It used to be dismissively said, that when people wanted to avoid talking about controversial issues, “That all they just talked about was the weather”.
This old homily has been turned on its head. It seems these days, everyone wants to talk about everything, except the weather.
This month’s news stories missing, not just from our mainstream media but from the left blogosphere.
First Cyclone Bopha, the worst Cyclone to hit the Southern Philippines, an area usually spared hurricanes because of its position close to the Equator. Despite the unprecedented devastation and scale, this disaster was mostly ignored at the time by the media here and overseas.
With an estimated 216,000 houses destroyed or damaged, tens of thousands of people remain displaced, presenting a challenge for the government and aid agencies.
The lack of international media coverage of Bopha may in part be explained – though not excused – by western-centric news values, and in part by the high incidence of storms in the Pacific region.
True to form this announcement has been greeted with total silence here, both from the right and the left. Most notably, from the environmental left, who were also silent at the time of both Bopha, and Sandy the lesser, but more widely reported Super Storm event.
If anyone was paying attention, the burning question which should have the whole world glued to the edge of their seat, is which way will Obama go?
Who will he heed, the protesters, or the oil lobbbyists?
Obama has given no real indication of which way he will go, but there is no middle ground, or possible compromise that would be acceptable to both sides.
He must come down on one side, or the other.
Obama’s decision is due before the end of the Northern Spring.
What will Obama’s decision be. and what will it mean for the planet, and indeed for Obama himself?
It’s llke Hitler invaded Poland and the media and the politicians and all the other commentators just want to talk about everything else.
Jen, save your breath: on this and other political blogs the commentators are all still dancing on the heads of pins arguing the toss about who will get what etc.They don’t realize (or want to realize) that whatever it is they are wanting is going away fast. Meanwhile directly under their noses reality is acting very predictably BUT is studiously ignored, even denied. The petty issues argued with energy, the big ones left uncomprehended.
“Jen, save your breath: on this and other political blogs the commentators are all still dancing on the heads of pins arguing the toss about who will get what etc.”
Yeah, it’s not like ts has published anything useful about climate change in the past year 🙄
/sarc
When Jenny starts presenting something new, in a way that facilitates useful discussion, sans the lies and pejoratives against her natural allies, then I’ll start paying more attention to her posts.
Yeah, save the whale! Or something else soft and cuddly.
Meanwhile we will carry on arguing the toss about our “rights”, putting the “economy” back on track, and how much a family needs in their pockets to drive the SUV to the Warehouse.
You missed the point. There are ts authors and regular commenters here who (a) understand the seriousness of the situation and (b) want to do something about it. Jenny has almost entirely failed to engage those people. Worse, her spamming Open Mike and other places about AGW puts people off. There is a limit to how much telling off people can take. There is also a limit to how much information that one person can take in about AGW. When Jenny fills the space up with her moaning about the GP and her rhetoric about Churchill, and fails at presenting anything new or that can engage people, then she does us all a disservice, including the movements that are responding to CC. I’m not the only who has made that last point.
How many people even read through the whole of her comments any more?
Aside from that how did you find Bill’s series of posts about CC before Christmas?
I suspect that Jenny has been beating her head on a brick wall. Her issues will however have far more impact than any niggling about Key and casinos or a plethora of other crap related to our past paradigm….a paradigm that has as its logical end result Jenny’s issues, and which makes every other issue a Nero fiddle playing distraction. Myself I reckon the occasional stir up of the denizens here wont make me any friends…but hey you wont hear from me when the power for your computer gets torn out by some global warming induced storm. You will however bitch like stink, but you will be disconnected and on your own.
On Bills articles, yes he is onto it, they were good. The question I have is when everybody in the room can see the elephant why do they all stand there and continue to argue about who is paying for the pavlova?
“You will however bitch like stink, but you will be disconnected and on your own.”
No, I won’t. You are like Jenny in this comment, in that you have no idea about the person you are talking to, where they sit in relation to CC, and thus you judge them wrongly and create division where you would instead do something constructive. The thing that pisses me off most about what Jenny does is the waste of time and resources, when she could be doing something useful. That’s a bit harsh perhaps – some of the information she posts probably does get read and links followed, but she wastes the opportunity to create useful and meaningful conversation here.
As for Nero, I’d be interested in how you see any other way of engaging people politically re CC who are tied up in the details of their everyday lives.
The Nero effect, yes. Its bloody difficult I admit to get divorced from everyday details in life: I can see where Jenny is coming from even if she gets no traction. The reality is that we are beyond being nice and constructive and all “democratic” etc about the dangers we have created. If we were fully cognizant and taking any notice as a polity it would be far more wild than 81 (and that was fairly extreme….we did however get our point across).
We all however are in this thing together, no heroes no villains. I tried to reduce my ecological impact and carbon footprint as an experiment, plus attempted to opt out of the consumer madness. Of course failure occurred, nobody is an island. What was obvious to me after this is that without a circuit breaker we will carry on blithely, arguing about Key etc until we are 6% hotter and under 90 meters of water. One thing is for sure, when the subject of CC or ecocide is discussed near me I no longer care to be friendly or hold back because it is all too easy to agree, smile and do nothing.
One thing is for sure, when the subject of CC or ecocide is discussed near me I no longer care to be friendly or hold back because it is all too easy to agree, smile and do nothing.
Yes it’s my hobby horse too, and I’ve been known to bore the pants off people with my CC rants. That isn’t surprising since knowledge of the weather was the essential requisite of my former career. But I have sympathy for Colonial Weka’s concern about Jenny. I admire Jenny for her persistence, but she doth protest too much sometimes. We can only move as fast as the ‘powers that be’ will allow us and that is not very far at the moment. Lecturing us as though we are part of the failure does not help the cause.
We can only move as fast as the ‘powers that be’ will allow us and that is not very far at the moment.
The latest Archdruid Report is out. Greer makes an age old suggestion – band together and organise and self-fund in order to make the changes that central and local government so far refuse to.
The “powers who b”e have failed us so if we await them we wait till certain death. And who gives power to the “powers who be”? Answer is us, because we recognise them, and we are them or their images. CV points to the Archdruid who makes the point that central and local government have failed and its over to us, locally. Its worth reading.
As an aside what the Archdruid says about the welfare state flies somewhat in the face of those currently arguing details on this site over how the tax cake is sliced.
Not likely to get much traction out of people, because they are not yet able to see the fire. If they looked up into the sky on most given days, including today in AKL, they would realise that whats up there is something which did not use to be, and its coming down on you and your family friends, enemies the lot., its getting worse and its not going away…
If people can’t get to grips with the obvious amounts of aerosols in the skies, then they sure are not going to get to grips with resource pooling to save themselvews are they!
Heck, if that can;t raise eyebrows. its unlikely that anything ever will!
As an aside what the Archdruid says about the welfare state flies somewhat in the face of those currently arguing details on this site over how the tax cake is sliced.
Indeed, Greer suggests that the distinction between the ‘deserving’ and ‘underserving’ poor may be realistic as resources run down in the future.
It is important to note however that Greer is writing for a specifically American environment. In NZ, there is no need to ever, ever have anyone go hungry or cold.
“If we were fully cognizant and taking any notice as a polity it would be far more wild than 81”
True, but the difference is that in 1981 it wasn’t our whole existence that was at stake. I don’t think we can overstate how important cognitive dissonance is in the current situation. Unless we find ways of dealing with that, we can’t expect people to suddenly take to the streets.
Thats right Weka, but I can’t see how you can use such teminology (cog diss)towards people who might not have their head around CC, when you have said on here previously, that you don’t accept that aerosoling of the skies is going on!
Cognitive dissonance is easry to aim towards others, innit!
I don’t think I said that it’s not going on. I said I’d like to see some credible evidence. We have plenty of credible evidence that AGW is real, yet people cannot deal with it well cognitively/emotionally. When we have credible evidence of chemtrails, then we can see to what extent cognitive dissonance exists.
Weka – There is shed loads already out there, your just making excuses!
Perhaps just take a look upwards sometime, thats where the evidence is eh!
Your view – CC IS happening, we have the evidence, I believe it to be credible, so its definitely happening!
Your View – Spraying is not happening, even though the various agencies have admitted it, and there is a heap of evidence, but I don’t accept the evidence as credible, so its not happening!
The two are most likely related weka, discussions around the spraying to deflect the sun (even though the UN tell us, its not the problem) was floated years ago, which means it was being done prior to that time!
The consequences will be unknown, and its a very dim individual who looks up and thinks what that shite in the sky these days is, are clouds!
In any case, it makes no differnce what you think is or is not going on, its happening, the discussion moved onto the what/why some time back, pretending it isn’t, does not make it so!
I rise to ask this House to take time out from the largely Skycity-focused debate today to focus on the most important issue that is actually facing humanity. …
Let this House ask the Prime Minister a few questions arising from the Security Council debate. Does he agree with the British climate change envoy that “the impacts of a changing climate pose a significant and emerging threat to a country’s national security and prosperity,”?
Is he concerned by the advice from the German envoy that “rises in global temperature were likely to have catastrophic consequences … [and] humankind would venture into an uncertain future that is much hotter than every before in its history—so from a scientist’s perspective, climate change is a global risk multiplier.”?
Does he agree with Oxfam’s plea to the Security Council to deal with climate change because “the global food system was already under severe stress as a result of droughts across the US, Africa and Asia.”? …
Will he listen to the Marshall Islands Ambassador, who said: “Global warming threatens our very existence. Our roads are inundated every 14 days. We have to ration water three times a week. People have emergency kits for water. We can no longer use well water because it’s inundated with salt.”
If so, will he direct a policy review on how New Zealand can assist Pacific Island States, including introducing a special annual quota of climate refugees?
Finally, will he call in the ambassadors of Russia and China and ask them to explain their dubious insistence on making Friday’s Security Council meeting an informal one only?
By emaciating our own emissions trading scheme and renouncing any legal obligation to cut emissions in this decade New Zealand now rivals Canada for the worst climate change policy in the world. All other developed countries and many developing countries, including major emerging economies, have more visionary and effective policies. It is time New Zealand got its act together for the sake of our own national security and long-term survival.
David has always operated a faily open forum. Basically anything goes which is why the comments section has descended into a fairly rough place to reside.
Why are you asking him a questiion over here anyway?
David Shearer Nov 18 2012 says “there is a real issue when politicians get new ideas and try to interfere with the economy”
How does this add up with his speech in the New Year 2013;
“We desperately need real leadership now more than ever.
The Global Financial Crisis has exposed the frailties of the old economic wisdom.
The National Party believes the financial crisis is just a blip to get over. Their solution is to apply their failed ideas of the past over and over.
They are wrong.
The hands-off, simply leave it to the market approach has failed all over the world.
We are on the cusp of a new era – when new thinking and leadership is needed to build wealth we can all share in.
The world has changed. National hasn’t. It’s stuck in the past.
We need a government that recognises times have changed.
We need a Government that finds the courage to act, not better excuses for why we can’t.
We need a government prepared to stand up for hardworking forgotten Kiwis.
We need a smart, hands-on Government.
A government that is prepared to be a player, not a spectator.
That will be a Labour Government, and the Government I will lead.
It’s about getting our priorities right, being thrifty about our economy.
Bringing our debt under control.
But being smart about how we tackle the massive challenges ahead.
Above all, this country needs a government that chooses to act.
Quite the juxtaposition you paint there David, you have no idea what you’re talking about, because….
A: You actually don’t know what you’re talking about,
&
B: Because someone else wrote the words you repeated
C: You do understand the reality (somewhat), but because you have been put into this position, you are being bent into all sorts of positions, no matter how ridiculous it makes you appear.
There are alternatives, and South American countries have been pursuing them, Seumas Milne has written about some of the things that have been happening in South America for a decade. The powerful elites have been trying to smear these attempts at alternatives by labeling them as dictatorial states/governments.
Despite their differences, it’s not hard to see why. Latin America was the first to experience the disastrous impact of neoliberal dogma and the first to revolt against it. …
Many of the things, in fact, that conventional “free market” orthodoxy insists will lead to ruin, but have instead delivered rapid growth and social progress. Correa’s government has also closed the US military base at Manta (he’d reconsider, he said, if the US “let us put a military base in Miami”), expanded gay, disability and indigenous rights and adopted some of the most radical environmental policies in the world. Those include the Yasuni initiative, under which Ecuador waives its right to exploit oil in a uniquely biodiverse part of the Amazon in return for international contributions to renewable energy projects.
But what is happening in Ecuador is only part of a progressive tide that has swept Latin America, as social democratic and radical socialist governments have attacked social and racial inequality, challenged US domination and begun to create genuine regional integration and independence for the first time in 500 years. And given what’s already been delivered to the majority, it’s hardly surprising they keep getting re-elected.
While everything is not perfect in Ecuador and other Sth American countries, they are showing the way to a new and better direction.
A new and better way is possible. We just have to do it against the backdrop of the capitalist spun BS in the MSM. Once we do that then there’s no way that we will go back to the pure capitalist paradigm that we’ve had pushed upon us over the last 30+ years as most people will be better off.
Acording to Granny Herald she’s done it again, Shipley is chair of Sentinel Assurrance and it is in the shit and sounds like it has broken the law in not having enough funds set aside. Shipley is the kiss of death to any company she is associated with and this must make it the 5th or 6th that has gone tits up.
Anybody else would have been facing calls to not be allowed to run a company.
Number 134 on the list of things of a new govt can do to contribute to the recreation and building of a decent society is to introduce some genuinely compassionate codes of welfare for farmed animals. Codes that should be carefully monitored and enforced.
The attitude of the prosecutor for the MPI is appalling and unacceptable in regard to the practice is twisting a cows tail to force it to submit to the will of the dairy hand:
“The prosecutor for the Ministry of Primary Industries, Grant Fletcher, said there was an industry understanding that a degree of force was used to put cows into dairy sheds”
Rosie, in my ambulations around the rustic scene the plight of the beasts is very unsettling: what we have is “stock units” on balance sheet driven industrial farms. The assumption is that these are $s and not sentient creatures who need food, shelter and comfort.
Not all farmers are as callous to the state of their stocks health, I could show you many (but unfortunately a small minority) who provide plenty of shade and shelter from the elements, and who care about their stocks welfare.
This will of course change: prior to the modern industrial epoch limited energy made huge farms impossible, and stock care of smaller herds etc was up close and personal with the farmer. Happily the end of cheap / available oil will change industrial farms back into these smaller holdings where animal welfare without chemical / pharmaceutical / fertiliser inputs make the welfare of stock central to a farmers livelihood. The brand of tractor will be “oxen” or “horse”, the quad bike the humble “donkey”.
One happy scenario out of what will be majorly a painful decline.
Hi E in R.
I’ve also had the opportunity to meet some thoughtful farmers and would prefer to consume the product of their lovely contented cows, rather than the product that is miserably forced out our unhappy “stock units”.
Modern industrial farming is indeed hugely resource depleting, cruel and completely unsustainable especially when dairying is moved to land unsuitable for such purposes, eg, Canterbury. I have a feeling we’ve had this conversation before so I’ll leave it at your prediction.
Unfortunately we can’t predict that the behaviour of individuals will change. There will always be those who will violently, either physically, psychologically,or both, inflict their will on fellow humans and animals.
Yes there will always be some bad eggs: I note that some of societies perceived bad eggs drive “bogan” cars and display lavish loving attention to these mechanical marvels. Wait till they have a donkey…you cant pimp one of these but expect similar loving care will be given!
Bogan cars……….A few days ago there was an article on stuffed about a bloke on the Kapiti coast who purchased a device to reduce his car engines petrol consumption – some sort of hydro-into-fuel converter (please don’t ask details) I can’t find the article now but anywhoo his son uses the same device in his 4L 2012 model holden commodore and is currently saving 30% on fuel costs. Now theres a responsible switched on bogan for ya!
what we have is “stock units” on balance sheet driven industrial farms. The assumption is that these are $s and not sentient creatures who need food, shelter and comfort.
Human beings are seen exactly the same, why would the other animals be treated any differently
We are all caught inside this insane trap, so insane that people think its *normal*!
Hi Muzza. I agree that humans are viewed as a resource to be exploited. But the difference is humans have the ability to prevent this through learning, resisting, organising and setting examples.
Farmed animals can’t and are reliant on their predator to provide the essentials of food, water, shelter, care and respect for the time of their usefulness to that predator – us.
The example above of the twisting of the cows tails as a form of control is only one of many abuses dairy cows face however I was dissapointed that the Ministry finds this an acceptable practice, not surprised but dissapointed. National do have a track record when it comes to ignoring animal welfare, especially during times when the members of the federated farmers lobby are within parliament (David Carter, Nathan Guy to name a few)Just last night on 3 news Nathan Guy shrugged in response to a reporters question regarding opening an inquriy into cruelty and death within the greyhound racing industry. His response? “The industry are already looking into it” Couldn’t give a flying F**K. Having received letters in reply to mine (and from others known to me who are actual Nat voters) after raising animal welfare issues its clear to me they have no intention of firming up animal protection legislation.
Hi Rosie, trust you’re feeling better this week, animal cruelty aside..
I hear what your saying there, howver it seems that there are many who simply don’t see it thatr way at all, and in the end we will all lose because of such attitudes.
Interesting to note the reactions from the MPs towards animanls, their reactions are telling, as it is how they really feel towards human beings, they lie and spin to cover but on reality , our rulers have been told that they are above the rest of us and act accordingly. They foolishly can;t understand that as our rulers, they still remain beneath their masters, which will mean they suffer the same fate as the animals they shrug off!
There’s also a good article in the Guardian by Seumas Milne about how the Latin American countries, including Ecuador are proving an alternative to the economic consensus in Western governments is possible and popular.
Despite their differences, it’s not hard to see why. Latin America was the first to experience the disastrous impact of neoliberal dogma and the first to revolt against it. Correa was originally elected in the wake of an economic collapse so devastating that one in 10 left the country. Since then his “citizen’s revolution” has cut poverty by nearly a third and extreme poverty by 45%. Unemployment has been slashed, while social security, free health and education have been rapidly expanded – including free higher education, now a constitutional right – while outsourcing has been outlawed.
And that has been achieved not only by using Ecuador’s limited oil wealth to benefit the majority, but by making corporations and the well-off pay their taxes (receipts have almost tripled in six years), raising public investment to 15% of national income, extending public ownership, tough renegotiation of oil contracts and re-regulating the banking system to support development.
I was referring to the many many decades of interference, oppression and subjugation: military, political and economic, that the ordinary indigenous people of Latin America have faced (and become all too familiar with) from countries like Spain, Portugal, USA and others, often through local dictators and strongmen chosen and supported by those foreign powers.
That’s what Telecom used to be, the entire country getting together to get telecommunications out to everyone. Now we have “competition”, increased bureaucracy and a network going backwards due to the dead weight loss of profit.
Dear internet.
I wish to express my displeasure with the above comment, and as a consequence of said, will now not be renewing my colour tv licence until the final due date in protest.
Shame on you.
Thanks mate. Actually, you’ll certainly be invited with many other Standardistas and I hope you will attend; after all it wouldn’t be much of a collective project if I was the only person there.
“We had it and then we got the neo-liberal BS that took it from us.”
The UK is easily as neo-liberal as NZ and a group of farmers took some of it back.
Why don’t you try and do the same instead of lamenting it on The Standard?
You still fail to understand – for a country of NZs population it needs to be the entire country that does it and not just a few people here and there.
We did start somewhere – it was back last century and then we had it taken from us through the lies and misdirections of the governments and economists. Now we have to start again because of that BS. Unfortunately, we have idiots like you standing in the way.
I’m not standing in the way of you doing anything Draco so you can dispense with your one line ad homs.
What we have here is what I am sure we agree is a great story of a community coming together to solve a problem and instead of being inspired you’re wringing your hands about how the government took it all away from you.
Why don’t you follow their example and start again like the community cited?
Two things:
1.) My first comment was on how we’d lost that community spirit due to governments for the last thirty years bowing down to the cult of greed and individualism and
2.) I am trying but instead of trying at a small local level I’m trying at the national level due to the nature of NZ, i.e, not such a huge population
And you are standing in the way whether you like to think you are or not because happen to be one of the idiots bowing down to the cult of greed and individualism.
So these gentleman are doing something on a local level which has now got worldwide attention. So what are you doing on a national level then?
“And you are standing in the way whether you like to think you are or not because happen to be one of the idiots bowing down to the cult of greed and individualism.”
I have done nothing to “stand in the way” and if you were in my community with a project as linked I’d be the first to offer my help.
yeah draco there’s a third way between free market fundamentalism and a socially just society. it’s called blairite lip service, dunnokeyo is an accomplished practitioner
I am just curious about why Draco thinks he can’t put together something the same as these gentlemen because “NZ is too small!” sounds like bullshit.
I’d also like to know what success he is having, in relation to community based projects such as the linked example, with his national focus and what he is actually doing
It looks like Draco would rather complain about it than do something
It’s all a bit simplistic isn’t Contrario? Discussing issues is one way of getting traction on things (i.e. thrashing around on a blogo) of course. If nobody complained about anything how would anyone know if things were ok or not? And then of course, doing something physical is another. Usually both approaches lead to the outcome. One without the other is an impossibility. This blog is one of those things.
As for what Mr DTB gets up to outside this murky world we inhabit, if he wants to answer that is hisher choice but harassment for such details is naughty and useless you naughty boy.
David Carter is a silly old goat, and reinforces my point that the entire generation in question, namely Richard Prosser’s generation, needs to be put out to pasture very quickly, they are all incredibly unhelpful and borderline stupid.
Metiria was certainly a real rottweiler going at the heels of JoKeyhen (breached parliamentary privilage?)
Chetser Burrows- “welfare not to be taken advantage of by the “greedy” “; that’s a bit rich
Cosgrove- “national electricity demand may drop 14-15% (Tiwai Unplugged for starters)
(Electricity Futures Market- prices may rise lower than inflation), meanwhile,
Tony (give that man an Oscar) Ryall acknowledges that “our nation’s debt is growing sharply”
TPPA / Investor State Dispute Provisions; Groser wimping out? Hague, not vague; “NAct a timid government”
Pict ure that midge Horan “out of order” and likely out of the bedroom with broomsticks.
During ChCh school merger submissions some of the schools concerned (parents etc attacked each other over “concerns about the behaviour” at receiving schools; ‘I’ll cut you in I’ll cut you in, on 20% of my future sin…
according to THE NEWS tax avoiders DEFRAUDED to the sweet tune of 1B last year…while Sky City wants an annual handout from the taxpayer as an on-going budget for ‘marketing”, and some “regulatory” relief thrown in- Egglestone
if I had the resources I would adopt a Greyhound; 1200 lost hounds “unaccounted for” a ‘bloodsport”
Nathan Guy-“it will be interesting for me to understand their enquiries when they conclude”. Yep!
Hong Kong Garden take-away; P.L.A 61398 cost U.S 100B and 1000’s of jobs last year., ‘Dude, who stole your star?
did you know that the ‘Fed” has noted growing concerns about the efficacy of QE?
‘It was when the Great Way declined that human kindness and morality arose;
It was when intelligence and knowledge appeared
That the Great Artifice began.
It was when the six near ones were no longer at peace
That there was talk of “dutiful sons”;
Nor till fatherland was dark with strife
Did we hear of “loyal slaves”.”
‘When the world has the Way,
running horses are retired to till the fields.
When the world lacks the Way,
war-horses are bred in the countryside.
No crime is greater than approving of greed;
no calamity is greater than discontent,
no fault is greater than possessiveness.
So the satisfaction of contentment is always enough.”
‘When the government is unobtrusive,
the people are pure.
When the government is invasive,
the people are wanting.
Calamity is what fortune depends upon;
fortune is what calamity subdues.
Who knows how it will all end?”
Bulgarians are now out on the streets in protest over the spectacular rise in power prices they are experiencing. In many cases the cost of power outstrips the monthly earning of even a teacher.
These rises are due to profit gouging by the overseas owners of said companys or purchased the power companies for a song at the fall of communism. Not doubt they oiled some palms in some way or another at the time.
Either way it is a good demonstration of what happens when you lose control of something as vital as a power supply.
Bulgarians as a people have put up with a lot of crap over the last decade and there is extreme hardship facing many people so I pick that the shit could really it the fan in th elead up to the forthcoming elections…
It is increasingly clear that there is a common theme to almost all of the major differences of opinion around the issues we cover on this site. The same theme that I think sums up the contrasting world views of the Auckland Council and the current government. And that is basically around questions of the idea of the city. Is a city a good and valuable thing? Do we really want to encourage it?
I particularly liked the mention of the most important network at 9:45 in the video.
‘The Labour Party supported the principle of eliminating welfare fraud but was concerned that it could penalise people who were unaware of their partner’s fraudulent activity.
Social development spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern also highlighted that the removal of the need to inform beneficiaries that they were under investigation could lead to a more inefficient system which victimised people on Government support.
But she did not go as far as promising a repeal of the bill if Labour was elected.’
It’s Opposition politics 101: “if you intend to oppose a law proposed or passed by the sitting government, you WILL be asked by media if you promise to repeal it. Have an answer prepared. If the answer is “no we won’t” or “I can’t say”, GTFO of opposition politics.”
Her reply on this drove home to me even more just how lost Labour is. After this performance, why should anyone interested in basic human decency, equality before the law and the right to a dignified existence see any reason to vote Labour. That answer is not on the fence, it’s well to the right of it.
Karl Polanyi began his famous 1944 treatise, “The Great Transformation”, with the following words:
“Nineteenth-century civilization has collapsed. This book is concerned with the political and economic origins of this event …”
Irving Fisher’s 1936 Chicago Plan called for a separated monetary and credit function. This would:
1) Lead to much better control of the business cycle by providing a more stable monetary platform.
2) Eliminate bank runs.
3) Dramatically reduce net public debt.
4) Dramatically reduce private debt, as money creation no longer requires simultaneous debt creation.
Well, a few people at the IMF have woken up to the fact that the financial system (and thus the “economy”) is broken but it (The Chicago Plan) is still not IMF policy.
“Formula donated in an emergency cannot be given directly to families and would be given only to infants medically required to be fed using formula, under the revised voluntary code.”
Good luck guarding the stash from a mob of mothers and fathers with hungry children.
Not worth the minimum wage, Mr security.
What about bird flu? Will the government give supplies of antiviral drugs to beneficiaries or force them to go without for lack of money?
Is staying alive a recoverable cost?
On a road to nowhere???, more like on a road to perpetual bankruptcy, who would believe that this is actually being discussed by supposedly ‘sane’ people,
The Land Transport Agency has admitted that the proposed Public/Private model to be used to build Wellington’s Transmission Gully Motorway will cost triple the billion dollars it would have cost by that Agency simply putting the construction out to tender,
‘Financial costs’ so the Transport Agency says, will mean that instead of the billion dollars of actual construction of Transmission Gully the taxpayer will be stung continually into the future with costs of another 2 billion dollars over and above the cost of construction,
Building such ‘white elephant’ motorways by such means simply makes a mockery of cost/benefit ratios where the ongoing costs triple the original build cost and provide little to ease the choke points on the Wellington motorway system, simply ensuring even more vehicles arrive at such choke points together in rush hour conditions,
For $100 million dollars parking buildings to enable ‘park and ride’ to reach it’s full potential could be built at stations such as Paraparaumu, Pukerua Bay, Mana, Paremata, Porirua and Tawa which would take hundreds if not thousands of commuters off of the motorway system at peak use times,
The same system of parking buildings could be attached to all the major train stations along the Hutt line of the railway system ensuring the removal of hundreds, if not thousands of motorists from the motorway system,
Watching this Government build ‘white elephant’ motorways that will cost us all triple what their actual value is is akin to watching a tribe of Neanderthalic primitives fight over a bunch of bananas…
Building those roads was never about the roads or the need for infrastructure but about paying out taxpayer monies to NACTs rich mates. I’d say that tripling the costs is proof enough of that.
bad12, your outline there also highlights the costs to all of society in utilising the interest-bearing money printing system we have. Take your tripling of costs and apply that pretty much right across society’s costs, especially housing, et voila…. a depressing thought. Imagine if all that work and sweat and tears (our money) going to pay for stupid printed dollar bills.
The financial system is a crock of the highest magnitude. Why do you think it is not taught in schools?
I suffered through the standard economics curriculum in 7th form, Mankiw’s awfully written textbook “Principles of Microeconomics” was entirely to blame for my bad result. Now I know why it just didn’t compute… it was complete bullshit.
Students at Harvard University on Tuesday, November 1st walked out of Professor N. Gregory Mankiw’s Ec 10, “Principles of Economics” course, for two main reasons.
First, to declare their solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street Movement, and indeed, occupy movements currently happening all across the world.
Second, to protest the specific role played by Mankiw’s course in perpetuating inequalities of wealth and power, which have plagued American (and world) capitalism for decades, if not centuries.
As the Harvard students put it in their open letter to Professor Mankiw, they are concerned with the political bias inherent in Mankiw’s text, as well as how it “affects students, the University, and our greater society.”
But what does it really mean to say that Mankiw, his class, and his textbook are responsible for such things?
The students state in the letter how Mankiw rarely includes a discussion of primary sources and often slants toward the classical model of political economy, expounded most famously by Adam Smith. This bias stands to the detriment of other important schools of economic thought such as Keynesianism. But the problem with his course goes a bit deeper than that. While Mankiw might argue that his New Keynesian approach to macroeconomics combines the best of both Keynesian analyses of the short run and classical views of the long run, the fact is that both Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes understood that the economic laws of the market are not immutable “principles” of society — a point which, unfortunately, leaves Mankiw less in the camp of either of these great thinkers, and more in the realm of political ideologues and pundits.
That is to say, the self-interested agent who “faces tradeoffs” and “responds to economic incentives”, as Mankiw’s “10 principles of economics” assert, describes but a very small part of our daily lives. Whether you’re with your friends, or at home with your family, values of cooperation, love, friendship define your day-to-day interactions. Even political power is an important concept, not given even a single mention in Mankiw’s entire text! The idea that those who are wealthy might institute political power over the economic system is an idea that, indeed, goes back to Adam Smith himself. Choosing not to discuss such an economically-relevant and important topic demonstrates a severe lack of intellectual and moral integrity on the part of Mankiw and his textbook. In other words, the whole market-centric approach of Mankiw’s course is fundamentally at odds with how the world works in reality.
So given that Mankiw’s course, textbook, blog, and ideology are at odds with the actual workings of social and economic life, and even help to perpetuate our societal and economic problems through producing this image of the individual as completely oriented toward market values and ideas, it’s probably time to expand the economic conversation towards more pluralism and away from hegemonic, ideologue set-in-stone “principles”.
Adam Smith wrote extensively about the principles of aesthetics and natural beauty, apart from his writings in economics – within which he also incorporated a lot of philosophical values.
…within which he also incorporated a lot of philosophical values.
That is probably because he started off as a philosopher and realised that economics had a moral and political dimension as well as a merely financial. Something that contemporary economists seem to fail to realise.
How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortunes of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it. Of this kind is pity or compassion, the emotion we feel for the misery of others, when we either see it, or are made to conceive it in a very lively manner. That we often derive sorrow from the sorrows of others, is a matter of fact too obvious to require any instances to prove it; for this sentiment, like all the other original passions of human nature, is by no means confined to the virtuous or the humane, though they perhaps may feel it with the most exquisite sensibility. The greatest ruffian, the most hardened violator of the laws of society, is not altogether without it.
Yep, i cannot find any disagreement with either your comment or the one above you, putting aside the question of the ‘need’ for Transmission Gully for the moment it is easy to identify this and other like projects as part of where Government should in fact be the actual builder of the asset along with the financier of note,
Simply having the Reserve Bank of New Zealand produce the necessary finance at 0% interest so as to enable a ‘new’ State owned builder to construct such projects would have it’s actual cost at a third of the price of involving the private sector,
In such a case once the asset,Transmission Gully, was completed the debt could then be ‘retired’ as the asset justifies the total of the debt
The one codicil that need be constantly stressed and kept in mind is that such projects built and funded in such a manner need fully take into consideration the Reserve Bank’s Inflationary Targets Band, which a carefully considered timeline of construction of such projects built and funded by such a means would negate any undue inflationary aspects of such construction…
nah, but it would be nice if ministers could understand what their charges were doing. On a related point, it would also be nice if our pm could appoint competent ministers.
SO, this present Slippery lead National Government having had 4 years in which to put in place a board sufficiently robust so as to be able to address the debt loading of the States coal miner Solid Energy has at the least been remiss in this duty and therefore must be held by the electorate to be responsible for the State’s coal miner’s current predicament…
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 24.1.1.3.1
Because it was part of an integrated energy supply network that the state used to own for the benefit of the whole country.
The SOE model and the fake competition ensuing increased costs, increased power prices, put large amounts of money into executive profit, duplicated infrastructure and removed any sense of collective co-ordination.
The correct question is why do have have such a fucked up fake competition model when the state should simply own and manage the whole lot for the benefit of all?
There, there Gormless no need to prove yourself the fool, we here at the Standard have long admired your particular personal penchant for 100% foolish comments guaranteed,
i can well imagine the argument you have proposed here being the same argument put to the National Government Cabinet when it next meets,
In fact your comments show a perfect timeline of the ‘thoughts’ of the right on such ownership, from the appointment of those who at board level have run the Stes mining operation into the ground right through the ”why the fuck” of your latest little snivel of a comment which is in effect the final act of those who simply refuse to take responsibility for their actions,
This is the Government of Saint Slippery of Bankers is it not, was not this individual trumpeted by you lot as the master business brain that would have New Zealand being the Singapore of the South Pacific in no time at all,
Where is this stunning transformation of the New Zealand economy from Saint Slippery, the gutting of Solid Energy just another step in the impoverishment of our country by the Shyster acting more on the behalf of His former employers than He has the people of New Zealand…
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
Fool its an SOE which is run as all other plc,s !
National haven’t got a clue or are they secretly looking for the green vote!
Doing nothing about the high $ is hands off!
Jobs are being lost at an alarming rate across the country
and all we get is smarmy BS from Shonkey and blingish and a FW fool!
Yes bankrupt New Zealand, welcome to it, with 380 million dollars of debt and coal prices having fallen 40% the States coal miner Solid Energy is to all extents and purposes insolvent,
Having recently sacked 1/4 of it’s mining workforce Solid Energy are not able to ‘up’ production so as to enable it’self to trade out of it’s current financial predicament,
The insinuation from Bill from Dipton, a noted financial illiterate, is that not only will the axe be taken to the staff at Solid Energy’s Corporate HQ, the miner will also give the boot to another tranche of the actual mining workforce,
The prognosis is not good and i have the sneaking suspicion that Bill would like to flick Solid Energy off into the private market causing the loss of 100,s of jobs and the loss of a Billion Dollars to the taxpayers of New Zealand…
Of course they were in trouble already when they paid 7.5 million for Pike River – a vision that seemed odd at the time given their financial position and the low likelihood of PR ever making a profit.
I’m not sure who the receivers paid that money to but on any commercial basis it did seem strange given it was supposed to be an SOE to run on that basis.
I can also guarantee TC that if it was actually run directly by the state there wouldn’t have been the big salaries and board payments and bonuses. There is a few more millions of savings there as well that need not be spent.
I can also guarantee TC that if it was actually run directly by the state there wouldn’t have been the big salaries and board payments and bonuses. There is a few more millions of savings there as well that need not be spent.
QFT
Kill the super-high salaries of the SoE CEOs and we’d save ourselves tens of millions per year.
The government will probably pay one of their mates to take it off their hands. That might even be why it has been allowed to go broke.
Of course the state owned enterprise model never was supposed to actually work, only a few faithful labour party diehards (including the whole Clark government) ever believed they are anything other than holding mechanisms until suitable opportunities, including that they have gone broke, can be made for handing them over to the ruling class.
Yes, and the other ‘reasoning’ behind the SOE model is that it absolves from all responsibility the very politicians that are in favor of that SOE model,
By appointing to the Board of such SOE’s people of like leaning politicians of all hues are able to by the ‘buddy system’ interfere in the running of such State businesses, the Solid Energy purchase of Pike River being the perfect example, there is no paper trail of intervention apparent and with such a lack of transparency comes a lack of the people being able to hold the politicians responsible for any action/inaction surrounding any of the SOE’s…
Agreed, the question has always been how to build a community with a sustainable economy on the Coast where extractive industry is linked to industrial usage elsewhere. The obvious answer is don’t mine, but if not coal mining what else? I have a feeling that as we suffer extreme energy decline over the next fifty years coal will again rear its head and be in vogue. I suspect when we cant buy a barrel of oil Coasters will be supplying coal to NZ Rail.
Coal will be in vogue again as we suffer extreme energy decline? Yes, certainly. But when you look at the chart below, you’ll see that already, coal is more in vogue than ever before and has been for many years.
coal fired electric power stationz!
govt Asset sales propaganda not looking pretty!
govt mining for growth complete failure!
100% pure bullshit! Nationals brighter Future!
[lprent: Even after reading this twice I still have no idea who it was directed against, what they were complaining about, or even if it was defamatory or what legal position it would leave us in. Not worth the risk to the site and it was so badly written that I was hard put to even view it as being bad satire. FFS no-one reading it could have even have figured out if it was about a politician, a member of the public, or a committee of dancing poodles.
Incidentally as you may have gathered, I formed the opinion that whoever wrote this incoherent pile of paranoid waffle has long since lost their tinfoil hat, really should get another made with the utmost speed, and put into use as their first course of action. Alternatively using the services of a doctor would have been indicated.
Sure it probably wasn’t technically defamatory. But that probably wasn’t by intent. It was through sheer bloody minded stupidity, not only on the writers part, but also for you being foolish enough to put it up. Don’t abuse your access here so lightly. At least read the frigging things before putting them up. ]
Yeah nice one from Jacinda, She should have a placard made of that and every time any of the present Slippery Shyster Government mention benefit fraud in the house display it to them…
Got rid of the bingbot’s major issue with this site. It can no longer see the reply links, and nor can a number of other bots, spiders and crawlers when they access the site through the normal pages. RSS is ok…
There are 524k comments on the site, each has a reply link. That is a lot of links on the site. The dumb bots were each following the link to get a new copy of the page with the reply on it. Humans use the javascript onclick. Bots read the link provided for people without javascript.
Anyway finished an upgrade. Rebooting server and then it is time to sleep.
Hey I’m a conservative at heart – well for everything apart from doing large scale code shifts just before release. But definitely about fonts….
Comic Sans isn’t common enough across systems. Putting wacking big font lists in for the range of browsers is just irritating. Getting users to download them is also a bit of an issue for the few remaining people on dial-up..
The last two years of visits by browser
1 Firefox
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 28.96%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 33.35%
2 Internet Explorer
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 24.50%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 28.79%
3 Safari
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 20.85%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 18.80%
4 Chrome
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 19.80%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 15.12%
5 Android Browser
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 2.14%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.62%
6 Mozilla Compatible Agent
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 1.21%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 1.12%
7 Opera
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 1.13%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 1.32%
8 Safari (in-app)
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.49%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.00%
9 Opera Mini
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.38%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.28%
10 IE with Chrome Frame
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.18%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.04%
And operating system…
1 Windows
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 65.79%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 70.22%
2 Macintosh
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 18.93%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 19.96%
3 iOS
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 6.06%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.00%
4 Android
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 2.56%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.88%
5 Linux
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 2.45%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 2.46%
6 iPad
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 2.02%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 2.42%
7 iPhone
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 1.35%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 3.12%
8 (not set)
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.46%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.34%
9 BlackBerry
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.14%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.12%
10 iPod
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.10%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.42%
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Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
A banner notification alerts me to the fact that I’ve received an Instagram message from @felicity.loves. She always comments on my posts. I shouldn’t have opened the message, but clicked on the notification before rationalising this. OMG! Are you in Wellys? X I debate not replying, but Instagram will inform ...
In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
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 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
In 2021 the Public Interest Journalism Fund launched the Te Rito Journalism project, a $2.4 million initiative to boost diversity in New Zealand’s newsrooms. The initiative was in response to the decades-long shortage of Māori and Pacific journalists in the media industry. It was billed as New Zealand’s ...
The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
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Successive governments have tried, and failed, to count Māori. But with the return of social investment, it’s more important than ever to get good data. The post Government looks for a better way to count Māori appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Experts in financing social investment initiatives say New Zealand is in a prime position to tackle social issues via a social investment approach The post What will Willis’ social investment fund look like? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist A former Tuvalu prime minister says while the New Zealand government’s oil and gas plans show it is concerned about its economy, he is more concerned about the livelihoods and survival of the Tuvalu people. Enele Sopoaga — who still serves as an MP ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Many people who follow federal budgets know about the magnificent “budget tree” in a parliamentary courtyard, which turns a glorious red in time for the May event. This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers posed by ...
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Ignoring climate change becomes the new reality.
It used to be dismissively said, that when people wanted to avoid talking about controversial issues, “That all they just talked about was the weather”.
This old homily has been turned on its head. It seems these days, everyone wants to talk about everything, except the weather.
This month’s news stories missing, not just from our mainstream media but from the left blogosphere.
First Cyclone Bopha, the worst Cyclone to hit the Southern Philippines, an area usually spared hurricanes because of its position close to the Equator. Despite the unprecedented devastation and scale, this disaster was mostly ignored at the time by the media here and overseas.
Bopha has now been directly linked to climate change by scientists and politicians who are telling the Filipino people to prepare for more climate related disasters.
True to form this announcement has been greeted with total silence here, both from the right and the left. Most notably, from the environmental left, who were also silent at the time of both Bopha, and Sandy the lesser, but more widely reported Super Storm event.
The other big climate change story ignored here in the media and the blogosphere this week; The biggest anti climate change rally in US history, which descended on the White House over the weekend. Which was quickly followed by a much smaller ‘rally’ of dark suited oil sands lobbyists.
If anyone was paying attention, the burning question which should have the whole world glued to the edge of their seat, is which way will Obama go?
Who will he heed, the protesters, or the oil lobbbyists?
Obama has given no real indication of which way he will go, but there is no middle ground, or possible compromise that would be acceptable to both sides.
He must come down on one side, or the other.
Obama’s decision is due before the end of the Northern Spring.
What will Obama’s decision be. and what will it mean for the planet, and indeed for Obama himself?
It’s llke Hitler invaded Poland and the media and the politicians and all the other commentators just want to talk about everything else.
May God forgive us.
Future generations won’t.
Jen, save your breath: on this and other political blogs the commentators are all still dancing on the heads of pins arguing the toss about who will get what etc.They don’t realize (or want to realize) that whatever it is they are wanting is going away fast. Meanwhile directly under their noses reality is acting very predictably BUT is studiously ignored, even denied. The petty issues argued with energy, the big ones left uncomprehended.
“Jen, save your breath: on this and other political blogs the commentators are all still dancing on the heads of pins arguing the toss about who will get what etc.”
Yeah, it’s not like ts has published anything useful about climate change in the past year 🙄
/sarc
When Jenny starts presenting something new, in a way that facilitates useful discussion, sans the lies and pejoratives against her natural allies, then I’ll start paying more attention to her posts.
Yeah, save the whale! Or something else soft and cuddly.
Meanwhile we will carry on arguing the toss about our “rights”, putting the “economy” back on track, and how much a family needs in their pockets to drive the SUV to the Warehouse.
You missed the point. There are ts authors and regular commenters here who (a) understand the seriousness of the situation and (b) want to do something about it. Jenny has almost entirely failed to engage those people. Worse, her spamming Open Mike and other places about AGW puts people off. There is a limit to how much telling off people can take. There is also a limit to how much information that one person can take in about AGW. When Jenny fills the space up with her moaning about the GP and her rhetoric about Churchill, and fails at presenting anything new or that can engage people, then she does us all a disservice, including the movements that are responding to CC. I’m not the only who has made that last point.
How many people even read through the whole of her comments any more?
Aside from that how did you find Bill’s series of posts about CC before Christmas?
it’s surprising that self-righteous moral outrage and finger pointing doesn’t do much to win friends and influence people.
I suspect that Jenny has been beating her head on a brick wall. Her issues will however have far more impact than any niggling about Key and casinos or a plethora of other crap related to our past paradigm….a paradigm that has as its logical end result Jenny’s issues, and which makes every other issue a Nero fiddle playing distraction. Myself I reckon the occasional stir up of the denizens here wont make me any friends…but hey you wont hear from me when the power for your computer gets torn out by some global warming induced storm. You will however bitch like stink, but you will be disconnected and on your own.
On Bills articles, yes he is onto it, they were good. The question I have is when everybody in the room can see the elephant why do they all stand there and continue to argue about who is paying for the pavlova?
Gosh, this just in: multiple issues affect people’s lives simultaneously.
Yes, the Goths are at the gate dear, why dont you put out the washing.
Well, you do need to have clean underwear to put on for when the Goths arrive.
Phil Goth has been and gone.
Oooooh, yeah, EiR, belittle the woman by mentioning household chores, oooooooh that pushes my naughty little buttons! *orgasm*
“You will however bitch like stink, but you will be disconnected and on your own.”
No, I won’t. You are like Jenny in this comment, in that you have no idea about the person you are talking to, where they sit in relation to CC, and thus you judge them wrongly and create division where you would instead do something constructive. The thing that pisses me off most about what Jenny does is the waste of time and resources, when she could be doing something useful. That’s a bit harsh perhaps – some of the information she posts probably does get read and links followed, but she wastes the opportunity to create useful and meaningful conversation here.
As for Nero, I’d be interested in how you see any other way of engaging people politically re CC who are tied up in the details of their everyday lives.
The Nero effect, yes. Its bloody difficult I admit to get divorced from everyday details in life: I can see where Jenny is coming from even if she gets no traction. The reality is that we are beyond being nice and constructive and all “democratic” etc about the dangers we have created. If we were fully cognizant and taking any notice as a polity it would be far more wild than 81 (and that was fairly extreme….we did however get our point across).
We all however are in this thing together, no heroes no villains. I tried to reduce my ecological impact and carbon footprint as an experiment, plus attempted to opt out of the consumer madness. Of course failure occurred, nobody is an island. What was obvious to me after this is that without a circuit breaker we will carry on blithely, arguing about Key etc until we are 6% hotter and under 90 meters of water. One thing is for sure, when the subject of CC or ecocide is discussed near me I no longer care to be friendly or hold back because it is all too easy to agree, smile and do nothing.
Yes it’s my hobby horse too, and I’ve been known to bore the pants off people with my CC rants. That isn’t surprising since knowledge of the weather was the essential requisite of my former career. But I have sympathy for Colonial Weka’s concern about Jenny. I admire Jenny for her persistence, but she doth protest too much sometimes. We can only move as fast as the ‘powers that be’ will allow us and that is not very far at the moment. Lecturing us as though we are part of the failure does not help the cause.
The latest Archdruid Report is out. Greer makes an age old suggestion – band together and organise and self-fund in order to make the changes that central and local government so far refuse to.
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/in-time-of-limits.html
The “powers who b”e have failed us so if we await them we wait till certain death. And who gives power to the “powers who be”? Answer is us, because we recognise them, and we are them or their images. CV points to the Archdruid who makes the point that central and local government have failed and its over to us, locally. Its worth reading.
As an aside what the Archdruid says about the welfare state flies somewhat in the face of those currently arguing details on this site over how the tax cake is sliced.
Not likely to get much traction out of people, because they are not yet able to see the fire. If they looked up into the sky on most given days, including today in AKL, they would realise that whats up there is something which did not use to be, and its coming down on you and your family friends, enemies the lot., its getting worse and its not going away…
If people can’t get to grips with the obvious amounts of aerosols in the skies, then they sure are not going to get to grips with resource pooling to save themselvews are they!
Heck, if that can;t raise eyebrows. its unlikely that anything ever will!
Indeed, Greer suggests that the distinction between the ‘deserving’ and ‘underserving’ poor may be realistic as resources run down in the future.
It is important to note however that Greer is writing for a specifically American environment. In NZ, there is no need to ever, ever have anyone go hungry or cold.
“If we were fully cognizant and taking any notice as a polity it would be far more wild than 81”
True, but the difference is that in 1981 it wasn’t our whole existence that was at stake. I don’t think we can overstate how important cognitive dissonance is in the current situation. Unless we find ways of dealing with that, we can’t expect people to suddenly take to the streets.
Thats right Weka, but I can’t see how you can use such teminology (cog diss)towards people who might not have their head around CC, when you have said on here previously, that you don’t accept that aerosoling of the skies is going on!
Cognitive dissonance is easry to aim towards others, innit!
I don’t think I said that it’s not going on. I said I’d like to see some credible evidence. We have plenty of credible evidence that AGW is real, yet people cannot deal with it well cognitively/emotionally. When we have credible evidence of chemtrails, then we can see to what extent cognitive dissonance exists.
Weka – There is shed loads already out there, your just making excuses!
Perhaps just take a look upwards sometime, thats where the evidence is eh!
Your view – CC IS happening, we have the evidence, I believe it to be credible, so its definitely happening!
Your View – Spraying is not happening, even though the various agencies have admitted it, and there is a heap of evidence, but I don’t accept the evidence as credible, so its not happening!
The two are most likely related weka, discussions around the spraying to deflect the sun (even though the UN tell us, its not the problem) was floated years ago, which means it was being done prior to that time!
The consequences will be unknown, and its a very dim individual who looks up and thinks what that shite in the sky these days is, are clouds!
In any case, it makes no differnce what you think is or is not going on, its happening, the discussion moved onto the what/why some time back, pretending it isn’t, does not make it so!
Muzza, please show me exactly where I have said that it doesn’t happen.
Then show me some credible information supporting that it happens.
But not ignored by Kennedy Graham in his speech in the General Debate yesterday.
I’m sure Graham is simply distracting from the fact that the Greens are cowards who have sold out and decided to cover up Climate Change. ./sarc
Nice questions: good man, it is all too rare.
Wow!
I visit the NOAA ESRL site every week. Every week things are worse.
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/weekly.html
boggling
Question for David Farrar.
You make a big deal of how gay friendly you are. So why allow homophobia to fester on your blog? Small example, the vile asides that pepper this post. http://m.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/02/chauvel_resigns_from_parliament.html.
Either squash the hateful speech (like you did for the ginga comment) or take down your rainbow flag.
Maybe you should ask him on his blog.
Shearer allows homophobia to fester in Labour so why not ask him the same thing
David has always operated a faily open forum. Basically anything goes which is why the comments section has descended into a fairly rough place to reside.
Why are you asking him a questiion over here anyway?
David Shearer Nov 18 2012 says “there is a real issue when politicians get new ideas and try to interfere with the economy”
How does this add up with his speech in the New Year 2013;
Quite the juxtaposition you paint there David, you have no idea what you’re talking about, because….
A: You actually don’t know what you’re talking about,
&
B: Because someone else wrote the words you repeated
C: You do understand the reality (somewhat), but because you have been put into this position, you are being bent into all sorts of positions, no matter how ridiculous it makes you appear.
More from the artist taxi driver on the diabolical U$K situation. Poor Bashing. 🙁
There are alternatives, and South American countries have been pursuing them, Seumas Milne has written about some of the things that have been happening in South America for a decade. The powerful elites have been trying to smear these attempts at alternatives by labeling them as dictatorial states/governments.
While everything is not perfect in Ecuador and other Sth American countries, they are showing the way to a new and better direction.
A new and better way is possible. We just have to do it against the backdrop of the capitalist spun BS in the MSM. Once we do that then there’s no way that we will go back to the pure capitalist paradigm that we’ve had pushed upon us over the last 30+ years as most people will be better off.
Acording to Granny Herald she’s done it again, Shipley is chair of Sentinel Assurrance and it is in the shit and sounds like it has broken the law in not having enough funds set aside. Shipley is the kiss of death to any company she is associated with and this must make it the 5th or 6th that has gone tits up.
Anybody else would have been facing calls to not be allowed to run a company.
Number 134 on the list of things of a new govt can do to contribute to the recreation and building of a decent society is to introduce some genuinely compassionate codes of welfare for farmed animals. Codes that should be carefully monitored and enforced.
The attitude of the prosecutor for the MPI is appalling and unacceptable in regard to the practice is twisting a cows tail to force it to submit to the will of the dairy hand:
“The prosecutor for the Ministry of Primary Industries, Grant Fletcher, said there was an industry understanding that a degree of force was used to put cows into dairy sheds”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/8327272/Dairy-farmer-injured-cows
Diary cows on industrial farms are slaves. Why shouldn’t they be treated as such?
Rosie, in my ambulations around the rustic scene the plight of the beasts is very unsettling: what we have is “stock units” on balance sheet driven industrial farms. The assumption is that these are $s and not sentient creatures who need food, shelter and comfort.
Not all farmers are as callous to the state of their stocks health, I could show you many (but unfortunately a small minority) who provide plenty of shade and shelter from the elements, and who care about their stocks welfare.
This will of course change: prior to the modern industrial epoch limited energy made huge farms impossible, and stock care of smaller herds etc was up close and personal with the farmer. Happily the end of cheap / available oil will change industrial farms back into these smaller holdings where animal welfare without chemical / pharmaceutical / fertiliser inputs make the welfare of stock central to a farmers livelihood. The brand of tractor will be “oxen” or “horse”, the quad bike the humble “donkey”.
One happy scenario out of what will be majorly a painful decline.
Hi E in R.
I’ve also had the opportunity to meet some thoughtful farmers and would prefer to consume the product of their lovely contented cows, rather than the product that is miserably forced out our unhappy “stock units”.
Modern industrial farming is indeed hugely resource depleting, cruel and completely unsustainable especially when dairying is moved to land unsuitable for such purposes, eg, Canterbury. I have a feeling we’ve had this conversation before so I’ll leave it at your prediction.
Unfortunately we can’t predict that the behaviour of individuals will change. There will always be those who will violently, either physically, psychologically,or both, inflict their will on fellow humans and animals.
Reduce farm property prices and mortgages, and a lot of farmers will happily destock their land.
Yes there will always be some bad eggs: I note that some of societies perceived bad eggs drive “bogan” cars and display lavish loving attention to these mechanical marvels. Wait till they have a donkey…you cant pimp one of these but expect similar loving care will be given!
Bogan cars……….A few days ago there was an article on stuffed about a bloke on the Kapiti coast who purchased a device to reduce his car engines petrol consumption – some sort of hydro-into-fuel converter (please don’t ask details) I can’t find the article now but anywhoo his son uses the same device in his 4L 2012 model holden commodore and is currently saving 30% on fuel costs. Now theres a responsible switched on bogan for ya!
Human beings are seen exactly the same, why would the other animals be treated any differently
We are all caught inside this insane trap, so insane that people think its *normal*!
Hi Muzza. I agree that humans are viewed as a resource to be exploited. But the difference is humans have the ability to prevent this through learning, resisting, organising and setting examples.
Farmed animals can’t and are reliant on their predator to provide the essentials of food, water, shelter, care and respect for the time of their usefulness to that predator – us.
The example above of the twisting of the cows tails as a form of control is only one of many abuses dairy cows face however I was dissapointed that the Ministry finds this an acceptable practice, not surprised but dissapointed. National do have a track record when it comes to ignoring animal welfare, especially during times when the members of the federated farmers lobby are within parliament (David Carter, Nathan Guy to name a few)Just last night on 3 news Nathan Guy shrugged in response to a reporters question regarding opening an inquriy into cruelty and death within the greyhound racing industry. His response? “The industry are already looking into it” Couldn’t give a flying F**K. Having received letters in reply to mine (and from others known to me who are actual Nat voters) after raising animal welfare issues its clear to me they have no intention of firming up animal protection legislation.
Hi Rosie, trust you’re feeling better this week, animal cruelty aside..
I hear what your saying there, howver it seems that there are many who simply don’t see it thatr way at all, and in the end we will all lose because of such attitudes.
Interesting to note the reactions from the MPs towards animanls, their reactions are telling, as it is how they really feel towards human beings, they lie and spin to cover but on reality , our rulers have been told that they are above the rest of us and act accordingly. They foolishly can;t understand that as our rulers, they still remain beneath their masters, which will mean they suffer the same fate as the animals they shrug off!
RT interviews Ecuador’s Correa
Talks about poverty, socialism and elitism in Latin America.
I should add, this President’s popularity rating regularly tops 70% in polling.
There’s also a good article in the Guardian by Seumas Milne about how the Latin American countries, including Ecuador are proving an alternative to the economic consensus in Western governments is possible and popular.
Yep Latin Americans know what colonisation and exploitation looks and smells like, no matter the modern garb it wears.
Kiaora Colonial Viper,
Please clarify, are you saying that aspects of Latin American development is simply
colonialism in disguise,
or
an exemplar to indigeneity
exercising ‘tino rangatiratanga’
sovereignty.
Kia Ora Adele,
I was referring to the many many decades of interference, oppression and subjugation: military, political and economic, that the ordinary indigenous people of Latin America have faced (and become all too familiar with) from countries like Spain, Portugal, USA and others, often through local dictators and strongmen chosen and supported by those foreign powers.
Kiaora Colonial Viper
Cool! 🙂
We used to be so good at this kind of thing (sigh) …. great story from Lancashire today by Pat Pilcher ..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10866616
That’s what Telecom used to be, the entire country getting together to get telecommunications out to everyone. Now we have “competition”, increased bureaucracy and a network going backwards due to the dead weight loss of profit.
Well instead of moaning about it Draco go out and do it.
Sure because 1 man can match the ability and influence of an $80B government. Grow up TC don’t fall for that shit.
Did you read the linked article, CV?
Those British farmers went and did it and the British Govt is richer and more powerful than NZ
They did it for 23 villages and a few thousand users in one county.
Well then instead of looking at what they did wistfully, go out and do the same.
When I do, you won’t be invited.
Unless we’re running short on vegetables, in which you’re welcome… If you promise to bring some turnip friends with you 😆
Dear internet.
I wish to express my displeasure with the above comment, and as a consequence of said, will now not be renewing my colour tv licence until the final due date in protest.
Shame on you.
Disgruntled,
Cheam.
Good luck – make sure to lets us know what initiative you have started.
Thanks mate. Actually, you’ll certainly be invited with many other Standardistas and I hope you will attend; after all it wouldn’t be much of a collective project if I was the only person there.
I’m always willing to help if I am able
You failed to understand. We had it and then we got the neo-liberal BS that took it from us.
“We had it and then we got the neo-liberal BS that took it from us.”
The UK is easily as neo-liberal as NZ and a group of farmers took some of it back.
Why don’t you try and do the same instead of lamenting it on The Standard?
You still fail to understand – for a country of NZs population it needs to be the entire country that does it and not just a few people here and there.
You have to start somewhere – here’s a good example of a community pulling together.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10866616
We did start somewhere – it was back last century and then we had it taken from us through the lies and misdirections of the governments and economists. Now we have to start again because of that BS. Unfortunately, we have idiots like you standing in the way.
I’m not standing in the way of you doing anything Draco so you can dispense with your one line ad homs.
What we have here is what I am sure we agree is a great story of a community coming together to solve a problem and instead of being inspired you’re wringing your hands about how the government took it all away from you.
Why don’t you follow their example and start again like the community cited?
Two things:
1.) My first comment was on how we’d lost that community spirit due to governments for the last thirty years bowing down to the cult of greed and individualism and
2.) I am trying but instead of trying at a small local level I’m trying at the national level due to the nature of NZ, i.e, not such a huge population
And you are standing in the way whether you like to think you are or not because happen to be one of the idiots bowing down to the cult of greed and individualism.
So these gentleman are doing something on a local level which has now got worldwide attention. So what are you doing on a national level then?
“And you are standing in the way whether you like to think you are or not because happen to be one of the idiots bowing down to the cult of greed and individualism.”
I have done nothing to “stand in the way” and if you were in my community with a project as linked I’d be the first to offer my help.
Justify your insulting ad hom.
yeah draco there’s a third way between free market fundamentalism and a socially just society. it’s called blairite lip service, dunnokeyo is an accomplished practitioner
I am just curious about why Draco thinks he can’t put together something the same as these gentlemen because “NZ is too small!” sounds like bullshit.
I’d also like to know what success he is having, in relation to community based projects such as the linked example, with his national focus and what he is actually doing
It looks like Draco would rather complain about it than do something
It’s all a bit simplistic isn’t Contrario? Discussing issues is one way of getting traction on things (i.e. thrashing around on a blogo) of course. If nobody complained about anything how would anyone know if things were ok or not? And then of course, doing something physical is another. Usually both approaches lead to the outcome. One without the other is an impossibility. This blog is one of those things.
As for what Mr DTB gets up to outside this murky world we inhabit, if he wants to answer that is hisher choice but harassment for such details is naughty and useless you naughty boy.
Some actual proper Labor/Coalition leadership analysis (Sydney Morning Herald)
Video analysis and article quite good, but both far and away superior to our usual trash on this side of the Tasman.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/final-nail-in-pms-coffin-20130218-2end2.html
Carter appears to be a Control Freak (oh well, he is in good company)
David Carter is a silly old goat, and reinforces my point that the entire generation in question, namely Richard Prosser’s generation, needs to be put out to pasture very quickly, they are all incredibly unhelpful and borderline stupid.
Metiria was certainly a real rottweiler going at the heels of JoKeyhen (breached parliamentary privilage?)
Chetser Burrows- “welfare not to be taken advantage of by the “greedy” “; that’s a bit rich
Cosgrove- “national electricity demand may drop 14-15% (Tiwai Unplugged for starters)
(Electricity Futures Market- prices may rise lower than inflation), meanwhile,
Tony (give that man an Oscar) Ryall acknowledges that “our nation’s debt is growing sharply”
TPPA / Investor State Dispute Provisions; Groser wimping out? Hague, not vague; “NAct a timid government”
Pict ure that midge Horan “out of order” and likely out of the bedroom with broomsticks.
During ChCh school merger submissions some of the schools concerned (parents etc attacked each other over “concerns about the behaviour” at receiving schools; ‘I’ll cut you in I’ll cut you in, on 20% of my future sin…
according to THE NEWS tax avoiders DEFRAUDED to the sweet tune of 1B last year…while Sky City wants an annual handout from the taxpayer as an on-going budget for ‘marketing”, and some “regulatory” relief thrown in- Egglestone
if I had the resources I would adopt a Greyhound; 1200 lost hounds “unaccounted for” a ‘bloodsport”
Nathan Guy-“it will be interesting for me to understand their enquiries when they conclude”. Yep!
Hong Kong Garden take-away; P.L.A 61398 cost U.S 100B and 1000’s of jobs last year., ‘Dude, who stole your star?
did you know that the ‘Fed” has noted growing concerns about the efficacy of QE?
for tao’s sake
‘It was when the Great Way declined that human kindness and morality arose;
It was when intelligence and knowledge appeared
That the Great Artifice began.
It was when the six near ones were no longer at peace
That there was talk of “dutiful sons”;
Nor till fatherland was dark with strife
Did we hear of “loyal slaves”.”
‘When the world has the Way,
running horses are retired to till the fields.
When the world lacks the Way,
war-horses are bred in the countryside.
No crime is greater than approving of greed;
no calamity is greater than discontent,
no fault is greater than possessiveness.
So the satisfaction of contentment is always enough.”
‘When the government is unobtrusive,
the people are pure.
When the government is invasive,
the people are wanting.
Calamity is what fortune depends upon;
fortune is what calamity subdues.
Who knows how it will all end?”
As an interesting study,
Bulgarians are now out on the streets in protest over the spectacular rise in power prices they are experiencing. In many cases the cost of power outstrips the monthly earning of even a teacher.
These rises are due to profit gouging by the overseas owners of said companys or purchased the power companies for a song at the fall of communism. Not doubt they oiled some palms in some way or another at the time.
Either way it is a good demonstration of what happens when you lose control of something as vital as a power supply.
Bulgarians as a people have put up with a lot of crap over the last decade and there is extreme hardship facing many people so I pick that the shit could really it the fan in th elead up to the forthcoming elections…
Well, they have experience with kicking out exploitative multi-national corporations.
Actually, I may be thinking of Bolivia but Bechtel has had major water contracts around the world that have made the people poorer.
Urban Math
I particularly liked the mention of the most important network at 9:45 in the video.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10866718
‘The Labour Party supported the principle of eliminating welfare fraud but was concerned that it could penalise people who were unaware of their partner’s fraudulent activity.
Social development spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern also highlighted that the removal of the need to inform beneficiaries that they were under investigation could lead to a more inefficient system which victimised people on Government support.
But she did not go as far as promising a repeal of the bill if Labour was elected.’
WHY NOT!
FFS Get off the fence Labour!
It’s Opposition politics 101: “if you intend to oppose a law proposed or passed by the sitting government, you WILL be asked by media if you promise to repeal it. Have an answer prepared. If the answer is “no we won’t” or “I can’t say”, GTFO of opposition politics.”
Her reply on this drove home to me even more just how lost Labour is. After this performance, why should anyone interested in basic human decency, equality before the law and the right to a dignified existence see any reason to vote Labour. That answer is not on the fence, it’s well to the right of it.
Plays into right wing framing over and over and over again
Oh ffs.
You can’t say something will victimise people and be inefficient and then effectively support its retention.
Guess I can cross Jacinda off my ever shortening list of Labour MPs I hold out hope for.
Oilove you Olive Oyle
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-02-20/spain-just-issued-warning-system-blowing-again
some “cognitive enhancement”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9870050/The-Future-by-Al-Gore-review.html
How’s the cell ? Still trading ?
glad he was behind Boris; he adds a bit a colour. 🙂
Mario Druggy,(snigger)…
that IS funny…
A tweet from Mark Textor
https://twitter.com/Fascinatingpics/status/302990843856429056/photo/1
“you’ll be, wrapped around my finger…” (Have a great day; not a cloud in the sky here yesterday)
The Banks Are In Charge Of The Economy
Karl Polanyi began his famous 1944 treatise, “The Great Transformation”, with the following words:
“Nineteenth-century civilization has collapsed. This book is concerned with the political and economic origins of this event …”
Irving Fisher’s 1936 Chicago Plan called for a separated monetary and credit function. This would:
1) Lead to much better control of the business cycle by providing a more stable monetary platform.
2) Eliminate bank runs.
3) Dramatically reduce net public debt.
4) Dramatically reduce private debt, as money creation no longer requires simultaneous debt creation.
Here is a video with Michael Kumhof explaining the Chicago Plan Revisited
http://youtu.be/YnAtHbDptj8
You’re on to it.
Not just me, this is from the *IMF* !
Can’t see our Bankster owned western ‘democracies’ doing this in the near future tho 🙁
Well, a few people at the IMF have woken up to the fact that the financial system (and thus the “economy”) is broken but it (The Chicago Plan) is still not IMF policy.
Voluntary code for infant formula revised
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10866834
“Formula donated in an emergency cannot be given directly to families and would be given only to infants medically required to be fed using formula, under the revised voluntary code.”
Good luck guarding the stash from a mob of mothers and fathers with hungry children.
Not worth the minimum wage, Mr security.
What about bird flu? Will the government give supplies of antiviral drugs to beneficiaries or force them to go without for lack of money?
Is staying alive a recoverable cost?
On a road to nowhere???, more like on a road to perpetual bankruptcy, who would believe that this is actually being discussed by supposedly ‘sane’ people,
The Land Transport Agency has admitted that the proposed Public/Private model to be used to build Wellington’s Transmission Gully Motorway will cost triple the billion dollars it would have cost by that Agency simply putting the construction out to tender,
‘Financial costs’ so the Transport Agency says, will mean that instead of the billion dollars of actual construction of Transmission Gully the taxpayer will be stung continually into the future with costs of another 2 billion dollars over and above the cost of construction,
Building such ‘white elephant’ motorways by such means simply makes a mockery of cost/benefit ratios where the ongoing costs triple the original build cost and provide little to ease the choke points on the Wellington motorway system, simply ensuring even more vehicles arrive at such choke points together in rush hour conditions,
For $100 million dollars parking buildings to enable ‘park and ride’ to reach it’s full potential could be built at stations such as Paraparaumu, Pukerua Bay, Mana, Paremata, Porirua and Tawa which would take hundreds if not thousands of commuters off of the motorway system at peak use times,
The same system of parking buildings could be attached to all the major train stations along the Hutt line of the railway system ensuring the removal of hundreds, if not thousands of motorists from the motorway system,
Watching this Government build ‘white elephant’ motorways that will cost us all triple what their actual value is is akin to watching a tribe of Neanderthalic primitives fight over a bunch of bananas…
Building those roads was never about the roads or the need for infrastructure but about paying out taxpayer monies to NACTs rich mates. I’d say that tripling the costs is proof enough of that.
bad12, your outline there also highlights the costs to all of society in utilising the interest-bearing money printing system we have. Take your tripling of costs and apply that pretty much right across society’s costs, especially housing, et voila…. a depressing thought. Imagine if all that work and sweat and tears (our money) going to pay for stupid printed dollar bills.
The financial system is a crock of the highest magnitude. Why do you think it is not taught in schools?
I suffered through the standard economics curriculum in 7th form, Mankiw’s awfully written textbook “Principles of Microeconomics” was entirely to blame for my bad result. Now I know why it just didn’t compute… it was complete bullshit.
Adam Smith wrote extensively about the principles of aesthetics and natural beauty, apart from his writings in economics – within which he also incorporated a lot of philosophical values.
Very few people remember that.
That is probably because he started off as a philosopher and realised that economics had a moral and political dimension as well as a merely financial. Something that contemporary economists seem to fail to realise.
Indeed
that Adam Smith fulla had a nice turn of phrase
Yep, i cannot find any disagreement with either your comment or the one above you, putting aside the question of the ‘need’ for Transmission Gully for the moment it is easy to identify this and other like projects as part of where Government should in fact be the actual builder of the asset along with the financier of note,
Simply having the Reserve Bank of New Zealand produce the necessary finance at 0% interest so as to enable a ‘new’ State owned builder to construct such projects would have it’s actual cost at a third of the price of involving the private sector,
In such a case once the asset,Transmission Gully, was completed the debt could then be ‘retired’ as the asset justifies the total of the debt
The one codicil that need be constantly stressed and kept in mind is that such projects built and funded in such a manner need fully take into consideration the Reserve Bank’s Inflationary Targets Band, which a carefully considered timeline of construction of such projects built and funded by such a means would negate any undue inflationary aspects of such construction…
wotta a Wonderwall drop of Laura Ashley; tangible brocade
Hmmm
Solid energy is in crisis http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10866874
Ain’t no way it is going to be privatised any time soon …
Oh look? More hands off economic management from the Government and Solid Energy goes down the toilet…
The government owns Solid Energy and appoints its Board. How is that hands off?
So we can blame Key, English, Joyce etc for the collapse of this SOE?
Yes. But don’t then go on to say that you want government to own and run all parts of the economy. They’re provenly shit at it.
Wow. I own my lawn and I’ve appointed a guy to cut it. And I’ve done that in order to be hands off.
Clayton Cosgrove just summed it up on Checkpoint “What does Tony Ryall do with his day?”
What are you after, exactly? John Key popping in every day with his lunch pail and telling them where to dig?
Maybe some happy medium, like having a chat and requiring the board to make changes before there’s a crisis?
Four years to do something. Driven into the ground like rail.
I know you think John Key is amazing, but don’t you think it’s expecting a bit much of him to know all of the ins and outs of running a coal company?
nah, but it would be nice if ministers could understand what their charges were doing. On a related point, it would also be nice if our pm could appoint competent ministers.
He’s supposed to know the ins and outs of running the fucking country, Ole.
So no, it’s not too much to ask that he appoint someone capable of appointing people capable of running a coal company.
Not too much at all, it’s exactly the fucking job we pay him to do.
SO, this present Slippery lead National Government having had 4 years in which to put in place a board sufficiently robust so as to be able to address the debt loading of the States coal miner Solid Energy has at the least been remiss in this duty and therefore must be held by the electorate to be responsible for the State’s coal miner’s current predicament…
Why the FUCK do we own a coal mining company?
Because it was part of an integrated energy supply network that the state used to own for the benefit of the whole country.
The SOE model and the fake competition ensuing increased costs, increased power prices, put large amounts of money into executive profit, duplicated infrastructure and removed any sense of collective co-ordination.
The correct question is why do have have such a fucked up fake competition model when the state should simply own and manage the whole lot for the benefit of all?
There, there Gormless no need to prove yourself the fool, we here at the Standard have long admired your particular personal penchant for 100% foolish comments guaranteed,
i can well imagine the argument you have proposed here being the same argument put to the National Government Cabinet when it next meets,
In fact your comments show a perfect timeline of the ‘thoughts’ of the right on such ownership, from the appointment of those who at board level have run the Stes mining operation into the ground right through the ”why the fuck” of your latest little snivel of a comment which is in effect the final act of those who simply refuse to take responsibility for their actions,
This is the Government of Saint Slippery of Bankers is it not, was not this individual trumpeted by you lot as the master business brain that would have New Zealand being the Singapore of the South Pacific in no time at all,
Where is this stunning transformation of the New Zealand economy from Saint Slippery, the gutting of Solid Energy just another step in the impoverishment of our country by the Shyster acting more on the behalf of His former employers than He has the people of New Zealand…
Man, you have to stop obsessing over me.
So do I, but by god it’s not easy.
WTF is a state owned enterprise even in debt to private banks?
Fool its an SOE which is run as all other plc,s !
National haven’t got a clue or are they secretly looking for the green vote!
Doing nothing about the high $ is hands off!
Jobs are being lost at an alarming rate across the country
and all we get is smarmy BS from Shonkey and blingish and a FW fool!
Yes bankrupt New Zealand, welcome to it, with 380 million dollars of debt and coal prices having fallen 40% the States coal miner Solid Energy is to all extents and purposes insolvent,
Having recently sacked 1/4 of it’s mining workforce Solid Energy are not able to ‘up’ production so as to enable it’self to trade out of it’s current financial predicament,
The insinuation from Bill from Dipton, a noted financial illiterate, is that not only will the axe be taken to the staff at Solid Energy’s Corporate HQ, the miner will also give the boot to another tranche of the actual mining workforce,
The prognosis is not good and i have the sneaking suspicion that Bill would like to flick Solid Energy off into the private market causing the loss of 100,s of jobs and the loss of a Billion Dollars to the taxpayers of New Zealand…
Of course they were in trouble already when they paid 7.5 million for Pike River – a vision that seemed odd at the time given their financial position and the low likelihood of PR ever making a profit.
I’m not sure who the receivers paid that money to but on any commercial basis it did seem strange given it was supposed to be an SOE to run on that basis.
I can also guarantee TC that if it was actually run directly by the state there wouldn’t have been the big salaries and board payments and bonuses. There is a few more millions of savings there as well that need not be spent.
QFT
Kill the super-high salaries of the SoE CEOs and we’d save ourselves tens of millions per year.
Mighty River made 75 m and Solid Energy lost 389 m. The price of coal is down 40 %.
How many weeks until budget day?
The government will probably pay one of their mates to take it off their hands. That might even be why it has been allowed to go broke.
Of course the state owned enterprise model never was supposed to actually work, only a few faithful labour party diehards (including the whole Clark government) ever believed they are anything other than holding mechanisms until suitable opportunities, including that they have gone broke, can be made for handing them over to the ruling class.
Gower reckoned tonight that the sale of Solid Energy won’t now go ahead – at least not any time soon.
Bugger, I had a buck or two spare: actually they might have to pay me to accept the shares.
It seems that Key said something similar to Gower earlier this week:
Helen Clark would probably say to Key’s government re the sale of Solid Energy, stop digging!
Yes, and the other ‘reasoning’ behind the SOE model is that it absolves from all responsibility the very politicians that are in favor of that SOE model,
By appointing to the Board of such SOE’s people of like leaning politicians of all hues are able to by the ‘buddy system’ interfere in the running of such State businesses, the Solid Energy purchase of Pike River being the perfect example, there is no paper trail of intervention apparent and with such a lack of transparency comes a lack of the people being able to hold the politicians responsible for any action/inaction surrounding any of the SOE’s…
Oh, look, the market fails to provide the best outcome for society yet again.
Poor bloody Coasters.
Agreed, the question has always been how to build a community with a sustainable economy on the Coast where extractive industry is linked to industrial usage elsewhere. The obvious answer is don’t mine, but if not coal mining what else? I have a feeling that as we suffer extreme energy decline over the next fifty years coal will again rear its head and be in vogue. I suspect when we cant buy a barrel of oil Coasters will be supplying coal to NZ Rail.
Coal will be in vogue again as we suffer extreme energy decline? Yes, certainly. But when you look at the chart below, you’ll see that already, coal is more in vogue than ever before and has been for many years.
http://photos.mongabay.com/09/coal_1990-2030.jpg
Only if we’re really stupid and don’t convert rail to electric.
coal fired electric power stationz!
govt Asset sales propaganda not looking pretty!
govt mining for growth complete failure!
100% pure bullshit! Nationals brighter Future!
Bad option no matter what NACT say. Far better to build wind turbines and solar power collectors.
[deleted]
[lprent: Even after reading this twice I still have no idea who it was directed against, what they were complaining about, or even if it was defamatory or what legal position it would leave us in. Not worth the risk to the site and it was so badly written that I was hard put to even view it as being bad satire. FFS no-one reading it could have even have figured out if it was about a politician, a member of the public, or a committee of dancing poodles.
Incidentally as you may have gathered, I formed the opinion that whoever wrote this incoherent pile of paranoid waffle has long since lost their tinfoil hat, really should get another made with the utmost speed, and put into use as their first course of action. Alternatively using the services of a doctor would have been indicated.
Sure it probably wasn’t technically defamatory. But that probably wasn’t by intent. It was through sheer bloody minded stupidity, not only on the writers part, but also for you being foolish enough to put it up. Don’t abuse your access here so lightly. At least read the frigging things before putting them up. ]
Interesting,but, reading that it almost sounds defamatory in content, just an opinion…
https://twitter.com/jacindaardern/status/304093223020789760/photo/1
Yeah nice one from Jacinda, She should have a placard made of that and every time any of the present Slippery Shyster Government mention benefit fraud in the house display it to them…
Got rid of the bingbot’s major issue with this site. It can no longer see the reply links, and nor can a number of other bots, spiders and crawlers when they access the site through the normal pages. RSS is ok…
There are 524k comments on the site, each has a reply link. That is a lot of links on the site. The dumb bots were each following the link to get a new copy of the page with the reply on it. Humans use the javascript onclick. Bots read the link provided for people without javascript.
Anyway finished an upgrade. Rebooting server and then it is time to sleep.
Back up again. Database has had a clean up.
Cheers Lynn. Can the font be changed? I am tired of Times New Roman …
I was tired of it when we put the new theme in back in 2010. I’ll put it back on the agenda for discussion.
As long as it ain’t Comic Sans or fucking Calibri I’m happy.
There’s a version of Calibri known as Fucking Calibri? I’m definitely going to be posting in that from now on.
What’s wrong with Comic Sans?
Too jazzy?
Hey I’m a conservative at heart – well for everything apart from doing large scale code shifts just before release. But definitely about fonts….
Comic Sans isn’t common enough across systems. Putting wacking big font lists in for the range of browsers is just irritating. Getting users to download them is also a bit of an issue for the few remaining people on dial-up..
The last two years of visits by browser
1 Firefox
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 28.96%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 33.35%
2 Internet Explorer
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 24.50%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 28.79%
3 Safari
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 20.85%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 18.80%
4 Chrome
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 19.80%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 15.12%
5 Android Browser
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 2.14%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.62%
6 Mozilla Compatible Agent
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 1.21%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 1.12%
7 Opera
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 1.13%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 1.32%
8 Safari (in-app)
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.49%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.00%
9 Opera Mini
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.38%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.28%
10 IE with Chrome Frame
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.18%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.04%
And operating system…
1 Windows
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 65.79%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 70.22%
2 Macintosh
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 18.93%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 19.96%
3 iOS
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 6.06%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.00%
4 Android
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 2.56%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.88%
5 Linux
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 2.45%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 2.46%
6 iPad
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 2.02%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 2.42%
7 iPhone
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 1.35%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 3.12%
8 (not set)
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.46%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.34%
9 BlackBerry
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.14%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.12%
10 iPod
Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012 0.10%
Dec 31, 2010 - Dec 31, 2011 0.42%
People still use IE? Wow.
Yep. And windows.
a broad brush of The Human Stain the other day in one of your comments Lynn…