Oh fuck – we can't have a small island nation in the Pacific exercising its sovereign rights – the US told us we have to create a foreign affairs fuss! Fuck the fact that we are prepared to shit on an important trading partner after our ''ethnically sensitive" Minister of Foreign Affairs strode around proclaiming we had a mature relationship with China.
A lot of fuss over what is laughingly called a military base in the Solomon Islands when as a five-eyes spy, we condone the master having 800 world-wide. What happened to the days when we aspired to be a moral nation. Oh yeah – that 's before we became a snivelling state of grovellers needing warm fuzzies from a senile, easily confused US President.
So you welcome anyone not the US having a port in the Pacific for their nuclear powered and armed fleet?
The whole point of our nuclear free Pacific policy was to keep this super power shit out of our region.
What sort of nation turns atolls into islands in breach of international law – then militarises them, after saying it won't. One you should not trust that's who.
What was missed? Where is the report that says China intends establishing a nuclear powered and armed fleet in the Solomon's or that the anti-nuke policy was to keep the US out of the Pacific?
Talking about turning atolls into islands leads one to think about, for example, Diago Garcia. Makes conversion of a few atolls look pretty tame – especially when the US has over 800 bases around the world.
Surely the Solomon's are entitled to exercise sovereignty, or is that only for an approved class of states?
Our nuclear vessel free port policy was part of a nuclear free South Pacific policy (our equivalent to the US-USSR agreement to withdrawal missiles from Europe).
All for the principle of national sovereignty regardless of neighbours wish to keep the super power rivalry out it it – and your opine on Ukraine is …
The fact is China is making a territorial claim in a major sea land and stealing from the economic zones of other nations – all in breach of international law. And it promised it would not militarise the islands. A deliberate lie.
Trading partner or not, that is a concern.
We will probably seek assurances from them, but should we trust what they say now?
Where did you get, "base for the Chinese navy not excluding …?" and what fits on the …… space?
2. A territorial claim of a few tiny atolls are a real worry. Some aircraft carrier fleet may crash into them on wild nights while doing some 'freedom of access' cruises (sarc/)
3. Seems most of the stealing from Pacific economic zones is done by humungous chartered fishing ships from Europe etc.
4. Lost me there – got a link?
5. What is your concern, trading or partner?
6. Seems China's word is pretty much its bond, with friends. The other option is a well proven liar that seldom bothers about commitments, even to friends.
The publicised arrangement is apparently without exclusion of nuclear powered ships, or those with nuclear weapons, and no exclusion from use of the ports in wartime.
A clear lack of consideration of other nations in the area and their interests.
China doing this is the regional equivalent of Ukraine joining NATO
Turning atolls into islands and claiming them as part of territory in breach of international law, stealing the economic zones of surrounding nations (including harassment of their fishing fleets) and lying about plans to militarise them is the equivalent of annexing territory off Ukraine.
Global war like global warming is inevitable. The cause is the same for both. Infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible. Causing us not just to crash up against the physical limits of the planet, but up against each other.
it doesn't matter which side started the war, or even where it first breaks out. The war is inevitable. It is also inevitable that now that war has broken out somewhere, that, that war will become a global conflict.
The grotesque war being raged in Ukraine targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, is the modern method of warfare. The fixed lines of conventional standing armies arrayed against each other last seen in the First World War and in preceding wars, first fully abandoned at Guernica, has been honed and perfected in numerous wars ever since.
The destruction of Warsaw resembled the destruction of Guernica, The destruction of Dresden resembled the destruction of Warsaw, the destruction of Aleppo resembled the destruction of Warsaw, The destruction of Mariupol resembles all of them.
Hi Ad, sorry for upsetting you so. You can't please everybody I suppose. The fact is, I purposely limited myself to only one link in my comment, I was trying hard not to annoy Incognito, who seems to prefer opinion, more than debate backed up with linked based facts.
The ends does not justify the means. Rotten means are indicative of Rotten….. ends…..
[@ 7:18 am you posted your first absurdly long comment, the first comment in OM. Of course, it had too many links, as usual, and was held up in Auto-Moderation until a Moderator released it @ 9:48 am.
@ 10:33 am you reposted the same comment here with only a very subtle change at the top without first checking that your initial comment had been approved and released.
Hi Ad, If you really want to debate anything about my comment this morning, that displeased you. (Before I take up your suggestion that I burn my keyboard, ie ban myself). I will provide you with all the link based facts, that you could possibly want, to back up my comment. even at the risk of being banned again.
[Are you kidding me? Really? Seriously?
You’ve been spamming this site for a long time with ultra-long copy & pasta comments that often had too many links, which triggered the spam-trap and making work for Moderators. The limit is no more than 10 links per comment.
You’ve been given clear educational feedback about your commenting behaviour. Many times. The central role of robust debate here on TS is opinion supported by facts (and links), not the other way round, such as long swaths of copied & pasta text and/or YT clips (short or tediously long) with a few fluffy words on the side dressed up as opinion, commentary, or reason to waste time on (all) the links and clips.
It is not the all-or-nothing that you seem to think it is, but I’d prefer this from you any day: “Testing, testing. 123”.
Learn from other commenters here, as most (!) do a great job of commenting and participating in debate here – Incognito]
" Infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible".
Why do you, and others, keep repeating this silly phrase? After all, as I am sure any mathematician would tell you, that to get to "infinite" growth would take an infinite time. Given that the Sun will expand out and destroy any life on earth within a finite period (albeit in about a billion years) we really don't have to worry about your concept of "infinite" growth do we?
Well, if you don't understand that "infinite" doesn't mean just a very large number you are. I believe it was Einstein who said “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”. Well anytime you start rabbiting on about "infinite" growth you are displaying human stupidity.
Unlimited growth on a limited planet is impossible.
Better? Some prefer to 'live without limits', but (to paraphrase Dirty Harry): 'A civilisation’s got to know its limitations' – spaceship Earth and many of its inhabitants are showing signs of stress.
Not in mathematics,In pseudoscience such as social or political studies,it requires creating a problem (which may or not exist) and offering burnt toast to the gods of metaphysics as pennance.
My reaction to that was best expressed by Tom Lehrer in his introduction to the song Alma
"It's people like that who make you realize how little you've accomplished. It is a sobering thought, for example, that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years."
Of course it could have been like Dorothy Parker when she discovered that Incognito was dead. Her response was "How can they tell".
Edit. Sorry, sorry. I have misquoted the lady. She said it about Calvin Coolidge. But who would know the difference?
Why do you, and others, keep repeating this silly phrase? After all, as I am sure any mathematician would tell you, that to get to "infinite" growth would take an infinite time.
– alwyn @1.2.2
Kudos, alwyn, for your precious contribution to the supertask debate – your knowledge & intellect is exceeded only by your twit.
Edit. Sorry, sorry. 'Wit', not 'twit', although in alwyn's case there’s precious little difference, imho
Janet Wilson, doing her media pro thing, contrasts the PM's speechifying style of two years ago & now:
Where 2020’s speech was short and sharp – 1819 words in length – this week’s was long and rambling at 3193 words. It began with a history lesson. A history lesson we all knew only too well, because we’d been through it. So why tell us it in the first place? If only to be self-congratulatory and remind us that the Government had got us safely through the pandemic?
The speech also falls prey to the curse of governments that have been in power for a while, by telling us too much detail in an explaining-is-losing kind of way. There was a lot of revisionary talk about the traffic light system, which any good sub-editor would have taken the red pen to, and the need for vaccine passes then but not now.
Yeah, the PM was obviously intent on carefully closing the stable door several months after the horse had bolted.
The speech, a miasma of unjoined-up thinking that dismantled the traffic light system while still retaining it, ended with: “This is not the end, but in some ways, it is a new beginning.”
Except it wasn’t. The Greek chorus of experts that had until now sat behind the prime minister, backing up the science, went rogue. Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles described the dropping of vaccine passes, scanning requirements and some mandates as “disappointing”, saying she’d prefer to have kept it. That was backed up by epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker.
Hell hath no fury like public health experts scorned by their government, who had hitherto been legislating in accord with their consensus. Still, their linguistic restraint was admirable in the circumstances! Poll-driven govts must follow the sheeple, after all. The sheeple noticed that the protest had generated sufficient resonance in the public mind to affect a change of mood – so they stampeded through that gate.
So the govt's exhibition of totalitarianism has produced a substantial loss of public support. Can they learn the lesson? Unlikely. Have you ever seen a liberal learn from experience? The PM's retreat into denial stimulated a stylistic critique from the media pro but the underlying psychology is more significant.
Responding to changed circumstances with fresh initiative is good, but her failure to learn from the cause & effect relation that produced the loss of public confidence is bad. Leadership requires active intelligence that responds suitably, and in politics that means getting to the point fast and accurately. She failed that test – but where the hell are any competent advisors? Can't blame her alone. Clueless deputy PM & clueless deputy Labour leader must share it. And the Greens are still not helping.
Janet Wilson, as she has done for so many months is grasping at straws.
This is the government getting out of the way after two years of heath measures. People are now dying, which is what Janet and her friends on the right and far right want.
It is unfortunate but there was always going to be a point at which the water found its level since NZ was not going to be locked up forever.
It's alway amusing when the opposition criticises the government for doing something which they themselves had been advocating for many months, ie allowing Covid deaths…
…150 in the weeks since Omicron arrived. Three times the total before that. But #Omicronismild. You could almost stick it in a syringe and call it a vaccine…
l'm fascinated by successive governments who always provide the public with a plethora of initiatives to be implemented once elected. But they never think of sitting down and dismantling the time lines of previous governments to see at what stage of governance problems start becoming apparent.
In fact it's no secret after two terms in office, a third term is usually a government's swan song as public boredom and discontent grows.
Yes but the current question is whether the current govt will even get to a third term. Poor recent performance has produced polling that introduces the question.
Focus on the PM isn't a good idea. Too traditional. The principle of collective leadership also applies. What Labour is currently displaying is total lack of support for the PM from within their ranks. Those with nominal leadership positions are first in the firing line: Grant & Kelvin! However the Green co-leaders are also failing.
Reading a Twitter thread about a woman's partner, working in Poland as an aid worker for the Ukrainian refugees. He mentioned the lack of administration and safeguarding in terms of private citizens turning up offering accommodation and support.
Genevieve Gluckman covers the crisis capitalism (and explotation) on her Substack:
Human traffickers have previously abducted women and girls from conflict-affected areas in Ukraine for sex and labor trafficking, according to a 2021 U.S. State Department report. In addition, research from human rights bodies has consistently found that displaced, refugee, and migrant women and children are at an increased risk of human trafficking.
Recently, a charity worker helping refugees flee Ukraine told HuffPost UK, “I have seen numerous dodgy men standing on site for hours looking for victims. You can tell by the distant look in their eyes, they won’t look at you, but they are scanning the crowds of refugees for victims,” he added.
Anna Dabrowska, director of human rights at the NGO Homo Faber, said men at the border were approaching women with children offering them safe accommodation in Germany. When the women asked police for advice, the men would quickly disappear from the station.
“For predators and human traffickers, the war in Ukraine is not a tragedy,” Secretary-General of the UN António Guterres recently commented. “It’s an opportunity – and women and children are the targets.”
Sorry but can't go past a Graham Lineham post without adding something:
[The Spanish archer has arrived and given you the weekend off. Your reply to Molly’s serious comment was an infantile piss-take YT clip and you have been skating on thin ice before this (e.g. yesterday in OM). I don’t need the extra work this weekend – Incognito]
I’m flattered, but I’m not furry (my cat is) and I don’t have a heart of stone. Nor am I peach cream, sweet and juicy. You must be confusing me somebody else, you unfaithful one. I’m breaking up with you
Authorities chasing these mongrels should see this as an opportunity to observe exactly who these men are and follow them home, through the web, their contacts.. get em!
Already women and girls have gone missing. Quite a few actually. Warnings about sex trafficking came from Berlin, Poland, England etc. But that was to be expected. And hence why many time in war times men try to get out first and then have their wife and children follow.
In Germany they hand out little leaflets with ‘prostitution is legal’ to arriving women and others.
disclaimer: women and girls are adult human females and child human females irrespective of their 'self id'.
Yes I have been wondering about this – the threat is obvious. This is one matter where EU authorities absolutely need to expand their thinking and step up. This is likely the largest and most rapid refugee crisis in all of human history and in it's own right demands an extraordinary response.
Nothing will more rapidly undermine solidarity than accounts of Ukrainian women and children being exploited or worse by predatory filth.
It seems Xi Jinping is to prioritise (economic and political) security before global warming.
China looks set to reduce its imports of gas this year and use more local coal (while also increasing renewable energy capacity for the longer term).
One reason would be price, another geo-political given sanctions on Russian gas and playing the nuetral (and also energy independence given the potential for sanctions on China over … ).
Kim Jong-un rocking his new cool look, launches the new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile….I would wager a bet that no missile in history has been treated to such a over the top, flamboyant launch….
Hell, he can't even afford a real leather jacket. Ah, well, at least he has his missile and a multitude of starving countrymen. What more could a dictator want?
What did everyone think of the rudd interview this morn ? I really admire the way Kim reads out the feedback from her show positive an neg warts n all .Rudd's managed to garner quite a lot of publicity for his new book but having kissingers name on the cover would be sufficiently offputting to deter not a few readers i would have thought !.
Maybe i imagined listening to it this morn incog ?nothing comes up in their search bar could be my ineptitude i guess .Maybe someone else can find it ? Hope so the feedback alone was worth listening for in fact more rewarding than the interview itself Kevin rudd imagines himself soooo pivotal
That is code for Russia is getting its arse handed to it everywhere else in Ukraine, and so it should settle for something that might be achievable. But, that might be too little too late I think.
Yes. He should have started by capturing the south. He could have quickly captured all the port cities if he had focussed all his forces there.
Then he would have been able to strangle the Ukrainian economy as they would not have been able to export their commodities very easily.
Also, it wouldn't have given the west time to build up momentum with sanctions etc and arming the Ukranians. It would probably have been the west huffing and puffing as usual without doing much.
But the situation now is that they don't control Odessa, and probably won't. Also, it looks like the Russians could lose Kershon.
Now, if they retreat back to Donbass they will have to maintain a strong military presence there in the face of huge sanctions. Also, they will have to deal with an insurgency armed to the teeth who will be trying to drive them out of Donbas and Crimea.
Also, it looks like large numbers of Russian forces around Kiev are in danger of being encircled by the Ukranians. So there may well be some mass surrenders up there.
Now that Russia looks like they will retreat to the Donbas, the response of the international community should be to tell Russia that sanctions start to be withdrawn once they move their forces right out of Ukraine, including an exit from Crimea.
It would be interesting to know if the Crimeans still feel the same way after they have seen how Russia has treated Russian speaking parts of Ukraine that could well include their friends and relatives.
Have you any evidence to support that statement. Or is it just one of those "I want it to be the case that …." opinions without any evidence to back it up?
Human immunity is dead in the water when confronted with a virus that's evolved to evade superior rodent immunity. Who woulda thunk it.
So-called "natural immunity" against COVID-19 has always been a dodgy argument for avoiding vaccination during the pandemic. But amid omicron, natural immunity is clearly rubbish.
Unvaccinated people who recover from an omicron coronavirus variant infection are left with paltry levels of neutralizing antibodies against omicron. They also have almost no neutralizing antibodies against any of five other coronavirus variants, including delta. People who were vaccinated before getting an omicron infection, however, have strong protection against all five variants, and they have some of the highest levels of neutralizing antibodies against omicron.
And the idea that this allows are removal of constraints,such as mask wearing in the UK now sees a higher rate of hospitilisation (record admissions) and 1 in 11 infected in scotland.
In Scotland, the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 continued to increase in the week ending 20 March 2022; we estimate that 473,800 people in Scotland had COVID-19 (95% credible interval: 436,100 to 512,500), equating to 9.00% of the population or around 1 in 11 people.
On the 1 of April the UK removes free testing,Has closed down the NHS covid testing labs,so there will be a significant inability to provide high quality data.
Then when you read the actual study being referred to, the main thrust of it is that unvaccinated people infected with omicron don't have antibodies for the other variants, which is what you would expect if they have never previously contracted those variants. This is summed up in their conclusion:
"Despite certain limitations of this study, including the small sample size and retrospective study design (Table S7), our data support the hypothesis that the omicron BA.1 variant is an extremely potent immune-escape variant that shows little cross-reactivity with the earlier variants. Therefore, unvaccinated persons who are infected with the omicron BA.1 variant only (without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection) might not be sufficiently protected against infection with a SARS-CoV-2 variant other than omicron BA.1; for full protection, vaccination is warranted." https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201607
The bits in the arsetechnica article"natural immunity is clearly rubbish" and the unvaccinated being left with "paltry levels of neutralizing antibodies".. might well then just be propaganda?
… which is what you would expect if they have never previously contracted those variants.
Did the vaccines induces antibodies against all variants so far, with the possible exception of Omicron BA.1? Indeed, they did.
Did (most) unvaccinated people who were infected have antibodies against new(er) variants, with the possible exception of Omicron BA.1? Indeed, they did.
Omicron BA.1 is the exception that proves the rule that usually there’s at least some level of cross-reactivity with different but related variants of the same virus.
And colonialism consumes a lot of power, to produce a boring product. In an article once I described it thus, "The history of Marlborough is the story of water usage and rights from first Māori colonisation in Aotearoa at the Wairau Bar till modern viticulture. Joseph was prescient in saying that Marlborough's history was like water. But how much?
He did not write of what is now rightly becoming more general knowledge. Our history is much more. But then it had been water distilled in a colonial retort, sanitised, made potable and safe."
What's raw water? Distilled water isn't ordinary water. It has all minerals and added crap removed. It is a solvent. It should have a TDS reading of zero.
There's a huge debate about whether DW leaches minerals from the body.
Some say crap, minerals in water can't be used by the body. Others say minerals are needed by the body to act as electrical conductors.
Hence my post to see if anyone had been drinking DS for years, and had they encountered any problems? Personally, I feel great on the stuff. I haven't drunk tap water since they added chlorine to our water supply.
Raw water is a trend at the other end of the BS water industry: completely untreated and gathered from streams and suchlike, shilled as natural and wonderfully healthy.
If minerals in the water can't be used by the body, then fluoridation isn't a problem for the anti-fluoride mob and lead isn't a problem for our aging water infrastructure.
On the one hand, distilled water won't have giardia and suchlike in it (the reason the chlorine is there). On the other, the only way you'll get trace elements like fluoride is through food. Makes a balanced diet more important, including sourcing food from overseas to balance any soil deficiencies we have here (it's why our table salt is iodised).
OK I worked in the bulk water supply industry for almost a decade.
We add about 0.8ppm free chlorine at the treatment plant.
By the time it gets to the reservoirs it has dropped to about 0.4ppm
By the time it gets to your taps it is usually less than 0.2ppm free chlorine. That level is harmless.
It is not the chlorine that is the problem, it is the organochlorides that are the byproduct of it's disinfection action which have the potential to be carcinogenic. It is not a very high risk, but nor has anyone demonstrated a direct cause and effect, but it is taken seriously all the same.
The primary role of the treatment plant is to remove as much organics from the water before we add chlorine to absolutely minimise this issue. We typically use UV spectroscopic instruments to accurately measure the organics arriving in the plant, then carefully manage the flocculant dosing to get the delivery water as close to a measured zero organics as possible, before the chlorine is added. This is usually the last step before it leaves the plant. Again this chlorine addition process is carefully measured and controlled within pretty tight limits. (Also this is when any fluoride is added as well.)
Then at key points in the distribution system we will also continuously measure three critical variables – pH, Turbidity and Free Chlorine content. If the pH is within a certain range – 7.4 – 8.1 from memory – and the turbidity is less than a certain value, and the free chlorine is within range – then we can be very certain the water is safe to drink. Samples are also physically drawn at least daily and lab analysed in much further detail.
This data is stored and analysed comprehensively and in order to maintain NZDWS certification an annual report and audit of performance must be submitted. All this compliance activity is taken very seriously by the industry in my experience – although I cannot rule out that some smaller councils may struggle with resourcing and skills from time to time – in general the big city operators are by world standards extremely good in NZ.
Interesting reply. My chlorine issue is more about smell and taste. My city had great drinking water until they decided to chlorinate. I remember the first time I made coffee with chlorinated water, I spat it out, it was that foul. My hair became dank and lifeless, and even my distiller, with a VOC filter. couldn't remove the smell or taste. I now use well water.
I understand there are different types of chlorine, one of those cannot be filtered from water if I understand things correctly. That may be the type my council is using?
Previously I had rung my council up, and they put me on to a water treatment worker who told me they were using a 35% solution of chlorine ( I should have asked for context). Looking at your ratios, I'm wondering if my council have a clue as to what they are doing.
It is not the chlorine you can smell or taste, but the by products of its disinfection action (DBP's). In fact if you have free chlorine in absolutely clean water there is no smell at all – but a swimming pool where there is plenty of disinfection going on will have a very distinctive odour.
Keep in mind that chlorine ions are not dangerous like the gas is. After all table salt is 50% ionic chlorine and the ocean is full of it.
I understand there are different types of chlorine,
Yes there are. It can be added as pure free chlorine which is the time tested method that I think is still dominant in NZ, or as a compound mix of chlorine and ammonia called chloramine which is now dominant in Aus and the US as far as I know. There are pros and cons to both.
Aquatic life for example is very sensitive to chloramine treated water – it will kill a tank full of pet goldfish overnight. And while chloramine doesn't produce as much in the way of DBP's it still does – and produces a much wider range of them (many thousands) albeit in tiny, tiny quantities, but most have never been researched or understood from a medical perspective. The NZ approach is that you are better off removing the organics before adding chlorine in any form.
The third wild card factor is that some small fraction of the population are what we called 'supertasters' – people who could detect tiny amounts and changes in the water quality. We had one staff member who could reliably tell us exactly what water source we were using and from which plant – and he was very useful to help us improve our treatment processes and algorithms to minimise this impact. We thought they might be around 1 – 2% of the population – so you could easily be one.
Disclaimer – I merely designed and wrote the control systems for all of this and what I've outlined here is only the fundamentals that I absorbed along the way. Actual specialists would have a lot more to add.
Yep. There are two sides to every conflict, but of course mainstream media don’t believe in free speech so very few people worldwide are able to get some sort of balance.
Good on TS for allowing free speech, though there are many here who are in denial of acceptance of the ‘ other points of view’ and will respond with some sort of dismissive vitriol. However those who only believe in a one sided argument will continue in their delusionment.
The ridiculous unintentional dark humour of General Sergei Rudskoy, Russia's version of Baghdad Bob.
….The course of the operation confirmed the validity of this decision.
It is conducted by the General Staff in strict accordance with the approved plan.
The tasks are carried out taking into account minimizing losses among personnel and minimizing damage to civilians….
Thank you Franscesca for providing us this exposure of the Russian high command's out of touch with reality. We can only hope that for their own people's sake that they don't actually believe this themselves.
Man you really will just swallow(and then regurgitate) anything handed to you…have you ever thought about actually turning on that internal bullshit detector most humans are born with once and awhile?
Irrelevant and distracting YT clips are not a substitute for a strong counter-argument or counter-view and robust debate. We have been here so many times
Stiff resistance in Ukraine, protests on the home front.
Now this:
Russian troops attack own commanding officer after suffering heavy losses
By Lexi Lonas- 03/25/22 03:20 PM EDT
Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbaliuk said in a post on Facebook that Russian Col. Yuri Medvedev was attacked after fighting in Ukraine left nearly half of the men in the 37th Motor Rifle Brigade dead, The Washington Post reported.
Tsymbaliuk said the brigade injured both of Medvedev's legs by hitting him with a tank, causing him to be hospitalized, according to the newspaper.
The incident occurred roughly 30 miles from Kyiv, in Makariv, Ukraine, the Post reported. The country reportedly retook the town this week after Russia gained control of it earlier in the war.
A senior Western official told the newspaper that he thinks Medvedev has died, saying the incident shows the low morale among the Russian troops in Ukraine.
Documented and suspected fragging incidents totaled nearly nine hundred from 1969 to 1972. [from the wiki]
Think it was from Michael Herr's book that I recall it.
described by no less a critic than John Le Carré as “the best book ever written about men at war in our time”.
He met soldiers with a left pocket full of Dexedrine, the “upper” officially administered by the army to get them into battle, and a right pocket full of “downers” to get them through it.
Re Ukraine, looks like Putin has a pivot back to the east in mind. If we take yesterday's dual propaganda releases by Russian generals seriously. Note their suggestions that the Ukrainians are bombing their own hospitals, women, & children.
My comment to Joe90 above, applies to you as well….you do know that everything you said and linked to above comes from western sources, who all believe they themselves are at war with Russia, so by extension everything they say has to be considered war propaganda now?…. nothing in your comment is verifiable at this point.
We see the same old propaganda playbook the Russians used in Syria, "…the Ukrainians are bombing their own people to make us look bad," bull-(cough)-shit.
The fact is the Russian aggressor is losing, and losing badly. A point I notice you don't dispute.
+….. nothing in your comment is verifiable at this point." Adrian Thornton
I am glad you qualified your statement.
And you are right, of course. And I thought hard on whether I should comment on it. But this reported incidence of fragging in the Russian forces, was not just covered by Western sources, but also by India's Wion News.
Last week, videos from Wion News, which prides itself on even handed reporting of this war, was blocked from you tube, for posting reports favourable of Russia.
Thanks J.h.t.g.there, that's all I am asking for from TS community… some thought and independent research that can be called on if needed, to verify their comments….well verify to some degree anyway, as none of us can know what is really happing (or has happened) and won’t until well after this war is over..a fact I am sure you are well aware of.
I am an enemy of Putin (and was of Trump I might add), but the endless mindless, thoughtless, uncritical regurgitating of (mainly) western MSM media propaganda on both those subjects is infuriating..I mean it's not as if those two and their horrible projects haven't got enough real issues to draw on right?…why do so many smart people here constantly resort to speculation and such obvious logic bending half truths all the friggin' time!…that is what I want to know?
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Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
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. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The 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 ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
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A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
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The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Jeremiah Manele has been elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, polling 31 votes to 18 over rival candidate and former opposition leader Mathew Wale with one abstention. The final result of the election by secret ballot was announced by the Governor-General, Sir David Vunagi, ...
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The NZQA proposal released to staff today would involve a net loss of 35 roles. There are 66 roles being disestablished with 13 of those currently vacant, and 31 new roles proposed, said Fleur Fitzsimons Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga ...
Alex Casey talks to Loren Taylor, the writer, director and star of new film The Moon is Upside Down, about assembling her dream ensemble cast, toilet paper pads and turning literal dreams into reality. There’s a moment in The Moon is Upside Down where frazzled anaesthetist Briar (Loren Taylor) gets ...
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As the government tries to get the country back on track with a school phone ban, Tara Ward has an idea for where they should turn their attention to next.New Zealand students returned to school on Monday morning, but their cellphones did not. The government’s new phone ban began ...
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The PSA is concerned that the voluntary redundancies being offered to staff by Stats NZ will impact on the agency’s ability to deliver on its core functions. ...
Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. I love cooking. The kitchen is a hearth of culinary creation, of sensory delights, of gastronomic poetry. I also can’t afford anything nice. Why does a pack of instant noodles and some milk cost ten bucks? I love you, Aotearoa, but I miss ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
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The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
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Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
While women’s sport is exploding in Aotearoa and around the world, you still don’t hear a lot of talk about athletes and their periods, RED-S, breastfeeding and visible panty-lines. SASS (Suze and Sez Sports)Talk isn’t afraid to have that kōrero.LockerRoom founder Suzanne McFadden and Olympian broadcaster Sarah ...
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Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
Oh fuck – we can't have a small island nation in the Pacific exercising its sovereign rights – the US told us we have to create a foreign affairs fuss! Fuck the fact that we are prepared to shit on an important trading partner after our ''ethnically sensitive" Minister of Foreign Affairs strode around proclaiming we had a mature relationship with China.
A lot of fuss over what is laughingly called a military base in the Solomon Islands when as a five-eyes spy, we condone the master having 800 world-wide. What happened to the days when we aspired to be a moral nation. Oh yeah – that 's before we became a snivelling state of grovellers needing warm fuzzies from a senile, easily confused US President.
So you welcome anyone not the US having a port in the Pacific for their nuclear powered and armed fleet?
The whole point of our nuclear free Pacific policy was to keep this super power shit out of our region.
What sort of nation turns atolls into islands in breach of international law – then militarises them, after saying it won't. One you should not trust that's who.
Can the coming world war be stopped?
If we can unravel the imperialist causes of war.
If we can regulate our unconstrained growth economy that is the root cause of expansionist wars.
If we can untangle ourselves from economic and military imperialist alliances.
Then this country can become a voice for peace and the keeping of the natural world and climate within natural limits.
What was missed? Where is the report that says China intends establishing a nuclear powered and armed fleet in the Solomon's or that the anti-nuke policy was to keep the US out of the Pacific?
Talking about turning atolls into islands leads one to think about, for example, Diago Garcia. Makes conversion of a few atolls look pretty tame – especially when the US has over 800 bases around the world.
Surely the Solomon's are entitled to exercise sovereignty, or is that only for an approved class of states?
A base for the Chinese navy not excluding …
Our nuclear vessel free port policy was part of a nuclear free South Pacific policy (our equivalent to the US-USSR agreement to withdrawal missiles from Europe).
All for the principle of national sovereignty regardless of neighbours wish to keep the super power rivalry out it it – and your opine on Ukraine is …
The fact is China is making a territorial claim in a major sea land and stealing from the economic zones of other nations – all in breach of international law. And it promised it would not militarise the islands. A deliberate lie.
Trading partner or not, that is a concern.
We will probably seek assurances from them, but should we trust what they say now?
2. A territorial claim of a few tiny atolls are a real worry. Some aircraft carrier fleet may crash into them on wild nights while doing some 'freedom of access' cruises (sarc/)
3. Seems most of the stealing from Pacific economic zones is done by humungous chartered fishing ships from Europe etc.
4. Lost me there – got a link?
5. What is your concern, trading or partner?
6. Seems China's word is pretty much its bond, with friends. The other option is a well proven liar that seldom bothers about commitments, even to friends.
The publicised arrangement is apparently without exclusion of nuclear powered ships, or those with nuclear weapons, and no exclusion from use of the ports in wartime.
A clear lack of consideration of other nations in the area and their interests.
China doing this is the regional equivalent of Ukraine joining NATO
Turning atolls into islands and claiming them as part of territory in breach of international law, stealing the economic zones of surrounding nations (including harassment of their fishing fleets) and lying about plans to militarise them is the equivalent of annexing territory off Ukraine.
https://thediplomat.com/2016/12/its-official-xi-jinping-breaks-his-non-militarization-pledge-in-the-spratlys/
Maybe you should check out the history of the Marshal Islands.
It's not a pretty story…for the locals,anyway.
There is no us, or them. It is all us.
Global war like global warming is inevitable. The cause is the same for both. Infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible. Causing us not just to crash up against the physical limits of the planet, but up against each other.
it doesn't matter which side started the war, or even where it first breaks out. The war is inevitable. It is also inevitable that now that war has broken out somewhere, that, that war will become a global conflict.
The grotesque war being raged in Ukraine targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, is the modern method of warfare. The fixed lines of conventional standing armies arrayed against each other last seen in the First World War and in preceding wars, first fully abandoned at Guernica, has been honed and perfected in numerous wars ever since.
The destruction of Warsaw resembled the destruction of Guernica, The destruction of Dresden resembled the destruction of Warsaw, the destruction of Aleppo resembled the destruction of Warsaw, The destruction of Mariupol resembles all of them.
Set fire to your keyboard so we don't have to read more of your fact-free catastrophist wankery.
Real mature.
A well written and thoughtful opinion causes you to verbally blow your load like a premature ejaculator Ad. Says much about you and it ain't nice.
Thanks Jenny for such a good read to start the day.
Hi Ad, sorry for upsetting you so. You can't please everybody I suppose. The fact is, I purposely limited myself to only one link in my comment, I was trying hard not to annoy Incognito, who seems to prefer opinion, more than debate backed up with linked based facts.
Hi Ad, If you really want to debate anything about my comment this morning, that displeased you. (Before I take up your suggestion that I burn my keyboard, ie ban myself). I will provide you with all the link based facts, that you could possibly want, to back up my comment. even at the risk of being banned again.
[Are you kidding me? Really? Seriously?
You’ve been spamming this site for a long time with ultra-long copy & pasta comments that often had too many links, which triggered the spam-trap and making work for Moderators. The limit is no more than 10 links per comment.
You’ve been given clear educational feedback about your commenting behaviour. Many times. The central role of robust debate here on TS is opinion supported by facts (and links), not the other way round, such as long swaths of copied & pasta text and/or YT clips (short or tediously long) with a few fluffy words on the side dressed up as opinion, commentary, or reason to waste time on (all) the links and clips.
It is not the all-or-nothing that you seem to think it is, but I’d prefer this from you any day: “Testing, testing. 123”.
Learn from other commenters here, as most (!) do a great job of commenting and participating in debate here – Incognito]
Mod note
That’s what I call a heartfelt appeal to reason
" Infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible".
Why do you, and others, keep repeating this silly phrase? After all, as I am sure any mathematician would tell you, that to get to "infinite" growth would take an infinite time. Given that the Sun will expand out and destroy any life on earth within a finite period (albeit in about a billion years) we really don't have to worry about your concept of "infinite" growth do we?
https://thenextweb.com/news/nasa-figures-weve-got-about-a-billion-years-before-the-sun-kills-us-all
Who’s being silly now?
Who is being silly?
Well, if you don't understand that "infinite" doesn't mean just a very large number you are. I believe it was Einstein who said “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”. Well anytime you start rabbiting on about "infinite" growth you are displaying human stupidity.
Better? Some prefer to 'live without limits', but (to paraphrase Dirty Harry): 'A civilisation’s got to know its limitations' – spaceship Earth and many of its inhabitants are showing signs of stress.
https://collapseofindustrialcivilization.com/tag/human-exceptionalism/
Your sillyness is infinite like a gift that keeps giving.
Well, we can see that Mathematics wasn't a subject that had any place in your education.
You cannot see with your eyes closed.
Not a problem for a problem solver like Pontryagin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Pontryagin
Solving and creating problems are 2 different things 😉
Not in mathematics,In pseudoscience such as social or political studies,it requires creating a problem (which may or not exist) and offering burnt toast to the gods of metaphysics as pennance.
You just described alwyn‘s MO here on TS.
My reaction to that was best expressed by Tom Lehrer in his introduction to the song Alma
"It's people like that who make you realize how little you've accomplished. It is a sobering thought, for example, that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years."
Of course it could have been like Dorothy Parker when she discovered that Incognito was dead. Her response was "How can they tell".
Edit. Sorry, sorry. I have misquoted the lady. She said it about Calvin Coolidge. But who would know the difference?
Kudos, alwyn, for your precious contribution to the supertask debate – your knowledge & intellect is exceeded only by your twit.
Edit. Sorry, sorry. 'Wit', not 'twit', although in alwyn's case there’s precious little difference, imho
Janet Wilson, doing her media pro thing, contrasts the PM's speechifying style of two years ago & now:
Yeah, the PM was obviously intent on carefully closing the stable door several months after the horse had bolted.
Hell hath no fury like public health experts scorned by their government, who had hitherto been legislating in accord with their consensus. Still, their linguistic restraint was admirable in the circumstances! Poll-driven govts must follow the sheeple, after all. The sheeple noticed that the protest had generated sufficient resonance in the public mind to affect a change of mood – so they stampeded through that gate.
So the govt's exhibition of totalitarianism has produced a substantial loss of public support. Can they learn the lesson? Unlikely. Have you ever seen a liberal learn from experience? The PM's retreat into denial stimulated a stylistic critique from the media pro but the underlying psychology is more significant.
Responding to changed circumstances with fresh initiative is good, but her failure to learn from the cause & effect relation that produced the loss of public confidence is bad. Leadership requires active intelligence that responds suitably, and in politics that means getting to the point fast and accurately. She failed that test – but where the hell are any competent advisors? Can't blame her alone. Clueless deputy PM & clueless deputy Labour leader must share it. And the Greens are still not helping.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/128160395/tale-of-two-speeches-reveals-how-labour-is-losing-its-grip
Janet Wilson, as she has done for so many months is grasping at straws.
This is the government getting out of the way after two years of heath measures. People are now dying, which is what Janet and her friends on the right and far right want.
It is unfortunate but there was always going to be a point at which the water found its level since NZ was not going to be locked up forever.
It's alway amusing when the opposition criticises the government for doing something which they themselves had been advocating for many months, ie allowing Covid deaths…
…150 in the weeks since Omicron arrived. Three times the total before that. But #Omicronismild. You could almost stick it in a syringe and call it a vaccine…
We would have had a shit load more people dying if Janet Wilson and her m8's from National and ACT were in power over the past 2 x years ?
Is that the same Janet Wilson who dissed Judith Collins? How uncouth and unmatey.
https://www.wiki.ng/en/wiki/who-is-nz-journalist-janet-wilson-everything-on-former-press-secretary-of-judith-collins-663857
l'm fascinated by successive governments who always provide the public with a plethora of initiatives to be implemented once elected. But they never think of sitting down and dismantling the time lines of previous governments to see at what stage of governance problems start becoming apparent.
In fact it's no secret after two terms in office, a third term is usually a government's swan song as public boredom and discontent grows.
Politics – 3 strikes and you are out.
Yes but the current question is whether the current govt will even get to a third term. Poor recent performance has produced polling that introduces the question.
Focus on the PM isn't a good idea. Too traditional. The principle of collective leadership also applies. What Labour is currently displaying is total lack of support for the PM from within their ranks. Those with nominal leadership positions are first in the firing line: Grant & Kelvin! However the Green co-leaders are also failing.
Back masking, heavy metal, gangster rap, D&D, Harry Potter, video games, comic books and now…working out
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/pandemic-fitness-trends-have-gone-extreme-literally-n1292463
Gangsta Rap lol, so passee, find yourself some Country Rap, now that is eye opening.
Reading a Twitter thread about a woman's partner, working in Poland as an aid worker for the Ukrainian refugees. He mentioned the lack of administration and safeguarding in terms of private citizens turning up offering accommodation and support.
Genevieve Gluckman covers the crisis capitalism (and explotation) on her Substack:
https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/german-trans-sex-work-org-targets?s=r
Sorry but can't go past a Graham Lineham post without adding something:
[The Spanish archer has arrived and given you the weekend off. Your reply to Molly’s serious comment was an infantile piss-take YT clip and you have been skating on thin ice before this (e.g. yesterday in OM). I don’t need the extra work this weekend – Incognito]
Mod note
Begs one question Incognito – are you the only on moderating?
Why does it “beg” the one question??
Am I the only Moderator around? No
Don’t you love me anymore?
Of course I love you, you furry little peach you 🙂
I’m flattered, but I’m not furry (my cat is) and I don’t have a heart of stone. Nor am I peach cream, sweet and juicy. You must be confusing me somebody else, you unfaithful one. I’m breaking up with you
Oh Adam, he knows..
Authorities chasing these mongrels should see this as an opportunity to observe exactly who these men are and follow them home, through the web, their contacts.. get em!
Already women and girls have gone missing. Quite a few actually. Warnings about sex trafficking came from Berlin, Poland, England etc. But that was to be expected. And hence why many time in war times men try to get out first and then have their wife and children follow.
In Germany they hand out little leaflets with ‘prostitution is legal’ to arriving women and others.
disclaimer: women and girls are adult human females and child human females irrespective of their 'self id'.
Yes I have been wondering about this – the threat is obvious. This is one matter where EU authorities absolutely need to expand their thinking and step up. This is likely the largest and most rapid refugee crisis in all of human history and in it's own right demands an extraordinary response.
Nothing will more rapidly undermine solidarity than accounts of Ukrainian women and children being exploited or worse by predatory filth.
It seems Xi Jinping is to prioritise (economic and political) security before global warming.
China looks set to reduce its imports of gas this year and use more local coal (while also increasing renewable energy capacity for the longer term).
One reason would be price, another geo-political given sanctions on Russian gas and playing the nuetral (and also energy independence given the potential for sanctions on China over … ).
https:/www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/alarm-bells-are-ringing-as-china-falls-back-in-love-with-coal-20220325-p5a7t8.html
Kim Jong-un rocking his new cool look, launches the new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile….I would wager a bet that no missile in history has been treated to such a over the top, flamboyant launch….
The revolving door between Hollywood and Government.
Kim Jong Un wants a piece of the action, trying to get himself in the International News Media, Putin stealing all the headlines at the moment.
Hell, he can't even afford a real leather jacket. Ah, well, at least he has his missile and a multitude of starving countrymen. What more could a dictator want?
The Ukraine
Doh! You got me.
The subject of sports washing bothers me.
I love sport, I’ve either played, managed, coached and watched as long as I can remember.
But the sight of Saudi Arabia, China, USA, England, and others using sport to polish their image in the mind of the world makes me feel sick.
At what point do sports administrators decide that principles override money. I’m not holding my breath.
What did everyone think of the rudd interview this morn ? I really admire the way Kim reads out the feedback from her show positive an neg warts n all .Rudd's managed to garner quite a lot of publicity for his new book but having kissingers name on the cover would be sufficiently offputting to deter not a few readers i would have thought !.
[Link required]
Mod note
Maybe i imagined listening to it this morn incog ?nothing comes up in their search bar could be my ineptitude i guess .Maybe someone else can find it ? Hope so the feedback alone was worth listening for in fact more rewarding than the interview itself Kevin rudd imagines himself soooo pivotal
Never mind, I found it easily & quickly: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018835798/kevin-rudd-detainment-of-refugees-an-act-of-monumental-cruelty
Russia has decided to focus its efforts on the eastern part of Ukraine now.
https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-03-25-22/h_c643e508161e80821fff786bbbfbc16e
That is code for Russia is getting its arse handed to it everywhere else in Ukraine, and so it should settle for something that might be achievable. But, that might be too little too late I think.
Putin tried to take too bigger bite of the cherry straight up, his eyes were bigger than his stomach ?
Yes. He should have started by capturing the south. He could have quickly captured all the port cities if he had focussed all his forces there.
Then he would have been able to strangle the Ukrainian economy as they would not have been able to export their commodities very easily.
Also, it wouldn't have given the west time to build up momentum with sanctions etc and arming the Ukranians. It would probably have been the west huffing and puffing as usual without doing much.
But the situation now is that they don't control Odessa, and probably won't. Also, it looks like the Russians could lose Kershon.
Now, if they retreat back to Donbass they will have to maintain a strong military presence there in the face of huge sanctions. Also, they will have to deal with an insurgency armed to the teeth who will be trying to drive them out of Donbas and Crimea.
Also, it looks like large numbers of Russian forces around Kiev are in danger of being encircled by the Ukranians. So there may well be some mass surrenders up there.
So, not the best outcome for them.
And I thought Napolean was historys greatest…General!
Doesn't take a great general to work that plan out.
And the plan worked out by actual Russian generals hasn't worked out that well, has it?
Heck, the Russians probably didn't need to invade at all. They could have done the trick by sending their navy in and blockade the Ukrainian ports.
Great video here:
Now that Russia looks like they will retreat to the Donbas, the response of the international community should be to tell Russia that sanctions start to be withdrawn once they move their forces right out of Ukraine, including an exit from Crimea.
You might want to ask the Crimeans about that .No way do they want to return to Ukraine
It would be interesting to know if the Crimeans still feel the same way after they have seen how Russia has treated Russian speaking parts of Ukraine that could well include their friends and relatives.
Have you any evidence to support that statement. Or is it just one of those "I want it to be the case that …." opinions without any evidence to back it up?
Hundred of thousands of Crimean Tatars would like a word.
/
https://www.eurozine.com/the-silent-colonization-of-crimea/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/10/ukraine-rising-tensions-put-crimean-tatar-muslims-at-risk-again
The attack by the Russians on Kyiv may have been a red herring, to keep Ukranian forces in the North while they themselves took over the South.
Where is the laugh emoji. Hahaha!
Human immunity is dead in the water when confronted with a virus that's evolved to evade superior rodent immunity. Who woulda thunk it.
So-called "natural immunity" against COVID-19 has always been a dodgy argument for avoiding vaccination during the pandemic. But amid omicron, natural immunity is clearly rubbish.
Unvaccinated people who recover from an omicron coronavirus variant infection are left with paltry levels of neutralizing antibodies against omicron. They also have almost no neutralizing antibodies against any of five other coronavirus variants, including delta. People who were vaccinated before getting an omicron infection, however, have strong protection against all five variants, and they have some of the highest levels of neutralizing antibodies against omicron.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/03/omicron-is-trouncing-the-argument-for-natural-immunity-to-covid/
Interesting – thanks.
With reinfection , the case for herd immunity is dismissed.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00438-3
And the idea that this allows are removal of constraints,such as mask wearing in the UK now sees a higher rate of hospitilisation (record admissions) and 1 in 11 infected in scotland.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/25march2022
On the 1 of April the UK removes free testing,Has closed down the NHS covid testing labs,so there will be a significant inability to provide high quality data.
Dinosaurs.
https://twitter.com/yaneerbaryam/status/1506428625389768711?cxt=HHwWjsCy_c629OcpAAAA
Then when you read the actual study being referred to, the main thrust of it is that unvaccinated people infected with omicron don't have antibodies for the other variants, which is what you would expect if they have never previously contracted those variants. This is summed up in their conclusion:
"Despite certain limitations of this study, including the small sample size and retrospective study design (Table S7), our data support the hypothesis that the omicron BA.1 variant is an extremely potent immune-escape variant that shows little cross-reactivity with the earlier variants. Therefore, unvaccinated persons who are infected with the omicron BA.1 variant only (without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection) might not be sufficiently protected against infection with a SARS-CoV-2 variant other than omicron BA.1; for full protection, vaccination is warranted." https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201607
The bits in the arsetechnica article "natural immunity is clearly rubbish" and the unvaccinated being left with "paltry levels of neutralizing antibodies".. might well then just be propaganda?
Paltry's not a word a science report would/should use but significantly less protection seems accurate.
Now if I gave you insurance protecting you from fire, flood, wind, earthquake and in laws – that's a pretty good cover.
The cover for earthquake only, some would say, is paltry by comparison.
Did the vaccines induces antibodies against all variants so far, with the possible exception of Omicron BA.1? Indeed, they did.
Did (most) unvaccinated people who were infected have antibodies against new(er) variants, with the possible exception of Omicron BA.1? Indeed, they did.
Omicron BA.1 is the exception that proves the rule that usually there’s at least some level of cross-reactivity with different but related variants of the same virus.
More evidence of why the Ukrainian farmers are now the 5th biggest army in the world:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AZdu7aYOvP4
A little weird this one : Does anyone drink distilled water on a regular basis? And do you have your own distiller?
Do you?
Mine is triple distilled.
You wouldn't know distilled water if you were drowning in it.
Distilled water is very soft.
M. K. J0SEPH Distilled Water
…………Consider now the nature of distilled
Water which has boiled and left behind
In the retort rewarding sediment
Of salts and toxins. Chemically pure of course
(No foreign bodies here) but to the taste
Tasteless and flat. Let it spill on the ground
Leach out its salts, accumulate its algae,
Be living: the savour's in impurity……"
Joseph was of course writing about our colonial legacy in a poem about Blenheim.
So I don't like my water distilled….
Distilling water consumes a lot of power.
And colonialism consumes a lot of power, to produce a boring product. In an article once I described it thus, "The history of Marlborough is the story of water usage and rights from first Māori colonisation in Aotearoa at the Wairau Bar till modern viticulture. Joseph was prescient in saying that Marlborough's history was like water. But how much?
He did not write of what is now rightly becoming more general knowledge. Our history is much more. But then it had been water distilled in a colonial retort, sanitised, made potable and safe."
When it rains, it pours.
Then perhaps Maori and you are missing out on its many health benefits… or lack thereof, depending on what side of the fence you are on:
Removing mental fog for one.
You might have to explain that one?
Meh. same as what the raw water nutters claim.
Probably just drinking more water, being careful of hydration levels.
Sometimes I'll drink filtered or even bottled water for a change (or the bottle), but it's all much of a muchness.
What's raw water? Distilled water isn't ordinary water. It has all minerals and added crap removed. It is a solvent. It should have a TDS reading of zero.
There's a huge debate about whether DW leaches minerals from the body.
Some say crap, minerals in water can't be used by the body. Others say minerals are needed by the body to act as electrical conductors.
Hence my post to see if anyone had been drinking DS for years, and had they encountered any problems? Personally, I feel great on the stuff. I haven't drunk tap water since they added chlorine to our water supply.
Raw water is a trend at the other end of the BS water industry: completely untreated and gathered from streams and suchlike, shilled as natural and wonderfully healthy.
I understand the process of distillation. When you're getting into absolutely pure, it can dissolve a "wrench" (spanner) in five years. But I doubt home distillers would get to that spec.
If minerals in the water can't be used by the body, then fluoridation isn't a problem for the anti-fluoride mob and lead isn't a problem for our aging water infrastructure.
On the one hand, distilled water won't have giardia and suchlike in it (the reason the chlorine is there). On the other, the only way you'll get trace elements like fluoride is through food. Makes a balanced diet more important, including sourcing food from overseas to balance any soil deficiencies we have here (it's why our table salt is iodised).
I believe the Russians are also deep into ultra pure water technology, both for applications in health and military applications.
OK I worked in the bulk water supply industry for almost a decade.
We add about 0.8ppm free chlorine at the treatment plant.
By the time it gets to the reservoirs it has dropped to about 0.4ppm
By the time it gets to your taps it is usually less than 0.2ppm free chlorine. That level is harmless.
It is not the chlorine that is the problem, it is the organochlorides that are the byproduct of it's disinfection action which have the potential to be carcinogenic. It is not a very high risk, but nor has anyone demonstrated a direct cause and effect, but it is taken seriously all the same.
The primary role of the treatment plant is to remove as much organics from the water before we add chlorine to absolutely minimise this issue. We typically use UV spectroscopic instruments to accurately measure the organics arriving in the plant, then carefully manage the flocculant dosing to get the delivery water as close to a measured zero organics as possible, before the chlorine is added. This is usually the last step before it leaves the plant. Again this chlorine addition process is carefully measured and controlled within pretty tight limits. (Also this is when any fluoride is added as well.)
Then at key points in the distribution system we will also continuously measure three critical variables – pH, Turbidity and Free Chlorine content. If the pH is within a certain range – 7.4 – 8.1 from memory – and the turbidity is less than a certain value, and the free chlorine is within range – then we can be very certain the water is safe to drink. Samples are also physically drawn at least daily and lab analysed in much further detail.
This data is stored and analysed comprehensively and in order to maintain NZDWS certification an annual report and audit of performance must be submitted. All this compliance activity is taken very seriously by the industry in my experience – although I cannot rule out that some smaller councils may struggle with resourcing and skills from time to time – in general the big city operators are by world standards extremely good in NZ.
Interesting reply. My chlorine issue is more about smell and taste. My city had great drinking water until they decided to chlorinate. I remember the first time I made coffee with chlorinated water, I spat it out, it was that foul. My hair became dank and lifeless, and even my distiller, with a VOC filter. couldn't remove the smell or taste. I now use well water.
I understand there are different types of chlorine, one of those cannot be filtered from water if I understand things correctly. That may be the type my council is using?
Previously I had rung my council up, and they put me on to a water treatment worker who told me they were using a 35% solution of chlorine ( I should have asked for context). Looking at your ratios, I'm wondering if my council have a clue as to what they are doing.
'My hair became dank and lifeless, '
Have you tried….Pantene?-or maybe a Lux …cut!
Is Pam's family value shampoo any good? I hear it also doubles as carwash and flea treatment for cats.
My chlorine issue is more about smell and taste.
It is not the chlorine you can smell or taste, but the by products of its disinfection action (DBP's). In fact if you have free chlorine in absolutely clean water there is no smell at all – but a swimming pool where there is plenty of disinfection going on will have a very distinctive odour.
Keep in mind that chlorine ions are not dangerous like the gas is. After all table salt is 50% ionic chlorine and the ocean is full of it.
I understand there are different types of chlorine,
Yes there are. It can be added as pure free chlorine which is the time tested method that I think is still dominant in NZ, or as a compound mix of chlorine and ammonia called chloramine which is now dominant in Aus and the US as far as I know. There are pros and cons to both.
Aquatic life for example is very sensitive to chloramine treated water – it will kill a tank full of pet goldfish overnight. And while chloramine doesn't produce as much in the way of DBP's it still does – and produces a much wider range of them (many thousands) albeit in tiny, tiny quantities, but most have never been researched or understood from a medical perspective. The NZ approach is that you are better off removing the organics before adding chlorine in any form.
The third wild card factor is that some small fraction of the population are what we called 'supertasters' – people who could detect tiny amounts and changes in the water quality. We had one staff member who could reliably tell us exactly what water source we were using and from which plant – and he was very useful to help us improve our treatment processes and algorithms to minimise this impact. We thought they might be around 1 – 2% of the population – so you could easily be one.
Disclaimer – I merely designed and wrote the control systems for all of this and what I've outlined here is only the fundamentals that I absorbed along the way. Actual specialists would have a lot more to add.
Russian military briefings 25 March
https://thesaker.is/speech-of-the-head-of-the-main-operational-directorate-of-the-general-staff-of-the-armed-forces-of-the-russian-federation-colonel-general-sergei-rudskoy/
Yep. There are two sides to every conflict, but of course mainstream media don’t believe in free speech so very few people worldwide are able to get some sort of balance.
Good on TS for allowing free speech, though there are many here who are in denial of acceptance of the ‘ other points of view’ and will respond with some sort of dismissive vitriol. However those who only believe in a one sided argument will continue in their delusionment.
The ridiculous unintentional dark humour of General Sergei Rudskoy, Russia's version of Baghdad Bob.
Thank you Franscesca for providing us this exposure of the Russian high command's out of touch with reality. We can only hope that for their own people's sake that they don't actually believe this themselves.
A very British stink.
https://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1500385094950952961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1500385094950952961%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FByDonkeys2Fstatus2F1500385094950952961widget%3DTweet
Actually, he was sipping tea as he was on his way down from a very high window when he had his heart attack.
https://twitter.com/AlexandruC4/status/1507473089952718851
Man you really will just swallow(and then regurgitate) anything handed to you…have you ever thought about actually turning on that internal bullshit detector most humans are born with once and awhile?
Aww….triggered much.
/
Irrelevant and distracting YT clips are not a substitute for a strong counter-argument or counter-view and robust debate. We have been here so many times
'
'Fragging'
Stiff resistance in Ukraine, protests on the home front.
Now this:
Putin's military incursion into Ukraine has failed.
It is hard to say how this will play out.
Will a negotiated settlement be sought?
Alternatively, will Putin order his doomed army to fight on, with massive losses on both sides, until Russia's ultimate crushing defeat?
The course of this war is tied to the personality of Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin..
US President, Biden has called for Putin’s removal from office. Unlikely as it may seem. Whether by palace coup, or mass internal revolt.
If the war continues in its present form, I wouldn’t rule anthing out.
Yeah, it reminded me of that too:
Think it was from Michael Herr's book that I recall it.
Re Ukraine, looks like Putin has a pivot back to the east in mind. If we take yesterday's dual propaganda releases by Russian generals seriously. Note their suggestions that the Ukrainians are bombing their own hospitals, women, & children.
My comment to Joe90 above, applies to you as well….you do know that everything you said and linked to above comes from western sources, who all believe they themselves are at war with Russia, so by extension everything they say has to be considered war propaganda now?…. nothing in your comment is verifiable at this point.
"A senior Western official told the newspaper"
"Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbaliuk said"
….seriously?…come on.
This is an excellent comment!
We see the same old propaganda playbook the Russians used in Syria, "…the Ukrainians are bombing their own people to make us look bad," bull-(cough)-shit.
The fact is the Russian aggressor is losing, and losing badly. A point I notice you don't dispute.
+….. nothing in your comment is verifiable at this point." Adrian Thornton
I am glad you qualified your statement.
And you are right, of course. And I thought hard on whether I should comment on it. But this reported incidence of fragging in the Russian forces, was not just covered by Western sources, but also by India's Wion News.
Last week, videos from Wion News, which prides itself on even handed reporting of this war, was blocked from you tube, for posting reports favourable of Russia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ7vy2JxH0U&ab_channel=WION
Thanks J.h.t.g.there, that's all I am asking for from TS community… some thought and independent research that can be called on if needed, to verify their comments….well verify to some degree anyway, as none of us can know what is really happing (or has happened) and won’t until well after this war is over..a fact I am sure you are well aware of.
I am an enemy of Putin (and was of Trump I might add), but the endless mindless, thoughtless, uncritical regurgitating of (mainly) western MSM media propaganda on both those subjects is infuriating..I mean it's not as if those two and their horrible projects haven't got enough real issues to draw on right?…why do so many smart people here constantly resort to speculation and such obvious logic bending half truths all the friggin' time!…that is what I want to know?