Archive for November, 2011
Open mike 12/11/2011
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 12th, 2011 - 70 comments
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…
Banks & Peters
Written By: - Date published: 4:34 pm, November 11th, 2011 - 46 comments
So the meeting has taken place, and Epsom has been asked to hold its nose and vote for failed Nat retread John Banks, and with him on his coat tails failed Nat retread Don Brash. Nice one. In other news, Winston Peters is riding a boost in the polls all the way to the televised minor parties leaders’ debate. The Nats will be spitting.
Weekend social 11/11/2011
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, November 11th, 2011 - 38 comments
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?
A sharp contrast
Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, November 11th, 2011 - 21 comments
When people say ‘there’s no difference between the two big parties’ or ‘where are the policies’, it’s shorthand for ‘I haven’t been paying attention’. We had a great example of the contrast yesterday. National would subsidise expansion of dairy by selling our assets; Labour would get modern equipment to poor schoolkids by cutting sports subsidies to rich schools.
All the 1s
Written By: - Date published: 11:11 am, November 11th, 2011 - 34 comments
Eleven seconds after this goes up, it will be 11:11.11 11/11/11. Arbitrary but still pretty cool I guess. Once in a century event, having all the same numeral. Interesting to reflect on how much has changed since 11:11.11 11/11/1911. And how little. Wonder what it will be like at 11:11.11 11/11/2111. Better – is all we can hope.
Treasury on the minimum wage
Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, November 11th, 2011 - 35 comments
Labour want to raise the minimum wage to $15. The Nats say that will cost jobs (they want to lower the minimum wage instead). Documents obtained by 3 News show that Treasury think the Nats are wrong. A vote for increasing the minimum wage will not cost jobs.
A cup of tea and a lie down
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, November 11th, 2011 - 34 comments
hattip: the jackal
Good news bad news polls
Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, November 11th, 2011 - 44 comments
Labour is down in two recent polls (albeit margin of error), but over all the news is good!
Key would sell it all, eventually
Written By: - Date published: 6:46 am, November 11th, 2011 - 100 comments
John Key’s promising new capital spending projects left, right, and centre that would be funded by asset sales. But, with the European debt crisis spreading, the odds of getting $5-$7 billion for slices of our energy companies and Air NZ are worsening. So what’s the plan when they need more money for Key’s promises? What do you think?
Open mike 11/11/2011
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 11th, 2011 - 90 comments
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…
Phoney Charisma
Written By: - Date published: 10:50 pm, November 10th, 2011 - 12 comments
Emmerson in the Herald has a good take on John Key’s campaign style. As he continues to fail to front up to debate on actual policy.
Pike River charges laid
Written By: - Date published: 8:37 pm, November 10th, 2011 - 20 comments
Charges have been laid over the Pike River tragedy.
Two headlines to ponder
Written By: - Date published: 4:18 pm, November 10th, 2011 - 60 comments
IEA: World is hurtling toward irreversible climate change
Government shifts to ETS go-slow
Discuss…
Was it a full moon?
Written By: - Date published: 1:02 pm, November 10th, 2011 - 61 comments
Oh hell. My worst fears have been realized. John Key is a wereperson. He is morphing into an incantation of the countries biggest ever political disaster. And talking of other story lines from True Blood. John Banks has been wandering around with the decapitated head of Don Brash.
Jobs for the boys, and girls
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, November 10th, 2011 - 37 comments
The greatest threat to Banks: Brash (& that story)
Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, November 10th, 2011 - 39 comments
John Banks says the brand he is campaigning for in Epsom is ‘Brand Key’, not ACT. Epsomites don’t want three-time loser Don Brash but it’s unavoidably true that a vote for Banks is a vote for Brash. This is leading to a further unattractive debacle as Banks tries to distance himself from his leader, who he’s trying to get into parliament.
Disrespectful
Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, November 10th, 2011 - 44 comments
Why did Key keep talking through a minute’s silence for Christchurch quake victims?
200,000 children abandoned so already rich can get richer
Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, November 10th, 2011 - 52 comments
How many children is 200,000 in the context of New Zealand’s population? Statistics New Zealand says between June 2008-2011 around 62-64,000 children were born each year. So 200,000 amounts to every single child born in this country since National came to power three years ago, plus another 10,000 or so.
The new hole in National’s budget
Written By: - Date published: 7:24 am, November 10th, 2011 - 99 comments
National would get the books back into the black with a $1.5b surplus 2014/15. It’s on their ads, it’s in the PREFU. So, it’s gotta be true, eh? Well, we already know they’ve cooked the books by claiming both that they would have the revenue from asset sales and the dividends from those sold assets. Now, their ETS changes have opened a second great big hole in their budget.
Open mike 10/11/2011
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 10th, 2011 - 124 comments
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…
The Recovery is here, it’s coming, it’s…
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, November 9th, 2011 - 48 comments
National want it both ways. They’ve brought us economic recovery through their brilliance (we’ve just not felt it yet), but also the lack of a recovery is not their fault and is in fact why all the stats are so bad. Here’s a reminder of what they’ve said…
Vote to keep us rich & you poor
Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, November 9th, 2011 - 19 comments
The first of the CTU’s online election ads.
Mixed polls
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, November 9th, 2011 - 73 comments
The Fairfax Research International poll looks disastrous for Labour, but it’s a new poll with no track record. Laugh at me if I turn out to be wrong, but I’m calling it rogue. In contrast a Herald Mood of the Nation poll today is much better reading for the Left.
Where does he find the time
Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, November 9th, 2011 - 65 comments
There’s a line in, I believe, a Terry Pratchett book that goes ‘a leader has to get up very early in the morning and work hard all day long to make a society go backwards’. I was reminded of that when Key said “I work 19 hours a day, seven days a week to try and make New Zealand a better country”. Given the country’s going backwards, what does Key get up to in those 133 hour weeks? Let’s see.
John Key’s mirror trust
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, November 9th, 2011 - 76 comments
All these things operate underground. There are two near identical pairs. But only one of these things is really not like the other. Let’s not forget John Key’s mirror trust that let’s him keep an eye on the investments that are supposed to be held in a blind trust while he’s PM.
Are we a caring country?
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, November 9th, 2011 - 125 comments
Nothing separates the political Right and Left like their attitude to welfare. The difference is very starkly highlighted in the recent policies from National and Labour. Which approach better serves the children of New Zealand? How much do we care?
Open mike 09/11/2011
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 9th, 2011 - 134 comments
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…
John Key’s Top Ten
Written By: - Date published: 5:01 pm, November 8th, 2011 - 79 comments
Not as much fun as a Letterman Top Ten, but here’s John Key’s vital statistics – his record to be judged on. (h/t Phil Goff…)
“Stable” ACT
Written By: - Date published: 1:37 pm, November 8th, 2011 - 39 comments
Key seems to want ACT to beg even more for his endorsement in Epsom. No wonder their hard working supporter is getting a bit tetchy. But as for ACT being “very stable” – WTF?
Labour on the environment
Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, November 8th, 2011 - 38 comments
I was going to write about the release of Labour’s environmental policy – and the resounding silence from National – but NRT has done a great job aleady.
- Cook Islands ‘not qualified’ for UN membership, says prime minister
By Talaia Mika of the Cook Islands News The Cook Islands will not pursue membership in the United Nations and the Commonwealth due to its inability to meet the criteria for UN membership and existing relationship with New Zealand, which fulfils Commonwealth membership requirements. Prime Minister Mark Brown has clarified ...1 week ago - Obit: Dame Tariana Turia has died
The former Labour Party MP and Te Pāti Māori co-founder was recognised for her commitment to Māori. ...1 week ago - Division, abuse and rates pain: Local politics year in review
A rising tide of abuse, escalating costs and the clash between central and local government - Marika Hill looks back at local politics in 2024. ...1 week ago
- Dame Tariana Turia has died
The former politician suffered a stroke earlier this week. ...1 week ago
- ‘One of the most important species for science’: how the humble fruit fly transformed 4 fields o...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ary Hoffmann, Professor, School of BioSciences and Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne Drosophila melanogaster. Deep Scope/Shutterstock The common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), more correctly called the vinegar fly, is a frequent visitor to ripe fruit in households around the world, where ...1 week ago
- Genius or charlatan? The strange tale of a 19th-century polymath who left a trail of controversy acr...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Ludewig, Professor and Head of the School of Humanities, The University of Western Australia The Burra Burra Mine, 1847. Samuel Thomas Gill / State Library of NSW About 20 minutes’ drive north of Geraldton, on Australia’s west coast, lies a hill ...1 week ago
- Summer holidays haven’t changed much since ancient Greece and Rome (except maybe the sand wrestlin...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, researching Greco-Roman antiquity, The University of Melbourne Imagine a summer holiday at a seaside resort, with days spent sunbathing, reading books, exploring nature and chatting with friends. Sounds like it could be anywhere in Australia or ...1 week ago
- The elimination of cervical cancer in NZ is within reach in our lifetime – but not without funding...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Storey, Deputy Director Te Tātai Hauora o Hine – National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington After committing to a global plan to eliminate cervical cancer, New Zealand is lagging behind Australia and ...1 week ago
- Why do some people’s hair and nails grow quicker than mine?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Moscova, Adjunct Associate Professor, Anatomy, UNSW Sydney Jari Lobo/Pexels Throughout recorded history, our hair and nails played an important role in signifying who we are and our social status. You could say, they separate the caveman from businessman. It ...1 week ago
- Monarch butterflies are in decline in NZ and Australia – they need your help to track where they g...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myron Zalucki, Professor in Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland Kathy Reid, CC BY-SA Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) appear to be declining not just in North America but also in Australiasia. Could this be a consequence of global change, including ...1 week ago
- Australia needs better ways of storing renewable electricity for later. That’s where ‘flow batte...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Skyllas-Kazacos, Professor Emeritus, School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW Sydney As more and more solar and wind energy enters Australia’s grid, we will need ways to store it for later. We can store electricity in several different ways, from pumped hydroelectric ...1 week ago
- Unlocking the past: how NZ’s first jail tells a complex story of colonial identity
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington View of Kororāreka in the Bay of Islands, 1845, by George Thomas Clayton. via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY New Zealand’s first jail was a simple affair, just ...1 week ago
- Is it important to read the explanatory labels next to artworks? We asked 5 experts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Noor Gillani, Digital Culture Editor Shutterstock You’re standing at the centre of an expansive art gallery, overwhelmed by what’s in front of you: panel after panel of stupendous works – densely-written labels affixed next to each piece. These labels may offer ...1 week ago
- Te Pāti Māori co-founder Dame Tariana Turia dies
Dame Tariana Turia has died aged 80 in Whangaehu overnight.The founder and former co-leader of Te Pāti Māori suffered a stroke earlier this week and was said not to have long left.A press release from Te Ranga Tupua said she had died in the early hours of Friday morning. “A mother ...1 week ago - DoC’s big donation drive gets mixed reviews
An $80 million subantarctic pest eradication project is being backed by a high-profile conservation charity targeting wealthy individuals.Since it was established in 2000, NZ Nature Fund has raised $5 million for project-specific conservation work, including $1.2 million over the past year. Projects, often managed by the Department of Conservation (DoC), ...1 week ago
- Rust Belt vs the beltway: Vance’s memoir more relevant than ever
Opinion: When it was first published in 2016, JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy was hailed by Britain’s Sunday Times as “the political book of the year”. The Independent described it as “an insight into Trump and Brexit”.Hillbilly Elegy is an autobiographical account of Vance’s life, growing up in a poor, white ...1 week ago
- Positive sports fandom: netball fans show the way
Sport is a place where ‘real’ fans are often assumed to be men. Global research tells us that female fans of live men’s sport often face misogynistic and homophobic environments that include swearing, drunkenness and yelling negative comments and abuse at opponents and referees. In men’s sport, a quick skim through ...1 week ago
- Page-turning rural gothic: Ash by Louise Wallace, reviewed
Summer reissue: Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. 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. A famous poet once said to ...1 week ago - A brief history of New Zealand’s weirdest mystery food dumps
Summer reissue: Alex Casey talks a stroll through headlines detailing hundreds of beached kiwifruit, dozens of mailbox sausages and one giant mystery ham. 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 ...1 week ago
- My Greatest Trip: My awkward high-school exchange to Germany
Summer reissue: Hera Lindsay Bird on her Bildungsroman. 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. I would never have gone to Germany if it wasn’t ...1 week ago
- Following the Swiss wolf, who walked 2,000 kilometres for love
Summer reissue: When we insert ourselves into the lives of animals, we become complicit in their fates. 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. Before ...1 week ago
- Prison or nothing: The ‘self-perpetuating downward spiral’ in New Zealand’s mental health syst...
Summer reissue: With specialist mental health services in ‘chaos’, people who need help end up in destructive cycles and prison. Experts say there are solutions, but is political will and leadership lacking? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of ...1 week ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 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. .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-title { font-size: 1.2em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .entry-meta { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; margin-top: 0.5em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-meta { font-size: 0.8em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .avatar { height: 25px; width: ...1 week ago
- Daily crossword, Friday 3 January
The post Daily crossword, Friday 3 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Pryde ‘may have to wait’ over tribunal report, says Fiji President’s office
By Cheerieann Wilson in Suva Fiji’s Office of the President has confirmed that the Tribunal’s report on allegations of misconduct against suspended Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde does not need to be made public at this stage. The tribunal, chaired by Justice Anare Tuilevuka with Justices Chaitanya Lakshman and ...1 week ago
- Virgin Australia confirms ‘serious security incident’ with crew in Fiji
By Anish Chand in Suva Virgin Australia has confirmed a “serious security incident” with its flight crew members who were in Fiji on New Year’s Day. Virgin Australia’s chief operating officer Stuart Aggs said the incident took place on Tuesday night – New Year’s Eve The crew members were in ...1 week ago
- CPJ condemns ban on Al Jazeera – network decries bid to ‘hide the truth’
Pacific Media Watch The New York-based global media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned a decision by the Palestinian Authority to suspend Al Jazeera’s operations in the West Bank and called for it to be reversed “immediately”. “Governments resort to censoring news outlets when they have something to hide,” ...1 week ago
- New Caledonia political crisis costs one third of multi-million French package
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk An emergency 231 million euro (NZ$428 million) French aid package for New Caledonia has been reduced by one third because of the French Pacific territory’s current political crisis. The initial French package was endorsed in early December 2024, in an 11th-hour ...1 week ago
- Isidore of Seville: the patron saint of the internet who shaped knowledge for generations
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Researcher, Historian, Australian Catholic University Stone statue of Saint Isidore of Seville at the National Library of Spain. WH_Pics/Shutterstock In a world where information flows freely, it’s easy to forget that, for centuries, knowledge was much harder to ...1 week ago
- Why your spin bike has become a clothes rack – and what you can do about it, according to behaviou...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Swee-Hoon Chuah, Professor of Behavioural Economics, Tasmanian Behavioural Lab, University of Tasmania Shutterstock Chances are that the end of the year has made you assess some of your 2024 New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps you, like us, bought a home spin bike ...1 week ago
- Most adults will gain half a kilo this year – and every year. Here’s how to stop ‘weight creep...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Fuller, Clinical Trials Director, Department of Endocrinology, RPA Hospital, University of Sydney Allgo/Unsplash As we enter a new year armed with resolutions to improve our lives, there’s a good chance we’ll also be carrying something less helpful: extra kilos. At ...1 week ago
- Mind-bending, body-snatching, blood-sucking: parasites are bizarre yet vital for life on Earth
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University ijimino, Shutterstock Parasite, zombie, leech – these words are often used to describe people in unkind ways. Many of us recoil when ticks, tapeworms, fleas, ...1 week ago
- Ka tuku te rākau: Handing over the baton of protest to a new generation
Summer reissue: As tens of thousands showed their support for the hīkoi to parliament, the organisers were busy behind the scenes ensuring things run smoothly. For many, this was their first time leading a kaupapa of this scale – and it wasn’t all easy. The Spinoff needs to double the ...1 week ago
- The multi-billion dollar startup sector is bouncing back – 8 big trends will shape 2025
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rod McNaughton, Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Startups have always been at the forefront of innovation. But factors such as artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability and decentralisation are set to reshape industries in 2025. Businesses are defined as startups ...1 week ago
- How having a baby makes it more likely Australian couples rely on the man’s income
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francisco Perales, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland fizkes/Shutterstock Australian women are better educated than men but still face poorer job prospects and lower incomes. We see this in Australia’s stubbornly persistent gender pay gap ...1 week ago
- A drink with Lucinda Light, the greatest MAFS participant of all time
Summer reissue: Married at First Sight superfan Tara Ward charges down the aisle to meet this season’s brightest star. It is a Thursday afternoon, and I am staring deep into Lucinda Light’s eyes. It feels like my own personal version of the eye gazing task on Married At First Sight ...1 week ago
- Dame Tariana Turia suffers a stroke, surrounded by family
The former politician is surrounded by her whānau after suffering a stroke earlier this week. ...1 week ago
- ‘If we can do a wedding in 5 days, we can do anything we set our minds to’
Comment: Some people make long lists of things they want to do. When my partner Solly and I decided we wanted to get married, just five days before I flew out on tour with the Black Ferns and he flew out to play for Biarritz, I said, ‘well, how many ...1 week ago
- To belong should never be beyond hope
Opinion: I recently had a wonderful meal with Bariz Shah and his wife Saba, together with their two pre-school children. I had to admit that I hadn’t read Bariz’s book Beyond Hope yet, but after talking about their life over dinner, I knew I had to read it.Imagine arriving in Auckland ...1 week ago
- ‘It was just the right word’: When ‘bugger’ took New Zealand by storm
Summer reissue: It’s a quarter of a century since the nation was stopped in its tracks by a dog saying the word ‘bugger’. This is the complete history of Buggermania – the ad, the controversy, and the enduring legacy. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we ...1 week ago
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