How much security?

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, November 24th, 2010 - 50 comments
Categories: human rights, International, war - Tags: ,

9/11 seems to have driven America crazy. The wars. The torture. The new surveillance powers and the roll back of civil rights. Most Americans, I think, don’t realise how much their country has changed around them. But one very visible manifestation of the change is getting right in the public’s faces, and finally provoking a mass reaction. That is, the new generation of security scanners that is being rolled out at airports across the country.

The new “backscatter X-ray” machines use a form of X-rays which scatter on the skin, thus “looking through” clothes to produce an image of the body beneath. It’s great for spotting weapons, but the resulting images are so clear that many are calling them “porno scanners”. The sample to the right is small and low resolution, but shows what is possible. (The negative image can be effectively converted into a nude photo by inverting the colours, one click in Photoshop). There are many concerns over the possible uses of images, particularly of children.

Air travellers — of whatever age or physical condition — must now choose between a scan and a highly invasive full body “pat down”. Horror stories of both options are beginning to circulate.

So this, finally, is an issue which has made the great American public wake up and take an interest. This report from USA Today is typical:

The nation’s Homeland Security chief asked for air travelers’ “cooperation” and “patience” with full-body scanning and pat downs this holiday season amid a growing public backlash that the airport tactics are intrusive.

“Each and every one of the security measures we implement serves an important goal,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano writes in a column for today’s USA TODAY, which asks the public to be a partner in defending against terrorism.

Or this from CNN:

A growing pilot and passenger revolt over full-body scans and what many consider intrusive pat-downs couldn’t have come at a worse time for the nation’s air travel system.

Thanksgiving, the busiest travel time of the year, is less than two weeks away. Grassroots groups are urging travelers to either not fly or to protest by opting out of the full-body scanners and undergo time-consuming pat-downs instead.

The revolution has produced its first folk hero:

The uprising began with a single warning in terminal 2 of the San Diego airport: “If you touch my junk, I’ll have you arrested,” John Tyner of Oceanside, Calif., warned a TSA agent on Saturday after refusing to enter the airport’s full-body scanner and opting for a full-body pat-down instead.

Tyner, who filmed and blogged the entire encounter, eventually chose to abandon his travel plans rather than submit to the pat-down, and has become a kind of folk hero to those who say the TSA’s increasingly invasive security checks have gone too far.

Amidst the popular outrage only a few, the usual voices of the left, are focusing on the underlying issue:

The Terrorists Have Won

‘Porno Scanner’ Scandal Shows the Idiocy of America’s Zero Risk Culture
By Richard Forno

The lede on the DRUDGEREPORT most of Monday showed a Catholic nun being patted down at an airport security checkpoint, with the caption starkly declaring that “THE TERRORISTS HAVE WON.”

He’s right.

Ten years after 9/11, Americans who fly are facing a Faustian choice between subjecting themselves to a virtual (and potentially medically damaging) strip search conducted in questionable machines run by federal employees or a psychologically damaging pat-down of their bodies. Osama bin Ladin must be giggling himself silly this week.

It would be nice to hope that this scanner issue would spur America on in to a real debate about how they have responded to 9/11. Ask what was justified and what was not, ask how far they should pursue the impossible goal of zero risk. But they won’t. The fuss will soon die down and everyone will get used to the brave new world. And soon the government will take the next step, removing more rights in the name of security. And the next, and the next, and the next….

50 comments on “How much security? ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. vto 1
    24 November 2010 at 8:05 am

    r0b, Americans struggle with war-time measures because they don’t seem to appreciate they are at war.

    You know, war, as in kill and be killed. Lots of it. The whole country is at war. Just like the poms who are also at war.

    Tough biccies I say to the people of America and the govts they have voted in to wage war. Just like the crappy measures the jews and plaestinians have to live with. Or the millions in Iraq and Afghanistan who have to live with similar measures. If anything, the Americans get off lightly – in fact so lightly that they complain when war-time measures touch their daily existence in such a lightweight manner. Strange.

    Wake up and grow up Americans.

    • Pascal's bookie 1.1
      24 November 2010 at 8:09 am

      The fuss will soon die down and everyone will get used to the brave new world.

      I dunno. I think they might just ditch this and go with racial profiling thing.

      @v Just like the poms who are also at war. (also, and too, us.)

      • vto 1.1.1
        24 November 2010 at 8:17 am

        Are we P’s b? Soldiers are in Afghanistan etc. Building bridges? Doing reccies? What is our official state – at war or not at war? I suspect you are correct however it is to an extent far far far removed from that of the US and UK. Just because there are soldiers in a country doesn’t mean the country is at war. We aren’t at war with Vanuata or Timor for example. Our situation is an entire world removed from US and UK situation.

        My point was however, that it has ‘amused’ me for some years now how people from the US and UK seem to carry on their lives as ifg they are not at war. Bizarre world.

        • Pascal's bookie 1.1.1.1
          24 November 2010 at 8:30 am

          Yeah, it’s weird all right.

          I reckon we are at war in that we have got the SAS over there, presumably blowing things up and killing people.

          I also reckon, that to a very large degree, US wars are not so much about foreign policy these days as domestic. If they weren’t in Afghanistan, they’d be in Yemen. What happens in the country they are ‘at war’ with is at best, a sideshow. A president needs to be at war, or at least have a war at some point, simply to demonstrate to the US electorate that s/he is prepared to demonstarate the strength and specialness of the empire to the world. That’s why US debates about war are less about the actual ‘enemy’ or the ‘threat’ or geoploitics, than they are about who ‘supports the troops’ and who pays to much to johnny limpwrist the filthy foreigner, or kowtows to the UN.

          Paying for the war, or having it affect the citzenry would kind of ruin the act.

          ‘We can wage war wherever we want, and get allies to bloody line up too if they know what’s good for them, don’t worry about it, go shopping!’

          • Pascal's bookie 1.1.1.1.1
            24 November 2010 at 8:31 am

            “…pays too much attention to johnny limpwrist… “

          • Vicky32 1.1.1.1.2
            24 November 2010 at 7:14 pm

            True… It permeates their culture… I don’t know if anyone else has noticed the plethora of “military sf” produced now?
            Opposing the militarism of the culture is simply too dangerous to do..
            Deb

  2. freedom 2
    24 November 2010 at 8:56 am

    Yes we must be vigilant in the everlasting fight against Terrorism, but the fact remains, humans are getting stripsearched as endless loads of cargo get processed without so much as a scan. The enhanced pat down is policy, not just for Americans but any traveller travellling to or transiting through any airport, regardless if they have the new scanners. Our Government, through their silence, is complicit in this attack on private citizens. Another question, Why are NZ travellers not being warned about the new procedures.?

    Yes you can opt out, but then you get the groping and if you say no, you might think you just leave the airport. No, new rules say you are detained and can face a $10,000 fine or a year in jail

    The head of TSA has said he next wants trains and subways to have the same processes applied.

    Freight is still sent through largely unchecked, and it has been admitted many express parcels do not get checked even according to measures in place before the recent escalation in passenger security. There are already numerous mobile scanner units that are being deployed on highways, at Public schools, Sports events and concerts. The purpose of these devices can not be justified by the protection against terrorism lines being spun at the airports. This is a deliberate escalation of the War against free citizens.

    The head of Homeland Security says the scanners do not store, transmit or print images, despite the manufacturer’s own product desription clealy stating they are designed for that very purpose

    The safety of the machines has not been verified as the health-risk assessment undertaken by the US government has not been made public and hence there is no way to counter the claims by many medical and science professionals that there is a definite cancer risk from the form of radiation used. They have already shown that the type of backscatter radiation being employed can cause severe ranges of cell damage including the ability to unzip the DNA strand

    Was it not only last week that content from this blog ended up in the hands of a Member of Parliament and was referenced in questions to Parliament. With the long accepted demise of the fourth estate, the junknews fascination of social networking, and the inherently short attention span of TV land, is it not the ability to show discourse on a blog that remains solely hopeful as a source of access and criticism for socially relevant news and information.

    Do we not know how to recognise the incremental advancement of the Police State being wrought upon Western Democracies. There are no shortage of historical truths to draw from when discussing how a Police State comes to be. One that cannot be denied is when a foreign Government is complicit in sanctioning the molestation of private citizens exercising their right to free movement.

    and for the record, NZ forces in Afghanistan are involved in a lot more than building bridges. Any who think they are solely there on an humanitarian mission need their head read. We are taking lives in an illegal War, the costs of this action are yet to be settled.

    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21112010/#comment-272688
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22112010/#comment-272883

  3. Tigger 3
    24 November 2010 at 9:02 am

    I can’t imagine Kiwibog or Whalespout linking to a site by a plus size fashion designer…this is why I heart The Standard…

  4. D14 4
    24 November 2010 at 9:06 am

    Found this in an aviation site.

    >>Scanner makers boosted lobbying

    companies with multimillion-dollar contracts to supply American airports with body-scanning machines more than doubled their spending on lobbying in the past five years and hired several high-profile former government officials to advance their causes in Washington, government records show.

    http://www.airportbusiness.com/publication/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=41083

    How come I am not surprised!!!

  5. jcuknz 5
    24 November 2010 at 9:11 am

    It is a screwed up country infecting the world with the best of intentions. It can kill thousands by actual warfare or simply pointless embargoes but kill off a few of its own people and the world and individual freedom suffers. Its security chief says he is paranoic, and his staff are paid to be likewise. They should be in a nuthouse, not airports. At least this nonsense is absent when you travel by Amtrak.

    • freedom 5.1
      24 November 2010 at 9:40 am

      “At least this nonsense is absent when you travel by Amtrak”

      Trains and Subways are next on Pistoli’s hitlist

    • insider 5.2
      24 November 2010 at 12:52 pm

      It’s fine paying people to be paranoid for you, but you don’t then give them signing authority to your bank accounts.They should propose measures to counter risks but the decision to implement needs to be in the hands of others.

    • Vicky32 5.3
      24 November 2010 at 7:49 pm

      The best of intentions? jcuknz, you are giving them far too much credit…
      Deb

  6. Sanctuary 6
    24 November 2010 at 9:17 am

    One British senior officer famously said of the IRA “We have to be lucky all the time; they just have to get lucky once”.

    The general population needs to be taken into the confidence of their leaders and told that the tactics of 9/11 will not work twice, but sometimes the bad guys will get through and we all have to live with that risk in the same way we live with all the other risks we live with in our lives.

    Treating adults like adults and not pretending we can ever reduce risk to zero in a free society means we can all get on with our lives without these hysterical doomed attempts to guarantee 100% safety.

    Maybe people just have to be told that our freedoms have never come for free, and one manifestation of that grim fact is that terrorists might manage to be able to (very, very, very rarely) bring down an airliner.

    • Pascal's bookie 6.1
      24 November 2010 at 9:41 am

      Exactly.

      All of this stuff is laughable. AQ openly laugh at this saying that all they need to do is invest a couple of grand and one footsoldier on a mission, and the mighty fearful Americans will respond by spending millions, and run around like chickenshit children.

    • freedom 6.2
      24 November 2010 at 9:47 am

      “One British senior officer famously said of the IRA “We have to be lucky all the time; they just have to get lucky once”.”

      This would be the same (now supposedly disbanded) IRA whose Second in Command was recently admitted to be a British Agent and then there is this bizarre speech from the House of Lords where a British Financier and Industrialist openly discusses the laundering of funds to the IRA over the previous decades
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaA-5_IjkeE

    • insider 6.3
      24 November 2010 at 12:47 pm

      Why not come up with a market solution.

      El Cheapo airlines with no security for those who want fast transit and have a high risk threshold and Supertight Air, where nothing ever gets through but the tickets cost 50%-100% more.

      People will soon choose. All the corporates will have to go for Supertight because otherwise employees won’t travel, and holidaymakers will go on El Cheapo, knowing the risk is low.

      • freedom 6.3.1
        24 November 2010 at 4:10 pm

        One of the very interesting aspects of this escalation of security measures by the TSA have highlighted that after the first two years the mandate of Homeland Security to install TSA in Airports is void. The Airports are free to ‘opt out’ and utilise whatever security they wish.

        http://www.networkworld.com/community/airport+opt-out+TSA+hire+private+screeners

        At last count there are reportedly seventeen major Airports looking to kick out the TSA from their operations and install private security. This is a double edged sword and care should be taken as the cure may be worse than the disease

        • Maynard J 6.3.1.1
          25 November 2010 at 4:14 am

          I’d rather the TSA owned and operated those scanners, rather than a private company.

          A private company would do it for a lot less, but you know what their other revenue stream would be.

          • freedom 6.3.1.1.1
            25 November 2010 at 7:41 am

            maynard, the revenue/costs are not the issue here, the srtipsearching of private citizens without due reason is the issue

            eg: maybe you don’t have a problem with your mother gettting stripsearched

  7. prism 7
    24 November 2010 at 9:17 am

    Why travel to the USA? At present there are alternative routes that avoid the dark planet. Though like a blackhole in space they have a way of sucking in the rest of the, now twilight, planet struggling to keep the lights on.

    The USA has become a virtual Disney scenic trip, looks good on the outside but behind the scenes there are people struggling and perspiring in their Mickey Mouse costume for not much recognition, pay or respect by management. And their employer will have few legal controls or benefits it has to pay to the hapless workers. They may even be able to sack them at will after utilising their skills as required then dropping them like a used tissue!

    • Colonial Viper 7.1
      24 November 2010 at 10:20 am

      ^ +1 THIS

      The top 1% of the US population now owns more wealth than the bottom 90% put together.

      The country has become a class driven caricature of what its founders envisioned.

  8. grumpy 8
    24 November 2010 at 9:20 am

    These measures were bought in to avoid racial profiling. The argument for racial profiling is getting stronger.

    And guess what, Muslim women have sought and got exemption from scanning and the \”pat down\”. They are now allowed to pat down themselves.

    So the ordinary american has all these invasive procedures but not the target group, truly the terrorists have won.

    • freedom 8.1
      24 November 2010 at 9:50 am

      sorry grumpy but it was only a request the answer from the TSA was emphatic,

      ‘”That person is not going to get on an airplane,” Pistole said in response to a question from Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., on whether the TSA would provide exemptions for passengers whose religious beliefs do not allow them to go through a physically revealing body scan or be touched by screeners. ”
      http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_16636299

      • grumpy 8.1.1
        24 November 2010 at 10:42 am

        Maybe not as you think “freedom”, see this link, Fox News and the Muslim community actually agreeing on this issue.

        http://video.foxnews.com/v/4425941/some-muslims-want-special-treatment-from-tsa

        • freedom 8.1.1.1
          24 November 2010 at 11:39 am

          i have seen that article, it does accurately discusses the head dress ‘self pat down’, where the hands of the subject are then swabbed but in no way does this exempt the subject from the rest of the screening process. The genital checking is still processed by a TSA agent and if refused by the subject then the law remains and the subject faces criminal charges, a $10,000 fine and being put on the no-fly list.

          yes the potential for exploding head scarves is a ‘clear and present danger’ but the TSA is not ‘letting muslims through’ as the tone of the MSM coverage is trying to suggest. That is simply a childish distraction so they do not have to educate people on how invasive and unwarranted the public strip search has become.
          http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-19/u-s-screening-all-airline-cargo-not-feasible-napolitano-says.html

          there are numerous reports on this and the few links on this page and others are only a selection of the detailed and disturbing events occuring in America
          ( and coming soon to a screening near you)

          regardless of whether a Muslim or any one else chooses to go through the new security systems, Is the threat of terror so severe it is justification for the strip search of a child?
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSQTz1bccL4&feature=player_embedded

          • grumpy 8.1.1.1.1
            24 November 2010 at 12:02 pm

            You are quite correct “freedom”. It is an issue that is uniting left and right and across religious divides.

            Clearly the US security system has lost the plot over this. The question is – “should the US and other countries now introduce racial profiling to limit the curtailment of the majority of citizen’s rights”?

        • Zorr 8.1.1.2
          24 November 2010 at 12:05 pm

          Soooooo…

          Racial profiling would stop another Oklahoma?

          • grumpy 8.1.1.2.1
            24 November 2010 at 12:33 pm

            Are you serious? Is that the only excuse you can find for not introducing racial profiling.

            Oklahoma has not been the catalyst for the increasingly intrusive security and travel security measures – they are all due to Islamic terrorism. How hard would it be to target that group ?

            • Zorr 8.1.1.2.1.1
              24 November 2010 at 12:40 pm

              Actually? Very difficult.

              A lot of Islamic extremists come from countries like Indonesia and Malaysia where they have an incredibly mixed religious culture. It would be all too easy for an Islamic extremist willing to pose as, say, a Christian in order to get past profiling. Racial profiling actually makes the US less safe, not more so. All it would take is someone to say “they are profiling these people as terrorists so what we want is Jim here to do this mission”.

              • Pascal's bookie …
                24 November 2010 at 12:52 pm

                So it’s africans, middle eastern types, those from the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, Malaysia, southern europe, Richard Reid, and John Lindh. Easy.

                So you do all this and validate AQ’s propaganda at the same time.

                Awesome.

                • Zorr …
                  24 November 2010 at 1:42 pm

                  You left a few notables off your list there. Because if we are trying to stop the people that are destroying America from flying we better add people like Alan Grayson, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Jon Stewart to that list.

                  If they get to fly too then the terrorists win.

                  • freedom …
                    24 November 2010 at 4:15 pm

                    the profiling method used most succesfully is the behaviour based techniques from Israel, a country who know a fair bit about Police State security and spotting trouble.

                    The problem is the best application of the techniques is a hands-on operator who is on the front line, handling tickets, pushing buttons and generally interacting with the passenger. Instead the TSA adopted to position ‘watchers’ who have minimal to zero contact and usually only have sight based information and not the indepth communication from interacting with the passenger.

                    this leads to racial profiling which is counterproductive to the modern terror threats

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    24 November 2010 at 6:26 pm

                    lolz against the US Government its not the terrorists who have already won its the CAPITALISTS.

  9. freedom 9
    24 November 2010 at 10:00 am

    NZ Customs has bought backscatter radiation machines by the way, and with the new Search and Surveillence laws having removed most of our rights, i guess it only a matter of time before we see them deployed

    These are the machines we bought, it says so on the Company website
    http://www.as-e.com/american_science_and_engineering/index.asp
    http://www.as-e.com/products_solutions/z_backscatter.asp

  10. M 10
    24 November 2010 at 12:06 pm

    Might start a new trend of wearing a bikini or speedos to the airport but could be a bugger in New York in December.

    This will just be another nail in the coffin of the airline industry.

    Apparently in the Homeland Security Act citizens can also undergo forcible immunisation – secret method of removing those who question authority? The government would only need a waiting room, “treatment room” and disposal room all with interconnecting doors.

  11. roger nome 11
    24 November 2010 at 2:43 pm

    ermmm – can everyone please wake up and realise that it was all organised by people at the top of the state anyhow?

    There are simply too many red flags to ignore. Oh and if you don’t trust the wikipedia article, simply see the sources – they’re all there.

    The following is a list of all the operations being carried out on September 11 by the military:

    1. OPERATION NORTHERN VIGILANCE: This was planned months in advance of 9/11; On the morning of 9/11, where military resources were sent to Alaska in response to Russian military exercises. .[3]

    2. BIOWARFARE EXERCISE TRIPOD II: Rudolph Giuliani made referenced to Tripod 2 in his testimony to the 9/11 Commission. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) arrived in New York on September 10 to set up a command post located at Pier 29 under the auspices of a ‘biowarfare exercise scheduled for September 12. This explains why Tom Kenney of FEMA’s National Urban Search and Rescue Team, told Dan Rather of CBS News that FEMA had arrived in New York on the night of September 10. Giuliani was to use this post as a command post on 9/11 after he evacuated WTC Building 7. “We were operating out of there when we were told that the World Trade Center was gonna collapse,” Rudolph Giuliani told Peter Jennings of ABC News.[4]

    3. OPERATION VIGILANT GUARDIAN: This exercise simulated hijacked planes in the north eastern sector. Lt. Col. Dawne Deskins, NORAD unit’s airborne control and warning officer, was overseeing the exercise. At 8:40am she took a call from Boston Center which said it had a hijacked airliner. Her first words, as quoted by Newhouse News Service were, “It must be part of the exercise”.

    4. OPERATION NORTHERN GUARDIAN: The details of this exercise are still scant but it is considered to be part of Vigilant Guardian, relating to simulating hijacked planes in the north eastern sector.

    5. OPERATION VIGILANT WARRIOR: This was referenced in Richard Clarke’s book ‘Against All Enemies’. It is thought to have been the ‘attack’ component of the Vigilant Guardian exercise.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Guardian

    • freedom 11.1
      24 November 2010 at 4:31 pm

      my favourite quote was the Norad coms officer being told by a frantic NY Air Traffic controller that there are planes highjacked, someone better do something like send some f15s or something

      and the reply?
      “Is this real world or exercise?”

  12. hateatea 12
    24 November 2010 at 3:03 pm

    I really liked the suggestion that I read somewhere (I forget where so no link, sorry) which suggested that all countries who object to the new US anti-terrorist procedures should apply the intrusive procedures only to US citizens entering their countries. The sight of everyone else sailing through immigration with the minimum of fuss while those with US passports are subjected to the invasive procedures their government is imposing on all the rest of us should we choose to travel to their sacred soils.would raise a storm of protest far greater than that currently being made.

    That said, I fully recognise that fanatics are capable of striking anywhere and at anytime and that some measures need to be taken to minimise the risk to the majority. I venture to suggest that none of us would choose to be exposed to a very high risk of terrorist action but would comfortably live with a lower level of security for a slightly higher risk level than we seem to be being ‘over protected’ from by the recently introduced technologies.

    There would seem to be little chance of a de-escalation of the threat to personal safety by fanatics who have no respect for the rights of ordinary citizens of the world going about their lawful business so it is difficult to see and end to the state of alertness that we are faced with.

    Perhaps this is our generation’s World War

    • freedom 12.1
      24 November 2010 at 4:26 pm

      as the song goes, you aint seen nothing yet

      It is important that people acknowledge, process and react to what is being implemented. The world leaders are snarling dogs straining at the leash and hungry for War, do not feed them your liberty thinking they will calm down, it will only increase their taste for the flesh of freedom

  13. freedom 13
    24 November 2010 at 7:55 pm

    a great read that highlights the ridiculous illusion that is TSA security
    http://farmwars.info/?p=4672

    National Opt Out Day tomorrow in the USA
    http://www.optoutday.com/

    i hope it all goes peacefully, but you can guarantee it will not go quickly 😉

  14. freedom 14
    24 November 2010 at 8:10 pm

    New York City legislator’s seek ban on scanners
    http://council.nyc.gov/html/releases/11_18_10_greenfield_scanners.shtml

    in the meantime, here is a congressman at least showing a little interest in the people
    http://holt.house.gov/images/stories/updated_TSA_letter_11.19.2010.pdf

    there are so many facets being cut on this story that news is taking longer to verify
    such a shame we don’t have journalists anymore

  15. freedom 15
    25 November 2010 at 8:22 am

    The Wall Street Journal’s former Editor Paul Craig Roberts, on the TSA plans for a Police State
    http://www.infowars.com/tsa-gestapo-empire/

  16. freedom 16
    25 November 2010 at 12:10 pm

    ” Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal. “– Martin Luther King, Jr.

  17. freedom 17
    25 November 2010 at 12:58 pm

    It is being reported that TSA has ‘adjusted’ their security systems on the Eve of Thanksgiving.
    LAX reportedly turned off, and roped off its scanners for the Thanksgiving Eve rush
    http://bungalowbillscw.blogspot.com/2010/11/tweets-report-tsa-has-turned-off-naked.html

    This is an incredible action taken by an obviously rattled administration to prevent the ‘Opt Out Day’ actions from disrupting flights, though in doing so they simply create a larger question over the validity of the system.

    Surely the busiest day of the year for US Air Traffic is a prime terrorist target? Why would you not only reduce the amount of TSA security on that day, but turn off the very machines that yesterday were so vital to National Security? And supposedly will be again tomorrow.

  18. freedom 18
    25 November 2010 at 2:36 pm

    THIS IS NOT ILLUSION OR PARANOIA
    these truck units are real, they are being deployed in ever increasing regularity
    and NZ Customs has bought equipment off this company

    http://www.prisonplanet.com/4th-amendment-violating-mobile-x-ray-scanners-hit-the-streets.html

Links to post

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • The Bank of our Tamariki and Mokopuna.
    Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    35 mins ago

  • The worth of it all
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 hours ago

  • What is the Hardest Sport in the World?
    Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    6 hours ago

  • What is the Most Expensive Sport?
    The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    6 hours ago

  • Pickleball On the Cusp of Olympic Glory
    Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    6 hours ago

  • The Origin and Evolution of Soccer Unveiling the Genius Behind the World’s Most Popular Sport
    Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    6 hours ago

  • How Much to Tint Car Windows A Comprehensive Guide
    Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    6 hours ago

  • Why Does My Car Smell Like Gas? A Comprehensive Guide to Diagnosing and Fixing the Issue
    The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    6 hours ago

  • How to Remove Tree Sap from Car A Comprehensive Guide
    Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    6 hours ago

  • How Much Paint Do You Need to Paint a Car?
    The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    6 hours ago

  • Can You Jump a Car in the Rain? Safety Precautions and Essential Steps
    Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    6 hours ago

  • Can taxpayers be confident PIJF cash was spent wisely?
    Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    12 hours ago

  • EGU2024 – An intense week of joining sessions virtually
    Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
    Skeptical Science
    14 hours ago

  • Submission on “Fast Track Approvals Bill”
    The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    15 hours ago

  • The Case for a Universal Family Benefit
    One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    16 hours ago

  • A who’s who of New Zealand’s dodgiest companies
    Submissions on National's corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law are due today (have you submitted?), and just hours before they close, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop has been forced to release the list of companies he invited to apply. I've spent the last hour going through it in an epic thread of bleats, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    18 hours ago

  • On Lee’s watch, Economic Development seems to be stuck on scoring points from promoting sporting e...
    Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    19 hours ago

  • New Zealand has never been closed for business
    1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    20 hours ago

  • Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    23 hours ago

  • Melissa Lee and the media: ending the quest
    Chris Trotter writes –  MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    24 hours ago

  • The Hoon around the week to April 19
    TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • The ‘Humpty Dumpty’ end result of dismantling our environmental protections
    Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Nicola's Salad Days.
    I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • Study sees climate change baking in 19% lower global income by 2050
    TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Weekly Roundup 19-April-2024
    It’s Friday again. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week on Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered at the government looking into a long tunnel for Wellington. On Wednesday we ran a post from Oscar Simms on some lessons from Texas. AT’s ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    1 day ago

  • Jack Vowles: Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  The data is from February this ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    1 day ago

  • Clearing up confusion (or trying to)
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago

  • How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log iPhone Without Computer
    How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log on iPhone Without a Computer: A Step–by–Step Guide Losing your iPhone call history can be frustrating, especially when you need to find a specific number or recall an important conversation. But before you panic, know that there are ways to retrieve deleted call logs on your iPhone, even without a computer. This guide will explore various methods, ranging from simple checks to utilizing iCloud backups and third–party applications. So, let‘s dive in and recover those lost calls! 1. Check Recently Deleted Folder: Apple understands that accidental deletions happen. That‘s why they introduced the “Recently Deleted“ folder for various apps, including the Phone app. This folder acts as a safety net, storing deleted call logs for up to 30 days before permanently erasing them. Here‘s how to check it: Open the Phone app on your iPhone. Tap on the “Recents“ tab at the bottom. Scroll to the top and tap on “Edit“. Select “Show Recently Deleted“. Browse the list to find the call logs you want to recover. Tap on the desired call log and choose “Recover“ to restore it to your call history. 2. Restore from iCloud Backup: If you regularly back up your iPhone to iCloud, you might be able to retrieve your deleted call log from a previous backup. However, keep in mind that this process will restore your entire phone to the state it was in at the time of the backup, potentially erasing any data added since then. Here‘s how to restore from an iCloud backup: Go to Settings > General > Reset. Choose “Erase All Content and Settings“. Follow the on–screen instructions. Your iPhone will restart and show the initial setup screen. Choose “Restore from iCloud Backup“ during the setup process. Select the relevant backup that contains your deleted call log. Wait for the restoration process to complete. 3. Explore Third–Party Apps (with Caution): ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
    Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
    The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
    Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
    A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 days ago

  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    2 days ago

  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • PM’s South East Asia mission does the business
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
    New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-04-19T22:44:09+00:00