Reading this made me both upset for the victims and angry that our judicial system will use exceptional talent in sport as justification for what is to my mind an unbelievably light sentence.
Reeks of money and privilege getting preferential treatment in the court system again. I hope the sentence is appealed.
At least they didn't talk about his "good character" (other than being a serial sexual attacker), which is another common line 🙄
I'm not a big lock 'em up guy, but sentence credits for being good at sport or business seem surreal to me. Those aren't mitigating factors, they are factors that help enable that abuse by increasing the power disparity between abuser and person being abused.
Exactly, given his age locking him up is likely not the best option, but a long community based sentence and the a record of the conviction should stand imo… Feel very sorry for his victims and desperately hope they don't end up in a situation where they have to see him walking around town.
Yeah, maybe it will. But it's still pretty damned light for serious offending on three separate occasions, including an escalation. So supervision or anything.
Being good at sport is learning how to be an adept physical animal. Where is the use of the higher brain that we know we have, I remember my primary school wasn't interested in that.
Edit:
I think this young man should be locked up for ever, There needs to be an enclosed high-security prison farm that enables a lot of activities there and under guard, but keeps the perpetrators secure, and the public safe.
It is really bad so I will not put any detail. But women should be able to live in freedom and trust of men, not be the subjects of obsession, disparagement or disgust,
This is something that should be covered in philosophy classes at school, how we need to understand each other’s different ways. The classes would be where youngsters without loving role models at home, can learn that there are better ways of being than they have encountered.
The girl will never get over this. I hope that she will find love and security with others in a family situation, and peace within herself so she can have years of happy life, with memories of her mother that she can treasure.
John Palino has just announced that he is withdrawing from the mayoral campaign and will stand for the Council position in Franklin. He has also endorsed Tamihere …
Hoots gazed out the port window and with a huge sigh turned to Hosk, "no ones buying into our spin anymore, the suckers are not even buying into the dumbest what was in the letter trick……" Hosk scratched the bare skin of his knee through the designer tear in his jeans, wafted down another gulp of Dom Pérignon leaned over and peered out the port window, "is that bright light over there where we are landing….shit, squeaked Hoots, thats Pluto, nearly home already…!!
"Herein lies the great moral conundrum of Climate Change. That there is literally no part of the planet’s warm, industrially-woven, woolly-jumper that humanity can remove without the whole damn thing unravelling in its hands.
You can sit down on the steel railway tracks (the ones you insist we need more of to get internal-combustion driven vehicles off the roads) to prevent the coal reaching its destination, but that cannot, and will not, save the planet."
Chris finally catching up. Meanwhile Peak Oil people were talking about this 15 years ago and brainstorming solutions. Hope he can catch up with that soon too.
Because I've been around solutions based people far longer than I have known how serious CC is, I'm less afraid of the collapse of civ than I am of it continuing unabated.
I think it's likely we can't avoid civ collapsing, or at least a major power down. We may have choices in how that happens though. Losing civ isn't one thing, there are a whole range of scenarios that could happen.
I wish people like Chris, who have a fair amount of influence, would spend more time listening to those who've been doing this a long time.
there are good arguments for hastening it (a la Derrick Jensen), but I wasn't meaning that. Powering down while we still can gives us way better chances than carrying on BAU until it's forced on us. The latter is Yemen scenario. The former is more like Cuba.
Trotter's post is patronising (he thinks climate activists haven't thought about these things, really?). He's spent the last ten years dissing the Greens. I spent it learning about how everything about civ is reliant on FF and what we can do about it. People come to it at different times, but having a go at protestors out of his own ignorance is not helpful imo.
It is good he is raising population as an issue, because few will talk about it, but I think the way he has done it is unlikely to take us to the solutions he is looking for. Also, the rice thing, best not go down the teeming Asian hordes track. People in China know a few things about growing food sustainably that Trotter won't even be aware of yet.
no idea….I would have thought hed be a little more circumspect but dosnt change the theme.
Yes we are overstocked and our farming practice needs revision and there are a multitude of other things that need to change (hell the whole financial system is teetering on the brink of collapse) but we cannot dump everything we currently do without something to replace it and sadly we dont yet have that…and I seriously doubt we are capable of devising an alternative, certainly in the timeframe required….but Im fairly sure that if we do stop everything without a plan we will invite nothing more than a catastrophe every bit as bad as that which we seek to avoid ….only sooner
You say his post is patronising…..have a look at the comments to the article.
His audience isnt the choir,,,theres a large segment of society that have not or only recently begun to consider these issues…the Standard is not representative.
ok, fair point, I'm about halfway through the comments. I still think all he has done is poke a stick to get a reaction, but maybe that's his job and it's up to the rest of us to lead the conversation somewhere useful.
Fascinating talk by Mark Blyth. He's quite positive about climate change, says that when it begins to bite, it will force a new round of innovation, and notes the growth of Green parties around the world and solar power in China
He predicts that Trump will be re-elected, claims that Biden, Harris, and Sanders are the only plausible challengers, but the Dem base is soft, unlike the fanatical Trumpists
He also talks about how Corbyn is playing a very smart game in the UK, letting the Conservatives hold the dripping bag of shit known as Brexit, Corbyn's aim isn't to be elected, but to destroy the Tories.
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Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ...
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The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) is urging firearms owners to make sure they pass on any information they have to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques before submissions close tomorrow (Friday). ...
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The Government’s decision to establish and independent Parliamentary Budget Office, outside of Treasury, is a taxpayer victory and will improve democracy, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union . Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “It's ...
The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that the cost-benefit analysis prepared by Ministry of Transport and used to advise Ministers on the Government’s Clean Car Standard and ‘Feebate’ policies has serious flaws which undermine justifications for the ...
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The New Zealand Maori Council has called on the nation to address all forms of racism and not to shy away from an honest conversation about where it’s taking hold. The call comes after the Nelson Club decided to keep a member after his comments became ...
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Drs Say No agree with Chris Penk’s amendment to protect vulnerable patients from coercion, although the organisation still maintains that no safe euthanasia legislation can ever be drafted and continues to urge MPs to defeat the End of Life Choice Bill. ...
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Forest & Bird says WWF-NZ's plan for protecting Māui dolphins is based on testing unproven methods on a species that is almost extinct, and is urging the Government to reject the proposal. ...
National MP Nick Smith has lodged a serious accusation against Parliament's Speaker calling him "biased" after once again being booted out of the debating chamber. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people again took to the streets in Hong Kong to protest against the government – the 11th straight weekend of demonstrations that began in June over a proposed extradition bill. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lewis Mitchell, Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, University of Adelaide I swear by Hypatia, by Lovelace, by Turing, by Fisher (and/or Bayes), and by all the statisticians and data scientists, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University Just when we thought Australia was getting serious about shifting priorities away from the Middle East to its own neighbourhood, the prime minister has announced another Middle East step up. Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Keogh, ARC DECRA Fellow, Queensland University of Technology In the last three months, the Australian Classification Board has “refused classification” for at least four video games – effectively banning them in Australia. The latest is zombie-survival shooter DayZ. Despite being previously ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle The Heart Foundation now recommends full-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt or reduced-fat options as part of its updated dietary advice released yesterday. This moves away from earlier advice that recommended only reduced-fat ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Paris Georgia co-founders Paris Mitchell Temple and Georgia Cherrie.This week’s podcast features a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, who has died aged 73 of cancer, leaves a political and personal legacy as a man of courage, conviction and congeniality. The support that Fischer as National Party leader ...
One part telenovela, one part family drama, one part addictive love story. Sam Brooks reviews Jane the Virgin, the great show with an unfortunate name that should be your next Netflix binge.The following piece contains very mild spoilers for Jane the Virgin.While watching the last season of Jane the Virgin, ...
Before Zumba, before Just Dance, before it was cool again to move in public group settings, there was Jump Jam. Madeleine Chapman reflects.Jump Jam entered the lives of New Zealand kids in 2001, a year filled with historic cultural movements. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released in 2001; ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Jensz, Research associate professor, University of Münster Donald Trump is not the first US President to make an offer of buying Greenland from Denmark – but he might be the last. Home of some 56,000 people and around 80% covered by ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Tara Ward taste-tests the best hot chips in the country. Everyone loves a hot chip because they’re a) hot, and b) a chip, but there’s nothing more disappointing than a bad chip experience. A ...
Sky Network Television has written down the value of large parts of its business and scrapped paying a dividend as it changes direction to counter falling pay TV subscribers. ...
Strict word limits for Māori translations of local body election candidate profiles is a form of "institutional racism" and should be changed, a candidate says. ...
ACT Party leader David Seymour's voluntary euthanasia bill has cleared another stage in Parliament with a suite of changes aimed at securing support. ...
A finalist for New Zealander of the Year for her work with Māori smokers is at war with academics because her research is funded by tobacco giant Philip Morris. Guyon Espiner reports. ...
Keith Rankin’s Chart Analysis Auckland Māori exodus after 2014The 2018 census has had such a low compliance rate, that it really acted as a large convenience sample (therefore a biased sample) of the New Zealand population. (See my Census Survey from March 2018.) Despite the assurances we are getting, ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Housing Bernard Hickey (Newsroom): Lecturing councils won’t work for Labour either Marc Daalder (Newsroom): ‘Nice pointers, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Prudence Flowers, Lecturer in US History, College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Flinders University As the abortion decriminalisation bill gradually makes its way through the NSW parliament, opponents have been increasingly drawing on their long relationship with the right-to-life movement in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Hansen, Chief of Staff, The Conversation With the advent of online ancestry DNA testing, and advancements in genetic screening for various medical aliments, we’re able to know more than ever about the genes that make us who we are. But is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda Galligan, Associate professor, University of Southern Queensland If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.How was maths discovered? Who made up the numbers and rules? – Bianca, age 12, Strathfield, Sydney. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Borroz, PhD candidate in international business and comparative political economy, University of Auckland India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has settled into lunar orbit, ahead of its scheduled Moon landing on September 7. If it succeeds India will join a very select club, now ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Twyford and Parker propose new urban development policy statement, Tamihere unveils transport plans, and Māori King issues challenge on child abuse.For a lead today, a nudge towards one of those deeply dense announcements that could end up having a huge ...
Just like its National predecessor, this Labour-led Government is trying to lecture councils into growing the 'right' kinds of cities without giving them the funding tools or help to do it. ...
Part three of our debate on the state of New Zealand fiction continues as Chris Else, whose opening essay was strongly rebutted last week by Catherine Robertson, returns to put the boot in once more. ...
This morning the five shortlisted songs for the 2019 Silver Scroll Award were announced. Here, exclusively for The Spinoff, the finalists discuss each other’s nominated songs.Tom Scott of Avantdale Bowling Club on ‘The Barrel’ by Aldous Hardingit’s such a beautiful stunt to witness. breaking just before the cliff edge. the ...
A group is currently holding seminars around NZ which appear to be based on misinformation about vaccines. Dr Helen Petousis-Harris fact checks some of their claims. ...
The Football Ferns are at a crossroads - they need to move on from simply being "competitive" to make a serious impression on the world football stage. ...
Countless stories from women who have a right to be safe on campus still go unanswered, writes Kate Hannah, deputy director equity and inclusion, Te Pūnaha MatatiniDespite the hashtags and the headlines, universities in New Zealand seem to have largely avoided facing up to their own “#MeToo moment”. It is ...
The government’s plan to avoid another ‘fiscal hole’ fiasco has an unlikely fan: the chief economist of the corporate think tank New Zealand Initiative. Eric Crampton explains what else it could do.Have you ever driven past one of those stores that mostly sells blinds but calls itself ‘Not Just Blinds’ ...
Over the course of the local elections period, The Spinoff will be publishing primers on some of the most interesting races around the country. Today, Alex Braae casts his eyes over the Otago Regional Council contest.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The SpinoffMembers. For more about ...
By Michael Andrew Journalists across Papua New Guinea have spoken out in support of EMTV news director Neville Choi after his “unacceptable” termination from a role he had held for six years. A public statement released on Monday listed the reasons for his termination, one of which was his ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Camellia Webb-Gannon, Lecturer, University of Wollongong Last weekend, the Indonesian police took 43 West Papuan students into custody for allegedly disrespecting the Indonesian flag during an independence day celebration (an allegation the students deny). Police stormed the students’ dorm and used teargas ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natalie Klein, Professor, UNSW Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed that Australia will lend military support to protect shipping in the Middle East. The commitment has been long expected, with Australia sending a frigate, an aircraft and some headquarters staff as part ...
Daily review 12/08/2019 
A new study claims to find that a mother’s exposure to fluoridated water during pregnancy may decrease the IQ of male children – but is it correct? (Photo: Getty Images) Anti-fluoride campaigners are promoting ... 18 mins ago
Donald Trump seems to be eager to start a war with Iran, and naturally Australia is yapping at its heels like a good little vassal. The UK also asked New Zealand to get involved, but fortunately, we had a good excuse: we simply didn't have the toys available:Britain asked New ...5 hours ago
Television advertising has a huge impact on our lives. Even if we don’t recognise that, we know it has to be true, since otherwise why would advertisers spend so much on it? Its significance, however, is greater than simply the influence it has on what we purchase and consume. It ...1 day ago
by Jan Rivers More than 30 years ago a Commission of Inquiry was held in New Zealand to investigate, amongst other things, whether women with cervical cancer were aware that they had been part of a research project and whether they were properly informed of the treatment options ...2 days ago
Everyone Wants To Be Fuhrer: When fascist groups are discussed, the image conjured-up in the minds of most New Zealanders is one of pathetic misfits. This negative impression is reinforced by the latter’s idiotic embrace of the swastika. Even in the second decade of the twenty-first century, the baleful legacy ...2 days ago
In the previous two posts, I laid out the context and set the theoretical framework to answer a question: whether indigenous economies should take the LEAP. This final part outlines ways to conceive of practicing mana motuhake within the existing legal system by carving out special jurisdictions that enable Indigenous ...4 days ago
Fully Informed? Labour’s 2017 promises raised expectations that were little short of revolutionary. Unfortunately, they were never adequately shaken through the fiscal sieve. The hard economic work was not done – and it shows. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s critics have long complained that her grasp of the way the New ...4 days ago
You cannot expect to pound communities into the ground day after day, year after year, decade after decade and just expect them to take it lying down. There’s a point at which the place will explode. And we’re faced with some very big ructions on both sides of the Atlantic ...6 days ago
6 days ago
Going Down? Once truth and propaganda become fused in the minds of one’s followers, debate and discussion become redundant. If one’s opponents are all outrageous liars, then engaging with them in any way is pointless. Rather than waste its time, a political party should, instead, target all its messages at ...6 days ago
We need to fundamentally reframe our systems settings to address the drivers causing and underpinning inequality; structural change in systems especially financial. The Equality Network Hui was held in Wellington on 27 June 2019. The hui covered important topics such as child poverty; a living wage; taxation; public health; mental ...1 week ago
The views-per-page for some of my recent postings:Depressing, isn't it? Provide thoughtful and wise commentary on the mainstream of British politics and no-one notices. Make a passing reference to Tommy DICKHEAD Robinson in a thread title and you get hundreds of views. Write something about anti-Semitism and you get another ...1 week ago
The government has announced plans to move the Treaty of Waitangi and other taonga to a new site. Great news! So where are they going? Right next to the old one:The new plan will see a new 22,000-square-metre archive built on the former site of Defence House - the former ...1 week ago
Back in June, StatsNZ went public about a project to track population data on an hourly level by using people's cellphones. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked - they were receiving no individual data, only counts by suburb - but there was still a huge consent problem, so ...1 week ago
I did an interview on the TVNZ Breakfast Show about the situation in Hong Kong. I tried to frame the issue as a collective action problem between two sides with very different end games. The video is here. Because of time constraints we could not discuss the fact that the ...1 week ago
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ... 1 week ago
Alone, Alone. All, All Alone: Will it be a good or a bad thing, when humanity’s bright blue spacecraft is stricken by the civilisation-destroying problem of Climate Change, that no Huston Control will be standing-by to rescue the crew?“WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HUSTON.” These were the words used by the ...1 week ago
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...1 week ago
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...2 weeks ago
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...2 weeks ago
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...2 weeks ago
Blowing-Up The House: Is Winston Peters planning to put himself at the head of all those New Zealanders who refuse to countenance the Coalition Government caving-in to the Ihumatao protesters? The most effective way of doing this would be to issue Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with an ultimatum. If she ...2 weeks ago
Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement with Switzerland, Revenue Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Mr Nash and the Swiss Ambassador David Vogelsanger have today signed documents to update the double tax agreement (DTA). The previous DTA was signed in 1980. “Double tax ...2 weeks ago
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) is urging firearms owners to pass on information to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques now that the period for submissions has been extended to 27 September. ...2 hours ago
National MP Nick Smith has lodged a serious accusation against Parliament's Speaker calling him "biased" after once again being booted out of the debating chamber. ...13 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people again took to the streets in Hong Kong to protest against the government – the 11th straight weekend of demonstrations that began in June over a proposed extradition bill. ...22 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott Hamilton, Strategic Advisory Panel Member, Australian-German Energy Transition Hub, University of Melbourne Australia’s primary federal renewable energy target – to have 33 terawatts of renewable energy by 2020 – has essentially been achieved. There is much uncertainty as to what is ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Keogh, ARC DECRA Fellow, Queensland University of Technology In the last three months, the Australian Classification Board has “refused classification” for at least four video games – effectively banning them in Australia. The latest is zombie-survival shooter DayZ. Despite being previously ...2 hours ago
Government agencies are taking an unconventional approach to family violence solutions. ...2 hours ago
Sky Network Television has bought the rights to put its name on Wellington's Westpac Stadium. ...4 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle The Heart Foundation now recommends full-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt or reduced-fat options as part of its updated dietary advice released yesterday. This moves away from earlier advice that recommended only reduced-fat ...4 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Libby Porter, Professor of Urban Planning, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University The Victorian government has announced it is seeking heritage listing for parts of the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne. We heard this news on Wednesday as we sat under a grandfather ...4 hours ago
A flood and a botched insurance job has left a Howick couple out of their home for almost two years. But it's a story with some strange twists. ...4 hours ago
One part telenovela, one part family drama, one part addictive love story. Sam Brooks reviews Jane the Virgin, the great show with an unfortunate name that should be your next Netflix binge.The following piece contains very mild spoilers for Jane the Virgin.While watching the last season of Jane the Virgin, ...6 hours ago
Before Zumba, before Just Dance, before it was cool again to move in public group settings, there was Jump Jam. Madeleine Chapman reflects.Jump Jam entered the lives of New Zealand kids in 2001, a year filled with historic cultural movements. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released in 2001; ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Jensz, Research associate professor, University of Münster Donald Trump is not the first US President to make an offer of buying Greenland from Denmark – but he might be the last. Home of some 56,000 people and around 80% covered by ...7 hours ago
Live updates: Around 150 are taking part in the hīkoi to the PM's electorate office from Ihumātao in a bid to get her to visit the site. ...7 hours ago
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Tara Ward taste-tests the best hot chips in the country. Everyone loves a hot chip because they’re a) hot, and b) a chip, but there’s nothing more disappointing than a bad chip experience. A ...8 hours ago
Sky Network Television has written down the value of large parts of its business and scrapped paying a dividend as it changes direction to counter falling pay TV subscribers. ...8 hours ago
A finalist for New Zealander of the Year for her work with Māori smokers is at war with academics because her research is funded by tobacco giant Philip Morris. Guyon Espiner reports. ...10 hours ago
Air New Zealand's full-year profit has hit headwinds as higher fuel costs and slower passenger growth hit its earnings. ...10 hours ago
Keith Rankin’s Chart Analysis
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Prudence Flowers, Lecturer in US History, College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Flinders University As the abortion decriminalisation bill gradually makes its way through the NSW parliament, opponents have been increasingly drawing on their long relationship with the right-to-life movement in ...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Hansen, Chief of Staff, The Conversation With the advent of online ancestry DNA testing, and advancements in genetic screening for various medical aliments, we’re able to know more than ever about the genes that make us who we are. But is ...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda Galligan, Associate professor, University of Southern Queensland If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au. How was maths discovered? Who made up the numbers and rules? – Bianca, age 12, Strathfield, Sydney. ...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Baumann, Casual Academic, School of Social Sciences & Psychology, Western Sydney University Many of us do not need to hear any more warnings from the IPCC, David Attenborough or climate activists like Greta Thunberg. We have seen enough to be convinced ...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Borroz, PhD candidate in international business and comparative political economy, University of Auckland India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has settled into lunar orbit, ahead of its scheduled Moon landing on September 7. If it succeeds India will join a very select club, now ...12 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Twyford and Parker propose new urban development policy statement, Tamihere unveils transport plans, and Māori King issues challenge on child abuse.For a lead today, a nudge towards one of those deeply dense announcements that could end up having a huge ...13 hours ago
Just like its National predecessor, this Labour-led Government is trying to lecture councils into growing the 'right' kinds of cities without giving them the funding tools or help to do it. ...13 hours ago
Part three of our debate on the state of New Zealand fiction continues as Chris Else, whose opening essay was strongly rebutted last week by Catherine Robertson, returns to put the boot in once more. ...13 hours ago
This morning the five shortlisted songs for the 2019 Silver Scroll Award were announced. Here, exclusively for The Spinoff, the finalists discuss each other’s nominated songs.Tom Scott of Avantdale Bowling Club on ‘The Barrel’ by Aldous Hardingit’s such a beautiful stunt to witness. breaking just before the cliff edge. the ...14 hours ago
Concerns about the rugby team’s name emerged when it was conceived, Crusaders’ management tells sponsors. ...14 hours ago
Newsroom literary editor Steve Braunias announces the coolest writer's residency in New Zealand. ...14 hours ago
A group is currently holding seminars around NZ which appear to be based on misinformation about vaccines. Dr Helen Petousis-Harris fact checks some of their claims. ...14 hours ago
The Football Ferns are at a crossroads - they need to move on from simply being "competitive" to make a serious impression on the world football stage. ...14 hours ago
Unravelling who's to blame for our rocketing petrol prices. ...15 hours ago
By Michael Andrew Journalists across Papua New Guinea have spoken out in support of EMTV news director Neville Choi after his “unacceptable” termination from a role he had held for six years. A public statement released on Monday listed the reasons for his termination, one of which was his ...21 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Camellia Webb-Gannon, Lecturer, University of Wollongong Last weekend, the Indonesian police took 43 West Papuan students into custody for allegedly disrespecting the Indonesian flag during an independence day celebration (an allegation the students deny). Police stormed the students’ dorm and used teargas ...24 hours ago
The Government's new urban development initiative will do nothing if councils don't receive more funding, mayors say. ...1 day ago
https://i.stuff.co.nz/auckland/114926932/teenage-sportsman-spared-jail-after-admitting-sex-attacks-on-two-girls
Reading this made me both upset for the victims and angry that our judicial system will use exceptional talent in sport as justification for what is to my mind an unbelievably light sentence.
Reeks of money and privilege getting preferential treatment in the court system again. I hope the sentence is appealed.
At least they didn't talk about his "good character" (other than being a serial sexual attacker), which is another common line 🙄
I'm not a big lock 'em up guy, but sentence credits for being good at sport or business seem surreal to me. Those aren't mitigating factors, they are factors that help enable that abuse by increasing the power disparity between abuser and person being abused.
Exactly, given his age locking him up is likely not the best option, but a long community based sentence and the a record of the conviction should stand imo… Feel very sorry for his victims and desperately hope they don't end up in a situation where they have to see him walking around town.
'The judge said the teenager was concerned that any record of his offending would prevent him from achieving his goals.'
Oh well I can see where the judge is coming from …now.
Yeah, maybe it will. But it's still pretty damned light for serious offending on three separate occasions, including an escalation. So supervision or anything.
Being good at sport is learning how to be an adept physical animal. Where is the use of the higher brain that we know we have, I remember my primary school wasn't interested in that.
Edit:
I think this young man should be locked up for ever, There needs to be an enclosed high-security prison farm that enables a lot of activities there and under guard, but keeps the perpetrators secure, and the public safe.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12257685 Wellington man murders woman with mallet in Karori, sexually violates girl
It is really bad so I will not put any detail. But women should be able to live in freedom and trust of men, not be the subjects of obsession, disparagement or disgust,
This is something that should be covered in philosophy classes at school, how we need to understand each other’s different ways. The classes would be where youngsters without loving role models at home, can learn that there are better ways of being than they have encountered.
The girl will never get over this. I hope that she will find love and security with others in a family situation, and peace within herself so she can have years of happy life, with memories of her mother that she can treasure.
Horrific.
John Palino has just announced that he is withdrawing from the mayoral campaign and will stand for the Council position in Franklin. He has also endorsed Tamihere …
Sleazy quits and endorses Queasy fits.
Like Banks’ campaign that-never-was this has the grubby prints of Boag’s evil hands all over it
Both the votes Palino would have got will go to Tamihere. That should see Tamihere's numbers reach into four digits.
Should be a close race then.
The vote to whinge ratio in Auckland is shocking. It's currently running at 237 whinges per single vote lodged.
If the community could be bothered we might see some candidates that can simultaneously walk and chew gum.
Has anybody ever been looked straight in the eye by John Tamihere?
In other news Dick Brain elected leader of UKIP
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49307101
lols
Hoots gazed out the port window and with a huge sigh turned to Hosk, "no ones buying into our spin anymore, the suckers are not even buying into the dumbest what was in the letter trick……" Hosk scratched the bare skin of his knee through the designer tear in his jeans, wafted down another gulp of Dom Pérignon leaned over and peered out the port window, "is that bright light over there where we are landing….shit, squeaked Hoots, thats Pluto, nearly home already…!!
Its worth reposting
"Herein lies the great moral conundrum of Climate Change. That there is literally no part of the planet’s warm, industrially-woven, woolly-jumper that humanity can remove without the whole damn thing unravelling in its hands.
You can sit down on the steel railway tracks (the ones you insist we need more of to get internal-combustion driven vehicles off the roads) to prevent the coal reaching its destination, but that cannot, and will not, save the planet."
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/101146/chris-trotter-deconstructs-arguments-used-eco-warriors-and-questions-how-much-they
The only question really is …do you want to go down trying?
Chris finally catching up. Meanwhile Peak Oil people were talking about this 15 years ago and brainstorming solutions. Hope he can catch up with that soon too.
Because I've been around solutions based people far longer than I have known how serious CC is, I'm less afraid of the collapse of civ than I am of it continuing unabated.
Then I fear you dont understand what the collapse of civilisation looks like…try Yemen
Civ unabated looks like Hiroshima.
I think it's likely we can't avoid civ collapsing, or at least a major power down. We may have choices in how that happens though. Losing civ isn't one thing, there are a whole range of scenarios that could happen.
I wish people like Chris, who have a fair amount of influence, would spend more time listening to those who've been doing this a long time.
Just because they have been doing whatever for a long time dosnt mean they have the monopoly on insight….is his position wrong? I think not.
And yes civilisation will collapse at some point…but theres no need to hasten it as that is certainly not what I would wish upon anyone
there are good arguments for hastening it (a la Derrick Jensen), but I wasn't meaning that. Powering down while we still can gives us way better chances than carrying on BAU until it's forced on us. The latter is Yemen scenario. The former is more like Cuba.
Trotter's post is patronising (he thinks climate activists haven't thought about these things, really?). He's spent the last ten years dissing the Greens. I spent it learning about how everything about civ is reliant on FF and what we can do about it. People come to it at different times, but having a go at protestors out of his own ignorance is not helpful imo.
It is good he is raising population as an issue, because few will talk about it, but I think the way he has done it is unlikely to take us to the solutions he is looking for. Also, the rice thing, best not go down the teeming Asian hordes track. People in China know a few things about growing food sustainably that Trotter won't even be aware of yet.
I am curious where he go the 8 billion thing from. Did he make that up or is it based on something.
no idea….I would have thought hed be a little more circumspect but dosnt change the theme.
Yes we are overstocked and our farming practice needs revision and there are a multitude of other things that need to change (hell the whole financial system is teetering on the brink of collapse) but we cannot dump everything we currently do without something to replace it and sadly we dont yet have that…and I seriously doubt we are capable of devising an alternative, certainly in the timeframe required….but Im fairly sure that if we do stop everything without a plan we will invite nothing more than a catastrophe every bit as bad as that which we seek to avoid ….only sooner
You say his post is patronising…..have a look at the comments to the article.
His audience isnt the choir,,,theres a large segment of society that have not or only recently begun to consider these issues…the Standard is not representative.
ok, fair point, I'm about halfway through the comments. I still think all he has done is poke a stick to get a reaction, but maybe that's his job and it's up to the rest of us to lead the conversation somewhere useful.
Quake off the coast near Milford Sound. Shallow, and 6.3 thus far.
https://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/2019p603895
Fascinating talk by Mark Blyth. He's quite positive about climate change, says that when it begins to bite, it will force a new round of innovation, and notes the growth of Green parties around the world and solar power in China
He predicts that Trump will be re-elected, claims that Biden, Harris, and Sanders are the only plausible challengers, but the Dem base is soft, unlike the fanatical Trumpists
He also talks about how Corbyn is playing a very smart game in the UK, letting the Conservatives hold the dripping bag of shit known as Brexit, Corbyn's aim isn't to be elected, but to destroy the Tories.