Looks like Europe has managed to pull itself out of the collective funk that Brexit precipitated, and is doing something radically innovative.
The EU is to reveal details of a global investment plan that's widely seen as a rival to China's Belt and Road initiative. Insiders say it'll set out "concrete" ideas on digital, transport, climate and energy schemes.
It's regarded as part of the West's efforts to counter Chinese influence in Africa and elsewhere. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will present the "Global Gateway" initiative on Wednesday.
This is good news. Europe is far too inward and rarely outward looking. In a world where America is a basket case a collective Europe needs to step up on the international stage. Trade and infrastructure programs if done fairly and cooperatively and not getting poor nations in debt should be celebrated. This is a way that Europe can be a major player on the global stage instead of always focusing on itself.
Stood behind an anti-vaxxer in a queue at the bank today. Wore a mask but it wasn't covering her nose. She told me that Dr Fauci is responsible for the pandemic because he paid the Wuhan laboratory millions of dollars to create the virus and release it into the community.
I [kindly] suggested to her that someone was ‘pulling her leg’. She didn't take too kindly to my response.
The fruitcakes who come up with these fantasies have had to discard the conspiracy that Covid is a fake and doesn't exist and are instead spreading crazy and dangerous stories about famous people.
I cannot comprehend why governments everywhere are just letting the crackpots get away with it at the expense of the rest of us.
What do you think governments could/can do about it, & what would the cost of doing that be?
Clog up the Courts all round the world proving every crackpot claim to be false ?
(Some of them may even be difficult to disprove.)
Shunning/shaming these ratbags & dunderheads may be the only way we can really deal with them. Arguing with them seems to be pointless; those few I’ve seen interviewed briefly look absolutely fixated on their weird pet theory.
But would our mainstream media cooperate? Nah. Reporting them publicises them but that’s what our media do. And, to be fair, if they did ignore them there’d be complaints they weren’t doing their job & reporting news & events.
My favourite conspiracy theories are those which can be validated by msm sources. For instance, scientists conspiring to use witchcraft to research Covid:
Using Danish witchcraft folklore as a model, the researchers from UCLA and Berkeley analysed thousands of social media posts with an artificial intelligence tool and extracted the key people, things and relationships.
I think that is all a little too deep for your average non-reading modern audience.
I think we need to return to the fundamentals.
It is simple: random inspections of households are mandated, and if any piece of cracked pottery is found, the inhabitants of that household are bundled off to an Isolation Camp, pending investigation into any of their many nefarious (probably) activities.
Some of them will probably turn out to be witches too. Life does get complicated..
What a brilliant idea! An inspectorate. An entire new arm of the public service! Old leftists will be thrilled at the prospect.
But your scheme is vulnerable to a similar critique to your complaint about the voodoo scientists: cracked pottery as evidence is too subtle. It's clearly analogic to the used of tortoise shells in divination by the Shang dynasty in China three millennia back: they heated them in a fire then read the future from the cracking pattern produced. Punters out there will deem this too weird to think about – they're still struggling to figure omicron out (anagram of moronic).
Wait until they cotton on that businesses required to allow access to all can designate a different entrance/exit for those without a valid vaccination certificate.
33 Business or service in control of premises must allow people access to designated premises
(1)
A business or service in control of premises (premises A) that people must enter for the purpose of accessing designated premises, or goods or services from those designated premises,—
(a)
must allow them to enter premises A for that purpose; and
(b)
may require them to enter premises A through identified access ways for designated premises only; and
(c)
must not request them to produce a CVC or other evidence of being vaccinated against COVID-19, for the purpose of accessing designated premises.
Just received this email from our local vet practice:
"As vets we strongly promote the use of vaccination in animals. We are well informed on vaccinations, how they work, what to expect from them and their limitations. We routinely vaccinate puppies and kittens from 6-8weeks of age reducing parvovirus in dogs and respiratory diseases in cats. All dairy cattle are vaccinated annually for lepto, reducing lepto spread to farm workers. Some of the common diseases we vaccinate our animals for in this area include lepto, salmonella, BVD, tetanus, rotavirus, parvo, canine distemper, kennel cough and cat flu.
Our belief in the use of vaccines as part of an effective control programme extends to COVID and we encourage all clients, their families, and staff to be vaccinated. Like nearly all vaccines it is not 100% effective, and this is to be expected. For this reason, although our staff are fully vaccinated, we will continue to take precautions to reduce the chances of our staff testing positive for Covid. If we have a positive Covid test even if we are not sick, we will not be able to work which could reduce the services available to our clients. For this this reason we will be taking precautions to reduce our contact with Covid.
We appreciate that it is a choice to get vaccinated. We will still service animals owned by unvaccinated clients, but it will be at a Level 4 like system.
Only clients that are vaccination verified will be able to enter the clinic. Clients’ vaccine passes from either their phone or a printed copy will be scanned on entry.
Contactless pick up will be available at a small surcharge for people that cannot enter the clinic.
Pets with Unvaccinated owners
We will still see these pets as necessary for all procedures. Contactless drop off will be required for all services including consults, surgery, and euthanasia. A nurse fee will be added for the extra staff member required.
Housecalls
Will only be a service we offer to vaccination verified clients.
Farm calls Unvaccinated farms
You will be asked before every visit if there are any unwell people in your staff and families. Masks must be worn by any people working within 5m of the vet. If close contact is required, we may choose to be accompanied by one of our own staff members at the farmer’s cost.
Vaccinated Farms
The vets will have the NZ Pass Verifier on their phones. Anyone who will work with the vet will be scanned to confirm vaccination. We will record who has been scanned so we don’t have to do this every visit. At this stage we envisage we will re-verify every 6 months."
Farm calls Unvaccinated farms
You will be asked before every visit if there are any unwell people in your staff and families. Masks must be worn by any people working within 5m of the vet. If close contact is required, we may choose to be accompanied by one of our own staff members at the farmer’s cost.
Oh deary me! Just over a month ago, here in the Far North, I was one of a team of four trying to get two lambs out of a labouring ewe. There was myself, the owner of the ewe grazing my land, the vet nurse and the vet. There were Cases in the neighbourhood. None of us were masked. One of us was in pajamas. Some were wearing long gloves. One of us I know for sure was vaccinated. One I know for sure wasn't. One I suspect wasn't. Now a ewe is not a large animal…and certainly 5 metre distancing was not possible. Maybe the nurse pulling on the ropes might have got two metres from me holding the poor ewe's head. Somehow all of us survived. Apart from one lamb.
Another story in the news about a mental defective. A good story for the followers of the nutcase doctors in New Zealand. Not that it would change their tiny minds.
"One of Austria’s most famous opponents of coronavirus vaccines, Johann Biacsics, has died from COVID-19, local media reports. His condition worsened from October, and he was hospitalized in early November. Despite his breathing difficulties and critical condition, he refused conventional treatment.
At home, Biacsics tried to treat himself with chlorine dioxide. It is considered a miracle cure for COVID-19 among opponents of vaccines. Soon after, the man died."
These stories are of course entirely selective. That same site will say nothing whenever someone fully vaccinated dies of COVID – as many must do because they are not at all 100% effective.
It is the glee with which these stories get repeated that is the real worry. To be so strongly identified as a recipient of Pfizer's product, finding amusement in another's death…
When a similar story was pointed out to me I felt compelled to remind them 1/3 of folk hospitalized with Covid have the vaccine in them.
Rod Dacombe, Director of the Centre for British Politics and Government, King's College London, points to Occam's Razor as the culprit:
conspiracy theories work differently to other forms of misinformation. Rather than simply trading in inaccurate or misleading information, conspiracy theorists believe they have discovered the hidden truth that world events result from the deliberate actions of unseen, malevolent actors… This kind of thinking provides a simple explanation for complex and unpredictable events. In a time of widespread uncertainty and fear it is easy to see the appeal in claims that the pandemic is deliberate and controlled.
So folks default to the simplest causal logic they can get their heads around. Human nature.
Being “awake” is a central theme in conspiracist content… The state of being “awake” is often put across as being virtuous and exceptional, and readers are frequently encouraged to view their knowledge of the pandemic’s “true” nature as a motivating factor to action.
In the virtuous circle, the call to action operates as team-building psychology.
Alongside this are frequent moral appeals to action which play upon readers’ emotions to drive them to act. This includes content written in language that draws on themes of war and conflict and emotive articles warning of the effects of public health measures on children.
It's one of life's ironies that those who hold complex and religiously-held beliefs about conspiracies of all kinds describe themselves as "being awake", while those who attempt to be considerate of the structural discrimination and biases that extend into everyday language and behaviour are denoted via the grammatically-incoherent form as "being woke".
You make it sound as if "woke" was imposed rather than adopted. I've always found it ironic that a bunch of mostly rich white kids were so eager to culturally appropriate the term for themselves.
Maybe ten years ago – these days it seems to be used expressly as a perjorative. But then I'm too old for tictok, so have no idea what the young 'un are up to.
those who attempt to be considerate of the structural discrimination and biases that extend into everyday language and behaviour
Clueless PoMo Dogmatists like you will always create Nightmare scenarios for the innocent … zero understanding of complex reality … and a deep underlying desire to scapegoat those poorer than you unlucky enough to fall into demographics you deem outgroups [I mean the sheer arrogance of you spoilt little brats] … and of course, given your privileged social position, you'll always avoid suffering from the mayhem you cheerfully create.
No surprise that several recent studies in Psychology have shown that core members of the Woke / Critical Theory Cult (ie North American versions of you) disproportionately suffer from the Dark Triad Personality Type … ( 1. Machiavellianism, 2. Narcissism [esp high Entitlement], 3. Psychopathy).
Thought immediately of you (& a couple of 'tiptoe around me on eggshells' ex-boarding school girl former authors here) when I read these analyses … can always count on you to defend the indefensible in a particularly manipulative way, with all the kafka traps, motte-and-bailey fallacies & other rhetorical dishonesty so closely associated with your elitist little Cult.
All very engrossing, I am sure. Did you actually manage to find any links to back up your previous assertion that I am a "particularly ambitious & dogmatic local cheerleader" of CRT?
It's funny. I'm not particularly knowledgable about what CRT actually is, and all I know for sure about postmodernism is that nominative determinism would dictate that it comes after modernism, but here I am apparently standing on the parapets waving their flags, as far as I can tell simply because I don't like bigots.
what is actually going on, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the head of the anti-vaccination organization Children’s Health Defence, is more sinister: philanthropist Bill Gates pays Dr Fauci, who in turn develops drugs and passes them to drug companies in which Gates is invested. Gates then guarantees markets in Africa through his control of the World Health Organization (WHO), which requires those countries to buy the drugs and vaccines.
So you can see why the Get Fauci movement has built up such a head of steam…
She told me that Dr Fauci is responsible for the pandemic because he paid the Wuhan laboratory millions of dollars to create the virus and release it into the community.
Partly true. The evidence is undeniable that Fauci approved funding for the work at Wuhan, via a third party Eco-Health Alliance, to work on bat derived coronavirus'. No doubt on this at all.
And at this point in time I'd rate it as 95% certain that the original CV19 virus escaped that same lab as the result of poor operational procedures that had already been warned of years prior. Again all well documented.
However there is no evidence however Fauci or anyone connected to the Wuhan lab intentionally planned the release of the virus.
But Fauci is not blameless either. It's likely he did not tell his boss, Donald Trump, everything he knew about the probable origin and transmissibility of the virus – which contributed to the misdirection and mishandling of the early global responses to the pandemic. Again email document trails point very strongly to this.
'Conspiracy theories' are what you get when people suspect they are being lied to. In the absence of the truth they have to fill the gap with speculation – some of which they will get right and often times wrong. As does the person you overheard in the bank. But this doesn't change the fact of them being lied to in the first place.
But Fauci is not blameless either. It's likely he did not tell his boss, Donald Trump, everything he knew about the probable origin and transmissibility of the virus…
Jesus! You can't blame him for that. No-one in their right mind would tell Trump everything. He is a narcissistic sociopath.
I dunno, RL. Trump was a special case of an ignorant, egotistical, unpredictable lying & generally Bizarro- type POTUS . I wouldn’t want to fault any of his advisers for not wanting to tell him stuff he could wilfully or stupidly misinterpret or misrepresent.
We went out today!! Why is that remarkable? We are out of the habit.
We do almost everything online, but had to get our vaccination passes printed, as our own printer had died.
Well the first problem was a line of people all wanting the print out at the chemist. It took twenty minutes to get to the front of the queue. A lovely young woman took our name date of birth and found us in the system. She then ushered us to a bench seat with a comment "please rest while this beast of a copier decides if it is going to co-operate" I said "Bad day?" She laughed behind her mask her eyes sparkling "No not really, just it goes slow and seems worse when there is a line of people waiting" She was rushed of her feet getting scripts from the back serving and doing vaccine print outs.
She brought ours across and told us we could go to another counter to get them laminated which we did. It was lovely to see all these people being pleasant and helpful and treating each other kindly, and keeping to the 2m markers. I was uplifted by the lack of any complaints or real problems. I have missed people.
As we got back into the car I said "Well now we have them, we need to go out to use them." So first fine day we plan to have lunch at the Garden Centre. Safe outings all.
It's time to forget again that we have an Opposition, or a leader of it.
This country is within the worst acceleration of class and social disorder since the Mother of All Budgets under Bolger and Richardson nearly three decades ago.
All the attendant social damage is manifest in each city suburb around us.
We are also about to enter a punitive world in which the unvaccinated are effectively shunned from society. This will add the expanding rift of the poorest.
We are also only just beginning to recover from the mental and social damage of lockdowns.
I have a sense of a complete world (spaceship Earth) unable to support our unstable overshoot civilisation. There's no genuine widespread commitment to operate within planetary boundaries – the broad consensus is that the price of fouling our nest is not yet high enough for societies to voluntarily transform BAU – c'est la vie.
Johan: Yes and no…. ‘Yes’, in that I really think it has sunk in with citizens, politicians and business leaders that our current economic paradigm and the development pathways we’re following have risks associated with them and are causing negative impacts: that we have a problem, basically. And we can see this confirmed in opinion polls. That base understanding is much higher than ever before. And that’s why we see political initiatives like [the EU’s] Fit for 55 [targeting a 55% emission reduction by 2030], the Green Deal, and the Biden Administration making courageous decisions around Net Zero. So all that is good.
The ‘No’ is more problematic, in that I literally don’t see any signs of political leadership anywhere in the world understanding that we face a real crisis; that we’re talking of tipping points that could push the planet irreversibly towards leaving all future generations with less and less liveable conditions.
So in some ways [world leaders] have understood [that we have a problem], but at the same time still think that somehow we can muddle through along incremental, linear pathways that don’t in any way rock the boat of our current wealth creation models… That there are some quick fixes such as ‘green growth’ – decoupling [growth from environmental impact] – and if we just try to recycle better and reduce waste and stop eating meat, we’ll save the planet, basically! That I think is the symptom of failing to understand what the science has shown us: that this is a systems problem – that we’re hitting the ceiling of the entire planet’s capacity to be stable enough to support humanity.
…
Even if we are not able to arrive at the dead centre of a safe operating space, we know that every tenth of a degree counts. We know that every species counts. We know that every hectare of land counts. We know that even having an overshoot period, so that we fail before we succeed, means that the impact on our children and their children will be reduced. So it‘s all worth it. I’ve never, never seen any justification for giving up.
The social shortfall and ecological overshoot of nations
[Nature Sustainability, 18 November 2021] Previous research has shown that no country currently meets the basic needs of its residents at a level of resource use that could be sustainably extended to all people globally. Using the doughnut-shaped ‘safe and just space’ framework, we analyse the historical dynamics of 11 social indicators and 6 biophysical indicators across more than 140 countries from 1992 to 2015. We find that countries tend to transgress biophysical boundaries faster than they achieve social thresholds. The number of countries overshooting biophysical boundaries increased over the period from 32–55% to 50–66%, depending on the indicator. At the same time, the number of countries achieving social thresholds increased for five social indicators (in particular life expectancy and educational enrolment), decreased for two indicators (social support and equality) and showed little change for the remaining four indicators. We also calculate ‘business-as-usual’ projections to 2050, which suggest deep transformations are needed to safeguard human and planetary health. Current trends will only deepen the ecological crisis while failing to eliminate social shortfalls.
All the usual alarmist fear-porn hand waving – but zero attempt at a constructive response.
And the usual disdain for 'quick techno-fixes' while typing on a computer (given the immense technological structures necessary to make this possible) is more than a tad dishonest.
Don't know whether to laugh or cry at your latest "fear porn hand waving" 'critique' – maybe the horse-hairshirt is compromising my logic, maybe it's the sack-cloth, but imho we each have our fearporn hobby horses.
Still, laughter is the best medicine
A Final Warning to Planet Earth [PDF; Feb. 2018]
In Ripple et al. [1], 15 364 scientists from 184 countries issue a ‘warning to humanity’ and present a radical agenda to protect planet Earth. We, the billions of people believing in human exceptionalism, categorically reject this agenda and issue in return a stark warning to planet Earth. No amount of facts showing that planet Earth is in a dire state will have us changing our mindset, thank you very much. We do not care about planet Earth. We care about our next devices and their latest cool features. We want more stuff.
Btw, what's your response to the genuine question I posed on Monday?
My answer to your question is simple – the graph you present is the same distribution of outcomes in any productive domain with repeated trades.
If you consider any domain that you may be familiar with – music, art, academia – the same graph would be plotted. A tiny fraction of people contribute to the largest group of outcomes. (In this case CO2 consumption merely being an obvious proxy for energy consumption.)
Next question. What are you trying to achieve and how do you propose to get there?
I believe that this iteration of human civilisation must achieve a rapid and large decrease in it's carbon and resource hoofprints on spaceship Earth.
I (and many others) propose that this can be achieved by first challenging the idea that the current distribution of outcomes is inevitable and/or sustainable, and then proceeding to change that distribution; to develop "a new way of thinking".
But, of course, 'we' have to want to change – the behaviours of the 'golden billion', and the examples we provide others, are problematic. Can humans learn to self-regulate so as to not degrade the planetary life support system? I believe they can (and hopefully in sufficient numbers), but they have to want to learn.
More 'fear porn' coming your way
Differentiating the Concepts of Technosphere, Noosphere, and Global Brain A critical problem with Earth’s current technosphere is that due to its rapid and recent evolution, it does not have the kind of feedback loops (as found in the biosphere) needed for self-regulation. Humans are programmed (biologically) to exploit all available resources, but we haven’t evolved culturally to understand limits. Haff emphasizes that the lack of recycling within the technosphere (with the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion as an iconic example). Life cycle analyses of all manufactured products, and better monitoring of input/recycling/output budgets (e.g., for aluminum) at the global scale is required for a sustainable technosphere.
… The technosphere, noosphere, and global brain concepts share a common concern with understanding the relationship of the burgeoning human enterprise, including its technology, to the entirety of the Earth system. Anthropogenic global environmental change poses an existential threat to humanity and there is a clear need for a Great Transition involving massive changes in values as well as technology. These three concepts serve as beacons pointing towards global sustainability.
The utility of the technosphere concept is that it refers to measurable entities, and formally meshes with the existing Earth system science paradigm. Given that humans are only part of the technosphere, and a part does not control the whole, awareness of the technosphere argues against hubris. However, the technosphere concept doesn’t engage the host of psychological and sociological issues that must be addressed to rapidly alter the Earth system trajectory. It helps reveal the danger humanity faces but doesn’t foster a worldview that will ameliorate the danger.
Why do you think scientists are sounding alarm bells it in such numbers Red? Are they all misguided – is it only you that sees clearly?
Are you part of the solution, or part of the problem?
If I was to continue comsuming at the rate I have been for most of my life then I would certainly be setting a bad example. It's eye-opening to realise just how many ways there are for a relatively affluent person such as myself to shrink my footprint – no more international travel, and more walking (which I enjoy, so it's a win-win) – you can't take it with you. I'm still part of the problem, but aiming to be a smaller part.
Imho, given the state of spaceship Earth, only the one-eyed could view changing to 'shrink and share' lifestyles as contributing to the problem.
“If change across society is to be brought about at the speed and scale required to meet agreed climate targets we need to shrink and share: reduce carbon budgets and share more equally. To radically reduce our emissions, governments must look closely at the lifestyles and behaviours of the most affluent in society – the ‘polluter elite’ – who travel the most, own the largest homes and can often pay for the privilege of polluting. Not only will targeting the polluter elite deliver substantial emissions savings, but it will also show wider society that we really are all in this together and that the transition to a low-carbon society must be fair and just – with all of us pulling our weight.” https://council.science/current/blog/target-high-carbon-emitters-to-accelerate-green-transition-say-leading-experts-on-behavioural-change/
Why do you think scientists are sounding alarm bells it in such numbers Red? Are they all misguided
When the alarm bell keep on being rung year in year out – and the same scientists reject all viable responses to the crisis – then yes they are misguiding us. And I'm certainly not the only one to see this.
and the same scientists reject all viable responses to the crisis
If you say so. I'd hazard a guess that you believe your responses are the only viable ones – we can agree to disagree, although (as I've mentioned before), I don't hold out much hope that either your or other responses will be enacted in a timely fashion.
Doesn't frighten me personally, but I do fear for future generations – is that wrong?
The income line especially is laughable…what could you buy with 10 cents in the 60's?
Immediately under the graph's title is this:
Total output of the world economy; adjusted for inflation and expressed in international-$ in 2011 prices.
The western countries lept ahead through colonisation/empire as they exploited the countries on the other end of the scale.
What rule said that the all world would all develop at exactly the same time and at the same rate? I'm not deaf to the question you pose here. As scifi author William Gibson once said – 'the future has already arrived, it's just not very evenly distributed'.
The challenge to a progressive post-marxist left must be this; how to ensure this future is universally accessible to all. You’re invited to talk constructively to this.
You ‘framed’ my presentation of Rosling's quote as "sentimentality".
You then ‘framed’ my observation of your human exceptionalism as "a choice between killing people and killing polar bears" – whatever next?
Do you really believe that our incredibly gifted species will be faced with the choice of killing people versus the extinction of polar bears? Bizarre.
It's hardly a 'disclaimer' – for such a graph to have any meaning at all it will always be inflation adjusted. The team at Our World in Data are not idiots.
And as Hans Rosling clearly shows – in a broad historic context – all of us 'golden 1b' who live in the developed world are among the luckiest bastards who ever lived. We could all be a lot more grateful for this than we typically are.
You might want to ask yourself – the people who sold you the agenda of misery that is so often conflated with being a good leftie – who is benefitting from this? Not you, not the poor – who?
So are you assuming its figures adjusted for inflation 10 years ago?
I'm not 'assuming' anything – the statement speaks for itself. Nor does it matter what year is used as the reference point – as long as the data is all adjusted to the same year the shape of the graph will remain the same.
I can accept you subscribe to an 'I'm alright …Jack' attitude ,many do not.
I've written extensively here over many years – that you have failed to understand it is not my problem.
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Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
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 ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
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Looks like Europe has managed to pull itself out of the collective funk that Brexit precipitated, and is doing something radically innovative.
This is good news. Europe is far too inward and rarely outward looking. In a world where America is a basket case a collective Europe needs to step up on the international stage. Trade and infrastructure programs if done fairly and cooperatively and not getting poor nations in debt should be celebrated. This is a way that Europe can be a major player on the global stage instead of always focusing on itself.
Stood behind an anti-vaxxer in a queue at the bank today. Wore a mask but it wasn't covering her nose. She told me that Dr Fauci is responsible for the pandemic because he paid the Wuhan laboratory millions of dollars to create the virus and release it into the community.
I [kindly] suggested to her that someone was ‘pulling her leg’. She didn't take too kindly to my response.
The fruitcakes who come up with these fantasies have had to discard the conspiracy that Covid is a fake and doesn't exist and are instead spreading crazy and dangerous stories about famous people.
I cannot comprehend why governments everywhere are just letting the crackpots get away with it at the expense of the rest of us.
Must say I'm really over them – how did we manage so many nutters? And its going to get worse come Friday!
What do you think governments could/can do about it, & what would the cost of doing that be?
Clog up the Courts all round the world proving every crackpot claim to be false ?
(Some of them may even be difficult to disprove.)
Shunning/shaming these ratbags & dunderheads may be the only way we can really deal with them. Arguing with them seems to be pointless; those few I’ve seen interviewed briefly look absolutely fixated on their weird pet theory.
But would our mainstream media cooperate? Nah. Reporting them publicises them but that’s what our media do. And, to be fair, if they did ignore them there’d be complaints they weren’t doing their job & reporting news & events.
My favourite conspiracy theories are those which can be validated by msm sources. For instance, scientists conspiring to use witchcraft to research Covid:
Sorry Dennis
I think that is all a little too deep for your average non-reading modern audience.
I think we need to return to the fundamentals.
It is simple: random inspections of households are mandated, and if any piece of cracked pottery is found, the inhabitants of that household are bundled off to an Isolation Camp, pending investigation into any of their many nefarious (probably) activities.
Some of them will probably turn out to be witches too. Life does get complicated..
What a brilliant idea! An inspectorate. An entire new arm of the public service! Old leftists will be thrilled at the prospect.
But your scheme is vulnerable to a similar critique to your complaint about the voodoo scientists: cracked pottery as evidence is too subtle. It's clearly analogic to the used of tortoise shells in divination by the Shang dynasty in China three millennia back: they heated them in a fire then read the future from the cracking pattern produced. Punters out there will deem this too weird to think about – they're still struggling to figure omicron out (anagram of moronic).
Wait until they cotton on that businesses required to allow access to all can designate a different entrance/exit for those without a valid vaccination certificate.
33 Business or service in control of premises must allow people access to designated premises
(1)
A business or service in control of premises (premises A) that people must enter for the purpose of accessing designated premises, or goods or services from those designated premises,—
(a)
must allow them to enter premises A for that purpose; and
(b)
may require them to enter premises A through identified access ways for designated premises only; and
(c)
must not request them to produce a CVC or other evidence of being vaccinated against COVID-19, for the purpose of accessing designated premises.
(2)
This clause is subject to the Trespass Act 1980.
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2021/0386/latest/LMS591898.html
Just received this email from our local vet practice:
Farm calls
Unvaccinated farms
You will be asked before every visit if there are any unwell people in your staff and families. Masks must be worn by any people working within 5m of the vet. If close contact is required, we may choose to be accompanied by one of our own staff members at the farmer’s cost.
Oh deary me! Just over a month ago, here in the Far North, I was one of a team of four trying to get two lambs out of a labouring ewe. There was myself, the owner of the ewe grazing my land, the vet nurse and the vet. There were Cases in the neighbourhood. None of us were masked. One of us was in pajamas. Some were wearing long gloves. One of us I know for sure was vaccinated. One I know for sure wasn't. One I suspect wasn't. Now a ewe is not a large animal…and certainly 5 metre distancing was not possible. Maybe the nurse pulling on the ropes might have got two metres from me holding the poor ewe's head. Somehow all of us survived. Apart from one lamb.
Another story in the news about a mental defective. A good story for the followers of the nutcase doctors in New Zealand. Not that it would change their tiny minds.
"One of Austria’s most famous opponents of coronavirus vaccines, Johann Biacsics, has died from COVID-19, local media reports. His condition worsened from October, and he was hospitalized in early November. Despite his breathing difficulties and critical condition, he refused conventional treatment.
At home, Biacsics tried to treat himself with chlorine dioxide. It is considered a miracle cure for COVID-19 among opponents of vaccines. Soon after, the man died."
https://www.sorryantivaxxer.com/post/johann-biacsics-65-kottingbrunn-at-self-employed-anti-vaxxer-dead-from-covid-and-stupidity
These stories are of course entirely selective. That same site will say nothing whenever someone fully vaccinated dies of COVID – as many must do because they are not at all 100% effective.
It is the glee with which these stories get repeated that is the real worry. To be so strongly identified as a recipient of Pfizer's product, finding amusement in another's death…
When a similar story was pointed out to me I felt compelled to remind them 1/3 of folk hospitalized with Covid have the vaccine in them.
You touch on a dark theme – the sheer glee with which this sentiment is pronounced is not normal behaviour.
Indeed the person above would likely not have dreamed of saying something quite so morally objectionable before COVID.
Rod Dacombe, Director of the Centre for British Politics and Government, King's College London, points to Occam's Razor as the culprit:
So folks default to the simplest causal logic they can get their heads around. Human nature.
https://theconversation.com/conspiracy-theories-about-the-pandemic-are-spreading-offline-as-well-as-through-social-media-167418
And it helps to be woke:
In the virtuous circle, the call to action operates as team-building psychology.
Sigh.
It's one of life's ironies that those who hold complex and religiously-held beliefs about conspiracies of all kinds describe themselves as "being awake", while those who attempt to be considerate of the structural discrimination and biases that extend into everyday language and behaviour are denoted via the grammatically-incoherent form as "being woke".
You make it sound as if "woke" was imposed rather than adopted. I've always found it ironic that a bunch of mostly rich white kids were so eager to culturally appropriate the term for themselves.
Maybe ten years ago – these days it seems to be used expressly as a perjorative. But then I'm too old for tictok, so have no idea what the young 'un are up to.
.
Clueless PoMo Dogmatists like you will always create Nightmare scenarios for the innocent … zero understanding of complex reality … and a deep underlying desire to scapegoat those poorer than you unlucky enough to fall into demographics you deem outgroups [I mean the sheer arrogance of you spoilt little brats] … and of course, given your privileged social position, you'll always avoid suffering from the mayhem you cheerfully create.
No surprise that several recent studies in Psychology have shown that core members of the Woke / Critical Theory Cult (ie North American versions of you) disproportionately suffer from the Dark Triad Personality Type … ( 1. Machiavellianism, 2. Narcissism [esp high Entitlement], 3. Psychopathy).
Thought immediately of you (& a couple of 'tiptoe around me on eggshells' ex-boarding school girl former authors here) when I read these analyses … can always count on you to defend the indefensible in a particularly manipulative way, with all the kafka traps, motte-and-bailey fallacies & other rhetorical dishonesty so closely associated with your elitist little Cult.
All very engrossing, I am sure. Did you actually manage to find any links to back up your previous assertion that I am a "particularly ambitious & dogmatic local cheerleader" of CRT?
It's funny. I'm not particularly knowledgable about what CRT actually is, and all I know for sure about postmodernism is that nominative determinism would dictate that it comes after modernism, but here I am apparently standing on the parapets waving their flags, as far as I can tell simply because I don't like bigots.
And from a science website appraisal we get this:
So you can see why the Get Fauci movement has built up such a head of steam…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01217-2
She told me that Dr Fauci is responsible for the pandemic because he paid the Wuhan laboratory millions of dollars to create the virus and release it into the community.
Partly true. The evidence is undeniable that Fauci approved funding for the work at Wuhan, via a third party Eco-Health Alliance, to work on bat derived coronavirus'. No doubt on this at all.
And at this point in time I'd rate it as 95% certain that the original CV19 virus escaped that same lab as the result of poor operational procedures that had already been warned of years prior. Again all well documented.
However there is no evidence however Fauci or anyone connected to the Wuhan lab intentionally planned the release of the virus.
But Fauci is not blameless either. It's likely he did not tell his boss, Donald Trump, everything he knew about the probable origin and transmissibility of the virus – which contributed to the misdirection and mishandling of the early global responses to the pandemic. Again email document trails point very strongly to this.
'Conspiracy theories' are what you get when people suspect they are being lied to. In the absence of the truth they have to fill the gap with speculation – some of which they will get right and often times wrong. As does the person you overheard in the bank. But this doesn't change the fact of them being lied to in the first place.
Jesus! You can't blame him for that. No-one in their right mind would tell Trump everything. He is a narcissistic sociopath.
Nonetheless it was his job. If he didn't want to do it Fauci should have resigned.
I dunno, RL. Trump was a special case of an ignorant, egotistical, unpredictable lying & generally Bizarro- type POTUS . I wouldn’t want to fault any of his advisers for not wanting to tell him stuff he could wilfully or stupidly misinterpret or misrepresent.
If Trump was making uninformed decisions because information was deliberately withheld from him – who is the problem here?
I cannot comprehend why governments everywhere are just letting the crackpots get away with it at the expense of the rest of us.
Burn all the witches!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lu5_5Od7WY
Either (1) Believe everyone or (2) Believe no one
Though both systems do cause confusion!
We went out today!! Why is that remarkable? We are out of the habit.
We do almost everything online, but had to get our vaccination passes printed, as our own printer had died.
Well the first problem was a line of people all wanting the print out at the chemist. It took twenty minutes to get to the front of the queue. A lovely young woman took our name date of birth and found us in the system. She then ushered us to a bench seat with a comment "please rest while this beast of a copier decides if it is going to co-operate" I said "Bad day?" She laughed behind her mask her eyes sparkling "No not really, just it goes slow and seems worse when there is a line of people waiting" She was rushed of her feet getting scripts from the back serving and doing vaccine print outs.
She brought ours across and told us we could go to another counter to get them laminated which we did. It was lovely to see all these people being pleasant and helpful and treating each other kindly, and keeping to the 2m markers. I was uplifted by the lack of any complaints or real problems. I have missed people.
As we got back into the car I said "Well now we have them, we need to go out to use them." So first fine day we plan to have lunch at the Garden Centre. Safe outings all.
It's time to forget again that we have an Opposition, or a leader of it.
This country is within the worst acceleration of class and social disorder since the Mother of All Budgets under Bolger and Richardson nearly three decades ago.
All the attendant social damage is manifest in each city suburb around us.
We are also about to enter a punitive world in which the unvaccinated are effectively shunned from society. This will add the expanding rift of the poorest.
We are also only just beginning to recover from the mental and social damage of lockdowns.
Forget National. This is our country.
I hear you.
The paradox is that the world we live in has never been better – yet we also sense it's desperate incompleteness.
I have a sense of a complete world (spaceship Earth) unable to support our unstable overshoot civilisation. There's no genuine widespread commitment to operate within planetary boundaries – the broad consensus is that the price of fouling our nest is not yet high enough for societies to voluntarily transform BAU – c'est la vie.
Well we either collectively adapt or the planet will dispose of us as excess(ive) baggage, imo.
All the usual alarmist fear-porn hand waving – but zero attempt at a constructive response.
And the usual disdain for 'quick techno-fixes' while typing on a computer (given the immense technological structures necessary to make this possible) is more than a tad dishonest.
Just the first 3 links from a google query "what technical solutions to climate change are being worked on?":
https://news.sky.com/story/climate-change-seven-technology-solutions-that-could-help-solve-crisis-12056397
https://www.dw.com/en/climate-solutions-technologies-to-slow-climate-change/a-51660909
https://www.dw.com/en/climate-solutions-technologies-to-slow-climate-change/a-51660909
Don't know whether to laugh or cry at your latest "fear porn hand waving" 'critique' – maybe the horse-hair shirt is compromising my logic, maybe it's the sack-cloth, but imho we each have our fear porn hobby horses.
Still, laughter is the best medicine
Btw, what's your response to the genuine question I posed on Monday?
"The richest 1% (income >US$109,000) of the population produce 15% of emissions and the 10% richest (>US$38,000) produce 48% of emissions. This shows that our lifestyle has the highest impact on our planet; wealthy people therefore have the highest imperative to change behaviour." But they have to want to change.
My answer to your question is simple – the graph you present is the same distribution of outcomes in any productive domain with repeated trades.
If you consider any domain that you may be familiar with – music, art, academia – the same graph would be plotted. A tiny fraction of people contribute to the largest group of outcomes. (In this case CO2 consumption merely being an obvious proxy for energy consumption.)
Next question. What are you trying to achieve and how do you propose to get there?
I believe that this iteration of human civilisation must achieve a rapid and large decrease in it's carbon and resource hoofprints on spaceship Earth.
I (and many others) propose that this can be achieved by first challenging the idea that the current distribution of outcomes is inevitable and/or sustainable, and then proceeding to change that distribution; to develop "a new way of thinking".
But, of course, 'we' have to want to change – the behaviours of the 'golden billion', and the examples we provide others, are problematic. Can humans learn to self-regulate so as to not degrade the planetary life support system? I believe they can (and hopefully in sufficient numbers), but they have to want to learn.
More 'fear porn' coming your way
Yup – fear mongering.
One of the best managers I ever worked for had a little sign on his desk – it read Are you part of the solution, or part of the problem?
Why do you think scientists are sounding alarm bells it in such numbers Red? Are they all misguided – is it only you that sees clearly?
If I was to continue comsuming at the rate I have been for most of my life then I would certainly be setting a bad example. It's eye-opening to realise just how many ways there are for a relatively affluent person such as myself to shrink my footprint – no more international travel, and more walking (which I enjoy, so it's a win-win) – you can't take it with you. I'm still part of the problem, but aiming to be a smaller part.
Imho, given the state of spaceship Earth, only the one-eyed could view changing to 'shrink and share' lifestyles as contributing to the problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g57LxM-GcSc
Why do you think scientists are sounding alarm bells it in such numbers Red? Are they all misguided
When the alarm bell keep on being rung year in year out – and the same scientists reject all viable responses to the crisis – then yes they are misguiding us. And I'm certainly not the only one to see this.
If you say so. I'd hazard a guess that you believe your responses are the only viable ones – we can agree to disagree, although (as I've mentioned before), I don't hold out much hope that either your or other responses will be enacted in a timely fashion.
Doesn't frighten me personally, but I do fear for future generations – is that wrong?
I think you mean ….'your' world has never been better Red.
You always repeat that there are less people living in poverty than before the Industrial revolution and increasing urbanisation.
Your measurements are narrow and unconvincing.
If you need convincing I suggest you ask those who still have to burn dung to cook their food.
Otherwise this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo
Dung or charcoal=doesn't really matter.
The graph is a misleading construct.
The income line especially is laughable…what could you buy with 10 cents in the 60's?
The western countries lept ahead through colonisation/empire as they exploited the countries on the other end of the scale.
Wonder what a graph showing suicide rates ,the inequality gap and number of refugees would look like!
The income line especially is laughable…what could you buy with 10 cents in the 60's?
Immediately under the graph's title is this:
The western countries lept ahead through colonisation/empire as they exploited the countries on the other end of the scale.
What rule said that the all world would all develop at exactly the same time and at the same rate? I'm not deaf to the question you pose here. As scifi author William Gibson once said – 'the future has already arrived, it's just not very evenly distributed'.
The challenge to a progressive post-marxist left must be this; how to ensure this future is universally accessible to all. You’re invited to talk constructively to this.
'Total output of the world economy; adjusted for inflation and expressed in international-$ in 2011 prices.'
This is immediately under another graph in another thread.
Not the one you are referring to.
I miss Hans Rosling did you see his population presentations ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E
Yes – Rosling was a remarkable man who inspired many people to rethink the shibboleths they'd been taught.
This guy?
How is that “remarkable“? I can live without polar bears too.
I recall reading that about 99.9% or more of species that ever existed are extinct. Evolution is not going to stop for your sentimentality.
“Sentimentality“? For polar bears? Your human exceptionalism is showing
Just as long as that 99.9% doesn't add Homo sapiens any time soon – highly unlikely, but you never know.
If you are going to frame this as a choice between killing people and killing polar bears – I choose the people.
Every time.
You ‘framed’ my presentation of Rosling's quote as "sentimentality".
You then ‘framed’ my observation of your human exceptionalism as "a choice between killing people and killing polar bears" – whatever next?
Do you really believe that our incredibly gifted species will be faced with the choice of killing people versus the extinction of polar bears? Bizarre.
Didn't notice the disclaimer under the title,even with a second look.
What on earth do you think this means.
'I think you mean ….'your' world has never been better Red.'
Shouldn't your 'challenge' be embraced by all political spectrums!
It's hardly a 'disclaimer' – for such a graph to have any meaning at all it will always be inflation adjusted. The team at Our World in Data are not idiots.
And as Hans Rosling clearly shows – in a broad historic context – all of us 'golden 1b' who live in the developed world are among the luckiest bastards who ever lived. We could all be a lot more grateful for this than we typically are.
You might want to ask yourself – the people who sold you the agenda of misery that is so often conflated with being a good leftie – who is benefitting from this? Not you, not the poor – who?
So are you assuming its figures adjusted for inflation 10 years ago?
We all know about the widening gap in inequality since the Greenspan b/s became de riguere.
I can accept you subscribe to an 'I'm alright …Jack' attitude ,many do not.
As for misery…I'm not unhappy with my own life.
I don't expect either you or me will be around when your 'nirvana' comes to pass in around 80 years!
So are you assuming its figures adjusted for inflation 10 years ago?
I'm not 'assuming' anything – the statement speaks for itself. Nor does it matter what year is used as the reference point – as long as the data is all adjusted to the same year the shape of the graph will remain the same.
I can accept you subscribe to an 'I'm alright …Jack' attitude ,many do not.
I've written extensively here over many years – that you have failed to understand it is not my problem.
Funnily enough I am responding to what you have posted here…today.