Archive for October, 2007
Fighting virtual climate change
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, October 14th, 2007 - 6 comments
The New York Times reports that game maker Electronic Arts and energy company BP have collaborated in designing the latest version of E.A.’s SimCity computer game. The game focuses on building and managing a virtual metropolis. Environmental concerns have always been an element of the game play but they’re taken to a new level in […]
Left brain or right brain?
Written By: - Date published: 6:51 pm, October 13th, 2007 - 12 comments
Apparently most people see the dancer spinning counter-clockwise. If you see her going clockwise you’re possibly right-brain dominant.
Free culture. Amen.
Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, October 13th, 2007 - 2 comments
Wouldn’t be a weekend on The Standard without a post on free culture now would it? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I think that the issue of copyright in the digital age has the potential to become The Next Big Thingâ„¢. The NYT has a good article on […]
A nice little earner
Written By: - Date published: 1:37 pm, October 13th, 2007 - 60 comments
I know the Nats are leaking all over the place, but this is getting ridiculous. From our homies over at Kiwiblogblog, here’s a sneak peak of National’s draft leaflets for 2008: Click the image for a larger version.
Ig Nobel awards
Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, October 13th, 2007 - 1 comment
This years’ Ig Nobel awards have just been presented. The awards recognise achievements that “first make people laugh, then make them think”. Pictured is Ig Nobel Medicine Prize winner Dan Meyer punctuating his and Brian Witcombe’s joint one-minute-long acceptance speech for their prize in the medicine category. Their paper was entitled: “Sword Swallowing and Its […]
Gore wins Nobel Peace Prize
Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, October 13th, 2007 - 5 comments
Gore shared the Nobel prize with the UN climate panel for their for their international work to promote the importance of addressing global warming. This won’t come as good news to the climate change deniers out there, one of whom recently challenged the accuracy of the film in court following the UK government’s decision to […]
From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth
Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, October 13th, 2007 - 1 comment
On the morning of October the 12th 1917 845 New Zealand soldiers lost their lives in a failed attack on Bellvue Spur during the Battle of Passchendaele. At commemorations held in Flanders yesterday, Peter Kennedy, The New Zealand Ambassador to Belgium reffered to the attack of that morning “the greatest disaster in New Zealand’s history, […]
US right vs 12-year-old
Written By: - Date published: 11:11 am, October 13th, 2007 - 14 comments
A week or so ago President Bush vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have dramatically expanded children’s health insurance in the US. He claimed the bill was too costly, took the program too far from its original intent of helping the poor, and would entice people now covered in the private sector to switch to […]
Found
Written By: - Date published: 4:32 pm, October 12th, 2007 - Comments Off on Found
It’s Friday. Maybe you need a break. Don’t say we never think of you. Here’s a site I used to love but had forgotten: FOUND Magazine. Here’s how they describe themselves: “We collect found stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids’ homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, doodles – anything that gives a glimpse […]
Deja vu: alle par dejeuner
Written By: - Date published: 3:34 pm, October 12th, 2007 - 9 comments
Reading Hager’s observations in his select committee testimony got me thinking. That big business lobby which used to sit behind Dr Brash now sits behind Mr Key. I’m sure McCully has explained to those monied types that National has to be careful about how to describe the true policy agenda. But Mr Key and his […]
The real crime with the Brethren spending
Written By: - Date published: 2:46 pm, October 12th, 2007 - 35 comments
I want to clarify the major difference between the Brethren spending money to elect National and the union’s spending money to elect Labour. The Brethren spent $1.2million and National didn’t have to account for it. Whatever the unions spent on Labour came under Labour’s spending cap. So in fact the National Party got what was […]
Fence-sitting on the Farming Show
Written By: - Date published: 2:35 pm, October 12th, 2007 - 16 comments
More parseltongue from Key, this time on the Farming Show yesterday. It’s just getting tiring to listen to. Put Bill on, at least he can sometimes give a straight answer – even if by doing so he can only attract 20% of the vote. PRESENTER: If you get the Treasury benches, have you crunched the […]
Video: John Key meets Brethren
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, October 12th, 2007 - 8 comments
Here’s the clip that aired on One News during the 2005 election campaign. It was produced after it became apparent that the Brethren were covertly involved but before the full extent of National’s lies were subsequently revealed. There’s a great shot of John Key meeting two of the (pixelated) Brethren and them asking that the […]
Overtaxed?
Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, October 12th, 2007 - 18 comments
There’s a lot of talk on the right about the surplus being evidence of ‘overtaxation’. But where exactly is the Government’s huge tax grab? According to Treasury, tax as a percentage of GDP has barely moved since 1998 – when we had no Working for Families, no Cullen Fund, no Kiwisaver, virtually no investment in […]
Trans Tasman on Clark
Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, October 12th, 2007 - 5 comments
Articles like this – particularly in international media – must worry Key and National. How do you even begin to challenge a leader like Clark? We can see from Keenan’s email to Brash (p131) from The Hollow Men that National’s strategy at the last election was the Rovian “attack your opponent’s strengths” – this explains […]
The war is not over for the children
Written By: - Date published: 5:18 pm, October 11th, 2007 - 26 comments
For people visiting www.thewariniraqisnotover.com, I am tempted to add another requirement for those feeling genuinely outraged at John Key’s statement on the war in Iraq. Make a donation to the Save the Children Fund and demonstrate some practical support for the bad state of affairs in that sad country. In May 2003, the Save the […]
Key doesn’t deserve the moral high ground
Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, October 11th, 2007 - 10 comments
No surprise to hear Key in the House yesterday relying on his research unit – Fran O’Sullivan – to try and weasel his way out of his “the war in Iraq is over” comment. As posted previously here on The Standard, ministers’ comments made back in 2003 were made in a very different context – […]
Outrageous Fortune
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, October 11th, 2007 - 1 comment
Outragous Fortune’s heading to the US. ABC has signed a deal with South Pacific Pictures to turn the show into an American series. This is great news considering that Britain’s ITV has already commissioned a six-part series based on the show, due out next year. Don’t know about you but I’m just hopeful the show’s […]
Political positioning
Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, October 11th, 2007 - 19 comments
And so it begins. First we have Winston saying he could work with the Nats “if its policy was [thrown out] adjusted” and most recently it’s the Greens extending the leafy hand of friendship. I would have thought that all the Nats’ recent talk of selling off state assests would have seriously put the brakes […]
DPF: Death Penalty Facts
Written By: - Date published: 10:13 pm, October 10th, 2007 - 2 comments
There I was just reading this when I notice DPF doing a post on the same thing. Stuff reports that under Clark’s leadership “New Zealand is working with other countries to put a resolution to the United Nations seeking the abolition of the death penalty world wide”. Of course National Party blogger and HQ staff […]
Petition: John Key should apologise
Written By: - Date published: 4:09 pm, October 10th, 2007 - 15 comments
Like many listeners, we were stunned to hear this from a man who wants to lead New Zealand. Key has since claimed both that he is technically right and that his comment has been taken out of context. But we’re not buying his excuses. We believe that he should unreservedly apologise to the people of […]
What good’s a story without any pictures?
Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, October 10th, 2007 - 48 comments
Further to our release this morning of Hager’s testimony (PDF, 120K) refuting Brash and Key’s claim not to have planned their 2005 election campaign in cahoots with the Exclusive Brethren, we thought it might be nice to drop in some holiday shots of John and his reclusive mates. Click the thumbnails for larger views.
National’s cynical attack on disabled workers
Written By: - Date published: 1:14 pm, October 10th, 2007 - 7 comments
History tells us the Nats will use any excuse they can to undermine people’s work rights, but this is low even for them. Desperate for an angle to oppose the extension of minimum wage rights to disabled workers, National hit on an idea: argue that paying disabled workers the legal minimum is actually bad for […]
Hollow Men new season at Circa 2
Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, October 10th, 2007 - 3 comments
Good news for Wellingtonians. It looks like Dean Parker’s play The Hollow Men (based on Nicky Hager’s Don-downing book) has got a new season at Circa 2 for almost 3 weeks in early November. More details when we have them. Good news too for National Party blogger David Farrar who said the reason he hadn’t […]
Connell’s history
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, October 10th, 2007 - Comments Off on Connell’s history
From the Nats’ press release: National MP Brian Connell has indicated he does not intend seeking selection for the Selwyn seat at the next election and will leave Parliament at the end of this parliamentary term, says National Party Leader John Key. Connell was a perpetual pain in the arse for them. No wonder he’s […]
No it doesn’t, John
Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, October 10th, 2007 - 9 comments
Looks like another batch of the infamous John Key posters has gone up all over central Wellington overnight, this time tackling John on privatisation. My spies tell me Wayne Mapp was spotted this morning shaking his head and looking rather unimpressed. Hate to break it to you Wayne, but as one of John Key’s advisers […]
More from the Hollow Men
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, October 10th, 2007 - 8 comments
National doesn’t want you to see this. If you read five pages today, read these. It’s the transcript of Nicky Hager’s submission to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee on the Electoral Finance Bill. Gems include: “…Don Brash, John Key, Murray McCully, Gerry Brownlee were all able to use the secrecy of the situation to […]
A disturbance in the force?
Written By: - Date published: 5:36 pm, October 9th, 2007 - 23 comments
I might be coming to this belatedly (forgive me if you’ve already noticed it) but it seems the left/right blog war has heated up considerably in the last couple of weeks, and there’s some palpable right wing cyber-paranoia going on. It seems the right have got rather used to New Zealand’s blogosphere being their own […]
Tough but fair
Written By: - Date published: 5:08 pm, October 9th, 2007 - 1 comment
Listening to Nine to Noon on RNZ yesterday I thought there was some useful insight into the bigger picture behind Key’s “the war in Iraq is over” gaffe: Laila Harre: What this really demonstrates is a real lack of depth in terms of John Key’s own understanding not just of foreign policy issues or grasp […]
Stuff-up
Written By: - Date published: 2:25 pm, October 9th, 2007 - 2 comments
Anyone else notice this morning that Stuff.co.nz seemed to think it was February 26? Apparently Paul Holmes is going to be on Dancing with the Stars. The Brethren are having a cry about their election fiasco. And Britney is still in rehab.
- Final day for public feedback on Treaty Principles Bill
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Everyone can help lighten the load for a struggling new mum or dad. Here’s how. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. As I recently ...2 days ago - Dame Tariana Turia to be laid to rest today
Dame Tariana died on Friday, aged 80. ...2 days ago
- ‘Man had eel in his bum’: Remembering the story that almost broke the Herald
Summer reissue: This year the Herald on Sunday celebrated a significant birthday. Hayden Donnell takes a look back at one of its most defining moments. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and ...2 days ago
- How Wellington became a cornucopia of Malaysian food
Summer reissue: Our capital is a far cry from hot, bustling Kuala Lumpur, so why is this freezing city full of excellent Malaysian cuisine? My dad once told me that there are more Malaysian restaurants in Wellington per square kilometres than there are back in Malaysia. He was completely ...2 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 January
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 days ago - Daily crossword, Tuesday 7 January
The post Daily crossword, Tuesday 7 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 days ago
- Five Pacific region geopolitical ‘betrayals’ in 2024
COMMENTARY: By David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report With the door now shut on 2024, many will heave a sigh of relief and hope for better things this year. Decolonisation issues involving the future of Kanaky New Caledonia and West Papua – and also in the Middle East with ...2 days ago - Labour should apologise to Dame Tariana Turia’s whānau – Willie Jackson at tangi
Willie Jackson was among politicians past and present paying respect to Dame Tariana today - and made the call for an apology over her treatment during the Foreshore and Seabed controversy. ...3 days ago
- ‘Ghost of Suharto’ marks Prabowo’s new phase in West Papua occupation
SPECIAL REPORT: By Paul Gregoire United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) provisional government interim president Benny Wenda has warned that since Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto took office in October, he has been proven right in having remarked, after the politician’s last February election, that his coming marks the return ...3 days ago
- Should I get a weighted vest to boost my fitness? And how heavy should it be?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University ZR10/Shutterstock Exercise training while wearing a weighted vest is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance. Social media posts and trainers are promoting them as a potential strategy for improving fitness and health. ...3 days ago
- Live: Hīkoi mō te Tiriti supporters invited to honour Dame Tariana Turia at tangi
The Prime Minister is visiting Whangaehu Marae to pay his respects. ...3 days ago
- How do mosquito repellents work? A chemistry expert explains
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Eldridge, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, Swinburne University of Technology kamitana/Shutterstock It’s summertime, and for many of us that means plenty of time outside – and, unfortunately, mosquitoes. The combination of the increase in temperature and plenty of water is ideal ...3 days ago
- Even calm people can fly into a rage behind the wheel. Here’s how to curb your road rage – befor...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney Marian Weyo/Shutterstock If someone bumps into us on the footpath or in the mall, we’re generally quite forgiving. We instinctively apologise or step aside, and usually don’t scream at, stalk, ...3 days ago
- Relentless warming is driving the water cycle to new extremes, the 2024 global water report shows
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University EPA/MIGUEL ANGEL POLO Last year, Earth experienced its hottest year on record − for the fourth year in a row. Rising temperatures are changing ...3 days ago
- Continental drift: why the need for critical minerals might change the way we define Earth’s zones
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rupert Sutherland, Professor of tectonics and geophysics, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Office of Ocean Exploration and Research/NOAA, CC BY-SA Continents and oceans have scientific definitions that underpin international law. The idea of dividing the world into geographical ...3 days ago
- Do natural fabrics really keep us cooler in summer? Here’s the science
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nisa Salim, Senior Lecturer at the School of Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology Dasha Petrenko/Shutterstock The Bureau of Meteorology has warned Australia is facing one of the hottest summers on record. As the weather warms, many of us reach for light-coloured ...3 days ago
- 3 drugs that went from legal, to illegal, then back again
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philippa Martyr, Lecturer, Pharmacology, Women’s Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia Peruvian Syrup, containing cocaine, was used to ‘cure’ a range of diseases. Smithsonian Museum of American History/Flickr Cannabis, cocaine and heroin have interesting life stories and long ...3 days ago
- Dreading the school or daycare drop-off? How to handle it when your child doesn’t want you to go
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Ridder, Lecturer in Early Childhood Education, Murdoch University Kiefer Photography/Shutterstock You’re doing daycare or school drop-off, you’re already late for work, and your child’s lip starts to quiver. A tremble turns into a wail, a wail into heart-rending cries as ...3 days ago
- Perfectionist leaders can push their teams to meet high standards – but it can backfire and stifl...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gamze Koseoglu, Senior Lecturer, The University of Melbourne fizkes/Shutterstock Have you ever kept a brilliant idea to yourself, fearing your boss’s reaction? This hesitation is more common than you might think, especially when working under perfectionist leaders. Some of the most ...3 days ago
- 5 tips to ace a job interview – including how to prepare for the question they’ll definitely ask
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerry Brown, Professor of Employment and Industry, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University Photo by Anna Shvets/Pexels If you’re back in the job market, or looking for your first position after graduating, you’ll need to think about how to ...3 days ago
- Why you should treat workplace friendships like your diet – aim for balance and variety
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stefan Korber, Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images The list of organisations abandoning the option of fully remote work for employees has grown recently, with the likes of Amazon, IBM, JPMorgan and Meta ...3 days ago
- Sunglasses reflect more than the light: a brief history of shades, from Ancient Rome to Hollywood
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Maynard, Associate Professor, School of Communication and the Arts, The University of Queensland State Library Victoria Sunglasses, or dark glasses, have always guarded against strong sunlight, but is there more to “shades” than we think? The pupils of our ...3 days ago
- Inside the fast rise and faster collapse of the acclaimed K Road restaurant Cotto
Summer reissue: The Auckland eatery closed its doors with no warning in late 2023, prompting concerned customers to ask the simple question: what went wrong? Stewart Sowman-Lund finds out. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...3 days ago
- Dunedin’s secondhand bookshops, ranked and reviewed
Summer reissue: Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...3 days ago
- Stanford braces herself for a year of cuts – and reform
“Next year is going to be a tough year for me, because I’m going to have to make some very, very difficult decisions,” Education Minister Erica Stanford says.That means cuts. Or at least replacements.“This is the problem in education: we never stop doing things.”This leads to a disjointed system, where ...3 days ago
- Protecting our democracy by reforming Parliament
Opinion: Aotearoa New Zealand currently exists in an unstable world. Democracies are under challenge across the globe, and we are not immune.As the inhabitants of one of the world’s oldest democracies, New Zealanders are accustomed to electing their Members of Parliament every three years and we value the importance of ...3 days ago
- The Mars search for meaning
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is resolute in his determination to establish a self-sustaining human settlement on Mars and is actively developing technology to achieve his mission. It’s an intriguing prospect, and if achieved, humans would only be able to potentially survive in some kind of biodome, but it once again raises ...3 days ago
- Hīkoi mō te Tiriti supporters invited to honour Dame Tariana Turia at tangi
Dame Tariana Turia's advocacy for Māori rights was the inspiration behind the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, organiser says. ...3 days ago
- What I learned (and didn’t learn) from four years of home education
Summer reissue: For four years, Shanti Mathias learned at home, with her siblings as her only classmates. How did it affect her? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to ...3 days ago
- An insomniac’s guide to getting to sleep when it’s hot and muggy
Summer reissue: It is not easy, but it is possible. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. Ah, sleep. Those six to eight gorgeous ...3 days ago
- ‘I need to make you suffer’: My near decade of violent harassment by a man I barely know
Summer reissue: Zeni Gibson has been stalked and harassed for nearly nine years by a man she rejected when she was 17. This is her story. As told to Madeleine Holden. Cover Stories are longform journalism supported by Spinoff Members. Support this work here. Spinoff Cover Stories are now available ...3 days ago
- Daily crossword, Monday 6 January
The post Daily crossword, Monday 6 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 6 January
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- This past year saw policing get ‘back to basics’ – Minister Mark Mitchell
RNZ sat down with Police Minister and Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell for a year in review, across his portfolios. ...4 days ago
- Tangi for Dame Tariana Turia welcomes figures from throughout the motu
Visitors and dignitaries from around the motu have been welcomed onto Whangaehu Marae, near Whanganui, as the tangihanga for the co-founder of Te Pāti Māori enters its second day. ...4 days ago
- Countering Foreign Interference Bill A Dramatic Attack On Free Speech And Rights
We know that the impact of this kind of legislation is to silence legitimate political activity. In particular this is likely to be the case where people are advocating for policies that are contrary to the position of the current government. ...4 days ago - Abducted Gaza doctor’s life in danger due to torture – call for immediate international interven...
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor The fate of Palestinian Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who was “arrested” by Israeli forces last month after defiantly staying with his patients when his hospital was being attacked, featured strongly at yesterday’s medical professionals solidarity rally in Auckland. ...4 days ago
- The Wāhine Māori leading NZ’s largest education union
Ripeka Lessels (Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Te Arawa, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa)Ripeka Lessels had been an educator for 20 years before she decided to become involved in NZEI Te Riu Roa’s Māori governance body, Te Reo Areare. It’s here she believed she could do the most good for tamariki Māori.As someone who had ...4 days ago
- Four myths of career breaks
Opinion: Why is it that whenever we meet someone new, we default to asking about their job?We could ask almost any question about their interests, background, or values, but still we ask “So, what do you do?”It turns out, this common, seemingly innocuous phrasing carries much deeper undertones of perceived ...4 days ago
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