… The prison hosts five "urban farms" as part of the Common Unity Project's Urban Kai Network.
Common Unity uses the produce to make meals for the community – they have made more than 5000 meals for four schools and Women's Refuge since last October…
… Rimutaka's garden beds cover about 4 hectares and make up five of Urban Kai's 11 farms, which are spread though the Hutt Valley.
… Founder Julia Milne said the farms had produced a total of 7.1 tonnes since the project began 2½years ago and the inmates had grown and reaped 4.5 of those tonnes in just 18 months.
On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, New Zealand Chinese writer Tze Ming Mok writes a beautiful, bitter letter to an old friend in Xinjiang, grappling with matters of conscience, community survival, and Anne-Marie Brady’s ‘Magic Weapons’ paper.
"Being brave just means you decided to do something other people didn’t do; it doesn’t make you any less afraid, and it is often indistinguishable from being stupid."
In May '68 – the month after the Wahine storm – myself and two friends set out to do a Southern Crossing of the Tararuas during the University Holidays. Heading off from Kaitoki and crossing over the Marchant Ridge etc over to Otaki Forks. A 3 – 4 day tramp. We had rung the weather office before setting out and had been assured that the weather was going to hold for the majority of our journey, and as the final leg was down hill. and in a valley, we thought OK lets do it!
Well we were up on the Marchant Ridge when the weather blew in. It was snow and wind like we had never experienced, and we realised that there was no way we could carry on like this In fact the weather was so bad that they were cancelling the Inter-islander ferries – particularly after the disaster the month before. It was getting dark at this stage and we realised there was no way we could make Alpha Hut or going back to Allaway Dickson so we dropped down below the snow line into the protection of the bush and bivouaced for the night. I have never been so cold before or since. It was an appalling night. One I shall never forget. The next morning we headed back up to the ridge line. The wind had dropped by now, and headed back down to the nearest hut. We made up a pot of soup which I can still taste, slept solidly for the rest of the day, before heading back out and home. Our families were extremely pleased to see us return safely.
I'm relating the above as I think of the man who is missing attempting the Northern Crossing and for whom searchers hold grave fears.
I'm glad that you came out okay Macro and your friends, sensible and precautionary. The other tramper was from UK and unlikely to have experience of the severe weather conditions here radio report said. And of course the weather is ever more changeable and fierce now. So you might be safer in a queue on Everest! Does carrying a compass help at all Macro?
Yes we had a compass – but on this occasion it wasn't needed – we knew where we were. We just realised that we need to get shelter fast. The track is along the ridge so to get back to the track in the morning all we needed to do was climb back up. Having the company was good as we huddled together to keep each other warm as well Our packs behind us, and a waterproof groundsheets over us and under us made a rough bivouac but it worked. But I can understand just how easily hypothermia can set in if you are not careful.
We got lost in the Motu our dogs got onto a pig and it led us deep… Luckily we got out the same day we followed a stream to the river but… the stream was a series of waterfalls so we were climbing down wet cliffs using supplejack… scary, and my mate, bloody caveman that he was, was carrying the pig too.
Glad you got out of there buddy, nothing bites so hard as the cold.
Oh yeah scrambling down streams can be bloody hard, especially down around water falls. Done that a few times too. 🙂 And there is always the potential to get bluffed. No way up or down.
Btw here is a good pic of the kind of territory he might be in. And this is the easy bit. :). There is no snow shown in this pic but 1/2 a metre fell over the weekend.
FORT WORTH, TX—In a push for more environmentally conscious ministry practices, Kenneth Copeland has unveiled his brand-new jet that runs on the souls of the thousands of people he deceives every day.
"This new, greener jet runs on the damned souls of all the people I've led to hell through my heretical Word-Faith teaching," Copeland said proudly as he showed off the new jet at his own private airport. "Their torment and anguish as they realize they've been duped burn cleaner and at least 10 times more efficiently than jet fuel."
Male, 19, student at Beijing Yuetan High School. From: Beijing
On the night of June 3, 1989, at around 11:20 p.m., Wang took his camera and biked toward Tiananmen Square. At around 1 a.m. on June 4, at the southern intersection of Nanchang Street, north of the Great Hall of the People, Wang was shot by martial law troops. The bullet entered the upper left side of his forehead and came out behind his left ear, leaving a bullet hole at the back of the motorcycle helmet he was wearing. The martial law troops blocked those around Wang from taking him to the hospital and dragged him to the roadside. According to eyewitnesses, an elderly woman knelt before the troops and pleaded with them, but a soldier pointed a gun at her and said, “He is a rioter. Any more nonsense from you, and we’ll shoot you dead!” Wang died at 3:30 a.m. The troops concealed his body, along with others, just under the grassy surface of the lawn in front of the entrance of the Beijing No. 28 High School, west of the Tiananmen Gate. Around June 7, the area was hit by heavy rain, which began to wash away the dirt on top and reveal the clothing on the bodies. And a stench also rose. After school authorities intervened, the bodies were dug up. Because Wang had recently returned from military training and was wearing an old military uniform, he was mistaken for a martial law soldier and was brought to the Huguosi Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and kept at the morgue there. It took until June 14 before his family was able to locate his body. His ashes are kept at the cinerary hall of the Beijing Wan’an Cemetery.
After Wan Nan’s death, his parents’ health suffered serious deterioration: his father developed heart ailments and his mother serious psychological problems.
Wang’s mother, Zhang Xianling(张先玲), is a founder of the Tiananmen Mothers. His father, Wang Fandi(王范地), also a member of the group, passed away from illness in 2017.
Noted. Tolerating multiple accounts by the same person is proven to erode any discussion space. If ignoring that is your official standard as moderators then the rest of us know where we sit. We all serve society to the best of our abilities.
To be fair, if the sock puppet appears via a VPN, moderators won't have a straightforward means of identifying it as a sock puppet and will presumably fall back on benefit of the doubt. Which is great for Mark Spring and other puppeteers, but doesn't leave the site moderators any better off. Vice versa also applies, eg a few weeks back we had multiple commenters declaring that OneTwo was a sock puppet of Phil Ure (someone I respect, fwiw), with the only similarity being over-use of ellipses. It's a thankless task, being a moderator.
Without solid evidence, I won’t follow hunches or accusations from others except to keep an eye out for ‘dodgy’ behaviour and patterns. It is the behaviour that’s the issue, not the username or whoever is hiding behind it.
Not sure what you’re alleging but if you can point me in the right direction, I’m happy to oblige. I’m allergic to folks who use sockpoppets to try and get around a (temporary) ban. You should know that there is no official standard here for moderators but we refer to the site’s policy from time to time. We all moderate in different ways. Occasionally, I do ask for advice from Lynn and MS, which I tend to follow 😉
I found that often here Spring was responding to his own comments under different identities to try to make it appear there was support for his accusations.
Sadly, the question that must always be considered is whether the various handles are puppets of a single weirdo, or whether that's just wishful thinking to avoid the even more disappointing alternative…
Unrelatedly, this from the comments of that last post just extends the ick of the #dirtypolitics crew:
Rewa Willis and Marc Spring are in a relationship
A cursory glance at their respect Facebook pages will confirm this
When Slater ran the attacks on the union guy from the port… Sherson Willis (the company with her name on the letterhead) were running Comms for Ports of Auckland.
To recap, in the June 1st OM, I engaged with McFlock in an 'Assange back-and-forth' that continued into June 2nd, and was disappointed when McFlock referred to Assange's seven year asylum as an "Ecuadorean Escapade", resorted to making a cat reference, and used an analogy that included the phrase "disease-encrusted rat of the sky". He may have been attempting to wind me up – we each have strongly held and largely incompatible views on Assange’s behaviour and treatment by ‘authorities’.
Later, in the Tiananmen Square post, "Professor Longhair" @5.1.1.1.1 was attempting to wind up McFlock, and, when he apparently succeeded, I found that amusing, hence my comment "Heh." @5.1.1.1.1.2.
Sacha, you then replied to me with the crytic comment "sock inception".
I didn't fully understand that, but took it to be an insult or accusation, and fired back a couple of (humorously intended) rejoinders.
Sacha, I'd appreciate it if you could clarify what you meant by "sock inception".
Sacha obviously has noted that three different handles all deliver the same flavour of vacuous bullshit, yours being one and pl being another. Thus when one responds to the other, it's layers over layers, like in the movie Inception.
It's not sacha's fault you're all identical wastes of space.
You include DMK in with PL and the mozzie? Can't see it myself.
First and foremost, DMK actually makes arguments, defends points, and is mostly rational. All of which are extremely rare to non-existent from PL and the mozzie.
Next, DMK hardly ever indulges in ad homs. I can't bring a single instance to mind. That's a definite contrast to the mozzie.
The only passing similarity I've noticed is a slight overuse of bold from DMK.
pseudonyms ensure ignorance of the facts are not just an excuse, but guaranteed.
Sacha and I have differing opinions. I just found it funny you claimed difficulty understanding sacha's reference. Might be a generational thing, I guess.
" Poverty is not caused by men and women getting married; it's not caused by machinery; it's not caused by "over-production"; it's not caused by drink or laziness; and it's not caused by "over-population". It's caused by Private Monopoly. That is the present system. They have monopolised everything that it is possible to monopolise; they have got the whole earth, the minerals in the earth and the streams that water the earth. The only reason they have not monopolised the daylight and the air is that it is not possible to do it.
If it were possible to construct huge gasometers and to draw together and compress within them the whole of the atmosphere, it would have been done long ago, and we should have been compelled to work for them in order to get money to buy air to breathe. And if that seemingly impossible thing were accomplished tomorrow, you would see thousands of people dying for want of air – or of the money to buy it – even as now thousands are dying for want of the other necessities of life. You would see people going about gasping for breath, and telling each other that the likes of them could not expect to have air to breathe unless they had the money to pay for it.
Most of you here, for instance, would think and say so. Even as you think at present that it's right for so few people to own the Earth, the Minerals and the Water, which are all just as necessary as is the air. In exactly the same spirit as you now say: "It's Their Land," "It's Their Water," "It's Their Coal," "It's Their Iron," so you would say "It's Their Air," "These are their gasometers, and what right have the likes of us to expect them to allow us to breathe for nothing?" And even while he is doing this the air monopolist will be preaching sermons on the Brotherhood of Man; he will be dispensing advice on "Christian Duty" in the Sunday magazines; he will give utterance to numerous more or less moral maxims for the guidance of the young. And meantime, all around, people will be dying for want of some of the air that he will have bottled up in his gasometers. And when you are all dragging out a miserable existence, gasping for breath or dying for want of air, if one of your number suggests smashing a hole in the side of one of the gasometers, you will all fall upon him in the name of law and order, and after doing your best to tear him limb from limb, you'll drag him, covered with blood, in triumph to the nearest Police Station and deliver him up to "justice" in the hope of being given a few half-pounds of air for your trouble.”
Robert Tressell , The Ragged -Trousered Philanthropists (published 1914)
Canada is complicit in a "race-based genocide" against indigenous women, a government inquiry has found.
The report cited research finding indigenous women were 12 times more likely to be killed or to disappear than other women in Canada.
The inquiry blamed the crisis on deep-rooted colonialism and state inaction.
[…]
How was Canada found to be complicit?
The report found that "persistent and deliberate human and indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada's staggering rates of violence".
Past inquiries and investigations in Canada – from the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples to the more recent Truth and Reconciliation report – have put forward about 900 wide-ranging recommendations to deal with many of the underlying issues.
Many have never been applied.
"One of the family members' and survivors' biggest fears in opening themselves up to this process as intense as this one is that in the end, nothing is done – the report gathers dust on a shelf and the recommendations are left unanswered," the final report said.
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
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Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
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Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
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This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
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Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
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The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
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The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
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Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
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Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
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The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
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The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
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From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
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As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
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Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
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A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
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The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne Public transport in Queensland now costs just 50 cents. Yet in the first six months of the trial, it’s been revealed that thousands of commuters were ...
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Good initiative from Rimutaka
Excellent! We could do more of this.
+ 100%
The artist I gather was a High school student. He wanted Trump to see this as he flew over his home.
That's even more epic, what a clever lad. It's beautiful.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/03-06-2019/after-a-long-silence-a-letter-to-a-lost-friend-in-xinjiang/
What a great writer too.
"Being brave just means you decided to do something other people didn’t do; it doesn’t make you any less afraid, and it is often indistinguishable from being stupid."
She certainly is. Here is a copy of her 2004 essay Race You There: https://www.thebigidea.nz/node/170488
Amazing. Thank you.
In May '68 – the month after the Wahine storm – myself and two friends set out to do a Southern Crossing of the Tararuas during the University Holidays. Heading off from Kaitoki and crossing over the Marchant Ridge etc over to Otaki Forks. A 3 – 4 day tramp. We had rung the weather office before setting out and had been assured that the weather was going to hold for the majority of our journey, and as the final leg was down hill. and in a valley, we thought OK lets do it!
Well we were up on the Marchant Ridge when the weather blew in. It was snow and wind like we had never experienced, and we realised that there was no way we could carry on like this In fact the weather was so bad that they were cancelling the Inter-islander ferries – particularly after the disaster the month before. It was getting dark at this stage and we realised there was no way we could make Alpha Hut or going back to Allaway Dickson so we dropped down below the snow line into the protection of the bush and bivouaced for the night. I have never been so cold before or since. It was an appalling night. One I shall never forget. The next morning we headed back up to the ridge line. The wind had dropped by now, and headed back down to the nearest hut. We made up a pot of soup which I can still taste, slept solidly for the rest of the day, before heading back out and home. Our families were extremely pleased to see us return safely.
I'm relating the above as I think of the man who is missing attempting the Northern Crossing and for whom searchers hold grave fears.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/391091/search-for-tramper-missing-in-tararua-ranges-to-resume-this-morning
Glad there were at least footprints. Every little clue helps and I hope he's found ok.
I'm glad that you came out okay Macro and your friends, sensible and precautionary. The other tramper was from UK and unlikely to have experience of the severe weather conditions here radio report said. And of course the weather is ever more changeable and fierce now. So you might be safer in a queue on Everest! Does carrying a compass help at all Macro?
Yes we had a compass – but on this occasion it wasn't needed – we knew where we were. We just realised that we need to get shelter fast. The track is along the ridge so to get back to the track in the morning all we needed to do was climb back up. Having the company was good as we huddled together to keep each other warm as well Our packs behind us, and a waterproof groundsheets over us and under us made a rough bivouac but it worked. But I can understand just how easily hypothermia can set in if you are not careful.
We got lost in the Motu our dogs got onto a pig and it led us deep… Luckily we got out the same day we followed a stream to the river but… the stream was a series of waterfalls so we were climbing down wet cliffs using supplejack… scary, and my mate, bloody caveman that he was, was carrying the pig too.
Glad you got out of there buddy, nothing bites so hard as the cold.
Oh yeah scrambling down streams can be bloody hard, especially down around water falls. Done that a few times too. 🙂 And there is always the potential to get bluffed. No way up or down.
Btw here is a good pic of the kind of territory he might be in. And this is the easy bit. :). There is no snow shown in this pic but 1/2 a metre fell over the weekend.
Did they ever bring the parents over?
Or is it "too expensive"?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/09/parents-of-afghan-girl-killed-plead-for-nz-govt-inquiry.html
Scientologist – hold my beer.
FORT WORTH, TX—In a push for more environmentally conscious ministry practices, Kenneth Copeland has unveiled his brand-new jet that runs on the souls of the thousands of people he deceives every day.
"This new, greener jet runs on the damned souls of all the people I've led to hell through my heretical Word-Faith teaching," Copeland said proudly as he showed off the new jet at his own private airport. "Their torment and anguish as they realize they've been duped burn cleaner and at least 10 times more efficiently than jet fuel."
https://babylonbee.com/news/kenneth-copeland-unveils-new-luxury-jet-that-runs-on-the-souls-of-the-deceived
A project marking the 30th anniversary.
WANG Nan(王楠)
Male, 19, student at Beijing Yuetan High School. From: Beijing
On the night of June 3, 1989, at around 11:20 p.m., Wang took his camera and biked toward Tiananmen Square. At around 1 a.m. on June 4, at the southern intersection of Nanchang Street, north of the Great Hall of the People, Wang was shot by martial law troops. The bullet entered the upper left side of his forehead and came out behind his left ear, leaving a bullet hole at the back of the motorcycle helmet he was wearing. The martial law troops blocked those around Wang from taking him to the hospital and dragged him to the roadside. According to eyewitnesses, an elderly woman knelt before the troops and pleaded with them, but a soldier pointed a gun at her and said, “He is a rioter. Any more nonsense from you, and we’ll shoot you dead!” Wang died at 3:30 a.m. The troops concealed his body, along with others, just under the grassy surface of the lawn in front of the entrance of the Beijing No. 28 High School, west of the Tiananmen Gate. Around June 7, the area was hit by heavy rain, which began to wash away the dirt on top and reveal the clothing on the bodies. And a stench also rose. After school authorities intervened, the bodies were dug up. Because Wang had recently returned from military training and was wearing an old military uniform, he was mistaken for a martial law soldier and was brought to the Huguosi Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and kept at the morgue there. It took until June 14 before his family was able to locate his body. His ashes are kept at the cinerary hall of the Beijing Wan’an Cemetery.
After Wan Nan’s death, his parents’ health suffered serious deterioration: his father developed heart ailments and his mother serious psychological problems.
Wang’s mother, Zhang Xianling(张先玲), is a founder of the Tiananmen Mothers. His father, Wang Fandi(王范地), also a member of the group, passed away from illness in 2017.
https://truth30.hrichina.org/wang_nan.html
https://truth30.hrichina.org/unforgotten.html
Dirty sockpuppeteer makes local clown Breen look like a right amateur: https://yournz.org/2019/06/01/the-many-identities-of-marc-spring-include/
[I agree with the comment @ 8.1 that this is pointless abuse of another commenter. Please cut it out – Incognito]
Sacha, IMHO your comment @8 is a completely transparent attempt to smear another commenter. Recycling Pete George’s info as a disguise, you come across as an Emperor with no clothes. https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01-06-2019/#comment-1623586
Disappointing.
See my Moderation note @ 8:14 PM.
Noted. Tolerating multiple accounts by the same person is proven to erode any discussion space. If ignoring that is your official standard as moderators then the rest of us know where we sit. We all serve society to the best of our abilities.
To be fair, if the sock puppet appears via a VPN, moderators won't have a straightforward means of identifying it as a sock puppet and will presumably fall back on benefit of the doubt. Which is great for Mark Spring and other puppeteers, but doesn't leave the site moderators any better off. Vice versa also applies, eg a few weeks back we had multiple commenters declaring that OneTwo was a sock puppet of Phil Ure (someone I respect, fwiw), with the only similarity being over-use of ellipses. It's a thankless task, being a moderator.
That said: totally a sock puppet, you bet.
Without solid evidence, I won’t follow hunches or accusations from others except to keep an eye out for ‘dodgy’ behaviour and patterns. It is the behaviour that’s the issue, not the username or whoever is hiding behind it.
Not sure what you’re alleging but if you can point me in the right direction, I’m happy to oblige. I’m allergic to folks who use sockpoppets to try and get around a (temporary) ban. You should know that there is no official standard here for moderators but we refer to the site’s policy from time to time. We all moderate in different ways. Occasionally, I do ask for advice from Lynn and MS, which I tend to follow 😉
Thank you. I understand the need to monitor for a while sometimes. This one is not banned. See this thread today with 3 duplicate identities, one of which ironically accused me above of smearing itself: https://thestandard.org.nz/tiananmen-squares-failed-revolution/#comment-1624643
Spring is an exceptional cautionary example of the same behaviour and I had forgotten that Pete George had posted that list here already. Here’s how he described the guy’s tactics: https://yournz.org/2019/06/04/sprung-damaging-attack-tactics-of-marc-spring/
Or maybe to feel less lonely, who knows?
Sadly, the question that must always be considered is whether the various handles are puppets of a single weirdo, or whether that's just wishful thinking to avoid the even more disappointing alternative…
So long as they do not talk with each other..
Unrelatedly, this from the comments of that last post just extends the ick of the #dirtypolitics crew:
Sacha, you appear to believe that there were "3 duplicate identities" commenting in yesterday's Tiananmen Square post: https://thestandard.org.nz/tiananmen-squares-failed-revolution/#comment-1624643
To recap, in the June 1st OM, I engaged with McFlock in an 'Assange back-and-forth' that continued into June 2nd, and was disappointed when McFlock referred to Assange's seven year asylum as an "Ecuadorean Escapade", resorted to making a cat reference, and used an analogy that included the phrase "disease-encrusted rat of the sky". He may have been attempting to wind me up – we each have strongly held and largely incompatible views on Assange’s behaviour and treatment by ‘authorities’.
Later, in the Tiananmen Square post, "Professor Longhair" @5.1.1.1.1 was attempting to wind up McFlock, and, when he apparently succeeded, I found that amusing, hence my comment "Heh." @5.1.1.1.1.2.
Sacha, you then replied to me with the crytic comment "sock inception".
I didn't fully understand that, but took it to be an insult or accusation, and fired back a couple of (humorously intended) rejoinders.
Sacha, I'd appreciate it if you could clarify what you meant by "sock inception".
Hardly cryptic.
Sacha obviously has noted that three different handles all deliver the same flavour of vacuous bullshit, yours being one and pl being another. Thus when one responds to the other, it's layers over layers, like in the movie Inception.
It's not sacha's fault you're all identical wastes of space.
You include DMK in with PL and the mozzie? Can't see it myself.
First and foremost, DMK actually makes arguments, defends points, and is mostly rational. All of which are extremely rare to non-existent from PL and the mozzie.
Next, DMK hardly ever indulges in ad homs. I can't bring a single instance to mind. That's a definite contrast to the mozzie.
The only passing similarity I've noticed is a slight overuse of bold from DMK.
Yeah I think sacha has overstated the dmk connection. It's all supposition anyway.
But dmk's faux "Ah do deklah, Ah have no ideah what you mean, suh" routine is a bit of an overlap with the other two, lol
two clones and a venn diagram, is my bet 😉
McFlock, if you and Sacha are of one mind, then thanks for confirming Sacha’s intent, as this allows me to conclude that they were incorrect.
As one waste of space to another, being ignorant of the facts is no defence.
Thanks Andre, I do try to avoid initiating ad homs, although I might occasionally be guilty of mirroring them.
pseudonyms ensure ignorance of the facts are not just an excuse, but guaranteed.
Sacha and I have differing opinions. I just found it funny you claimed difficulty understanding sacha's reference. Might be a generational thing, I guess.
Tbh, often it’s simply a matter of ‘seeing what you want to see’ – definitely recognise that tendency in myself. To (re)quote Feynman:
Glad to provide amusement, and thanks – have added "sock inception" to the glossary.
Funny thing about Feynman: he often didn't really take his own advice.
Another complicated person.
Yes, I have to agree. All respek to Marc Spring!
truth
" Poverty is not caused by men and women getting married; it's not caused by machinery; it's not caused by "over-production"; it's not caused by drink or laziness; and it's not caused by "over-population". It's caused by Private Monopoly. That is the present system. They have monopolised everything that it is possible to monopolise; they have got the whole earth, the minerals in the earth and the streams that water the earth. The only reason they have not monopolised the daylight and the air is that it is not possible to do it.
If it were possible to construct huge gasometers and to draw together and compress within them the whole of the atmosphere, it would have been done long ago, and we should have been compelled to work for them in order to get money to buy air to breathe. And if that seemingly impossible thing were accomplished tomorrow, you would see thousands of people dying for want of air – or of the money to buy it – even as now thousands are dying for want of the other necessities of life. You would see people going about gasping for breath, and telling each other that the likes of them could not expect to have air to breathe unless they had the money to pay for it.
Most of you here, for instance, would think and say so. Even as you think at present that it's right for so few people to own the Earth, the Minerals and the Water, which are all just as necessary as is the air. In exactly the same spirit as you now say: "It's Their Land," "It's Their Water," "It's Their Coal," "It's Their Iron," so you would say "It's Their Air," "These are their gasometers, and what right have the likes of us to expect them to allow us to breathe for nothing?" And even while he is doing this the air monopolist will be preaching sermons on the Brotherhood of Man; he will be dispensing advice on "Christian Duty" in the Sunday magazines; he will give utterance to numerous more or less moral maxims for the guidance of the young. And meantime, all around, people will be dying for want of some of the air that he will have bottled up in his gasometers. And when you are all dragging out a miserable existence, gasping for breath or dying for want of air, if one of your number suggests smashing a hole in the side of one of the gasometers, you will all fall upon him in the name of law and order, and after doing your best to tear him limb from limb, you'll drag him, covered with blood, in triumph to the nearest Police Station and deliver him up to "justice" in the hope of being given a few half-pounds of air for your trouble.”
Robert Tressell , The Ragged -Trousered Philanthropists (published 1914)
It has been a while (i.e. long overdue) since I read a post by exhALANt. They are (quite) long but definitely worth it!
https://exhalantblog.wordpress.com/2019/06/04/simon-ranting-24-7-is-not-actually-a-policy-position/
Damning.
Canada is complicit in a "race-based genocide" against indigenous women, a government inquiry has found.
The report cited research finding indigenous women were 12 times more likely to be killed or to disappear than other women in Canada.
The inquiry blamed the crisis on deep-rooted colonialism and state inaction.
[…]
How was Canada found to be complicit?
The report found that "persistent and deliberate human and indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada's staggering rates of violence".
Past inquiries and investigations in Canada – from the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples to the more recent Truth and Reconciliation report – have put forward about 900 wide-ranging recommendations to deal with many of the underlying issues.
Many have never been applied.
"One of the family members' and survivors' biggest fears in opening themselves up to this process as intense as this one is that in the end, nothing is done – the report gathers dust on a shelf and the recommendations are left unanswered," the final report said.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48503545
Growth
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/04/latest-data-shows-steep-rises-in-co2-for-seventh-year