Therefore I was hoping to stimulate discussion and encourage people to think about our need to move from eating meat to eating plant based food for the sake of our planet, our ethics and our health.
You probably love animals or at the very least, you’re against animal cruelty. Yet, on the other hand, you probably pay to have animals mutilated, tortured and killed. You probably think you need meat for protein and cow’s milk for calcium. You probably think animals are treated “humanely” before they become a neatly wrapped package on the supermarket shelf. You’ve probably never wondered what is cruel about eating eggs or dairy. You probably think vegans are extreme.
I was the same.
I want to talk to you about what we are doing to this planet, ourselves and our fellow Earthlings. I want to ask you some questions that might make you feel defensive but will also make you question things you’ve always considered to be ‘normal’. I want to ask you to listen to this speech and hear a new perspective. Perhaps it will change your life, perhaps it won’t, but I believe you deserve to know the truth. I know I’m very grateful to have learned it and now I want to share it with you. I think you’ll be grateful, too.
I do understand where meat, milk, eggs, fish etc comes from.
I don’t eat a lot of meat. Never liked milk though do have some yogurt and eggs.
Mostly eat fruit and veges. I think processed food can be as damaging to people and environment – and food chain, as anything else. Can’t get very excited about meat, vegan, vegetarian or not. The biggest issue is environmental sustainability, and health of the whole community located within it.
Paul, you really think the best way to reply to someone that’s just said “I prefer printed comments. I rarely watch linked or embedded videos. I find reading quicker, and enables more reflection.” is to link a 41 minute video?
Um. Well spotted, Andre. My response was based on the selected quote.
I also think propaganda is more effective using images, and sound plus images in video. They tend to impact more on the emotions, and often don’t encourage critical reflection the way print and discussion can.
That is one of the issues of the image-saturated digital age.
Of course, we can spend time critiquing the way videos impact on emotions, but that takes way more time than reading an explanation.
I’ve read several articles that say the way the brain processes video is very different to written material. Supposedly we become more suggestible when watching video (or live performance), but more analytical and skeptical when reading.
The paper below is what I found with a quick search, and doesn’t look the most reliable to me, but it has pretty much the same message as the papers I’d read previously.
Yes. I’ve studied, researched and taught film and media quite a lot – done quite a lot of analysis of visual media. I do like watching videos, movies, and TV dramas.
But when it comes to arguments and political discussions, I prefer print. I prefer print to documentaries. People tend to think documentaries show us reality, but they actually present reality from a perspective, and also, often work on the same level as screen fiction – can be misleading.
[No doubt there are some interesting things in what you are posting. But your comments, because of how you do them, are like Facebook spam. This is an issue of quantity, of frequency, and of the fact that you often don’t do anything other than drop a link or drop a link with virtually no information about what it is.
The link above is a good example of such a comment. It take up a large amount of space (think about people reading on a phone, and there is nothing to say what it is about. You know it’s about veganism, no-one else does. It’s spam.
It also concerns me that you’ve had moderators asking you to stop and you appear to not realise that, which makes me think you are just link dropping and not taking part in the debate because you don’t appear to go back to that conversation again. Again, this is like spam.
There is a certain degree of tolerance for link dropping, but if you look at what other people are doing, then you will see they usually make some attempt to let the readers know what the link is about. It’s good if some of that person’s comments are commentary as well. My suggestion is you post less links and take more time in explaining what they are. But please still pay attention to frequency and whether you are engaging discussion
edit, I need to see you acknowledge that you have read this moderator comment, thanks – weka]
I have read your moderator comment and will add comments at the top of thought provoking videos in future.
Sometimes I don’t go back because I am busy and unable to go back.
Sometimes it’s better to just post fewer comments, but spend more time on each one. I do.
And try to convey what it is that caught my interest about something and why I think it’s important. I spend time working out the key points at a linked site/article, and selecting representative quotes. And it does often mean going back to the article a few times, and checking/re-reading significant bits.
Well, Paul, for once you and I are on the same page. I’ve been vegan for more than 30 years and can assure people that there’s still plenty of variety and enjoyment in food, plus I feel good about environmental and animal welfare issues.
How did Peter Thiel manage to get NZ citizenship? I expect something like the following happened:
He had a little téte a téte with John Key. Word went down the line and reached Peter Dunne’s ears and hey presto, he’s granted citizenship. Unfortunately Peter Dunne has no recollection of it but he’s going to have a look at his files. Either he is also afflicted with a bad case of Amnesia like his former boss, or the system bypassed him. If it proves to be the latter then there should be an investigation.
No nice guy mpledger. Listen to this crap of a speech. He claims Donald Trump understands reality…
Hmmm… and remember Key’s amnesia over Kim Dotcom? Reckoned he’d never heard of him until after the raid. Always suspected there was something a bit odd about his demeanour at that time. It was as if he was trying to hide something.
I suspect there were quite a few filthy rich individuals during his term as PM who were quietly granted NZ citizenship by virtue of the fact they were filthy rich. In other words, the 1% PM looking after his fellow 1%ers.
yep – smelly and stinky these applications. It is easy to understand them letting in thiel – he is what they aspire to – what an ugly thinker that dude is.
When he announced he was resigning as PM my immediate thought was… there’s some shit about to hit the fan and he knows it. I wonder if this is the start of the shit?
Interesting idea.
Watching tonight that the Govt has told Wellington building owners to strengthen some buildings within 12 months or else!
The dairy farmers have been told to fix their polluting habits but have plenty of time to do so. Maybe next year or sometime in 10 years or so. None have been prosecuted so far. Don’t want to bother them.
The buildings that need strengthening provide the much needed floorspace for business to operate from to provide jobs.
Rivers and streams provide the water needed to drink.
Agriculture is a minnow on the backside of the tourism whale. The fallacy that agriculture is the backbone of NZ economy has continued to be peddaled despite its status as an alternative fact when convenient.
Streams and rivers should be protected and cleaned up. Right. Now. Failure to push any action on this front on the part of the government is nothing more than cowardice.
If NZ were able to get its act together and start focusing on wine tourism (high end tourists buying our shit wine to send over there) then the low value freedom campers that barely spend enough to pay for 0.5FTE will soon get the message, which is;
NZ is an expensive place. To live. To visit. To survive.
No wonder the stinking rich buy their residency here.
Easier to flash the cash and wow the masses on their diet of soma and talkies.
A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report said today.
As the global population surges towards a predicted 9.1 billion people by 2050, western tastes for diets rich in meat and dairy products are unsustainable, says the report from United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) international panel of sustainable resource management.
It says: “Impacts from agriculture are expected to increase substantially due to population growth increasing consumption of animal products. Unlike fossil fuels, it is difficult to look for alternatives: people have to eat. A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products.”
Professor Edgar Hertwich, the lead author of the report, said: “ Animal products cause more damage than [producing] construction minerals such as sand or cement, plastics or metals. Biomass and crops for animals are as damaging as [burning] fossil fuels.”
The recommendation follows advice last year that a vegetarian diet was better for the planet from Lord Nicholas Stern, former adviser to the Labour government on the economics of climate change. Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has also urged people to observe one meat-free day a week to curb carbon emissions.
The panel of experts ranked products, resources, economic activities and transport according to their environmental impacts. Agriculture was on a par with fossil fuel consumption because both rise rapidly with increased economic growth, they said.
Hey… its peculiar when you come to think of it … they are calling Trump a sexist – and holding demonstrations over it …
But what about ” I did not have sexual relations with THAT woman ” Big Billy Boy Clinton ?!!? ( in reference to his being caught out with Monica Lewinsky ? )
There are obvious differences between sexual assault and sexual harassment, and consensual sex and rape. Clinton wasn’t a threat to Roe vs Wade either. Nor was he intent on bringing in an authoritarian state. For all the bad things that Clinton did, there are very real differences here that can’t be glossed over.
Like this interview between John Pilger and Julian Assange , for instance?…
You know… the one where the Clinton Foundation was being used as a channel for funding to procure arms from American arms manufacturers ,… which the govt’s of Saudi Arabia , Morocco and Qatar ,… then distributed those arms back to ISIS while telling us all how evil ISIS was and they must be stamped out?
Ever wonder why the USA was accused of dragging its feet over the ISIS issue while pointing the finger at Russia for lifting the heavy weight in fighting ISIS ?…
It might just have had something to do with the fat profits the American arms manufacturers were making and enjoying out of keeping ISIS going , perhaps?….
Bill Clinton does bad shit, it’s not news, but I have zero interest in talking about it. There doesn’t appear to be anything in your comment that relates to what I said about your previous comment, or my original comment about the incoming administration. There are important differences between sexual assault and sexual harassment, or consented sex and rape, please educate yourself. This isn’t about who the goodies and the baddies are, it’s very basic humans rights we are talking about.
We have had “alternative facts” from NZ Governments and MSM for the past 30-40 years according to Roger Douglas neoliberalism was meant to be the best thing since sliced bread?
mickysavage is among six nominations received to replace Cunliffe in New Lynn. If he wins he will have to stand down from The Standard because he’s regarded by some in Labour (read hierarchy) as “too outspoken”. What tripe! They actually don’t read TS do they. Instead they listen to his detractors who have an irrational disregard for members who dare to make comments on those awful things called blogs.
To me, micky’s posts are strong but diplomatic and often understated.
There is also concern in Labour about Presland’s outspoken – and sometimes critical – contributions to The Standard blog under the pseudonym Mickey Savage.
Who the heck has Trevett been talking to ? That’s just a nonsense statement about Presland’s “outspoken – sometimes critical- contributions to The Standard”.
I agree with you, Anne, Micky’s posts are good, interesting and “understated” and I don’t think I’ve ever read one that has been critical of Labour.
and for Weka (8.1) the selection process consists of a meeting where all the candidates speak, a “straw” vote is taken from the floor, and this is considered along with other criteria by the panellists. Depending on the number of members, the LEC can have anything from one person on the panel to a considerable number, and the NZ Council of NZLP (HO) has three. I see from the Trevett story, that the New Lynn LEC has three people on the panel, NZ Council will have three, plus they need to take account of the “straw” vote from the floor. By the way, there is a Q & A session with the candidates and members before the selection meeting.
The raising of the minimum wage debate gave me a moment to pause and recall the whole related issue of secondary tax. During the 2014 election Labour came out with a manifesto commitment to abolish secondary tax. A great policy announcement that I was pleased to hear. Secondary tax seems to just be a draconian measure to punish those the lowest incomes.
The national party response at the time (see link below) was to state they were already going ahead with the policy anyway and that the IRD Business Transformation plan will “address the PAYE system, including secondary tax and end-of-year square-ups.”
And here we are, three years on and nothing has changed. Secondary tax is still in place and causing as much trouble as ever for hard-working low income earners. Labour need to point out things like this next time National respond to their policy announcements with such blatant untruths
Paul Connet, head of the anti-fluoride propaganda group, Fluoride Action Network, claims that the IQ of children bottle-fed in fluoridated areas drops by 9 points. But he misrepresented the research. There is no observable effect. For earlier articles in this series see: Part 1: Anti-fluoridation propaganda now relies on only ...
The Queen’s coronavirus broadcast, with its overtones of Winston Churchill and Vera Lynn, prompted me to reflect on the tribulations my parents’ generation suffered during the Second World War – and I imagine that those parallels, given her own wartime experience, were very much in the Queen’s mind as she ...
Back in February, the Marlborough District Council increased the mount it charges for LGOIMA requests. I used the LGOIMA to poke into this, and it seems the case for increased charges is unjustified: the supposed increase in request volumes it rests on is an artefact of the Council suddenly deciding ...
. . April 6: Day 12 of living in lock-down… Another day of a near-empty Park N Ride carpark; . . And another day of near-empty Wellington streets; . . . Light traffic on the motorway. No apparent increase in volume. Commercial vehicles sighted; a gravel-hauling truck; McAuley’s Transport; a ...
Imagination By-Pass: Had the Communications Minister, Kris Faafoi (above) taken a firm stand with Bauer, reminding them of their obligations to both their staff and the wider New Zealand public, then a much more favourable outcome may well have ensued. He should have made it clear to the Bauer board ...
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Last month I wrote my blog on covid-19 pointing out the in our pre Alert Level 4 days that a subject no one had heard here months ago was now dominating the media. An amazing feature of this crisis is how quickly it has swept every other issue aside worldwide. ...
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. . March 31: Day six of living in lock-down… This time I managed to sleep a little longer and the alarm woke me at the pre-set time: 6.55am. Then remembered I was working a later shift and could’ve slept in. Oh well, there are things to do at home. ...
Image credit:Diamond Harbour School Blogs I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or ...
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by Don Franks Hi David, Nice hearing from you, I’m glad to hear you’re getting by okay in these grim times. You asked how’s it going for us back here in New Zealand. You would have heard that the whole country is locked down and with breaks for exercise and ...
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Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters believes the country is rediscovering its resilience and self-reliance through its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.He says he is heartened that the mass majority of New Zealanders are following lockdown rules and that the government looking at the future, including paying to keep much ...
New Zealand can emulate the success of the US after the Great Depression by exploiting our own resources to turn the economy around quickly, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says. Mr. Peters told Magic Talk that New Zealand has an opportunity to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic a "superior, ...
All 45 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel are either on their way back to New Zealand, or already in the country, according to Defence Minister Ron Mark."Twenty-eight personnel arrived back in New Zealand last week and are in isolation at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in ...
The COVID-19 situation in New Zealand is moving fast - and to avoid what we've seen overseas - the Government's response must be to move fast too. We're committed to keeping New Zealanders safe and well-informed every step of the way. ...
We know people are feeling anxious about COVID-19. While the situation is serious, New Zealand has a world-class health system and we’re well-prepared to keep New Zealanders safe. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging New Zealanders overseas to stay where they are amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are reaching a point where the best option for most New Zealanders offshore is to shelter in place, by preparing to safely stay where they are.” "This includes following the instructions ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging the tens of thousands of New Zealanders travelling overseas to consider sheltering in place, in light of COVID-19. “Since 18 March, we have been warning New Zealanders offshore that the window for flying ...
Tourism New Zealand to lead work reimagining the way tourism operates in post-COVID-19 world. Ministers to review International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy investment plan. The Government, industry and business are working together to develop a plan for how tourism will operate in a post-COVID-19 world, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis ...
More New Zealanders are taking up the chance to work in horticulture as the sector keeps New Zealanders fed and in jobs during the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our ...
The Provincial Development Unit is working through applications and projects to see where Provincial Growth Fund money can be repurposed for initiatives deemed more critical to fighting the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “We need to be throwing everything we have at ...
The Government’s wage subsidy to protect jobs and keep workers and businesses connected during the lockdown has now supported over a million New Zealanders, with $6.6 billion already paid out. “We’re supporting businesses to pay wages, and stay connected with their workers so that we are all in a better ...
The Government is stepping up efforts to help protect New Zealand’s Pacific communities in the fight against COVID-19. Cabinet has agreed that $17 million will be allocated to support a COVID-19 Pacific Response Package, which will: Support Pacific health and disability services facing increased demand; Ramp up public health messaging ...
“Yesterday evening the Health Minister advised me of his trip to a beach during the lockdown and offered his resignation,” Jacinda Ardern said. “Under normal conditions I would sack the Minister of Health. What he did was wrong, and there are no excuses. “But right now, my priority is our ...
Last night as part of my preparation for the Epidemic Response Committee, I provided the Prime Minister with a complete picture of my activity outside my home during Alert Level 4. That included the fact that on the first weekend of the Alert Level 4 lockdown I drove my family ...
A range of support is being rolled out across New Zealand to help people look after their mental health during COVID-19 Health Minister David Clark said this morning. “COVID-19 has brought a lot of uncertainty into our lives and many of us will be feeling some level of distress or ...
The New Zealand Government has made arrangements to charter a flight for New Zealanders stranded in Peru to depart the country, following agreement with the Chilean government to allow the necessary transit through Chile, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. “Like many travellers around the world at the moment, ...
Hospital preparations for COVID-19 are well advanced says Health Minister David Clark. “Hospitals across New Zealand are repurposing buildings and training staff to get ready for COVID-19 patients. This gives me confidence that we are well prepared for any potential increase in COVID-19 patients needing hospital level care,” said David ...
The Government will be introducing legislation to make changes to the Companies Act to help companies facing insolvency due to COVID-19 to remain viable and keep New Zealanders in jobs. The temporary changes include: Giving directors of companies facing significant liquidity problems because of COVID-19 a ‘safe harbour’ from insolvency ...
The Government’s plan to cushion the blow of COVID-19 by supporting incomes, jobs and businesses, and position the economy to recover has been backed by another international report. International credit rating agency Moody’s today reaffirmed its highest Aaa credit rating on New Zealand, saying the economy is expected to remain ...
National sports organisations have been given certainty of funding to ensure they can remain viable through the COVID-19 pandemic, Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “The global spread of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on sport and recreation in New Zealand, including the cancellation or postponement of ...
Changes have been made to allow butchers to process pork, only for supply to supermarkets or other processors or retailers that are open, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “We carefully weighed the risk of allowing butchers to open their shops for retail customers, but the risk of spreading COVID-19 ...
Essential workers who take leave from work to comply with public health guidance are being supported with a leave scheme to ensure they will continue to receive income, say the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Iain Lees-Galloway and Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni. A number of essential businesses ...
A Government WhatsApp channel has been launched to help make information more easily accessible and shareable in the fight against COVID-19. Govt.NZ, which is free to use on any mobile device, will carry information and news for the public, businesses, healthcare providers, not for profits and local government. It can ...
The Government has announced a plan to enable the safe, orderly exit of tens of thousands of stranded foreign nationals from New Zealand during the current COVID-19 Alert Level 4 restrictions, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters has said. “When we moved into lockdown a week ago, the ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says the Government is delivering on its commitment to support general practice doctors and nurses, and pharmacies on the front-line of our fight against COVID-19. "For us to overcome COVID-19, we need community health services such as general practice and community pharmacy to step up ...
Justice Susan Thomas has been appointed Chief High Court Judge, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. She replaces Justice Geoffrey Venning who has resigned from the position. David Parker paid tribute to Justice Venning, who he said had stewarded the High Court very capably over the last five years. “On behalf ...
Businesses can start applying to their banks for loans under the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme set up to support the New Zealand economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re moving quickly to protect New Zealand businesses, jobs and the economy during this unprecedented global economic shock,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. ...
Work is underway looking at measures to speed up consents for development and infrastructure projects during the recovery from COVID 19, to provide jobs and stimulate our economy. Environment Minister David Parker said the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global crisis that will have a wide ranging and lasting impact ...
Advance payments will be made to transport construction industry contractors to retain the workforce and ensure it is ready to quickly gear up to build projects which will be vital to New Zealand’s COVID-19 economic recovery, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. He said keeping the workforce required to build ...
The Government has tasked a group of industry leaders to seek out infrastructure projects that are ready to start as soon as the construction industry returns to normal to reduce the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones say. The Infrastructure ...
Work to scale up the health system in preparation for COVID-19 was today outlined by Health Minister David Clark, as he reported back to the new Epidemic Response Committee. “We are well placed to contain the spread of COVID-19. We have taken early and decisive action at our borders, and ...
The Government is refining its COVID-19 essential business guidance to include the distribution of news publications for communities which are hard to reach. The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, Kris Faafoi, said the move was in recognition of the importance for New Zealanders who might be harder to ...
The Government is ensuring supermarkets can open on Easter Sunday so we can buy groceries, but stay closed on Good Friday allowing workers to take a break. This provides a balanced approach and ensures we avoid large queues that two days closure may cause. “Supermarkets will be able to open ...
Following the successful conclusion of the Building Partner Capacity (BPC) mission at Taji, New Zealand defence personnel are returning to New Zealand from Iraq, in accordance with the Cabinet decision made in June 2019, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “New Zealand is very ...
The State of National Emergency to help stop the spread of COVID-19 has been extended for a further seven days, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare said. The initial declaration on March 25 lasted seven days and can be extended as many times as necessary. “Since we went into isolation ...
New Zealand’s ability to go hard and go early in the fight against COVID-19 has been underpinned by strong Government finances and the growing economy heading into this global pandemic, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown financial statements for the eight months to the end ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says 36 new intensive care beds at Christchurch Hospital’s new Hagley building are being fast tracked so they are available for treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Ministry of Health is working with contractor CPB and Canterbury DHB to enable access to the hospital’s ICU, ...
The Government has fast-tracked up to $1 million to help Air New Zealand move urgent freight to and from New Zealand, with the first flight to Shanghai leaving tonight, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says it’s crucial that trade in vital goods such as medical supplies and ...
New Zealand will temporarily remove tariffs on all medical and hygiene imports needed for the COVID-19 response. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said today that the New Zealand Customs Service will apply tariff concessions to all diagnostic reagents and testing ...
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson has clarified that the changes to the wage subsidy scheme announced yesterday mean that employers should be passing on the full subsidy to workers, except in the case where the person’s normal income is less than the level of the subsidy. “We still want employers ...
Medical face masks from the national reserve supply are now being distributed to District Health Boards, while at the same time local production is being ramped up. Yesterday more than 640,000 masks were sent to DHBS – that is an immediate two week supply, with more to follow in coming ...
The Government has made modifications to the wage subsidy scheme to ensure people don’t lose their jobs during the national lockdown. These changes will soften the impact of COVID-19 on workers, families and businesses, and position them to exit the lockdown and look to recovery, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. ...
Farmers whose herds were culled in response to the outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis will be able to minimise the tax treatment of their income in some circumstances. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash says Cabinet has agreed to change the law. It means farmers may be eligible to spread their income over ...
A $27 million dollar package, effective immediately, is being provided to social sector services and community groups to ensure they can continue to provide essential support to communities as we stay at home as a nation to stop the spread of COVID-19, Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni announced. “At ...
“The guilty plea today will provide some relief to the many people whose lives were shattered by what happened on March 15,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “These guilty pleas and conviction bring accountability for what happened and also save the families who lost loved ones, those who were injured, ...
The Prime Minister is holding daily press conferences to update New Zealanders on the Government's response to COVID-19. Links to videos and transcripts of these updates below. These transcripts also include All of Government press conferences led by Director Ministry of Health's Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. 25 March: Live update from the Prime ...
Frontline Police numbers have broken through the 10,000 mark for the first time in history as officers step forward to keep the community safe during the COVID19 lockdown. “Two Police graduations in Auckland and Wellington in the past week have been conducted in unprecedented circumstances,” Police Minister Stuart Nash said. ...
As New Zealand enters day 14 of a scheduled four-week lockdown, director general of health Ashley Bloomfield says New Zealand can be ‘increasingly confident’ . ...
The On the Rag team meet one more time to talk about how the Covid-19 crisis affects women and what you can do to cope. It’s our last podcast for a little while so crack open a bottle of something fizzy and join us as we undergo what is basically a ...
Former Chief Justice Sir Arnold Amet … emergency powers up to controller alone. Video: EMTV NewsBy Martha Louis in Madang Papua New Guinea’s former Chief Justice Sir Arnold Amet says the state of emergency (SoE) in the country means that no other authority has any ability or powers ...
By Florencio Miranda Ximenes and Antónia Gusmão in Dili Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak has explained the decision to dismiss the vice-health minister, saying he lost trust in her to do the job. The President dismissed Élia António de Araújo dos Reis Amaral from her post on Friday, following ...
Farrowing crates, which confine mother pigs kept on factory farms, violate the Animal Welfare Act 1999, and for the first time in New Zealand history the Act will be tested in court. SAFE and the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) filed court proceedings ...
‘Yes, it’s endearing that the PM said that the Easter Bunny is an essential service but I wondered how many kids had a hope in hell of seeing three good meals a day let alone a chocolate egg.’Read more Lockdown Letters here.Bob Dylan’s latest, Murder Most Foul, is an interesting ...
Covid 19 coronavirus: Expert professor says no blanket quarantine at border risks a longer lockdown; and Covid-19: 387 Air NZ pilots look set to lose jobs. ...
Amid COVID-19, New Zealanders disregard privacy concerns for convenience – 1.2m affected by cybercrime, 600k by identity theft Over a third of New Zealanders estimated to have experienced cyber crime in the past 12 months Highlights: More than half ...
The National Party leader intends to continue commuting between Tauranga and Wellington so he can do his job effectively in an unprecedented situation. ...
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 contentPublic health strategy, exiting lockdown Thomas Manch (Stuff): A path out of lockdown is being charted, but experts say ...
US death toll catching Italy's fast; Johnson on oxygen in ICU, but not intubated; US threatens India, Canada over mask and drugs; Germany accuses America of 'piracy' as China, Russia send supplies to New YorkUS cases spiral: The United States leads the world in total cases, but not yet ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meead Saberi, Senior lecturer, UNSW Traffic jams may have disappeared from our roads as people stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we can be confident they will be back. Scientists have studied traffic and congestion for decades. We know a lot ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Lindsey, Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, University of Melbourne Almost no one thinks Indonesia is handling the COVID-19 pandemic well. Until early March, the government claimed it had no ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rod Lamberts, Deputy Director, Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University Good news: COVID-19 is not the only thing going on right now! Bad news: while we’ve all been deep in the corona-hole, the climate crisis has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Waters-Lynch, Lecturer Entrepreneurship and Innovation, RMIT University If you’re working from home for the first time, you might be asking yourself why you didn’t get to do this years ago. The benefits of remote work have been discussed for nearly half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roslyn Petelin, Course coordinator, The University of Queensland When a literary luminary such as Thomas Kenneally declares so early in 2020 that he is certain a “more original” novel “will not be published this year”, the reviewer faces a challenge. The book ...
NZIER says confidence survey suggests 100 percent of businesses now have negative outlooks; 596 kiwi pilots laid off by Air NZ and Virgin; RBNZ confirms will buy $3b of council bondsGloomy outlook: The March quarter survey of business opinion from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) made for ...
Op-Ed by Armida Salsiah AlisjahbanaArmida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP. The unprecedented public health emergency triggered by the COVID -19 pandemic and its multi-faceted impact on people’s lives around the world is taking a heavy toll on Asia and the Pacific. ...
Kiwi Wealth’s Customer Services Manager Matt Beach zooms in from his home in Whitby to talk to Bernard Hickey about how his team worked remotely to answer questions from Kiwi Saver customers Matt Beach has been in tricky situations before, but reconfiguring Kiwi Wealth’s call centre to work remotely and ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dire warnings about water levels, tentative good news on Covid-19 case numbers, and local government struggles for funding.The seriousness of this issue has largely gone unnoticed amid everything else, but if we don’t address it now things could get pretty ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The ...
There is a trade-off: how many lives will be taken by Covid-19 and how many lives will be lost due to our attempts to prevent loss of lives from Covid-19, writes Professor Ananish Chaudhuri of the University of Auckland In his book “Risk Savvy”, the behavioural scientist Gerg Gigerenzer notes that, ...
Like countless local events and businesses, the Vineyard Half in Blenheim is about so much more than money. It’s about the often hidden ties that bind communities together, writes Allan Ramsay. Week two of lockdown and now the layers of what holds all our rural communities together are slowly being ...
Times are tough, tempers are short but memories are long. How can businesses preserve their good reputations? Andrew Patterson reports. There’s an old saying “when times are tough you discover who your true friends are.” The same might be said of business relationships. As businesses fight for survival there’s one ...
A bank tells its customers they're following the lead of their counterparts across the ditch in trying to make thousands more transactions contactless More keypad-free transactions might be coming as part of a measure to raise the paywave threshold to $200. The announcement was made a little early by an eager ...
As new restrictions affecting people’s ability to work are put in place, there's a growing segment of workers we must ensure aren't left out in the cold, writes Victoria University of Wellington's Stephen Blumenfeld The Covid-19 outbreak and nationwide lockdown should not create an opening for employers to treat the ...
With shearing gangs mostly stood down under the level 4 lockdown, farmers face the prospect of having to shear their own sheep, reports Jill Herron. Shearers and wool-handlers across the country are “very keen” to get back to work once Covid 19 restrictions ease – and farmers will be pretty ...
As learning shifts online at pace, the key will be for educators will be to keep it simple, coordinated and normal, write Stephen Dobson and Edward Schofield of Victoria University of Wellington Things have moved quickly in the global scramble to move everything online. We are reminded of how it ...
In a bid to keep the netball community engaged and active in lockdown, Netball NZ are beaming a free fitness programme into Kiwi homes. In these strange and unsettling times, Laura Langman feels just a little funny having others inside her Sunshine Coast home.Just to make it clear, the Silver Ferns captain ...
As life in lockdown becomes our new normal, you may be asking how you can maintain your wellbeing and relationships under these conditions. Here are some tips based on psychological research that will help you cope, get in routine, and make the best of the lockdown experience. Tips to help ...
A surfer photographed raising his middle finger says it was clearly aimed at the photographer, not the police, and wants the online threats against him to stop, reports Bonnie Sumner. A west Auckland surfer says threats have been made against him and his family after the Stuff news site published ...
A new Wattie's cookbook has four recipes of things to make with all that flour and all those cans of Wattie's that you panic-bought.CURRIED LAMB SAUSAGE ROLLS Prep time: 20 minutes. Cook time: 20–25 minutes. 1 small onion, finely diced2 tsp Gregg’s Curry Powder400g lamb mince ...
A new life has been put on hold for people in the Auckland resettlement centre, writes Greta Yeoman.For the 135 refugees based at the Māngere Refugee Resettlement Centre in Auckland, plans to resettle in towns across New Zealand towards the end of April are up in the air with the ...
Amid the seemingly endless bad news at the moment, a new initiative is trying to get people to think positively. While the world may seem like it’s slowed to a crawl, there are still people out there creating and innovating. The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically altered how we’re living, but ...
From the reemerging debate around capital gains tax to the increasing reach of tax authorities, Terry Baucher, writing for interest.co.nz, looks at a number of implications the coronavirus pandemic could have on the tax system. “There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen,” Lenin is said ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison has made clear his view that any attempt to eliminate COVID-19 entirely in Australia would carry too high an economic cost, while Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says such an aim would require ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stanley Shanapinda, Research Fellow, La Trobe University A conspiracy theory claiming 5G can spread the coronavirus is making the rounds on social media. The myth supposedly gained traction when a Belgian doctor linked the “dangers” of 5G technology to the virus during ...
As governments around the world prepare to spend billions of dollars to stimulate their economies, climate activists see these investments as the last chance for big spending on climate change, Marc Daalder reports "We're out of time." That's the alarm that Climate Change Minister James Shaw has been raising for anyone ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Even regional distribution, though South Island is worse. Chart by Keith Rankin. New Zealand now has sufficient case data to get a sense of its regional distribution of Covid19. Surprisingly, Auckland is not dominant, unlike the main business cities in other countries such as London, ...
Analysis by Bryce Edwards.Minister of Health, David Clark. Is David Clark the best possible Minister of Health to be leading New Zealand through the Coronavirus crisis? Confidence in Clark has plummeted with today’s revelation that the Health minister made another recreational trip during the lockdown that appears to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The High Court today quashed the conviction of Cardinal George Pell, who had originally been found guilty on a number of charges by a jury of 12 people. His ...
NZNO urgently needs the Government and all health employers to commit to a comprehensive ‘He Kete Tapuhi Ora response package’ to assist all nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kai mahi hauora in this exceptional fight against the COVID-19 ...
The government is exploring taking legal action regarding the Ruby Princess cruise ship which has proven to be a hotbed of Covid-19 infection in Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Climie, Exercise Physiologist and Research Fellow, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute Fitbit recently released data showing a global decrease in physical activity levels among users of its activity trackers compared to the same time last year. As we navigate the coronavirus ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Indigo Holcombe-James, Sessional academic, School of Media and Communications, RMIT University Museums, galleries and artist collectives around the world are shutting their doors and moving online in response to coronavirus. But engaging with audiences online requires access, skills and investment. My research ...
Two hundred merchants are trialling an online contactless payment method in store, using just mobile phones and no EFTPOS terminal. The technology - devised by Paymark - has been designed in response to Covid-19, allowing customers to purchase items without having to physically touch the terminal. The transaction uses the ...
A report on the NZ Farmer segment of Stuff caught the eye of Point of Order. It led off with a quote from respected economist Cameron Bagrie. “Thank God for farmers….They’ve felt beaten up over the past couple of years, well, thank God agriculture is still the backbone of NZ.The story ...
The introduction of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) now is totally unaffordable and wrong says Peter Malcolm spokesperson for Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc. A UBI or Universal Basic Income is a Government payout to all adults and some say for children ...
Unite Union says SkyCity has broken the law by sacking 200 salaried workers without consultation or discussion. It said SkyCity's letter of notice stated that the decision had already been made and it was not seeking the employees' views to the extent that it would do under normal circumstances. Unite ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Hamilton, Visiting Fellow, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University No Australian government has ever spent A$130 billion so quickly. Last Tuesday, when the Prime Minister announced the government would subsidise six million jobs for ...
By Anita Roberts in Port Vila While the Vanuatu government is investing its resources in tackling the coronavirus pandemic threat, it is now stretching its resources to tackle other natural disasters posing threats to the lives of the people – Cyclone Harold still moving over the country after lashing ...
New Zealand has 54 new confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases to 1160, the Health Ministry has confirmed. Today’s new figure is down from the 67 new cases reported yesterday. With 65 people recovering in the past day, today is also the first ...
The latest in our new series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall.This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff MembersThese posts collate the most recent statistics and present them as charts and maps. The Ministry of Health typically publishes data updates in the early ...
Misinformation about adrenochrome and its supposed links to Covid-19 has gone into overdrive. But what is it? We separate the substance’s literary history from its real-world functions.If you’ve spent much time online lately, like everyone else in lockdown, you’ve probably fallen down some strange Covid-19 rabbit holes. One word you ...
ANALYSIS:By Sally Young of the University of Melbourne Many newspapers betrayed their readers during the Great Depression and now some are doing so again during the coronavirus pandemic. During the Depression, Australia’s major daily newspapers loudly resisted calls for economic stimulus to revive the economy. Even the tabloids ...
The locked-down residents of a Wellington rest home – including her mum – are treated to a live gig courtesy of historian and author Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa).Ever since I was Dorothy in the New Plymouth Operatic Society’s production of The Wizard of Oz, I have wanted an international ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Perkiss, Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong The coronavirus might make Easter celebrations a little subdued this year, but that doesn’t mean going without chocolate eggs. In fact, South Australia’s chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier reportedly said people should partake in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne The centerpiece of the Commonwealth government’s COVID-19 economic stimulus program is JobKeeper. Priced at A$130 billion, it will pay eligible employers $1,500 per fortnight for each eligible employee for up to six months. ...
Bernard Hickey talks to Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr about the latest weak business confidence figures and they hear from Oliver Hartwich about the Euro's dire prospects Bernard Hickey talks with Jarrod Kerr about the latest Covid-19 figures showing New Zealand's hard and early lockdown appears to be controlling ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Mathews, Professor, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology The High Court today granted Cardinal George Pell special leave to appeal, and unanimously allowed the appeal. In other words, Pell won. His convictions were quashed and he will be released from ...
The number of new Covid-19 cases reported on Tuesday was the lowest it has been in two weeks, Marc Daalder reports There were just 54 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand as of Tuesday morning, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said. This is the lowest figure in two weeks, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh, Lecturer, Faculty of Education, Monash University The unfolding COVID-19 situation has brought many changes to school education. NAPLAN tests have been cancelled for 2020 and most children are learning online. Education minister Dan Tehan is meeting with the states on ...
The way we buy our food has changed hugely since the lockdown began. Small New Zealand producers have taken a massive hit, closing stores and struggling with online demand. Here are some ways shoppers can help these businesses.In the first week of lockdown, shoppers panicked. It was a perfectly natural ...
Wellington, 7 April - The Government’s current wage subsidy scheme may insufficiently protect Kiwis from the worst effects of the Covid-19 crisis, according to a new report from the New Zealand Initiative. Comparing New Zealand with Australia and Canada, ...
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening.The following charts are based on numbers shared at the daily press conference. These may vary from the full day's numbers released in the Ministry of Health's spreadsheet ...
New Zealand is seeking reciprocal transit arrangements with other nations after a decision to allow foreign nationals to use country's airports to get home. ...
After a second revelation of a lockdown breach in as many weeks, David Clark's political career is on life support. But in truth he has never really seemed a good fit as health minister, Sam Sachdeva writes. Appearing before Parliament’s epidemic response committee hours after his latest public shaming, Health ...
Powerplay - Health Minister David Clark stays in Cabinet after he breaches lockdown rules, but this could compromise the government's Covid-19 response and cause distractions for the prime minister at a crucial time, writes Jane Patterson. ...
After offering up his resignation, Health Minister David Clark answered questions along with Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and Otago University Professor and epidemiologist Sir David Skegg. ...
The Sensible Sentencing Trust is calling on the Government to postpone the report due date for Minister Andrew Little’s Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill. This Bill would allow prisoners with a sentence of three years or ...
Reverend Scottie Reeve on the meaning of Easter during the Covid-19 pandemic, and why we need to embark on a journey of collective repentance. On Wednesday while I was going for a walk, I came across a friend on the Wellington waterfront. We’ll call him David. David had no idea what ...
Daily Review 25/01/2017 
Paul Connet, head of the anti-fluoride propaganda group, Fluoride Action Network, claims that the IQ of children bottle-fed in fluoridated areas drops by 9 points. But he misrepresented the research. There is no observable effect. For earlier articles in this series see: Part 1: Anti-fluoridation propaganda now relies on only ...2 hours ago
The Queen’s coronavirus broadcast, with its overtones of Winston Churchill and Vera Lynn, prompted me to reflect on the tribulations my parents’ generation suffered during the Second World War – and I imagine that those parallels, given her own wartime experience, were very much in the Queen’s mind as she ...3 hours ago
Back in February, the Marlborough District Council increased the mount it charges for LGOIMA requests. I used the LGOIMA to poke into this, and it seems the case for increased charges is unjustified: the supposed increase in request volumes it rests on is an artefact of the Council suddenly deciding ...19 hours ago
. . April 6: Day 12 of living in lock-down… Another day of a near-empty Park N Ride carpark; . . And another day of near-empty Wellington streets; . . . Light traffic on the motorway. No apparent increase in volume. Commercial vehicles sighted; a gravel-hauling truck; McAuley’s Transport; a ...23 hours ago
Imagination By-Pass: Had the Communications Minister, Kris Faafoi (above) taken a firm stand with Bauer, reminding them of their obligations to both their staff and the wider New Zealand public, then a much more favourable outcome may well have ensued. He should have made it clear to the Bauer board ...24 hours ago
We all know that Simon Bridges has, at the best of times, an intermittent relationship with the truth. However you would think that during a pandemic and economic crisis the current opposition leader would pull his head in and start to do the right thing.Obviously leading by example should be ...1 day ago
Connett promotes Riddell et al (2019) as one of the only four studies one needs to read about fluoridation. But he misunderstands and misrepresents the findings of this study. Image credit: Fluoride Action ... 1 day ago
Last month I wrote my blog on covid-19 pointing out the in our pre Alert Level 4 days that a subject no one had heard here months ago was now dominating the media. An amazing feature of this crisis is how quickly it has swept every other issue aside worldwide. ...2 days ago
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Gary Yourofsky – The Most Important Speech You Will Ever Hear
Paul, please respond to this moderation request,
Thought this was ‘Open Mike.’
Therefore I was hoping to stimulate discussion and encourage people to think about our need to move from eating meat to eating plant based food for the sake of our planet, our ethics and our health.
Actually, I prefer printed comments. I rarely watch linked or embedded videos.
I find reading quicker, and enables more reflection.
I found this guy quite inspirational.
-James Aspey
I do understand where meat, milk, eggs, fish etc comes from.
I don’t eat a lot of meat. Never liked milk though do have some yogurt and eggs.
Mostly eat fruit and veges. I think processed food can be as damaging to people and environment – and food chain, as anything else. Can’t get very excited about meat, vegan, vegetarian or not. The biggest issue is environmental sustainability, and health of the whole community located within it.
Paul, you really think the best way to reply to someone that’s just said “I prefer printed comments. I rarely watch linked or embedded videos. I find reading quicker, and enables more reflection.” is to link a 41 minute video?
Um. Well spotted, Andre. My response was based on the selected quote.
I also think propaganda is more effective using images, and sound plus images in video. They tend to impact more on the emotions, and often don’t encourage critical reflection the way print and discussion can.
That is one of the issues of the image-saturated digital age.
Of course, we can spend time critiquing the way videos impact on emotions, but that takes way more time than reading an explanation.
I’ve read several articles that say the way the brain processes video is very different to written material. Supposedly we become more suggestible when watching video (or live performance), but more analytical and skeptical when reading.
The paper below is what I found with a quick search, and doesn’t look the most reliable to me, but it has pretty much the same message as the papers I’d read previously.
http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/5jcl/5JCL59.htm
Yes. I’ve studied, researched and taught film and media quite a lot – done quite a lot of analysis of visual media. I do like watching videos, movies, and TV dramas.
But when it comes to arguments and political discussions, I prefer print. I prefer print to documentaries. People tend to think documentaries show us reality, but they actually present reality from a perspective, and also, often work on the same level as screen fiction – can be misleading.
[No doubt there are some interesting things in what you are posting. But your comments, because of how you do them, are like Facebook spam. This is an issue of quantity, of frequency, and of the fact that you often don’t do anything other than drop a link or drop a link with virtually no information about what it is.
The link above is a good example of such a comment. It take up a large amount of space (think about people reading on a phone, and there is nothing to say what it is about. You know it’s about veganism, no-one else does. It’s spam.
It also concerns me that you’ve had moderators asking you to stop and you appear to not realise that, which makes me think you are just link dropping and not taking part in the debate because you don’t appear to go back to that conversation again. Again, this is like spam.
There is a certain degree of tolerance for link dropping, but if you look at what other people are doing, then you will see they usually make some attempt to let the readers know what the link is about. It’s good if some of that person’s comments are commentary as well. My suggestion is you post less links and take more time in explaining what they are. But please still pay attention to frequency and whether you are engaging discussion
edit, I need to see you acknowledge that you have read this moderator comment, thanks – weka]
I have read your moderator comment and will add comments at the top of thought provoking videos in future.
Sometimes I don’t go back because I am busy and unable to go back.
Thanks Paul.
Sorry to cause you trouble.
Sometimes it’s better to just post fewer comments, but spend more time on each one. I do.
And try to convey what it is that caught my interest about something and why I think it’s important. I spend time working out the key points at a linked site/article, and selecting representative quotes. And it does often mean going back to the article a few times, and checking/re-reading significant bits.
I am increasingly convinced that the biggest thing we can do to lower our carbon footprint is to stop eating meat.
Well, Paul, for once you and I are on the same page. I’ve been vegan for more than 30 years and can assure people that there’s still plenty of variety and enjoyment in food, plus I feel good about environmental and animal welfare issues.
Hi red-blooded it is good to see we share some ideas!
What was the main reason you became vegan?
Was it.?
a. health
b. animal cruelty
c. the environment
d. other?
When I heard on the news that Peter Theil had got NZ citizenship, if left me wondering about how did he managed it. It seems like other people have got their before me
http://thespinoff.co.nz/society/25-01-2017/new-zealand-citizen-peter-thiel-5-awkward-questions-and-10-peculiar-facts/
Even if he is a nice guy (and there is some degree of doubt), it sounds a very dodgy granting of citizenship.
How did Peter Thiel manage to get NZ citizenship? I expect something like the following happened:
He had a little téte a téte with John Key. Word went down the line and reached Peter Dunne’s ears and hey presto, he’s granted citizenship. Unfortunately Peter Dunne has no recollection of it but he’s going to have a look at his files. Either he is also afflicted with a bad case of Amnesia like his former boss, or the system bypassed him. If it proves to be the latter then there should be an investigation.
No nice guy mpledger. Listen to this crap of a speech. He claims Donald Trump understands reality…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11788452
Matt Nippert (author of above linked NZH article) tweeted this arvo that:
Out of curiosity I did a google search to see when Kim Dotcom got residency – it was November 2010.
A lot happening around 2010 & 2011.
Hmmm… and remember Key’s amnesia over Kim Dotcom? Reckoned he’d never heard of him until after the raid. Always suspected there was something a bit odd about his demeanour at that time. It was as if he was trying to hide something.
I suspect there were quite a few filthy rich individuals during his term as PM who were quietly granted NZ citizenship by virtue of the fact they were filthy rich. In other words, the 1% PM looking after his fellow 1%ers.
yep – smelly and stinky these applications. It is easy to understand them letting in thiel – he is what they aspire to – what an ugly thinker that dude is.
Donghua Liu…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11218598
Yep. There’s a pattern here…
When he announced he was resigning as PM my immediate thought was… there’s some shit about to hit the fan and he knows it. I wonder if this is the start of the shit?
Doesn’t look like enough to stir him out of a relaxed state. He’s brazened out far worse.
So he was given NZ citizenship in 2010. DIA recommended the application be declined, but Nathan Guy ignored that.
I think we will find all 61 were filthy rich… being the dominant criteria for citizenship by the Key government.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/88540744/water-cutting-out-the-middle-cow
55 billion to be made and cut back the number of cows, win win
Interesting idea.
Watching tonight that the Govt has told Wellington building owners to strengthen some buildings within 12 months or else!
The dairy farmers have been told to fix their polluting habits but have plenty of time to do so. Maybe next year or sometime in 10 years or so. None have been prosecuted so far. Don’t want to bother them.
The meat and dairy industry are protected.
probably because the bring in dollars and provide jobs
The buildings that need strengthening provide the much needed floorspace for business to operate from to provide jobs.
Rivers and streams provide the water needed to drink.
Agriculture is a minnow on the backside of the tourism whale. The fallacy that agriculture is the backbone of NZ economy has continued to be peddaled despite its status as an alternative fact when convenient.
Streams and rivers should be protected and cleaned up. Right. Now. Failure to push any action on this front on the part of the government is nothing more than cowardice.
If NZ were able to get its act together and start focusing on wine tourism (high end tourists buying our shit wine to send over there) then the low value freedom campers that barely spend enough to pay for 0.5FTE will soon get the message, which is;
NZ is an expensive place. To live. To visit. To survive.
No wonder the stinking rich buy their residency here.
Easier to flash the cash and wow the masses on their diet of soma and talkies.
So stop polluting NZ and pollute somewhere else instead, and still steal water? Yeah nah.
UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet
I agree.
New Zealand least corrupt country in the world-New Zealand Herald?
So our Foreign Trust Industry and the allegations in the Panama Papers were all humbug?
Or the rest of the world is going to hell.
Linda Tirado on twitter,
Hey… its peculiar when you come to think of it … they are calling Trump a sexist – and holding demonstrations over it …
But what about ” I did not have sexual relations with THAT woman ” Big Billy Boy Clinton ?!!? ( in reference to his being caught out with Monica Lewinsky ? )
http://fmshooter.com/hypocrisy-weekends-protests-stunning-not-surprising/
And the original footage of denial ?
Funny old world we live in , in’nit ….
Never went round talking about grabbin’ pussy though. Not like some arse hole I keep seeing lately in the news.
There are obvious differences between sexual assault and sexual harassment, and consensual sex and rape. Clinton wasn’t a threat to Roe vs Wade either. Nor was he intent on bringing in an authoritarian state. For all the bad things that Clinton did, there are very real differences here that can’t be glossed over.
Like this interview between John Pilger and Julian Assange , for instance?…
You know… the one where the Clinton Foundation was being used as a channel for funding to procure arms from American arms manufacturers ,… which the govt’s of Saudi Arabia , Morocco and Qatar ,… then distributed those arms back to ISIS while telling us all how evil ISIS was and they must be stamped out?
Ever wonder why the USA was accused of dragging its feet over the ISIS issue while pointing the finger at Russia for lifting the heavy weight in fighting ISIS ?…
It might just have had something to do with the fat profits the American arms manufacturers were making and enjoying out of keeping ISIS going , perhaps?….
No wonder they all loved Hillary …
Bill Clinton does bad shit, it’s not news, but I have zero interest in talking about it. There doesn’t appear to be anything in your comment that relates to what I said about your previous comment, or my original comment about the incoming administration. There are important differences between sexual assault and sexual harassment, or consented sex and rape, please educate yourself. This isn’t about who the goodies and the baddies are, it’s very basic humans rights we are talking about.
We have had “alternative facts” from NZ Governments and MSM for the past 30-40 years according to Roger Douglas neoliberalism was meant to be the best thing since sliced bread?
mickysavage is among six nominations received to replace Cunliffe in New Lynn. If he wins he will have to stand down from The Standard because he’s regarded by some in Labour (read hierarchy) as “too outspoken”. What tripe! They actually don’t read TS do they. Instead they listen to his detractors who have an irrational disregard for members who dare to make comments on those awful things called blogs.
To me, micky’s posts are strong but diplomatic and often understated.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11788733
Mind you this is coming from Claire Trevett.
Very interesting. I don’t suppose you or someone could explain that selection process a bit better?
Who the heck has Trevett been talking to ? That’s just a nonsense statement about Presland’s “outspoken – sometimes critical- contributions to The Standard”.
I agree with you, Anne, Micky’s posts are good, interesting and “understated” and I don’t think I’ve ever read one that has been critical of Labour.
and for Weka (8.1) the selection process consists of a meeting where all the candidates speak, a “straw” vote is taken from the floor, and this is considered along with other criteria by the panellists. Depending on the number of members, the LEC can have anything from one person on the panel to a considerable number, and the NZ Council of NZLP (HO) has three. I see from the Trevett story, that the New Lynn LEC has three people on the panel, NZ Council will have three, plus they need to take account of the “straw” vote from the floor. By the way, there is a Q & A session with the candidates and members before the selection meeting.
Move on, nothing to see….
https://mic.com/articles/162657/republicans-in-congress-close-yearlong-flint-water-crisis-inquiry-with-no-new-findings
The raising of the minimum wage debate gave me a moment to pause and recall the whole related issue of secondary tax. During the 2014 election Labour came out with a manifesto commitment to abolish secondary tax. A great policy announcement that I was pleased to hear. Secondary tax seems to just be a draconian measure to punish those the lowest incomes.
The national party response at the time (see link below) was to state they were already going ahead with the policy anyway and that the IRD Business Transformation plan will “address the PAYE system, including secondary tax and end-of-year square-ups.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/policies/10416636/Labour-to-axe-secondary-tax
And here we are, three years on and nothing has changed. Secondary tax is still in place and causing as much trouble as ever for hard-working low income earners. Labour need to point out things like this next time National respond to their policy announcements with such blatant untruths