Archive for March, 2016
Jeanette Fitzsimons calls to scrap the emissions trading scheme
Written By: - Date published: 8:12 am, March 5th, 2016 - 13 comments
When National took over in 2008 they gutted the Emissions Trading Scheme, and now we’re at the point where it is used to launder essentially fraudulent carbon credits. Jeanette Fitzsimons has reached the obvious conclusion.
Young Nats run away from public debate on TPP
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 5th, 2016 - 47 comments
Surprisingly and refreshingly, the Young Nats initially agreed. A date was set, a venue booked, and promotion of the debate under way.
Open mike 05/03/2016
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 5th, 2016 - 91 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily Review 04/03/2016
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, March 4th, 2016 - 33 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Crowdfunding for Bradley Ambrose’s defamation case against John Key
Written By: - Date published: 11:26 am, March 4th, 2016 - 38 comments
Teapot tape cameraman Bradley Ambrose plans to take a defamation case against John Key. A crowdfunding campaign has been set up to help him raise the $38,000 required.
John Key lies about staying out of the flag debate
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, March 4th, 2016 - 54 comments
<sigh> . . . yet another addition to the constantly growing list of John Key’s lies. Which is kind of a shame really; he’s actually been doing quite well on the lying front lately.
intersections
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, March 4th, 2016 - 66 comments
You can talk all you like about the economy and the 1% and the capitalist system and the environment and growing inequality, but if you can’t include an intersectional analysis into your description of the problem and into your solutions, then all that talk does not include me and will not be of any use to me.
Hickey on Auckland housing
Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, March 4th, 2016 - 73 comments
Bernard Hickey’s piece from last Sunday on Auckland Housing is a depressing read.
Open mike 04/03/2016
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 4th, 2016 - 76 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
What a picture’s worth…
Written By: - Date published: 10:10 pm, March 3rd, 2016 - 73 comments
Turnout may be very important in the US presidential election – not good news for Hillary though.
Daily Review 03/03/2016
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, March 3rd, 2016 - 8 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Key on cyberbullying
Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, March 3rd, 2016 - 48 comments
Any campaign against cyberbullying is going to need a more plausible figurehead than Key.
TPP submissions closing soon
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, March 3rd, 2016 - 7 comments
The current closing date for public submissions on the TPP is Friday March 11th. Labour’s David Clark is calling for an extension.
Why Hillary is the only candidate to beat Donald Trump
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, March 3rd, 2016 - 104 comments
Why Hillary Clinton should be the Democratic nomination for this year’s American Presidential elections.
On the flag debacle and John Key’s supposed popularity
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, March 3rd, 2016 - 108 comments
Key is running from the flag debacle, further evidence that “preferred PM” and “popular” are not the same thing.
Open mike 03/03/2016
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 3rd, 2016 - 81 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily Review 02/03/2016
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, March 2nd, 2016 - 3 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Iain Lees-Galloway: We’re winning on zero hour contracts
Written By: - Date published: 1:11 pm, March 2nd, 2016 - 78 comments
Iain Lees-Galloway on Labour offering tentative support for the Employment Standards Legislation Bill.
Labour and the Keytruda campaign
Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, March 2nd, 2016 - 66 comments
In a shock horror expose Andrew Little has been exposed as having had dinner with people who work for drug companies. Clearly according to some it is better for him to never meet these people. Or to stop having dinners.
Super Tuesday
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, March 2nd, 2016 - 30 comments
Strange days indeed.
Imperator Fish: On that restaurant guy’s bid for mayor
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, March 2nd, 2016 - 19 comments
Imperator Fish analyses the implications of that restaurant guy’s announcement that he will also seek to become Auckland super city’s next mayor.
Supercity IT cost blowout
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, March 2nd, 2016 - 70 comments
The real costs of the Auckland IT merger are at least six times higher than National’s original $200 million estimate. This significantly alters the economic case that was made for the “supercity”. Was National’s estimate deliberately wrong, or was it just incompetent?
Open mike 02/03/2016
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 2nd, 2016 - 94 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily Review 01/03/2016
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, March 1st, 2016 - 23 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Boots Theory: What is going on with the local-government Right?
Written By: - Date published: 1:25 pm, March 1st, 2016 - 19 comments
Stephanie Rodgers analyses two mayoral races and asks why the right in Auckland is so messy. And why Wellington looks more settled.
Medicines New Zealand on Pharmac funding
Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, March 1st, 2016 - 36 comments
A media release from Medicines New Zealand: “While New Zealanders wait for 81 medicines, PHARMAC gives money back”…
Key Derangement Syndrome
Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, March 1st, 2016 - 232 comments
A term made up by the usual suspects to mock and belittle any criticism of their primary asset.
The minimum wage is not a living wage
Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, March 1st, 2016 - 110 comments
Credit where it’s due for an increase in the minimum wage – but the gap between that and a living wage keeps growing…
Open Mike 01/03/2016
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 1st, 2016 - 101 comments
Open mike is your post.
For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Step up to the mike …
- 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
- Daily crossword, Friday 3 January
The post Daily crossword, Friday 3 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 January
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- 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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