrate the hell out of authors. You’ll probably have noted that I have a different style of moderation in my own posts especially in science – that happens for much the same reasons.
Secondly, it is a useful way for authors to ease into moderating on a large site. Excessive moderation gets a certain amount of (very polite) blowback from other commentators.
So just think of it as a minor restriction and don’t get too worried.
Oh, I see… A minor restriction? Give me a break! What on earth gave her and you the idea that I would have side-tracked the post from her intent?
You wonder why the media and Shearer question the relevance of bloggers. Tricks such as QoT’s maybe? The posts she removed, were simply my sticking up for Shearer.
If the idea is to make it seem that Standardistas are unamimous in bagging Shearer, well, then, well done! 🙁
Ah – perhaps you should think about why bloggers write? They write because they want to express something. They seldom write because they want to be “relevant”. That is a politicians trait to always think of everything in terms of damage and influence. Those things are just by-products of the process.
And I suspect that she simply doesn’t want you on any of her posts regardless what you say. Live with it.
BTW: Mike Smith, r0b, Ben, etc. I guess I can’t organise – or you’re very unobservant.
Mai Chen on Radio yesterday said that she respected the Garrent, a Australian Labour Ministers point, that how Australia chooses its policies is up to Australia. re. kids born to kiwis failing to get loans, welfare in Australia…
No for a lawyer, and one interested in civil rights, three thing strike,
i.) lawyers as a rule think about the consequences of statements all the time, so the fact that there is a growing population of individuals who have kiwi citizenship, are no afforded access to higher education, and cannot get welfare in Australia, and probably not citizenship if they have a criminal record in OZ, why would she not consider the tsunami of angry young people coming to NZ and welfare dependancy (where their parents have not been paying tax)!
ii.) that she is reinforcing a political stance yet could not see the Australian Minister saying that his constituiency isn’t interested in kiwis rights, so much for he claim to interest in civil rights,
iii.) and then to finally cap off, Chen thought it wise to cut Australian in NZ access to welfare, and exactly why would the ramification would be does she not understand the technical word, of reciprocal agreements, that many kiwis in Australia are on benefits too, and so there is no way the NZ government could end welfare to some, because the whole agreement was about the LARGE number of kiwis in Australia, and the SMALL number of Australians in NZ, and so the bigger cost to Australia,
So I’m totally perplex how did this person ever become a lawyer, or does NZ live under the rule of lawyers now, who think nothing of the law, letter or otherwise. Its just putty for extreme political muckracking? Could we please have real discussions about the effect on our economy of Kiwis turning up wanting welfare, wanting loans for Nz universities (only to return to Australia afterwards), who mayy have criminal records and been conditioned to mental, criminal, and other conditions by Australian authorities. Of course Key needs to grow some balls, how can he be serious worried about poverty amongst kiwi kids, if he does not include those in Australia – who will inevitable turn up here.
But while the spectacular and seemingly untarnished natural backdrops, stunning waterscapes and snow-tipped mountains might look world-class on film, critics say the realm New Zealand’s marketers have presented is as fantastical as dragons and wizards.
“There are almost two worlds in New Zealand,” said Mike Joy, a senior lecturer in environmental science at Massey University in Palmerston North. “There is the picture-postcard world, and then there is the reality.”
The clean and green image has long been promoted by the isolated country in its striving to compete in world markets. But an international study in the journal PLoS One measuring countries’ loss of native vegetation, native habitat, number of endangered species and water quality showed that per capita, New Zealand was 18th worst out of 189 nations when it came to preserving its natural surroundings.
That’s in the NYT so our clean, green brand is history. Which is good, might give us a chance to reign in those filthy farmers and put in place better regulations to protect the environment.
The report Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided doesn’t put it in quite such descriptive terms — it is a scientific analysis prepared by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics. But make no mistake, it packs quite a punch, all the more so given who commissioned it. As World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim says in his foreword:
It is my hope that this report shocks us into action. Even for those of us already committed to fighting climate change, I hope it causes us to work with much more urgency. This report spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4 degrees Celsius, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes.
And what’s this government done? Oh, yeah, weakened the RMA, put in place the EPA which seems to be more about boosting business than protecting the environment and dropped out of the Kyoto Protocol.
Australia is far far cleaner than new Zealand. One of the reasons is probably as there are rubbish bins on every corner in the cities. You walk around Wellington and the bins are like hens teeth. Same goes for Auckland and other cities.
There’s also a possibility that immigrant cultures aren’t used to using bins. Visiting Samoa as I do every year, I remain constantly appalled at the amount of rubbish there. Apia park is always covered in plastic and food wrappers, mcds and kfc bags etc every afternoon.
The users of the ferry services just throw their rubbish overboard into the sea.
Absolutely terrible and one can see how that environment conditions those who move to Nz to carry on the fine littering tradition as espoused by their parents.
Which is what I said a while back, National and Tourism New Zealand are living on another planet. New Zealanders view their nation differently to how it is viewed in the rest of the world, which is quite poorly on the environment front.
Tourism New Zealand is totally out of touch…so much so that the only increases in tourist numbers are coming from places like China, which has far worse pollution problems that New Zealand. Europe and America however have led big declines in visitor numbers here, and it can no longer be held to be because of ‘the difficult recession conditions’.
Time that NZ stopped branding itself ‘100% pure’ and instead focussed its attention on the multicultural society we have here, especially on our culture, music and art. Anyone can visit Finland, Sweden, Iceland etc and get similar scenery, why does Tourism NZ keep claiming the 100% Pure brand is working, when visitor numbers show a decline.
sociocultural-political patterns to consider, from a leftish political position if interested
The world, and Aotearoa’s place within, it is changing at an ever-increasing rapidity, exponentially, I believe.
salience (not assuming that TS readers do not keep abreast of current affairs, but links kept me returning to the site when I began)
lprent can give me feedback, he knows how unorthodox I can be
This chappie, whose thought I am learning about, was active academically across a wide range of fields / disciplines- law, politics, history, philosophy and theology.
I think that the promotion of such a wide critical gaze is helpful
Re Auckland Canton-ese: Good lord, another bit of racism from our news-makers for no reason. Central story: people with less money can’t compete in an auction-like environment with people who have more money. Wow. Insightful stuff. But wait, what’s this? Oh the rich people are Chinese? That explains it then. Everyone knows Chinese money has special evil mega powers. uh? 😯
Reminds me of last night’s news story that, and I’m paraphrasing, “maori and pacific people are refusing to wear life jackets, even though they have been repeatedly told to do as us whities say. Education can’t reach them, they are unteachable!” uh? 😯
The reason I caught that piece of stupid was because I’d just finished watching Moneyball. Behind the simpering of Brad Pitt and the unsurprising end that comes from projecting ones own problems onto one’s job, was a message of the importance of a healthy skepticism of the norm, dismissing outward appearances and identifying the various ways inferior traits can be applied.
Hi Uturn. Always good exchanging with you. I been doing it all year under four earlier pseudonyms (from memory, can ya list them?). The thing about this site, the only one I have time to read, is the critical thinking often displayed; TINA is bullshit, but then, if I may be a little immodest, all my life I wondered what had prevented a wider dissemination of international thought and subsequent influence on policy in Aotearoa, and concluded very early on, that it was the dominant imported / colonial culture/s.
As I read Ellul, I find that his thought was matched by his experiences and offerings in the real world, down amongst the delinquents (french equivalent of teddy-boys), university politics, church politics, the war, revolutionary politics, family, community, parish and so on. Yet, everywhere his great mind was directed politically, he was met by power and self-interest ( sorta like this debacle playing out within New Zealand politics), yet, he still contributed and taught and published (gave away) thousands of newspaper and journal articles and wrote approximately fifty books.
Well, after a lifetime of exposure to MSM in this country, what the majority of the electorate consume, I personally conclude it is absolute rubbish, and that is saying something as I have spent literally years in time consuming music, film, fiction, MSM current events, Sky documentaries, and what has passed for television for four decades.
Now, I feel liberated, as I can only bear flicking through the news on television and skimming the local and international press for the zeitgeist (thats what the context is Lanth, the zeitgeist).The television and what passes for the majority of journalism and socially acceptable commentary in this country is like another, more primal, language to me now
Thinkers such as Ellul are very critical of the implications of technology for social well-being, harmony, yet, reading this blog and the links provided by thinkers such as Draco and others has had one identifiable personal positive outcome; it has opened up, and made more efficient, my cognitive processes, so that when I do think about things, it is precise, and draws on my exposure to both life and many disciplines. Also, there are many things / most things, that I do not even have to give any thought, or worry, to at all now.Furthermore, after frequent consideration of the many perspectives that are encountered on a political blog such as this, the MSM is just too freakin narrow and slow; I imagine that this is the case with the politicians too, just too simple and self-serving; not you Julie Ann and Helen Kelly, You do Impress me!
As I once heard, sadly, people get the politicans they deserve (that is harsh, it feels harsh writing it, but really, what sort of people vote for a government that includes John Banks, Peter Dunne, Maggie Barry, Paula Bennet, Anne Tolley, Tremain et al; and that is without even starting on the opposition)
I am just very thankful that I was born here, and that we are well situated geo-politically, yet I tend to avoid what passes for polite discourse around us; Racism, Ageism, Xenophobia, Aquisitiveness, Consumption, Bigotry,Labelling (self-deprecation) 🙂 it takes strong filters to prevent these attitudes soaking in to one if around them.
Anyway, I am no saint; I literally lived the will-to-power White male New Zealand / American dream for two and a half decades, well-paying work, the toys I wanted, the experiences I sought; it was weighed, and found wanting; it was all on the backs of the billions of simple folk that populate the remainder of the planet, the people Tolstoy considered, and eventually understood.
I, like Ellul, agree with Kierkegaard; Faith (not virtue) overcomes “sin” (that’s “missing the mark”, not being right with “God”, for you atheists)
anyway, might head off to the “shop” and encourage some awareness of Mana while I’m there.
Probably I could list the previous handles (I count five 😉 ), but that’d be rude. Ideas count, not labels. It’s strange you know, admin here are quick to say there is no hive mind, but since we all talk about the same thing and tend towards similar perspectives, there is often a natural flow to the ideas outlined here. While no one tells us what to think before we think it, many of us seem to arrive in the same place, more or less. Last night I was thinking of the source of the colonial culture we have and why it is still dominant and how certain other dominant psychological theories would either have to be completely wrong to allow for that cultural dominance, or the idea of culture being anything more than a failed brain process would have to be true. In which case, who exactly would “we” be at any given moment if everything in our past is just an illusion? What or which guidelines are we living if there is no such thing as culture and memory is a delusion?
I was impressed to see the link you offered a few days ago under the title of Logos; an element of western philosophy of a distinctly Eastern outlook that I was not aware existed; and seems to have little influence in global affairs these days. This also contributed to my thoughts last night that, somehow, a whole sphere of thinking has been suppressed by the western mind at a level that suggests something more powerful than the usual conspiracy theory of a shadowy group of patriarchal puppeteers controlling what rises and what doesn’t. Maybe “western mind” is too vague. Let’s say, Celtic. The mind of the people as a group who began in central Europe and spread outwards from there. It didn’t seem possible to me that for seven thousand years or so, people have only ever been behaving like animals – worse than that – mindless animals… not even looking after their own interests. Impossible. So why is a “colonial” attitude so entrenched in our collective psyche? I couldn’t answer that specifically. There were questions of inescapable evil, evils downgraded to popular virtues because everyone has to live them if they want to eat; and if you’re born into it, you’ll never find out what’s happening at least before fifteen years have passed. A blind spot in the psyche? How would we find and recognise something everyone has forgotten and how would we know what we were looking at was the real deal, not just some pipe dream to make us feel better?
Yeah, I agree this site is the only one I’ve found where the people can think in a way I can be bothered participating. (That might motivate them to change their style 😉 ). It’s a pity it’s centred around politics, because as you say, so much that goes on in politics isn’t politics and the polarisation of attitudes that our NZ style encourages makes me impatient. Not much humour and creativity in polarised arguments. I owe some debt of gratitude to regular contributors here for pushing me this way and that and helping to breaking down some of the hurdles that were proving difficult. It is a little embarrassing, and unethical, when I think about what they had to go through to give me an education I could have found myself, if I’d just been better at asking the right questions. But that’s the cost of self directed learning, learning through doing – no one comes out clean. It’s common now to realise that to argue for balance is an equally immoral interference as the aggression of a singular opinion, because of the way I came to know the difference. Supporting what is right, isn’t always right and so knowledge hits it’s useful limit.
I’ve been over a little of my past here already and like you, owing to a number of personal dispositions and unknowable motivations, it all fell apart. My level of reasonably assured comfort presently extends to 14 day periods, which is privileged, compared to many who ran out of food two days ago. I’ve had more and wasted too much, had almost nothing and still wasted some and at times been able to create something out of nothing. I still live the evils of our time: own gadgets, drive a car, live in a house surrounded by other houses – all things paid for by the on-going colonial mindset, the destructions of others. There’s even a lawn. What bizarre stately Victorian reality are we all condoning with our acceptance of lawns? Thank god the people in my new neighbourhood dig theirs up for vegetable gardens.
Life often bewilders me and the Christian God scares me. He appears to be one seriously unrelenting individual. So when I remember, I put my faith in “overshooting” the mark and hope that should we meet he’s in the mood for grace. It’s fair to note that I haven’t met anyone that can make him sound as reasonable as you often do. Have we sucked up enough space yet? I think I hear people snoring.
While no one tells us what to think before we think it, many of us seem to arrive in the same place, more or less.
Not quite. On any one topic you’ll have the people who are interested in a particular discussion. People who aren’t interested or use a different ‘language’ for it tend to go to other discussions either here or elsewhere. So there is a certain amount of self-selection going on.
theology is often defined as “faith seeking understanding”
I have always valued Satre’s concept of “good faith”
I have just come from a walk around the city of the province and a read of the local paper
-more of that later
anyway, Thomas Mann said “when a man comes to know himself, he is never quite the same” and Mary Wollenscroft (sp probably) said “prejudice can make a psychology unstable and flow out in a flood when barriers are removed” or something like that (quotes at back of paper) and I see that with the flow of information in the “media”.
even people of faith have struggles, it is all in there (in Colossians at the moment); I never profess to understand how it works, but clearly faith was around for a long time before
“psychologizing” and man, has there been some rubbish psychology around (I understand the assertions and findings of neuroscience, I believe in the current findings of science, but as I think felix said “science is taught by telling lies to children”; like when I studied my degree and all those resources and time is wasted with the loitering around the foundations, when one finds when one is introduced to (drip-fed) advanced papers that the whole discipline has been examined in a post-modern, deconstructive sense, and that “philosophising” is the ascendent modality (hence health workers utilising “logotherapy” and “mindfulness” techniques, which are effective imo, ime,).
anyway, back to the walk, clearly we can become determined by the technology / tools/ la tecnique, via our relationship through the day to many forms of technology, utilitarian and recreational, and it is the involvement in virtual reality, vicarious living and fiction that interests me (and we are not alone, my best friend, who lives with dyslexia, gets these ideas, and we question why, a,young people are not taught how to be “human beings” and how to “drive their bodies” alongside preparation for economic contribution and, b, why they are not made more aware of the influence of economically-rationalised propaganda)
I value creativity in art (“creation” in the Hebrew was “created to create”), I just lament the capitalist prostitution
anyway, time will tell, I’m with the wide variety of environmentally aware Posters and commentators on here who warn us about climate and pollution, here is one for Draco http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proudhon
however The Chinese are very industrious people and they may take greater steps towards
a more sustainable future, yet for much of the people on the planet, the coming decades appear likely to be “dystopian” sadly,
back to the bay, Retail sales are down across all cities, some 5% down year-on-year and the local fishermen have been carrying out regular surveys of fish stocks (gurnard in particular) over a decade, and stocks are consistently, across a wide range of surveys, by a wide range of organizations, not looking healthy. Even Supermarkets report “same amount of people, generally spending less each”.
More and more different ethnicities though, especially people from or around the sub-continent, many men with long flowing beards, and these people remember their customers in retail and are easy to engage.(not good PR for the buddhists in Myanmar though, sadly, see when the teachings split into Theravada and Mahayana, and all these “scriptures” I started thinking wtf?, sorta like trying to understand Christian denominations, which I don’t, but I understood John Walton, and all the dynamics possible in a large loving family)
Like archetypes / myths influencing culture influencing archetypes, for example The Matrix (I must apologize and state my position on “gaming using information technology”; never been interested) I’ve looked at cyberpunk lit, but it is not really my thing, anything too culturally determined is bound to be prejudicial, don’t you think?
The editor of the local paper is a shill for the retailers though, while in the same editorial acknowledging what “a low-wage economy” the region is (we are in the bottom of employment, health and a few other lovely (not) socio-economic statistical indicators)
There is a great literary journalist at the local paper though-Mark Story, so not all is lost
Wittgenstein stated “that the meaning of the system, is outside the system”, however he also asserted, that faith is just another “language game” so either/or as Johannes /Judge Vilhelm would argue
however, readings recently strongly suggest that there are enough common referents and definitions between moderate Christian and Islamic scholars understanding of the monotheistic God of Abraham to allow discourse at the highest levels even with the Pope,
and over half the population of the planet acknowledge that understanding, or variations of it now, and have done across generations within the “advancing” cultures for more than Three millennia;
If the medical science priests could get away with it, they would seek a pathogen (of course, they would not look at food, or the socio-cultural-economic situation of peoples lives) and they would develop and trial a vaccine; they could call it a “cluster-munition”
I might be fortunate enough to get a wee flat soon, thanks to the provisions and foresight of earlier Labour governments, and then if I can get a job gardening, I will be more secure than many of our fellow people, one way or another (i’m gonna getcha, getcha getcha good) They ripped into Debbie too for her past, freakin paparazzi parasites
Imagine being Mick Fleetwood and having memories snorting you-know-what- off the bottom of you-know-who.With my memory, I do not think I would need to ever open my eyes again, just kidding
Blues-Gospel-Soul-R&B-Rock-Steady-Reggae-Rock-Punk-New Order-House-Grunge
Drum and Bass-Pulp-Blur-Radiohead-TripHop-Bluegrass-Grunge-Black Sabbath Worship
Tamihere might come across as a jovial kind of chap, but his recent statements have been entirely undiplomatic and show him to be just another political fool…
Very good post by Susun Krumdiek over at The Jackal. Practical suggestions presented in an easy to understand form. A couple of excerpts:
To be honest, coal is really dirty dangerous crap. Mining coal, and well, really mining anything, is guaranteed to be an environmental disaster for more than just one generation. The thing is that we can’t have any kind of industrial society without coal. So, what we are going to have to do is recognise that coal use is going to decline, it’s going to get more expensive, we are going to have to spend 50-90% more on technology when we mine it and use it to make sure we don’t muck things up, and we are going to have to make hard choices about what we really need and don’t need. What is really worth burning coal for and what isn’t. We are not going to burn coal for electricity. Those days are over. We are not going to sell our coal resources off-shore. Our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will need some coal some day. They will also be much more sensible about balancing their fossil energy use against the irreversible climate rupture we have created. We start now to face up to the facts about coal and we are going to do everything we can to reduce what we dig up – including a 10 year moratorium on new coal mining as a period to take stock, get the international corporations jaws un-clamped from around our necks, and decide what we really need to do.
and
I have told you the truth about energy resources and how we are going to adapt to use less energy. Now I am going to be honest with you about the economy. The economy is not something separate from us. The economy is actually just people who do a good job getting fair compensation for their work from the people who benefit from their labours. This is why there are different wages for different capabilities. We all pay taxes in order to live in a country that has high quality services and infrastructure. The people who are profiting the most should also do the most to make this country a better place.
“OPEN LETTER SENT TO TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL BY NEW ZEALAND ‘ANTI-CORRUPTION’ CAMPAIGNER /’WHISTLEBLOWER’ Penny Bright:
31 October 2012
For the URGENT attention of Transparency International Secretariat, and global member ‘chapters’.
I, Penny Bright, from New Zealand, was an attendee at the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference 2010, in Bangkok, and widely distributed a ‘whistle-blowing’ NZ ‘Corruption Reality Checklist’ – which showed the lack of transparency and accountability in New Zealand, which is consistently ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (according to the TI ‘Corruption Perception Index’).
In my considered opinion, if Transparency International is going to ignore the FACTS and EVIDENCE presented by ‘whistleblowers’ such as myself – then your ‘Corruption Perception Index’ is going to be seen as being effectively meaningless as a global indicator of global corruption.
(This ‘whistle-blowing’ NZ ‘Corruption Reality Checklist’ has since ‘morphed’ into the following:)
ACTION PLAN TO PREVENT CORRUPTION – ‘WHITE COLLAR’ CRIME & ‘CORPORATE WELFARE’ IN NZ:
1. Get our anti-corruption domestic legislative framework in place so NZ can ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption.
2. Set up an NZ independent anti-corruption body tasked with educating the public and PREVENTING corruption.
3. Change NZ laws to ensure genuine transparency in the funding of candidates for elected public office and political parties at central and local government level.
4. Legislate for an enforceable ‘Code of Conduct’ for NZ Members of Parliament (who make the rules foreveryone else).
5. Make it an offence under the Local Government Act 2002 for NZ Local Government elected representatives to breach their ‘Code of Conduct’.
6. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Government elected representatives.
7. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Central Government staff responsible for property and procurement, (including the Ministry of Health), in order to help prevent ‘conflicts of interest’.
8. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Government staff, and Directors and staff employed by ‘Council-Controlled Organisations (CCOs) responsible for property and procurement.
9. Make it a lawful requirement for details of ‘contracts issued’ – including the name of the contractor; scope, term and value of the contract to be published in NZ Central Government Public Sector, and Local Government (Council), and ‘Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO) Annual Reports so that they are available for public scrutiny.
10. Make it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Central Government, and Local Government public finances be undertaken to prove that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority. If not – then return public service provision to staff directly employed ‘in-house’ and cut out these private contractors who are effectively dependent on ‘corporate welfare’.
11. Legislate for a legally-enforcable ‘Code of Conduct’ for members of the NZ Judiciary, to ensure they are not ‘above the law’.
12. Ensure that ALL NZ Court proceedings are recorded, and audio records made available to parties who request them.
13. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ Judicial ‘Register of Interests’, to help prevent ‘conflicts of interest’.
14. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ ‘Register of Lobbyists’ and ‘Code of Conduct for Lobbyists’ at Central Government Ministerial level.
15. Make it a lawful requirement at NZ Central and Local Government level for a ‘post-separation employment quarantine’ period from the time officials leave the public service to take up a similar role in the private sector. (Help stop the ‘revolving door’).
16. Make it a lawful requirement that it is only a binding vote of the public majority that can determine whether public assets held at NZ Central or Local Government level are sold; or long-term leased via Public-Private –Partnerships (PPPs).
17. Make it unlawful for politicians to knowingly misrepresent their policies prior to election at central or local government level.
18. Make laws to protect individuals, NGOs and community-based organisations who are ‘whistleblowing’ against ‘conflicts of interest’ and corrupt practices at central and local government level and within the judiciary.
19. Legislate to help stop ‘State Capture’, a form of ‘grand corruption’ arguably endemic in NZ – where vested interests get their way at the ‘policy level’ before legislation is passed which serves their interests.
7.1 Penny Bright – Open letter to Auditor General
Ms Bright was present to address the meeting regarding her open letter to the Auditor-General on conflicts of interest.
_______________________________________________________________
This presentation was filmed, and can be viewed, (after registering – costs nothing to register) athttp://www.allaboutauckland.com/
“CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS” 25 October 2012: ”
_______________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
(New Zealand)
[lprent: Frigging hell Penny. We need to get you onto the mandatory verbiage reduction diet. ]
It’s not ‘verbiage’ – these are concrete, sensible proposals that any political party with any brains would pick up?
In my considered opinion?
(You may prefer this ‘verbiage’? 🙂
“NZ Herald – News digest Tuesday 20 November 2012
Banks faces more counts
Act leader John Banks is facing two fresh charges in a private prosecution brought by political activist Graham McCready. The charges relate to Mr Banks’ role at investment company Huljich Wealth Management before he became an Act MP. ”
_____________________________________________________________
Graham McCready states that the Wellington Deputy Registrar ‘confirmed she would set them down for Banks to be Summons to appear on these two with the Local Elections Act charge on 11 December 2012 at 1:45.
The Court will ensure the Police serve all three summonses.’
So!
The arguably ‘Not-so Honorable’ John Banks will appear in the Wellington District Court, on Tuesday 11 December 2012, to face private prosecutions over alleged electoral fraud and ‘Mr Banks’ role at investment company Huljich Wealth Management before he became an Act MP’.
Bit of a sad day for the ‘perceived’ least corrupt country in the world, when individual citizens have to take private prosecutions in order to help ensure ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ actually does apply equally in New Zealand?
Where were the regulatory and statutory bodies when it came to applying ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ to fellow former Directors of Huljich Wealth Management(NZ) Ltd – current and former leaders of the ACT Party – John Banks and Don Brash?
A farewell to arms
By Guy McPherson November 19, 2012
In previous essays in this space I have mentioned two phenomena worth fighting for: the living planet and freedom based in anarchy. I surrender. I no longer believe the struggle matters on either front.
Kiss goodbye the living planet
I no longer think we’ll save the remaining shards of the living planet beyond another human generation. We’ll destroy every — or nearly every – species on Earth when the positive feedbacks associated with climate change come seriously into play (and I’ve not previously considered the increasingly dire prospects of methane release from Antarctica or the wildfire-induced release of carbon from Siberian peat bogs). Due to numerous positive feedbacks, climate change has become irreversible over temporal spans relevant to humans. Such is the nature of reaching the acceleration phase of the nonlinear system that is climate catastrophe.
The climate-change data, models and assessments keep coming at us, like waves crashing on a rocky, indifferent beach. The worst drought in 800 years in the western United States is met by levels of societal ignorance and political silence I’ve come to expect. I would be stunned if this valley — or any other area in the interior of a northern-hemisphere continent — will provide habitat for humans five years from now. And climate change is only part of the story.
My trademark optimism vanishes when I realize that, in addition to climate chaos, we’re on the verge of tacking on ionizing radiation from the world’s 444 nuclear power plants. Let’s ignore for now the radioactive waste we’ve left lying around without a plan or already dumped into the world’s oceans. When we choke on our own poison, we’ll be taking the whole ship down with us, spewing a global blanket of radiation in the wake of collapse. Can we kill every single species on Earth? Apparently we’re willing to give it a try, and I will not be surprised by our “success” at this omnicidal endeavor.
Your excerpt was funny enough. It looked like you wrote that bit about optimism. And I have doubts about claims to optimism by people who are preaching 100% extinction of life on the planet. Blatant bollocks – or at least a massive bias towards higher life forms. Which makes me doubt the reliability of other predictions made by the same people.
I think Guy has a clue, more so than anyone else I know anyway. But then I might have a small circle of stupid friends).
Guy’s bio – Academic B.S. Forest Resources, University of Idaho, 1982
M.S. Range Science, Texas Tech University, 1984
Ph.D. Range Science, Texas Tech University, 1987
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Georgia Institute of Ecology, 1987-1988
Visiting Assistant Professor, Texas A & M University Range Science Department, 1988-1989
Assistant Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 1989-1995
Visiting Associate Professor, University of California-Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, 1995-1996
Associate Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 1995-2000
Director, The Nature Conservancy David H. Smith Fellows Program, 1999-2000
Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 2000-present
Professor, University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 2002-present.
Given that there are fungi growing inside the Chernobyl sarcophagus, I’m saying that:
Can we kill every single species on Earth? Apparently we’re willing to give it a try, and I will not be surprised by our “success” at this omnicidal endeavor.”
… is a pretty massive call. Even human extinction is a big call – humans have managed to build communities is the harshest places on the planet. So worst case we’re looking at a significant reduction in the human population down to sustainable levels, maybe a bit of the old soylent green scenario as a transition period.
Hostess Brands, the maker of sweet snacks like Twinkies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, will ask a bankruptcy judge today to approve a plan that will allow it to pay $1.75 million in bonuses to 19 of its executives. Hostess’ decision to file for bankruptcy came amid disputes with its union workers, who threatened a strike that Hostess said imperiled the company’s finances. The unions are now protesting Hostess’ request for the bonuses, though they are unlikely to prevail, CNN Money reports:
Or attempt to but, still:
The salary of the company’s chief executive tripled from $750,000 to roughly $2.5 million, and at least nine other executives received pay raises ranging from $90,000 to $400,000. Those raises came just months after Hostess originally filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
We aren’t exactly seeing great management here and it has been getting very well rewarded for trashing the company.
Correct. Let’s take a look at current Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn’s executive resume, per Businessweek and LinkedIn:
CEO, Hostess Brands: February 2012 – Present (10 months)
CRO, Indiana Live Casino and Indiana Downs Racetrack: February 2011 – April 2012 (1 year 3 months)
CEO, NYCOTB: July 2010 – January 2011 (7 months)
CEO, Magna Entertainment Corp. March 2009 – May 2010 (1 year 3 months)
CEO, Muzak: 2005 – 2006 (1 year)
CRO, AAIPharma Services Corp.: 2004 – 2005 (1 year)
CRO, WorldCom: 2003 – 2004 (1 year)
CEO. Sunterra: 2002 – 2003 (1 year)
Co-Founder, Capstone Equity: 1999 – 2001 (2 years)
Huh. In ten years, he’s helped run eight (8) companies, yet his average tenure is just under one (1) year. Sounds like just the guy to provide some stability to a company that’s hemorrhaging cash (Hostess has had six CEOs in eight years, an obvious indicator of sensible and stable leadership; insert deck-chairs-on-Titanic metaphor here).
Suggestions that modest increases in sea ice around Antarctica offset significant losses in Arctic sea ice are based on a bogus “apples and oranges” comparison. Through interviews with a range of respected experts, Peter Sinclair’s newest Yale Forum video explains why such suggestions do not stand up to scientific scrutiny.
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
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The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
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The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
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The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
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It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
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This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
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“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
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Can I surprise everyone by saying that I think that disciplinary action should be taken by David Shearer.
There is a member of caucus who has destabilized the party for the past few years by continuously leaking to the media. Last weekend was an example. In a clusterfuck of gigantic proportions he managed to undermine all the good that Shearer’s speech achieved by feeding the meme that Cunliffe is running a challenge.
Cunliffe did refuse to say how he would be voting in the future on the leadership as his right. Others also refused to say how they would vote, including one Trevor Mallard.
Loyalty to a leader should always be conditional on the interests of the party and a review is perfectly appropriate. Blind loyalty is not in the interests of the party.
But by continuing to feed this meme this leaker has not only sought to undermine Cunliffe’s future but has also undermined Shearer’s leadership.
I wonder if this is the intent?
Wonder who you have in your sights mickey?
Done Underestimate Careerist Knuckledraggers!
And the biggest joke of it all, is if Shearer just watched TV3’s destabalising of the Labour party he could then have a go at them. and know that Cunliffe was bending over backwards to be polite at the end. Hipkins should immediately be dumped as whip, and a back bencher he should be. As should Mallard, King, Dyson, and Goff, they should ALL be on the back bench for the LAST months of their political lives. And as to the leak to the media Dump that lot and the leaks should stop. but yesterday (Monday) on Firstline at 8.25am was the interesting bit.
Indeed! (I do hope I am allowed to comment, and my comment will not be removed… We’ll see!)
It is just QoT’s posts that you should avoid. Authors are allowed to moderate comments on their own posts. It serves two purposes.
Firstly, there is nothing as irritating to an author has someone sidetracking their posts from their intent in writing it. And you’ve got to admit that the arguments between you two are pretty full on and tend to take over the posts – which rather defeats the purpose of writing it. The editorial moderators probably wouldn’t interfere because generally the comments are acceptable but they may frustrate the hell out of authors. You’ll probably have noted that I have a different style of moderation in my own posts especially in science – that happens for much the same reasons.
Secondly, it is a useful way for authors to ease into moderating on a large site. Excessive moderation gets a certain amount of (very polite) blowback from other commentators.
So just think of it as a minor restriction and don’t get too worried.
Oh, I see… A minor restriction? Give me a break! What on earth gave her and you the idea that I would have side-tracked the post from her intent?
You wonder why the media and Shearer question the relevance of bloggers. Tricks such as QoT’s maybe? The posts she removed, were simply my sticking up for Shearer.
If the idea is to make it seem that Standardistas are unamimous in bagging Shearer, well, then, well done! 🙁
Ah – perhaps you should think about why bloggers write? They write because they want to express something. They seldom write because they want to be “relevant”. That is a politicians trait to always think of everything in terms of damage and influence. Those things are just by-products of the process.
And I suspect that she simply doesn’t want you on any of her posts regardless what you say. Live with it.
BTW: Mike Smith, r0b, Ben, etc. I guess I can’t organise – or you’re very unobservant.
[deleted]
[lprent: astroturfer ]
Mai Chen on Radio yesterday said that she respected the Garrent, a Australian Labour Ministers point, that how Australia chooses its policies is up to Australia. re. kids born to kiwis failing to get loans, welfare in Australia…
No for a lawyer, and one interested in civil rights, three thing strike,
i.) lawyers as a rule think about the consequences of statements all the time, so the fact that there is a growing population of individuals who have kiwi citizenship, are no afforded access to higher education, and cannot get welfare in Australia, and probably not citizenship if they have a criminal record in OZ, why would she not consider the tsunami of angry young people coming to NZ and welfare dependancy (where their parents have not been paying tax)!
ii.) that she is reinforcing a political stance yet could not see the Australian Minister saying that his constituiency isn’t interested in kiwis rights, so much for he claim to interest in civil rights,
iii.) and then to finally cap off, Chen thought it wise to cut Australian in NZ access to welfare, and exactly why would the ramification would be does she not understand the technical word, of reciprocal agreements, that many kiwis in Australia are on benefits too, and so there is no way the NZ government could end welfare to some, because the whole agreement was about the LARGE number of kiwis in Australia, and the SMALL number of Australians in NZ, and so the bigger cost to Australia,
So I’m totally perplex how did this person ever become a lawyer, or does NZ live under the rule of lawyers now, who think nothing of the law, letter or otherwise. Its just putty for extreme political muckracking? Could we please have real discussions about the effect on our economy of Kiwis turning up wanting welfare, wanting loans for Nz universities (only to return to Australia afterwards), who mayy have criminal records and been conditioned to mental, criminal, and other conditions by Australian authorities. Of course Key needs to grow some balls, how can he be serious worried about poverty amongst kiwi kids, if he does not include those in Australia – who will inevitable turn up here.
practicalities.this is an interesting demographic issue though
Yes, vote Green so they can sell out their supporters by coming to yet another ‘arrangement’ with the Tories. Brilliant idea, Einstein.
New Zealand’s Green Tourism Push Clashes With Realities
That’s in the NYT so our clean, green brand is history. Which is good, might give us a chance to reign in those filthy farmers and put in place better regulations to protect the environment.
Then there’s this one from the World Bank:
And what’s this government done? Oh, yeah, weakened the RMA, put in place the EPA which seems to be more about boosting business than protecting the environment and dropped out of the Kyoto Protocol.
Time we cleaned up our act.
Australia is far far cleaner than new Zealand. One of the reasons is probably as there are rubbish bins on every corner in the cities. You walk around Wellington and the bins are like hens teeth. Same goes for Auckland and other cities.
There’s also a possibility that immigrant cultures aren’t used to using bins. Visiting Samoa as I do every year, I remain constantly appalled at the amount of rubbish there. Apia park is always covered in plastic and food wrappers, mcds and kfc bags etc every afternoon.
The users of the ferry services just throw their rubbish overboard into the sea.
Absolutely terrible and one can see how that environment conditions those who move to Nz to carry on the fine littering tradition as espoused by their parents.
Nz is a dirty country, make no mistake.
Which is what I said a while back, National and Tourism New Zealand are living on another planet. New Zealanders view their nation differently to how it is viewed in the rest of the world, which is quite poorly on the environment front.
Tourism New Zealand is totally out of touch…so much so that the only increases in tourist numbers are coming from places like China, which has far worse pollution problems that New Zealand. Europe and America however have led big declines in visitor numbers here, and it can no longer be held to be because of ‘the difficult recession conditions’.
Time that NZ stopped branding itself ‘100% pure’ and instead focussed its attention on the multicultural society we have here, especially on our culture, music and art. Anyone can visit Finland, Sweden, Iceland etc and get similar scenery, why does Tourism NZ keep claiming the 100% Pure brand is working, when visitor numbers show a decline.
Thanks for the heads up Te Reo Putake.
Had too kick some witch in the head last night ……
Looks like Labour has a problem with Smacko male witches as well M8 🙂
Thank God that’s all over. Until February.
interesting
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10848680
Auckland Canton-ese
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10848593
love pacifica
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10848652
hardly surprising
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10848644
Can you actually give some context for what these links are about?
sociocultural-political patterns to consider, from a leftish political position if interested
The world, and Aotearoa’s place within, it is changing at an ever-increasing rapidity, exponentially, I believe.
salience (not assuming that TS readers do not keep abreast of current affairs, but links kept me returning to the site when I began)
lprent can give me feedback, he knows how unorthodox I can be
This chappie, whose thought I am learning about, was active academically across a wide range of fields / disciplines- law, politics, history, philosophy and theology.
I think that the promotion of such a wide critical gaze is helpful
Re Auckland Canton-ese: Good lord, another bit of racism from our news-makers for no reason. Central story: people with less money can’t compete in an auction-like environment with people who have more money. Wow. Insightful stuff. But wait, what’s this? Oh the rich people are Chinese? That explains it then. Everyone knows Chinese money has special evil mega powers. uh? 😯
Reminds me of last night’s news story that, and I’m paraphrasing, “maori and pacific people are refusing to wear life jackets, even though they have been repeatedly told to do as us whities say. Education can’t reach them, they are unteachable!” uh? 😯
The reason I caught that piece of stupid was because I’d just finished watching Moneyball. Behind the simpering of Brad Pitt and the unsurprising end that comes from projecting ones own problems onto one’s job, was a message of the importance of a healthy skepticism of the norm, dismissing outward appearances and identifying the various ways inferior traits can be applied.
Hi Uturn. Always good exchanging with you. I been doing it all year under four earlier pseudonyms (from memory, can ya list them?). The thing about this site, the only one I have time to read, is the critical thinking often displayed; TINA is bullshit, but then, if I may be a little immodest, all my life I wondered what had prevented a wider dissemination of international thought and subsequent influence on policy in Aotearoa, and concluded very early on, that it was the dominant imported / colonial culture/s.
As I read Ellul, I find that his thought was matched by his experiences and offerings in the real world, down amongst the delinquents (french equivalent of teddy-boys), university politics, church politics, the war, revolutionary politics, family, community, parish and so on. Yet, everywhere his great mind was directed politically, he was met by power and self-interest ( sorta like this debacle playing out within New Zealand politics), yet, he still contributed and taught and published (gave away) thousands of newspaper and journal articles and wrote approximately fifty books.
Well, after a lifetime of exposure to MSM in this country, what the majority of the electorate consume, I personally conclude it is absolute rubbish, and that is saying something as I have spent literally years in time consuming music, film, fiction, MSM current events, Sky documentaries, and what has passed for television for four decades.
Now, I feel liberated, as I can only bear flicking through the news on television and skimming the local and international press for the zeitgeist (thats what the context is Lanth, the zeitgeist).The television and what passes for the majority of journalism and socially acceptable commentary in this country is like another, more primal, language to me now
Thinkers such as Ellul are very critical of the implications of technology for social well-being, harmony, yet, reading this blog and the links provided by thinkers such as Draco and others has had one identifiable personal positive outcome; it has opened up, and made more efficient, my cognitive processes, so that when I do think about things, it is precise, and draws on my exposure to both life and many disciplines. Also, there are many things / most things, that I do not even have to give any thought, or worry, to at all now.Furthermore, after frequent consideration of the many perspectives that are encountered on a political blog such as this, the MSM is just too freakin narrow and slow; I imagine that this is the case with the politicians too, just too simple and self-serving; not you Julie Ann and Helen Kelly, You do Impress me!
As I once heard, sadly, people get the politicans they deserve (that is harsh, it feels harsh writing it, but really, what sort of people vote for a government that includes John Banks, Peter Dunne, Maggie Barry, Paula Bennet, Anne Tolley, Tremain et al; and that is without even starting on the opposition)
I am just very thankful that I was born here, and that we are well situated geo-politically, yet I tend to avoid what passes for polite discourse around us; Racism, Ageism, Xenophobia, Aquisitiveness, Consumption, Bigotry,Labelling (self-deprecation) 🙂 it takes strong filters to prevent these attitudes soaking in to one if around them.
Anyway, I am no saint; I literally lived the will-to-power White male New Zealand / American dream for two and a half decades, well-paying work, the toys I wanted, the experiences I sought; it was weighed, and found wanting; it was all on the backs of the billions of simple folk that populate the remainder of the planet, the people Tolstoy considered, and eventually understood.
I, like Ellul, agree with Kierkegaard; Faith (not virtue) overcomes “sin” (that’s “missing the mark”, not being right with “God”, for you atheists)
anyway, might head off to the “shop” and encourage some awareness of Mana while I’m there.
Great site lprent
Probably I could list the previous handles (I count five 😉 ), but that’d be rude. Ideas count, not labels. It’s strange you know, admin here are quick to say there is no hive mind, but since we all talk about the same thing and tend towards similar perspectives, there is often a natural flow to the ideas outlined here. While no one tells us what to think before we think it, many of us seem to arrive in the same place, more or less. Last night I was thinking of the source of the colonial culture we have and why it is still dominant and how certain other dominant psychological theories would either have to be completely wrong to allow for that cultural dominance, or the idea of culture being anything more than a failed brain process would have to be true. In which case, who exactly would “we” be at any given moment if everything in our past is just an illusion? What or which guidelines are we living if there is no such thing as culture and memory is a delusion?
I was impressed to see the link you offered a few days ago under the title of Logos; an element of western philosophy of a distinctly Eastern outlook that I was not aware existed; and seems to have little influence in global affairs these days. This also contributed to my thoughts last night that, somehow, a whole sphere of thinking has been suppressed by the western mind at a level that suggests something more powerful than the usual conspiracy theory of a shadowy group of patriarchal puppeteers controlling what rises and what doesn’t. Maybe “western mind” is too vague. Let’s say, Celtic. The mind of the people as a group who began in central Europe and spread outwards from there. It didn’t seem possible to me that for seven thousand years or so, people have only ever been behaving like animals – worse than that – mindless animals… not even looking after their own interests. Impossible. So why is a “colonial” attitude so entrenched in our collective psyche? I couldn’t answer that specifically. There were questions of inescapable evil, evils downgraded to popular virtues because everyone has to live them if they want to eat; and if you’re born into it, you’ll never find out what’s happening at least before fifteen years have passed. A blind spot in the psyche? How would we find and recognise something everyone has forgotten and how would we know what we were looking at was the real deal, not just some pipe dream to make us feel better?
Yeah, I agree this site is the only one I’ve found where the people can think in a way I can be bothered participating. (That might motivate them to change their style 😉 ). It’s a pity it’s centred around politics, because as you say, so much that goes on in politics isn’t politics and the polarisation of attitudes that our NZ style encourages makes me impatient. Not much humour and creativity in polarised arguments. I owe some debt of gratitude to regular contributors here for pushing me this way and that and helping to breaking down some of the hurdles that were proving difficult. It is a little embarrassing, and unethical, when I think about what they had to go through to give me an education I could have found myself, if I’d just been better at asking the right questions. But that’s the cost of self directed learning, learning through doing – no one comes out clean. It’s common now to realise that to argue for balance is an equally immoral interference as the aggression of a singular opinion, because of the way I came to know the difference. Supporting what is right, isn’t always right and so knowledge hits it’s useful limit.
I’ve been over a little of my past here already and like you, owing to a number of personal dispositions and unknowable motivations, it all fell apart. My level of reasonably assured comfort presently extends to 14 day periods, which is privileged, compared to many who ran out of food two days ago. I’ve had more and wasted too much, had almost nothing and still wasted some and at times been able to create something out of nothing. I still live the evils of our time: own gadgets, drive a car, live in a house surrounded by other houses – all things paid for by the on-going colonial mindset, the destructions of others. There’s even a lawn. What bizarre stately Victorian reality are we all condoning with our acceptance of lawns? Thank god the people in my new neighbourhood dig theirs up for vegetable gardens.
Life often bewilders me and the Christian God scares me. He appears to be one seriously unrelenting individual. So when I remember, I put my faith in “overshooting” the mark and hope that should we meet he’s in the mood for grace. It’s fair to note that I haven’t met anyone that can make him sound as reasonable as you often do. Have we sucked up enough space yet? I think I hear people snoring.
Not quite. On any one topic you’ll have the people who are interested in a particular discussion. People who aren’t interested or use a different ‘language’ for it tend to go to other discussions either here or elsewhere. So there is a certain amount of self-selection going on.
theology is often defined as “faith seeking understanding”
I have always valued Satre’s concept of “good faith”
I have just come from a walk around the city of the province and a read of the local paper
-more of that later
anyway, Thomas Mann said “when a man comes to know himself, he is never quite the same” and Mary Wollenscroft (sp probably) said “prejudice can make a psychology unstable and flow out in a flood when barriers are removed” or something like that (quotes at back of paper) and I see that with the flow of information in the “media”.
even people of faith have struggles, it is all in there (in Colossians at the moment); I never profess to understand how it works, but clearly faith was around for a long time before
“psychologizing” and man, has there been some rubbish psychology around (I understand the assertions and findings of neuroscience, I believe in the current findings of science, but as I think felix said “science is taught by telling lies to children”; like when I studied my degree and all those resources and time is wasted with the loitering around the foundations, when one finds when one is introduced to (drip-fed) advanced papers that the whole discipline has been examined in a post-modern, deconstructive sense, and that “philosophising” is the ascendent modality (hence health workers utilising “logotherapy” and “mindfulness” techniques, which are effective imo, ime,).
anyway, back to the walk, clearly we can become determined by the technology / tools/ la tecnique, via our relationship through the day to many forms of technology, utilitarian and recreational, and it is the involvement in virtual reality, vicarious living and fiction that interests me (and we are not alone, my best friend, who lives with dyslexia, gets these ideas, and we question why, a,young people are not taught how to be “human beings” and how to “drive their bodies” alongside preparation for economic contribution and, b, why they are not made more aware of the influence of economically-rationalised propaganda)
I value creativity in art (“creation” in the Hebrew was “created to create”), I just lament the capitalist prostitution
anyway, time will tell, I’m with the wide variety of environmentally aware Posters and commentators on here who warn us about climate and pollution, here is one for Draco
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proudhon
however The Chinese are very industrious people and they may take greater steps towards
a more sustainable future, yet for much of the people on the planet, the coming decades appear likely to be “dystopian” sadly,
back to the bay, Retail sales are down across all cities, some 5% down year-on-year and the local fishermen have been carrying out regular surveys of fish stocks (gurnard in particular) over a decade, and stocks are consistently, across a wide range of surveys, by a wide range of organizations, not looking healthy. Even Supermarkets report “same amount of people, generally spending less each”.
More and more different ethnicities though, especially people from or around the sub-continent, many men with long flowing beards, and these people remember their customers in retail and are easy to engage.(not good PR for the buddhists in Myanmar though, sadly, see when the teachings split into Theravada and Mahayana, and all these “scriptures” I started thinking wtf?, sorta like trying to understand Christian denominations, which I don’t, but I understood John Walton, and all the dynamics possible in a large loving family)
Like archetypes / myths influencing culture influencing archetypes, for example The Matrix (I must apologize and state my position on “gaming using information technology”; never been interested) I’ve looked at cyberpunk lit, but it is not really my thing, anything too culturally determined is bound to be prejudicial, don’t you think?
The editor of the local paper is a shill for the retailers though, while in the same editorial acknowledging what “a low-wage economy” the region is (we are in the bottom of employment, health and a few other lovely (not) socio-economic statistical indicators)
There is a great literary journalist at the local paper though-Mark Story, so not all is lost
Wittgenstein stated “that the meaning of the system, is outside the system”, however he also asserted, that faith is just another “language game” so either/or as Johannes /Judge Vilhelm would argue
however, readings recently strongly suggest that there are enough common referents and definitions between moderate Christian and Islamic scholars understanding of the monotheistic God of Abraham to allow discourse at the highest levels even with the Pope,
and over half the population of the planet acknowledge that understanding, or variations of it now, and have done across generations within the “advancing” cultures for more than Three millennia;
If the medical science priests could get away with it, they would seek a pathogen (of course, they would not look at food, or the socio-cultural-economic situation of peoples lives) and they would develop and trial a vaccine; they could call it a “cluster-munition”
I might be fortunate enough to get a wee flat soon, thanks to the provisions and foresight of earlier Labour governments, and then if I can get a job gardening, I will be more secure than many of our fellow people, one way or another (i’m gonna getcha, getcha getcha good) They ripped into Debbie too for her past, freakin paparazzi parasites
Imagine being Mick Fleetwood and having memories snorting you-know-what- off the bottom of you-know-who.With my memory, I do not think I would need to ever open my eyes again, just kidding
Blues-Gospel-Soul-R&B-Rock-Steady-Reggae-Rock-Punk-New Order-House-Grunge
Drum and Bass-Pulp-Blur-Radiohead-TripHop-Bluegrass-Grunge-Black Sabbath Worship
John Tamihere – Asshole of the Week
Tamihere might come across as a jovial kind of chap, but his recent statements have been entirely undiplomatic and show him to be just another political fool…
Very good post by Susun Krumdiek over at The Jackal. Practical suggestions presented in an easy to understand form. A couple of excerpts:
and
http://thejackalman.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/a-guest-post-by-susan-krumdieck.html
How about focusing on the REAL issues folks?
REPEALING the legislative framework upon which the neo-liberal ROGERNOMICS model was based / OPENING THE BOOKS/ and supporting an ACTION PLAN TO PREVENT CORRUPTION – ‘WHITE COLLAR’ CRIME & ‘CORPORATE WELFARE’ IN NZ?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/11/14/new-zealand-tops-list-of-the-best-countries-for-business/
(My comment- yet to be published.)
“OPEN LETTER SENT TO TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL BY NEW ZEALAND ‘ANTI-CORRUPTION’ CAMPAIGNER /’WHISTLEBLOWER’ Penny Bright:
31 October 2012
For the URGENT attention of Transparency International Secretariat, and global member ‘chapters’.
I, Penny Bright, from New Zealand, was an attendee at the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference 2010, in Bangkok, and widely distributed a ‘whistle-blowing’ NZ ‘Corruption Reality Checklist’ – which showed the lack of transparency and accountability in New Zealand, which is consistently ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (according to the TI ‘Corruption Perception Index’).
In my considered opinion, if Transparency International is going to ignore the FACTS and EVIDENCE presented by ‘whistleblowers’ such as myself – then your ‘Corruption Perception Index’ is going to be seen as being effectively meaningless as a global indicator of global corruption.
(This ‘whistle-blowing’ NZ ‘Corruption Reality Checklist’ has since ‘morphed’ into the following:)
ACTION PLAN TO PREVENT CORRUPTION – ‘WHITE COLLAR’ CRIME & ‘CORPORATE WELFARE’ IN NZ:
1. Get our anti-corruption domestic legislative framework in place so NZ can ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption.
2. Set up an NZ independent anti-corruption body tasked with educating the public and PREVENTING corruption.
3. Change NZ laws to ensure genuine transparency in the funding of candidates for elected public office and political parties at central and local government level.
4. Legislate for an enforceable ‘Code of Conduct’ for NZ Members of Parliament (who make the rules foreveryone else).
5. Make it an offence under the Local Government Act 2002 for NZ Local Government elected representatives to breach their ‘Code of Conduct’.
6. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Government elected representatives.
7. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Central Government staff responsible for property and procurement, (including the Ministry of Health), in order to help prevent ‘conflicts of interest’.
8. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Government staff, and Directors and staff employed by ‘Council-Controlled Organisations (CCOs) responsible for property and procurement.
9. Make it a lawful requirement for details of ‘contracts issued’ – including the name of the contractor; scope, term and value of the contract to be published in NZ Central Government Public Sector, and Local Government (Council), and ‘Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO) Annual Reports so that they are available for public scrutiny.
10. Make it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Central Government, and Local Government public finances be undertaken to prove that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority. If not – then return public service provision to staff directly employed ‘in-house’ and cut out these private contractors who are effectively dependent on ‘corporate welfare’.
11. Legislate for a legally-enforcable ‘Code of Conduct’ for members of the NZ Judiciary, to ensure they are not ‘above the law’.
12. Ensure that ALL NZ Court proceedings are recorded, and audio records made available to parties who request them.
13. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ Judicial ‘Register of Interests’, to help prevent ‘conflicts of interest’.
14. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ ‘Register of Lobbyists’ and ‘Code of Conduct for Lobbyists’ at Central Government Ministerial level.
15. Make it a lawful requirement at NZ Central and Local Government level for a ‘post-separation employment quarantine’ period from the time officials leave the public service to take up a similar role in the private sector. (Help stop the ‘revolving door’).
16. Make it a lawful requirement that it is only a binding vote of the public majority that can determine whether public assets held at NZ Central or Local Government level are sold; or long-term leased via Public-Private –Partnerships (PPPs).
17. Make it unlawful for politicians to knowingly misrepresent their policies prior to election at central or local government level.
18. Make laws to protect individuals, NGOs and community-based organisations who are ‘whistleblowing’ against ‘conflicts of interest’ and corrupt practices at central and local government level and within the judiciary.
19. Legislate to help stop ‘State Capture’, a form of ‘grand corruption’ arguably endemic in NZ – where vested interests get their way at the ‘policy level’ before legislation is passed which serves their interests.
Prepared by Penny Bright, ‘Anti-corruption’ and ‘Anti-privatisation’ campaigner waterpressure@gmail.com)
_______________________________________________________________
CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF THE AUCKLAND $UPERCITY:
http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/SiteCollectionDocuments/aboutcouncil/governingbody/governingbodymin20121025.pdf
7.1 Penny Bright – Open letter to Auditor General
Ms Bright was present to address the meeting regarding her open letter to the Auditor-General on conflicts of interest.
_______________________________________________________________
This presentation was filmed, and can be viewed, (after registering – costs nothing to register) athttp://www.allaboutauckland.com/
“CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS” 25 October 2012: ”
_______________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
(New Zealand)
[lprent: Frigging hell Penny. We need to get you onto the mandatory verbiage reduction diet. ]
Actually. Penny is doing good here. Reminding us of how corrupt our “leaders” really are.
It’s not ‘verbiage’ – these are concrete, sensible proposals that any political party with any brains would pick up?
In my considered opinion?
(You may prefer this ‘verbiage’? 🙂
“NZ Herald – News digest Tuesday 20 November 2012
Banks faces more counts
Act leader John Banks is facing two fresh charges in a private prosecution brought by political activist Graham McCready. The charges relate to Mr Banks’ role at investment company Huljich Wealth Management before he became an Act MP. ”
_____________________________________________________________
Graham McCready states that the Wellington Deputy Registrar ‘confirmed she would set them down for Banks to be Summons to appear on these two with the Local Elections Act charge on 11 December 2012 at 1:45.
The Court will ensure the Police serve all three summonses.’
So!
The arguably ‘Not-so Honorable’ John Banks will appear in the Wellington District Court, on Tuesday 11 December 2012, to face private prosecutions over alleged electoral fraud and ‘Mr Banks’ role at investment company Huljich Wealth Management before he became an Act MP’.
Bit of a sad day for the ‘perceived’ least corrupt country in the world, when individual citizens have to take private prosecutions in order to help ensure ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ actually does apply equally in New Zealand?
Where were the regulatory and statutory bodies when it came to applying ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ to fellow former Directors of Huljich Wealth Management(NZ) Ltd – current and former leaders of the ACT Party – John Banks and Don Brash?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
About bloody time!
The count down has begun
http://transitionvoice.com/2012/11/a-farewell-to-arms/
A farewell to arms
By Guy McPherson November 19, 2012
In previous essays in this space I have mentioned two phenomena worth fighting for: the living planet and freedom based in anarchy. I surrender. I no longer believe the struggle matters on either front.
Kiss goodbye the living planet
I no longer think we’ll save the remaining shards of the living planet beyond another human generation. We’ll destroy every — or nearly every – species on Earth when the positive feedbacks associated with climate change come seriously into play (and I’ve not previously considered the increasingly dire prospects of methane release from Antarctica or the wildfire-induced release of carbon from Siberian peat bogs). Due to numerous positive feedbacks, climate change has become irreversible over temporal spans relevant to humans. Such is the nature of reaching the acceleration phase of the nonlinear system that is climate catastrophe.
The climate-change data, models and assessments keep coming at us, like waves crashing on a rocky, indifferent beach. The worst drought in 800 years in the western United States is met by levels of societal ignorance and political silence I’ve come to expect. I would be stunned if this valley — or any other area in the interior of a northern-hemisphere continent — will provide habitat for humans five years from now. And climate change is only part of the story.
My trademark optimism vanishes when I realize that, in addition to climate chaos, we’re on the verge of tacking on ionizing radiation from the world’s 444 nuclear power plants. Let’s ignore for now the radioactive waste we’ve left lying around without a plan or already dumped into the world’s oceans. When we choke on our own poison, we’ll be taking the whole ship down with us, spewing a global blanket of radiation in the wake of collapse. Can we kill every single species on Earth? Apparently we’re willing to give it a try, and I will not be surprised by our “success” at this omnicidal endeavor.
“My trademark optimism”
hahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahahahahahhahahahaahahhaahahahahhaahahahahahahahhahahahahaahhahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa!
When you get up off the floor, read the rest of Guy’s essay. Its a real laugh.
Your excerpt was funny enough. It looked like you wrote that bit about optimism. And I have doubts about claims to optimism by people who are preaching 100% extinction of life on the planet. Blatant bollocks – or at least a massive bias towards higher life forms. Which makes me doubt the reliability of other predictions made by the same people.
Lazy thinking.
I think Guy has a clue, more so than anyone else I know anyway. But then I might have a small circle of stupid friends).
Guy’s bio – Academic B.S. Forest Resources, University of Idaho, 1982
M.S. Range Science, Texas Tech University, 1984
Ph.D. Range Science, Texas Tech University, 1987
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Georgia Institute of Ecology, 1987-1988
Visiting Assistant Professor, Texas A & M University Range Science Department, 1988-1989
Assistant Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 1989-1995
Visiting Associate Professor, University of California-Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, 1995-1996
Associate Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 1995-2000
Director, The Nature Conservancy David H. Smith Fellows Program, 1999-2000
Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 2000-present
Professor, University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 2002-present.
Guy in Auckland http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk9I0peQOmg
Given that there are fungi growing inside the Chernobyl sarcophagus, I’m saying that:
… is a pretty massive call. Even human extinction is a big call – humans have managed to build communities is the harshest places on the planet. So worst case we’re looking at a significant reduction in the human population down to sustainable levels, maybe a bit of the old soylent green scenario as a transition period.
But sterilizing the planet? Not a hope.
Company executives receive bonuses after causing business to collapse in bankruptcy
Or attempt to but, still:
We aren’t exactly seeing great management here and it has been getting very well rewarded for trashing the company.
Hostess looted their employees pension fund too.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/18/1162786/-Inside-the-Hostess-Bankery
Also, private equity has sniffed blood.
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/19/hostess-sun-buyout/
A something awful post about the CEO Gregory Rayburn.
Correct. Let’s take a look at current Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn’s executive resume, per Businessweek and LinkedIn:
CEO, Hostess Brands: February 2012 – Present (10 months)
CRO, Indiana Live Casino and Indiana Downs Racetrack: February 2011 – April 2012 (1 year 3 months)
CEO, NYCOTB: July 2010 – January 2011 (7 months)
CEO, Magna Entertainment Corp. March 2009 – May 2010 (1 year 3 months)
CEO, Muzak: 2005 – 2006 (1 year)
CRO, AAIPharma Services Corp.: 2004 – 2005 (1 year)
CRO, WorldCom: 2003 – 2004 (1 year)
CEO. Sunterra: 2002 – 2003 (1 year)
Co-Founder, Capstone Equity: 1999 – 2001 (2 years)
Huh. In ten years, he’s helped run eight (8) companies, yet his average tenure is just under one (1) year. Sounds like just the guy to provide some stability to a company that’s hemorrhaging cash (Hostess has had six CEOs in eight years, an obvious indicator of sensible and stable leadership; insert deck-chairs-on-Titanic metaphor here).
Arctic versus Antarctic Sea Ice.
Suggestions that modest increases in sea ice around Antarctica offset significant losses in Arctic sea ice are based on a bogus “apples and oranges” comparison. Through interviews with a range of respected experts, Peter Sinclair’s newest Yale Forum video explains why such suggestions do not stand up to scientific scrutiny.