Daily Review 21/08/2018
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5:30 pm, August 21st, 2018 - 41 comments
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- The 1 Good Thing Left In Journalism
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...2 hours ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Monday, December 23
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...2 hours ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #51
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Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...22 hours ago - Government Forces Universities to Enforce “Free Speech” While Limiting Universities̵...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...23 hours ago - Fact brief – Are we heading into an ‘ice age’?
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The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...2 days ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, December 21
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In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...6 days ago
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AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...6 days ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...6 days ago
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And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...7 days ago - A Lipstick Government
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Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...7 days ago
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- Thank You
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...1 week ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50
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Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...3 days ago
- Release: National buries 1019 planned homes
It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...3 days ago
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The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...3 days ago
- Release: Why not both? Luxon shuns Waitangi celebrations
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is running away from problems of his own creation, with his decision not to go to Waitangi. ...4 days ago
- Govt’s ‘free speech’ legislation stokes fear, not freedom
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...4 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...4 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...5 days ago
- ECE no place to cut corners
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...5 days ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...5 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...6 days ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...6 days ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...6 days ago
- Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...6 days ago
- Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis
With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...6 days ago
- Warning to Fast-Track Applicants – ‘Exploit the Whenua, Face the Consequences’
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...6 days ago
- Govt’s miserly 1.5% minimum wage will take workers backwards
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...6 days ago
- Luxon’s ‘localism’ strikes again
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...7 days ago
- Release: Govt breaks promise on EV chargers
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...7 days ago
- Greens call for end to subsidies for Methanex
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...7 days ago
- Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...1 week ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
- Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...2 weeks ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour fully supports greyhound racing ban
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Something different. Marine life photographer Ryo Minemizu’s beautiful images of larval beasties at night.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/08/jewels-in-the-night-sea/
https://www.ryo-minemizu.com/
Wow!
Lloyd Homer (GNS Photographer) had amazing shots of Antarctica a few years ago. Otherworldly.
Can’t find them online though 🙁
Boycott restaurants and companies that use foodlots.
Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor putting down SAFE for drawing attention to this practice which has been going on for years and the place is now very polluted. He uses the sad argument that because safe don’t want anyone to be killing animals, that farmers and the public should disregard absolutely everything they say.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018658924/safe-calls-for-end-to-feedlots
and the Feds:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/country/364582/federated-farmers-hits-back-at-vegan-fundamentalists-safe
But there is a case and the Environment Minister David Parker is putting the points:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018659101/i-struggle-to-see-how-they-are-legal-environment-minister-responds-to-feedlot-farmsforward.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/364603/feedlots-haven-t-been-properly-policed-by-regional-councils-minister
Meanwhile a farmer with concern for our reputation and the good of the soil and land talks about what he sees.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/363942/businessman-challenges-hawke-s-bay-council-on-damaging-feedlots
From frederics restaurant blog:
Bovines are not meant to eat grains, soy or corn, so to keep them alive they are pumped with medications, antibiotics and supplements. Because cattle kept like this spend little to no time moving around or socialising (which are both hugely important for all sentient beings, not just humans!) they are grossly unhealthy and consist of more fat than muscle. This of course then gets passed down to you and me when we eat the meat from these animals.
We Are What We (M)Eat
2017 For feedlots:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=11883569
Marbled meat
Yeah, the high fat content is purposeful. You will pay more for it.
That must be the reason that I can hardly afford to buy meat at all, even mice? (I meant mince, but that typo has given me ideas).
SHEPHERD’s PIE
Not every shepherd can dice a lamb every time his belly rumbles. So many have learned to make do with DICED FIELD MICE.
Take 4 potatoes, boil, mash, season, add cream, mash some more, line 8″ pieshell with them.
Boil six medium sized mice. Rats are ok if you know what they’ve been eating. No Buick upholstery or graveyards.
If the rodents are the right size, you should have a cup of rat meat (depending if you’ve cleaned the carcasses well enough.) Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, add l cup blanched, chopped almonds, l cup cracker crumbs, l egg, (reserve l tsp for topping) making a burger. OPTIONAL: bell pepper, onions, cilantro, parsley, thyme, oregano, l can creamed corn, l can of those crunchy chinese things, water chestnuts, chopped olives, a dash of catsup or tomato sauce.
Fill the pie. Cover with more potatoes. Use egg/cream to wipe down pie so it toasts brownish in oven.
Remember, a rabbit is just a big rodent. The taste of the flesh is identical. Ask any concentration camp visitor.
TIP: when cooking rodents, pre-soaking up to 5 hours helps take away that pesky rodent flavor. AND the longer you cook it, with the other ingredients, the better the meat tastes.
Don’t use real shepherds – they’ll make you crook.
https://rense.com/general27/ram.htm
Farley Mowat had a recipe in Never Cry Wolf too.
Ewhat a ignorant boofhead Damien O’Connor is.
I had the idea that he was more intelligent than that, a bit of balance beyond the usual pro-farmer certainty. Appealing to the OTT doesn’t cut it.
I had the idea that he was more intelligent than that, a bit of balance beyond the usual pro-farmer certainty.
Nope. Ignorant boofhead it is. Damien “Treating Sentient Beings Cruelly is OK by Me” O’Connor sounds like a PR hack for Federated Farmers. And like a clone of Nathan Guy.
Where do they get these people from?
Sarah Abdallah
“So the US government knew there weren’t any WMDs in Iraq but invaded anyway, destroyed an entire nation, killed & displaced millions, and gave rise to ISIS…
And yet we’re supposed to believe their claims about “chemical weapons attacks” in Syria without question? What a joke.”
No different than from the end of WW1- The Weimar Republic government covered up the fact that the Kaiser Reich were soley responsible for starting the war….it was too a preventative war that they planned to happen and just took a convenient pretext to kick of their predetermined timetable
In general the Anglo-saxon world swallowed it hook line and sinker and now the line is ‘we were all responsible’
No-one with any brains believed the Iraqi WMD lie, even at the time. Hell I recall marching down Lambton Quay with at least 10,000 other people protesting the imminent invasion.
There is no question this calculated deception was a major turning point; it deeply damaged the credibility of the Washington aligned axis and has never recovered since.
There are precious few voices remaining who enjoy unconditional confidence. We often see the consequences here, people arguing around in tight little ideological circles, battling to defend their molehill of virtue, when the truth is most of us cannot be certain of anything any more.
Even the UN security council didn’t believe it, technically making the war illegal. Who remembers that now when they prattle on about Crimea… Our rember Turkey s invasion of Cyprus…where they remain to this day.
What group is Turkey a valued member of?
The very name “Weapons of Mass Destruction” was enough to raise an eyebrow. So vague – what are they talking about? If they really knew there were nuclear weapons does anyone think they would have called them WMD? Of course not. They would have given them their actual title – nuclear bombs.
Amazing isn’t it,… Bush and Blair damn well knew there were no WMD,… yet still used that to justify what they did. War crimes.
And they still walk free today.
After being responsible for tens upon thousands of deaths.
Is that not a testimony to just how sick and wrong this world actually is ???
WMD term was first used after Guernica in 1937
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/1522
Excellent news:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/364586/public-service-performance-bonuses-scrapped
It was the introduction of these so-called performance based bonuses back in the late 1980s and 1990s which sent the path of the Public Service into a downward spiral.
My experiences were:
it wasn’t what you knew or how much knowledge and experience you had gained in your area of expertise which counted, but rather who you knew and how greasy and pliable you were while climbing the ladder of success.
Time to abandon them for all public servants and not just the bosses.
Possibly the biggest change to Work and Income so far?
Yes. AWW.
The culture of the Public Service changed almost overnight from being an organisation which was there to serve the public to corporate-type bodies whose aim was to prise open the purses of the general public – and indeed other branches of the P.S – and make them pay through the nose for their sometimes less satisfactory services. I was a first hand witness to such an example in the 1990s.
Edit: I’m talking about the P.S in general.
I vividly recall a Ministry of Health Disability Support Services Consumer forum (when they still used to hold them) where there had been much pain, anger and frustration voiced at the inadequacies of the sparse supports.
I asked the Group Manager and the attendant policy advisors if it was true the rumour that they received performance bonuses if they came in under Budget….
The bureaucrats looked like they were chewing razor blades, while the assembled ‘consumers’ cheered.
Stop the obscene bonuses, and while they’re at it….fire any of them that have worked for the same Ministry for more than ten years.
Cut out the corruption and rot.
Then we might see some improvement in performance.
That’s been my experience in corporations as well. Experience and knowledge count for nothing – it’s who you know and the amount of arse-kissing you do.
Good win this
“TVNZ has removed a documentary that claims Celts settled New Zealand thousands of years before the arrival of Māori from its on demand service following a query from RNZ’s Mediawatch.”
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018658273/seven-foot-tall-pre-maori-disappear-from-tvnz
That rubbish is so stupid that only racist dumbarses believe it. So glad that AT LAST TVNZ have got rid of that shit off their site.
@ marty mars,
It reminds of an old news story TV3 trot out every so often when they are short of material. I refer to the “strange lights” seen in the night sky off the Kaikoura Coast back in the 1970s. The Met Service explained the cause a dozen times.
There was an anti-cyclone covering the country and at around 2000 ft an ‘inversion’ which is a layer of warmer air that acts as a reflective shield. It only occurs in intense anti-cyclonic conditions. There was a Japanese fishing fleet out to sea off the Kaikoura coast and the “strange lights” were the lights from the fleet being reflected off the inversion layer.
I once sent the details to TV3 news explaining what it was… and told them to stop spreading idiot stories about UFOs seen off the Kaikoura coast. But they still haul the rubbish out every so often. They call it fake news.
Yep those ufos have attained legend status now.
And everytime they run that story another set of people believe. And anyone who knows the truth has to explain from the beginning again – and that just can’t be done realistically. Drives me up the wall.
Oh don’t be so naive and foolish …
You surely don’t believe in the one dimensional dogmatic agenda of the power elites , do you ?
Steven Greer – Disclosure Project 2001 – Aliens Secret … – YouTube
Video for disclosure project greer youtube▶ 1:55:56
Then we have this from Nick Pope,…
England’s former MOD guy for many years…
You know?… the big cheese of military operations???
Nick Pope – Government and UFOs – YouTube
Video for nick pope on ufos you tube▶ 58:51
And Lord Hill Norton….
The UFO Cover Up Former Chief Of Defence Staff Lord Hill Norton …
I don’t believe you tube clips. Truth is much stranger than even you can imagine – the ufo stuff is black ops honeytrapping for the gullible imo
I couldn’t believe the level of lying in that propaganda piece. They used the rat DNA research to say the exact opposite of the researcher’s conclusion.
It was only on TVNZ for two weeks but that was enough for 4000 views. TVNZ need to do better.
This is cool.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Df-PQArXkAIn0Fj.jpg
Trendy little number.
I don’t know if WOW have had a section for pre-modern clothing going back that far but that would be interesting to see various concepts of it.
Landlords, Australian banks and homelessness…
George Thorogood – One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer – 7/5/1984 …
https://www.globalresearch.ca/gold-leaving-us-vaults-signs-of-upcoming-currency-war-and-armed-conflict-turkey-repatriates-its-gold/5651111
So, if last time we where against, this time we would be fore, right? Let them free of Nato. Cost us billions, this 5eyes thing, n just so they can spy on us, while 3 o-the Jap planes would have trumped the 4 Boeing and cost a handful.
Could have got independant tech, home-grown. It will take a fulltime team in our Intellegence Service, just to be removing the Israeli back-door-hacks in the chips of that over-priced Californien stuff.
Wooo, we can pass this to the right like a rugby ball, say it was JAG consprcy theory.
Give them how many weeks to make the doco before shes back? A change is as good as a rest, or so they say.
like a football…..
German Foreign Minister calling for European countries to abandon the US SWIFT banking payment system so Europe can continue to trade with Iran, without the US.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/08/21/571860/Heiko-Maas-Germany-JCPOA-Handelsblatt
I thought SWIFT was a european idea and is based there. ….”SWIFT is a cooperative society under Belgian law owned by its member financial institutions with offices around the world. ”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Worldwide_Interbank_Financial_Telecommunication
The NSA has tapped the routing network so they can spy on transactions
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/09/15/how-excellent-the-nsa-spies-upon-the-visa-and-swift-networks/