Open mike 28/12/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, December 28th, 2012 - 52 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

52 comments on “Open mike 28/12/2012 ”

  1. Morrissey 1

    TELEVISION NEWS
    Sky News policy change: now sympathetic to victims, not aggressors

    “From a clear blue sky, a government jet delivers its payload on Homs.

    [Picture of one jet, and explosion on ground]

    The opposition has NO SUCH FIREPOWER.”

    —Sky News report shown on TV3 NEWS, 6:25 p.m., Thursday 27 December 2012

    I watched television news on several New Zealand channels frequently during the recent Israeli blitzkrieg on Gaza, and also during Israel’s even more devastating Operation Cast Lead four years ago. I can not recall one commentator—whether from the BBC, ITV, the American networks, the Australian networks or the NZ networks—ever saying “an Israeli jet delivers its payload on Gaza. The people of Gaza have NO SUCH FIREPOWER.”

    This radical victim-wards tilt by Sky News is sudden, and encouraging. Can we now look forward to similar reporting, sympathetic to the civilians being bombed rather than the aggressors, when Sky News next sends a report from the Occupied Territories and Gaza?

    • Populuxe1 1.1

      Does it occur to you that news should be impartial and not sympathetic to anyone? Do you have topics of interest other than the perfidity of the Jews? Like, oh, I dunno, New Zealand politics?

      • Dr Terry 1.1.1

        Pop – Who are you trying to kid here? Unless you are a complete moron, you know damn well that news broadcasts are seldom, if ever, so perfectly “impartial” – whatever side of the fence you are on. Do not tell me what the news coverage “should” be, this world does not (fortunately) run according to “should’s” (or by “ideals”) Where there is clear evidence of an atrocity, evidently you would prefer that no hint of sympathy be demonstrated for the victims? No, let’s be “impartially” cold-blooded!

        If I have got you wrong, please clarify yourself, I have no desire to inflict an injustice upon you.

        • Populuxe1 1.1.1.1

          Well yes – I would like the news to be impartial and something to be desired. Morrissey’s wording is quite specific – he’s creaming his panties that sympathies are shifting in the opposite direction. I prefer my data cold-blooded because then I can at least work out for myself where my sympathies lie.

      • Morrissey 1.1.2

        Does it occur to you that news should be impartial and not sympathetic to anyone?

        It certainly has occurred to me, as you would realize if you had actually read my post.

        Do you have topics of interest other than the perfidity of the Jews?

        The “perfidity of the Jews”? All of my criticisms are of the leaders and the armed forces of a rogue state; bizarrely and no doubt cynically you accuse me of some medieval confessional campaign. Some of the worst depradations carried out by IDF troops are in fact committed by Bedouin Arab recruits; if you had been aware of that, no doubt you would have exercised your grand sarcasm and accused me of worrying unduly about the “perfidity of the Bedouins”. Or would that not fit with your cunning plan of accusing me, and any other critics of the Holy State, of anti-Semitism?

        Like, oh, I dunno, New Zealand politics?

        I urge you to take a look at my oeuvre of the last two years on this excellent site, then I challenge you to say with a straight face that I show no interest in New Zealand politics.

        • Populuxe1 1.1.2.1

          *winces at Morrissey’s use of the American spelling of “realise”*

          Let’s recap. Your header: “Sky News policy change: now sympathetic to victims, not aggressors” – very leading, manipulative and makes you sound as bad as the MSM. How about just saying “Sky News reporting now more balanced”? Less hysterical Pilcher on crack, no?

          And going back over your posts of the last few weeks it’s mostly attacks on Israel (often justified, but kind of obvious – I’d be very surprised if anyone on The Standard WASN’T aware of the bullshit Israel gets up to) and these bizarre attacks on comedians of Jewish ancestry and/or faith. I’m surprised you’ve left Woody Allen and Sarah Silverman untouched so far.

          • Morrissey 1.1.2.1.1

            Less hysterical Pilcher on crack, no?

            ??????

            …these bizarre attacks on comedians of Jewish ancestry and/or faith.

            Still with this attempt to insinuate I’m having a go at “the Jews”. Unless you are an imbecile, you will realize that I criticize ideologues, including comedians, who attack the weak, the poor, the vulnerable and the officially despised. If you had read my transcript of Baron Cohen’s obscene performance on the Letterman show, you would have seen I was just as critical of Letterman and his halfwitted audience.

            I’m surprised you’ve left Woody Allen and Sarah Silverman untouched so far.

            Keep watching.

            • Te Reo Putake 1.1.2.1.1.1

              “Unless you are an imbecile, you will realize that I criticize ideologues, including comedians, who attack the weak, the poor, the vulnerable and the officially despised.”

              Citation (still) needed. All you’ve done so far is attack Sacha Baron Cohen for being Jewish, Moz. You have yet to provide any evidence that SBC is a zionist, let alone a ‘shill’ for Israel. Face it, pal, you’re a bigot. You’re young though and you may mature with some life experience under your belt. I genuinely hope thats the case, because you show glimmers of understanding from time to time, which is encouraging.

              • Morrissey

                All you’ve done so far is attack Sacha Baron Cohen for being Jewish…

                Liar.

                Lynn, is there any sanction against someone telling malicious lies like this fellow has just done?

                I have been banned for a month for simply downloading too much of an article; for this fellow to lie like this seems to me to be a far more egregious offence.

                Lynn, I will e-mail you personally about this libel, and I expect something to be done about it.

              • muzza

                You’re young though and you may mature with some life experience under your belt. I genuinely hope thats the case, because you show glimmers of understanding from time to time, which is encouraging

                A glimmer of understanding would help you out no end!

                The Voice of Reason, speaketh!

                Edit: Use of the words such as bigot towards Morrissey’s train of thought, are frankly an insult to those who genuinely suffer and have suffered persecution.

                You might not agree with Morrissey, but he is on the money with his contentions about the *entertainment industry*, but a serious blockage will not allow you to accept what is blatant!

                • Populuxe1

                  “You might not agree with Morrissey, but he is on the money with his contentions about the *entertainment industry*, but a serious blockage will not allow you to accept what is blatant!”

                  What contentions about the *entertainment industry* (oh the snobbery that reeks of) – it might surprise you to know that Hollywood etc isn’t a secret cabal run by Zionist Jews – unless you’re some sort of paranoid bigot conspiracy theorist.

                  So you and Morrissey can put down your well-thumbed copies of Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf and back away from them slowly.

                  • muzza

                    Got many jewish relatives, or even friends do you pop?

                    The *entertainment industry* is a machine designed to shape opinions through the use of repetative messages, images and stereotying,which seems to have gone over your head.

                    Seems to me your possibly *invested* in or near the industry, which might account for your claims of freelance working?

                    • Rogue Trooper

                      there is always The Life of Pi and The Unbearable Lightness of Being
                      ahhh To Live and Die in L.A

                      Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

                  • Morrissey

                    ….well-thumbed copies of Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf…

                    You know, even if you had the ability to craft a hard-hitting attack, dredging up those allegations would still be seen as a pathetically desperate tactic.

  2. Lanthanide 2

    Thanks for the work on the site over the last few weeks Lyn, the mobile version is now usable.

  3. bad12 3

    Today seems to be a real Dave Shearer day, for anyone interested at some time during the morning RadioNZ National are going to be playing music from Dave’s CD collection this morning…

    • bad12 3.1

      That’s ‘new’, i just tried to edit the above comment and a little note tells me i don’t have permission…

    • veutoviper 3.2

      It is on right now.

      Belated seasons greetings to everyone at TS and the very best for 2013. AND a big thank you to lprent and everyone else who makes TS a daily must even if I don’t comment. BUT will be today haviing just caught up with some of the newer posts!

      • Marty 3.2.1

        Yeah. That sort of triggered me to come out of lurking. Thanks for all the work this year everyone. And good to see it working on my phone too. Awesome.

        • lprent 3.2.1.1

          And good to see it working on my phone too

          The people over at BraveNewCode provide that. They appear to have managed to fix up the bugs that our rather large comment sections were producing a few months ago.

    • Morrissey 3.3

      He even picked a song which was a barely veiled criticism of John Key.

  4. bad12 4

    Here’s a comment from what is obviously a really f**king sick mind, i found it by linking into one of the comments listed in the little box over to the right which shows who commnented where, and am commenting here because i can’t find the post in which this comment occurred,

    ”Just because SOME private armies have done BAD things is no reason to have an idealogical opposition to all Private armies, we should judge them on outcomes.” unquote,

    The link of course takes you straight to ‘kiwiblog’ and the words in capitals are my doing,

    Really??? just because some of these private armies have done ‘bad things’, you know minor transgressions like murder,rape and pillaging???

    There’s one hell of a lot of human suffering inherent in a ‘private army doing bad things’ that the sick little puppy over at kiwiblog brushes aside as simply bad things….

    • AwakeWhileSleeping 4.1

      Mansplaination.

      http://ideologicallyimpure.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/enter-the-mansplainer/

      Think this is the post you refer to: http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/12/trotter_on_the_shearer_backstory.html

      Looks like original comment has been removed (?) although it is quoted below:

      Yoza (240) Says:
      December 28th, 2012 at 10:29 am

      “I disagree. Just because some private mercenary armies have done bad things, is no reason to have an ideological opposition to all private mercenary armies”

      Mercenaries are vermin and one of the very few reasons the use death penalty could be justified. This is just another nail in Shearer’s coffin, no sane person could justify the use of killers for hire and continue to lead a charade masquerading as a viable progressive alternative to the current bunch of corporate facilitators whom we have currently managing the population.

  5. RJLC 5

    A disarmed police officer has his police issue taser turned on him but it misfires.
    Greg O’Connor uses the incident to argue for guns to be issued to officers instead.

    Presumably he thinks the guns won’t misfire.

    • bad12 5.1

      From news reports on RadioNZ National it appears that pepper spray was deployed first as an attempt to control one or all of the drunken teens,

      It just so happens that ‘a child’,no age was given, also received a face full of pepper spray AND THEN the place went really mad,(i wonder if the female wielding the brick was the child’s mother),

      What the Police Association seems to be saying is that if all officers were armed with fire-arms they could have after spraying a child with pepper spray by-passed the use of tasers and gone straight to the use of fire-arms,

      Hell if they can justify shooting an innocent motorist on an Auckland motorway justifying the shooting of a drunken mob would be a breeze…

      • aerobubble 5.1.1

        Yeah, aren’t tasers supposed to replace using a gun, if they were not ever going to use a gun on a family in their own home, then…

        …but to be fair, the taser was taken from the police officer (???after their head had been bashed and so when a gun was acceptable to be used).

        How about this. If police are to be attacked by fists then police can use a baton, if police are to be attacked by knives, then they should be armed, if police are to use tasers because???? Tasers break the skin, they cause people to lose balance and harm themselves, they can not be used in high places, even the use on hard surfaces can cause excessive harm from bad falls, they even are know to cause cardic arrest in people with pace makers, and cause highly anxiousness mental patients to die. They complicate policing since the public doesn’t know what mood the police are in and so what form of control they are going to use. Like pepper spray on children???

        Policing takes time, we should not be freeing up police and ignoring the risk of more aggressive policing, or at best more adverse results like the above. Police seen as the enemy in not good for public order.

  6. Rogue Trooper 6

    Kakariki (we know who hears us)

    listen while we play our Green Tambourine
    ‘taint no big thing, the toll of the bell
    love is the drug and we need to score
    For Whom? follow the lemmingway
    The Power and The Glory:Ever met a Quiet American?
    failing hopes, over the cliff they go

    Infant Formula Mongolia outta Waitake?
    the human is a biped quadrabikes continue to roll over
    trapped in their crushed cage
    more pods cast on beaches Sea Shepherd harpooned
    (i’ll straighten up soon guys, limited budget to critique right back at ya’ ;))

    Julia Deans Banshee Reel (Fiona’s gone to cruise control, took a body blow)
    Ahhh, Maggie Death
    (if i should fall from Grace with God return to the garden)
    Don’t wanna be a flatfish gasping shallow water

    “ya can’t always get what ya want, but if ya try some times, ya just might find
    You get what you need”

    we were livin’ off the bone, rollin pin scones
    they’ll be down at Kellys pawn shop number nine
    (the stench of spirits on their breath)
    bruises on my flesh set me heading for The Doors
    well you took my love and you set on a ship
    the bodies come floating back to me…

    Morning Song
    from The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion-B.C
    New Zealand Aotearoa is a small village
    we need a remedy not Sometimes Salvation
    who needs sugar when you’ve got guarana
    Time Will Tell.Late at night when the lights are low
    She slips off her stockings and shoes
    Keep your eyes wide open and your hands upon the Wheel
    hit him in the Roadhouse Julie.remember Sandra Lees’ time?
    Hopeless Romantics. Promise You Anything including
    a Dagger Through The Heart-John Daniel
    Key’s a crawlin’ king snake and he only rules “his” world-John Lee
    “This Is Hip”; can’t recall, The Ghost of Tom Joad
    Galveston oh Galveston I am Lineman
    You’ve got to try a little kindness, show a little kindness
    Shine your light for every one to see
    they took turns at Becky; watch the last Act fall
    Star of the County Down and fuzzy.

    Anchorage, Alaska, or Justice in Ontario?
    they asked for water; exxon gave them gasoline.
    Now, it’s Big Red Sun Blues.

    a pistol is the Devils’ Right Hand
    the devils right hand, the devils right hand.

    Rock, Salt and Nails comes before Dirty Water
    cos i’m whaling, out on the sea
    step inside The Everlasting Grace. Stand Inside Your Love
    of Raindrops and Sunshowers.The Sacred and Profane
    Machina of the gods.

    it’s Still, So Early in The Spring smelt The Blacksmith
    watching Lassie Gathering Nuts. E Minstra;
    if love was a train i think i’d ride me a slow one
    but the L i N don’t run to Gizzy any more
    Katipo Widow. hourglass lice.

    Prior to Maddy there was Gaudette
    Come ye o’er France, we want more of the same
    for Wild is The Wind. They Can’t Take That Away
    from the Cotton Tail, Keeper of The Flame;
    Nina, sultry ballerina, or Ella: Scott Fitzgerald?

    you know that it would be untrue
    you know that i would be a liar
    if i was to say to you The Standard couldn’t get much higher
    -A Day is a Thousand Comments: A Thousand Comments is A Day
    Watch and Learn; Draco is a Shaman and felix (viper) keeps on killing
    Thanks Tim. Our Love Is Hear To Stay.
    Somethings Gotta Give
    Set The Controls For The Heart of The Son
    (careful with that axe) John Bunyan
    “I cum for ma’ boy”. amerikan eugenics Marion
    The Secret? don’t need a saucer!

    Foolish Games-The Grass is Blue
    He will be waiting; I AM Ready, Are you?
    (when i get this feeling, i can’t help myself)
    it’s always cold inside the Icehouse, though the rivers never freeze
    (they all die young on the Boulevard)
    see the wreckage All Lined Up
    must be something in the
    Atmosphere. Halos and Horns?

    and he says in another place
    “You are a priest forever,
    In the order of Melchizedek,
    because of your reverent submission”
    (although He was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered)
    hence, death shall have no dominion or pizza.

    corpus Mundi’s washing day, Tuesday’s pay the rent
    Thursday’s get the stains out, Friday money’s all been spent.

    -Johnny’s Ghost (on Horses)

    p.s. Who Will Save Your Soul (there’s an angel standing by) Amen

    -Billy Austin (Oxbridge)

  7. Rogue Trooper 7

    “Londons Calling”
    (i miss the Colonial Viper)
    hope ya bite soon and continue to rattle their Rusty Cage
    🙂

    -Chris

    • Colonial Viper 7.1

      You’re always in my heart, mate. This Colonial Viper is getting an upgrade to a Mk VII shortly.

      • Rogue Trooper 7.1.1

        Bless You (brought tears to my eyes). Now, if someone could just help me speed up my laptop and broadband aquisition.

        Love, John James

      • Rogue Trooper 7.1.2

        Wow! (I owned a Mk X, from memory, but it remained a wreck due to another wreck i created)

    • “Ayn Rand calling, Ayn Rand calling. The surplus will arrive as promised [loud sounds heard in background as debt collector comes for the radio].”

  8. AwakeWhileSleeping 8

    Preacher using Christmas sermon to do some gay bashing. Apparently this was the year for it (see quote below).

    http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/churches-hostility-to-gay-marriage-only-underlines-their-impotence-8432092.html

    “The diatribe perplexed most people in the pews. For Ruth, it felt more personal. She is Catholic and gay, a reminder that both are the broadest of churches. She is also director of public affairs at the pressure group Stonewall, so deeply embroiled in the struggle for equal rights. “For me, God is love,” she says. “So why do I have to justify my very right to exist?” She was not alone in having to endure priests using their sermons to spout prejudice. For this was the year an insecure Church, confronted by an increasingly secular country, celebrated Christmas by lashing out in ways that only served to demonstrate its own demons and display its impotence.

    One befuddled bishop conjured up the spirit of Hitler by comparing the Coalition’s intention to legalise gay marriage to the ideology of fascism. In so doing, he exposed the most basic rule of debate: when you resort to bringing in the Nazis, you have obviously lost the argument.”

    • Rogue Trooper 8.1

      you are definitely AwakeWhileSleeping

      God is Love! (ok, with a little bit of observation of humankinds stoopidity thrown in)

      -from your friendly neighbourhood generative, integrative christian anarchist 🙂

      (off for fish n chips and a read of the papers now)

    • Well Hitler declared himself Catholic, and most Germans were christian at that time. So it would be half right, if your argument was that opposition to gay marriage might have links to fascist ideology; because homosexuals were murdered in the holocaust. But the bishop isn’t saying that, instead the reverse i.e. arguing that homosexuality was fascist, and that anyone that opposes the bishop’s hateful and bitter version of Christianity is a ‘Nazi’. *yawn*

    • Dr Terry 8.3

      Over Christmas you only had to read comments, in the Herald, from Church leaders which were nauseous and abominable (I say this as one who struggles to remain a church-goer).

  9. Has anyone read the article on Stuff which headlines ‘Judge critical of Talley’s request’
    Talley’s wanted a $10.000 security payment for costs against an ex-employee fighting
    for her fish processing job,she had worked there for 10yrs.
    The judge dismissed Talley’s application for the security payment and ordered it to
    contribute $750 towards the employees costs of defending “This unmeritorious application”
    (Judges words)
    I say good on Judge Colgan, top marks.
    Sorry i can’t link.

  10. Rogue Trooper 10

    Households still have a “zero” savings rate-Bagrie (or the money?)
    “the label apparel and jewellery please” Toogood to be true

    snoop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCRN-5yU1pQ
    bow wow Wow! no more “candy” for me

    DPS “blow” more than the their budget (them NAct cats sure are scaredy); Leon filled me in on the
    Detail, just a little. Still Glocks?

    maybe this govt shoulda sat up straight in class and listened to the Educational Experts;
    anticipate more canings to come (along with smoking in the toilets)

    Human hand “evolved for fighting” argues another science priest;
    try a little open-handed gesture, or prayer: Meanwhile, back in the jungle out there,
    Family violence in NZ is still on the increase, reports local “Shadbolt” 😉

    joe-Gerry only reached 83, sigh, 90 would have been more FAB (thats me) BIG RAT. 🙁

    many of the elderly and disabled are still in “grim limbo” following the SandStorm
    see how far removed the US is from “civilisation”?

    Return of the Ottomans?-above Syria, Iraq, to the Left of Iran, and comparitively stable on the table.

    anyway,
    seems the sun always shines on t.v, yet not today at the queens park aslide to Splash Planet
    scattered showers to continue; sorry folks, not much helium remains but plenty of methane

    Talking Heads-“Warning Signs of things to come” so we may as well throw our arms around
    each other, Hunt and Collect.

    my agenda? if any of you fellow worker bees wanna chip in and lend a carpenter a hand
    is to research these clowns thoroughly in the new year
    then
    rip them limb from limb til’ it’s their “blood on the floor” some more
    and
    i’ll do it for a kennel, chow and the odd cannon bone or ball thrown in
    no pointer being backwards going forwards, english or german;
    all’s fair in Love and politics
    Boom! (how much is that labradoodle in the window Steven? gotta Speer?)

    C.V.-big wreck was a 38 deluxe with a 396 / 402 chambered
    (Left minds think alike Bruce)

    it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

    Oh Well, gotta dash-see what else ya all been scrawling.

    -Nash

  11. Rogue Trooper 11

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCRN-5yU1pQ
    (wot? no more links for me?)

  12. Rogue Trooper 12

    Ta. My Bad

  13. Draco T Bastard 13

    In an economy not so far, far away

    Robert Gordon of Northwestern University argues that the technological progress of the past 250 years could be a unique historical episode. He cites falling productivity levels and rising inequality as evidence that living standards are no longer improving as quickly. My colleague Martin Wolf shares some of these concerns, asking in an October column whether unlimited growth may be a thing of the past.

    A novel interpretation of this trend is starting to gain credibility among some economists: it is not that technology is stagnating but that monopoly interests are suppressing innovation. And the incentives for them to do so are increasing.

    Put a different way, companies have an interest in sabotaging progress and efficiency because not doing so could lead to the sort of abundance that might make it impossible to monetise anything. After all, how can you mark up manna that falls from heaven?

    The inevitable consequence of increasing productivity is that, eventually, there will be not enough demand to meet supply. IMO, the developed nations (such as those in the OECD) pretty much passed that state many decades ago which is why we have seen a rise in services and products that are, essentially, useless as well as the majority of people having to work more.

    • Rogue Trooper 13.1

      have to say this out loud D (checking the connection) that the personal-political is the only way to
      act in good faith over these consumption matters, imho

  14. Rogue Trooper 14

    Good award to J-A.G bad one two; check out her resume, she’s hot (in a helpful way)
    lightweight Ardern is Flockie (is that fly-strike? wotta dagg)
    Crimson Nile flows a pathway to the promised land
    don’t bother with Muffin s anymore even though you all ate them for breakfast,
    they are colonial imports anyway UK or US
    fender you are in the stratosphere casting at all times of the tide
    solidarnosc to our Warsaw friend
    some great bubbles floating about the spectrum
    great MO; getting physical there at times
    what a vivacious femme fatale

    don’t give up on decyphering; it’s all in there. I chequed mate 😉

    keep dropping these E-tablets xtsy; they prove to be therapeutic and we’re only making plans for
    Generals and Majors as Postman Bill always delivers. you sure are a trooper karol
    (if you don’t mind the lariot)
    keep sprinkling that saltpeter. Hi Hilary, Huggin right back at ya.
    the die is cast Ripley.
    What a buzza muzza; sawing right through at different lengths and depths
    always Nick S the threads, maybe reads the tea leaves.

    I’m Red through and thrown back again. Do we really want to play in the mud and throw pies
    (It’s not always about “the leader” or his corpulent, addicted side-kick; It was Heydrich the
    Allies made a concerted play for) He had the real “will”. D.C will be read again.Watch this frame.

    J’Accuse’s a Rock Star. Oh Vienna-Ultravox Ian;reminds me of Orange Crush and the sound of
    Hueys.
    savage as always michael (can’t hide those wings behind pulp fiction suits)
    On point Rhino tough-hided thing you.Some more creative writing ready to penetrate the plains?
    I often forget our tangata whenua colleagues; we can be blind to our biases, i know.

    yet, lots of absolutism guff being uttered freely.

    Oh well (limb from limb was metaphoric) but I have always thought a “researcher” would be an
    Apt application for a dogged Calvary man like me.

    -Zorro (from the Planet Caravan)

    ps, now, my shopping list for the evening is
    teas
    deoderant
    carrots
    and a light bulb (i kid u knot; that’s the gospel senors and senoritas)
    🙂 (debt free my socialist friends)

Recent Posts

  • EGU2024 – An intense week of joining sessions virtually
    Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
    2 hours ago
  • Submission on “Fast Track Approvals Bill”
    The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 hours ago
  • The Case for a Universal Family Benefit
    One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 hours ago
  • A who’s who of New Zealand’s dodgiest companies
    Submissions on National's corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law are due today (have you submitted?), and just hours before they close, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop has been forced to release the list of companies he invited to apply. I've spent the last hour going through it in an epic thread of bleats, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 hours ago
  • On Lee’s watch, Economic Development seems to be stuck on scoring points from promoting sporting e...
    Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 hours ago
  • New Zealand has never been closed for business
    1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 hours ago
  • Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 hours ago
  • Melissa Lee and the media: ending the quest
    Chris Trotter writes –  MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    11 hours ago
  • The Hoon around the week to April 19
    TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago
  • The ‘Humpty Dumpty’ end result of dismantling our environmental protections
    Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago
  • Nicola's Salad Days.
    I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    13 hours ago
  • Study sees climate change baking in 19% lower global income by 2050
    TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    13 hours ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-April-2024
    It’s Friday again. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week on Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered at the government looking into a long tunnel for Wellington. On Wednesday we ran a post from Oscar Simms on some lessons from Texas. AT’s ...
    14 hours ago
  • Jack Vowles: Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  The data is from February this ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    16 hours ago
  • Clearing up confusion (or trying to)
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    17 hours ago
  • How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log iPhone Without Computer
    How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log on iPhone Without a Computer: A StepbyStep Guide Losing your iPhone call history can be frustrating, especially when you need to find a specific number or recall an important conversation. But before you panic, know that there are ways to retrieve deleted call logs on your iPhone, even without a computer. This guide will explore various methods, ranging from simple checks to utilizing iCloud backups and thirdparty applications. So, lets dive in and recover those lost calls! 1. Check Recently Deleted Folder: Apple understands that accidental deletions happen. Thats why they introduced the Recently Deleted folder for various apps, including the Phone app. This folder acts as a safety net, storing deleted call logs for up to 30 days before permanently erasing them. Heres how to check it: Open the Phone app on your iPhone. Tap on the Recents tab at the bottom. Scroll to the top and tap on Edit. Select Show Recently Deleted. Browse the list to find the call logs you want to recover. Tap on the desired call log and choose Recover to restore it to your call history. 2. Restore from iCloud Backup: If you regularly back up your iPhone to iCloud, you might be able to retrieve your deleted call log from a previous backup. However, keep in mind that this process will restore your entire phone to the state it was in at the time of the backup, potentially erasing any data added since then. Heres how to restore from an iCloud backup: Go to Settings > General > Reset. Choose Erase All Content and Settings. Follow the onscreen instructions. Your iPhone will restart and show the initial setup screen. Choose Restore from iCloud Backup during the setup process. Select the relevant backup that contains your deleted call log. Wait for the restoration process to complete. 3. Explore ThirdParty Apps (with Caution): ...
    19 hours ago
  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
    Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
    1 day ago
  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    1 day ago
  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
    The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
    1 day ago
  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    1 day ago
  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
    Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
    1 day ago
  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
    A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
    1 day ago
  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    1 day ago
  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    1 day ago
  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    1 day ago
  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    1 day ago
  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    1 day ago
  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 day ago
  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    1 day ago
  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    2 days ago
  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    2 days ago
  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago
  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    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 ...
    3 days ago
  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    3 days ago
  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    4 days ago
  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • What is Mexico doing about climate change?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
    4 days ago
  • State of humanity, 2024
    2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...
    Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • The case for cultural connectedness
    A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
    4 days ago
  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
    Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • True Blue.
    True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
    While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
    5 days ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
    New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research.   “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-04-19T10:11:35+00:00