Once upon a time there was an island

Written By: - Date published: 10:36 pm, March 16th, 2009 - 47 comments
Categories: climate change - Tags:

Fancy a restful island holiday? If the Cateret Island was your chosen destination you might want to travel sooner rather than later according to CNN:

There is one holiday destination that should shake the faith of even the most vehement climate change skeptic: the Carteret Islands, part of Papua New Guinea, located northeast of Bougainville…

It’s a cruel irony that the people with some of the lowest carbon footprints are already paying the price for the emissions of far richer countries, and are forced to leave their homes for an uncertain future. But the Carteret Islanders aren’t alone.

Environmentalists point to Inuit communities threatened by melting ice in Greenland, and those living around the fast-shrinking Lake Chad in Africa, as among many already feeling the effects.

“The issue of environmental refugees promises to rank as one of the foremost human crises or our time,” says British environmentalist and Oxford University professor Norman Myers, who has published extensively on the subject.

A report by Friends of the Earth in 2007 identified communities all over the world, from Brazil and Honduras, to Malaysia, Mali, Peru and even the UK, that were directly under threat from a mix of drought, rising sea levels, other extreme weather and disease.

Global crisis’ come in many forms…

47 comments on “Once upon a time there was an island ”

  1. Redbaiter 1

    You see, its bullshit like this that convince rational people of two things-

    1) that global warming is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on this earth and,

    2) the mainstream media are contemptible and traitorous scum who have abandoned their true craft to produce lies and propaganda for the cause of global socialism.

    Here is the plain truth about the Cataret Islands and Lake Chad

    Cataret Islands- The sea is not rising. The islands are sinking. Water is invading the island not for the reasons the liars who promote global warming claim, but because of blasting of the reef for fishing and the movement of the Australian and Indian tectonic plates. The islands are at the junction of these two plates.

    Lake Chad- This is a well known fraud because it is one of the nine lies in the propaganda movie “An Inconvenient Truth”. Lies exposed by the British courts who found that in respect of Lake Chad, there was insufficient evidence to show the Lakes shrinkage was caused by global warming, and that “it is apparently considered to be far more likely to result from other factors, such as population increase and over-grazing, and regional climate variability.” (Lie No. 6)

    When I read such blatantly fraudulent lies as the Global Warming religionist promote through their yellow backed and tainted propagandists posing as journalists, I reflect upon just how far down the tube we are in this world when it come to truth, integrity and honesty.

    We are surrounded by lies and liars. It is all that keeps socialists and their global ambitions afloat, and we must change this circumstance.

    The world is not under threat from environmental damage nearly so much as it is under threat from the massive web of deceit the left have woven over the last few decades.

    Worst of all, the people have been deserted and betrayed by a mainstream media totally politicised by the global socialists. A media whose job it is to protect us from fraud and deceit are now the very frauds and deceivers who threaten us.

    There will be a day of reckoning. The liars will be hung from lamp posts, as they have been throughout history when truth and right have eventually prevailed.

    • Pick your lamp post Russel

    • Chris G 1.2

      “When I read such blatantly fraudulent lies ”

      Like scientific journals?

      You know what science tries to do right?

      Oh but its a conspiracy. Those socialist universities!

      • Chris G is onto it. In my opinion an individual scientist has far more to gain by disproving the status quo than going along with it. Simply in terms of more interest, more publicity, and generating more scientific inquiry to either reinforce or disprove their findings (the essence of scientific inquiry). This of course comes with a catch, they actually have to be right.

        • BLiP 1.2.1.1

          Not to mention more sales of books, DVDs, and T-shirts to the likes of RedBaiter. I understand most of these items end up in the same shops selling photos of UFOs.

          • Tigger 1.2.1.1.1

            Actually redbaiter – usually it’s the ethnic minorities, the gays and strong women (historically decried as witches) who are hung from anything…not trees anymore of course because National thinks it’s okay for all of them to be cut down…

  2. Rex Widerstrom 2

    *cough* That’s be crises, I suspect.

  3. Redbaiter 3

    “Like scientific journals?”

    Moron. Y’know, a comment like that identifies you as so thick you’re just not worth responding seriously too. The tectonic plate theory comes from scientists, and so does the court finding on Lake Chad.

    Its your side, the side of the sneering arrogant politically motivated liars, that lacks real scientific backing.

  4. These “islands succumbing to rising sea levels” stories are basically an IQ test:

    1. Islands at the edges of tectonic plates are staying put but suffering from strictly localised rises in sea levels?

    Or

    2. Islands at the edges of tectonic plates are experiencing the effects of tectonic action?

    It seems that journos tend to pick answer 1, presumably because it’s much more newsworthy than answer 2. It’s also obviously wrong, but since when did that make a difference?

  5. lprent 5

    Redbaiter is as wrong-headed as ever. In this case scientifically untrained as well and getting his data from dubious sources (wikipedia summaries by the look of it). In other words just another ignorant climate change denier (CCD).

    It sure as hell isn’t dynamite fishing. The same thing is happening at Takuu and the other islands in the region that have never had dynamite fishing. Takuu is getting well over 10 cm per year rises on average, and recently closer to 20cm.

    The tectonic plate explanation is bloody unlikely. We’re talking here about things that have happened in decades. It would be the fastest tectonic plate movements known. One of two centimeters per year is the fastest recorded movement in a horiziontal movement. Vertical is a lot less. Besides there hasn’t been the type of earthquake activity that would show large scale movements.

    He has also missed several other obvious explanations. Probably because of a fundamental lack of science training.

    It could be related to a volcanic subsidence of the seamounts, however it would be hard to miss the localized earth tremours.

    It could be related to sea current changes. This can cause sea levels to rise as water is pushed into a region that has constriction of egress – which is the case in this area. Unfortunately this can’t be a cyclic action because the rise has been steady over decades – therefore it points to a change in the sea currents – ie climate change.

    There are definitely increased storm surges happening. Combined with particular tides, they are getting what are known as King tides. Like the one that nearly washed my partner out to sea in Takuu a few months ago. However for this to cause a problem then the base sea level would have to have risen and by quite a lot, or there are far more storms – ie climate change.

    There are thermal expansion effects of the water as it gets warmer… climate change again.

    Anyway, all of these are climate change effects and obviate RB’s thesis anyway.

    Personally I hope there is a special ring of hell for CCD’s. They belong with the idiots that thought smoking was good for your lungs (and especially the people who said that there was no proven links between smoking an lung cancer), the appeasers of Hitler and Mussolini, the patent medicine makers using mercury as a tincture, that DDT had no side effects, or who persisted in believing that the earth was flat despite all evidence to the contrary…

    So redbaiter, please join the other flat earthers (now joined by the climate change deniers)…..

    • higherstandard 5.1

      Lynn I’m not sure earth tremors are a given for large undersea events – as per this recent discovery.

      http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0903/S00026.htm

      • lprent 5.1.1

        When you’re living on top of a seamount it would be very hard to not have tremors.

        In the case you linked to, what you had was probably the collapse of a magma chamber and infilling from the crater wall. Which would have a localized effect. The actual energy dissipated would have been quite low. From NZ you probably wouldn’t have seen more than a minor earth movement detection, and probably difficult to localize. Of course if you were living on it, then the effect would have been noticeable 😈

        You also notice that the statement didn’t talk about any earth movement detection. That will be because they won’t know which of the multitudinous events corresponded to that particular tectonic event. They’d need to know the time for a starter. Recent in this case probably means since the last time they looked in 2007. Unfortunately because of the nature of seafloor, it doesn’t conduct earth movement waves as well as continental. Makes it hard to get a good geographic fix from a distance.

        Not really relevant for this discussion. But interesting in its own right for showing currnet activity on that subduction.

    • Andrew 5.2

      To be fair, dynamite fishing may in fact have had something to do with it. If you destroy the coral reefs that protect the islands then natural erosion will happen faster. Also tectonic plates move on average between 2cm to 10cm a year in extreme cases.

      I could not believe, as you say, that the sea has been rising by 10 to 20 cm a year at Takuu. If it were it would surely be rising the same levels all over the planet?

      Climate change is just one small part of a very complex process that no one fully understands. The climate has always changed and will continue to change. Those to scare monger others into catastrophic consequences if “we don’t act now” do not help the cause.

      • lprent 5.2.1

        Yes but there has been NO dynamite fishing at Takuu, yet it is having the same effects as all of the island groups in that area.

        Sea level is an average. It is not an absolute across the whole planet. Going to any beach and watching the tide go in and out will demonstrate that quote conclusively. But consider all of the effects that act on liquids, tides, currents, thermal expansion, etc. There are variations in all areas. What is different here is that this region north of PNG has been getting an overall large increase in sealevel in decades. It is the delta that you have to explain. I think it is a combination between current changes, and storm surges pushing more water into that area, probably coupled with some thermal expansion.

        Tectonic plates have been known to move fast horiziontally, but only after periods of quiescence. The faster they move the more earthquakes you get. That earthquake pattern doesn’t show in this area. You’re talking massive amounts of energy.

        The problem with pumping CO2 in the atmosphere and therefore the water systems is going to have some quite specific effects. It increases the amount of energy retention in the system (ie the glasshouse effect). That energy will change the climate. That is pretty basic. CCD’s seem to have a problem because they’d prefer not to have to deal with the effects of giving up dropping waste.

  6. vto 6

    It seems the whole climate change issue is becoming more like religion. On the one hand you have the fundamentalists who will not tolerate any dissent and would like to dunk/drown the naysayers like the ‘witches’ of old, and on the other you have an equally vehement lot who retreat further into their position largely because they are being accused of being witches.

    It is no wonder people are turning off…

    lprent, there are places where vertical rises are greater than you say. Rimutakas on the backdoor is one, albeit by random large singular movements rather than slow and steady.

    • BLiP 6.1

      Really? What has religion got to do with science?

      There is well-funded international campaign underway to undermine the science of global warming, as well as pump in as much confusion as possible so that people do begin to turn off. Your comments suggest they are succeeding.

    • lprent 6.2

      Yeah the Rimutakas are block faulting upwards (on average). You get individual events that have significant movement, punctuated by long periods of quiescence.

      But the point remains, locals feel the change – shows up as either lots of little quakes if there is steady rising. Big earthquakes if there is big shift. You will always notice earth movements – there is a lot of energy being dissipated.

      Besides earth movements show all sorts of other morphological effects like erosion and stream bed changes.

      This debate about climate change has been going on at least since I was doing earth sciences in the late 70’s. The skepticism levels amongst geologists, climatologists, and earth scientists are far more intense than these CCD’s. But the debate in those groups has been long over as to if there is a human induced climate effect from green house gases. The question for them for decades has been how much and how much is being buffered or counter-acted by other effects.

      The short answer is that the effect is pretty strong and has been largely masked by the oceans ability to adsorb CO2. Now the data is available, the oceans show acidity effects rising, so it isn’t getting fully sequestered. The effect is going to be severe over time. From the looks of the recent data from the ice sheets, it looks like it is happening faster than anyone apart from the catastrophic theorists had expected.

  7. r0b 7

    It seems the whole climate change issue is becoming more like religion

    Really? Seems to who?

    On the one hand you have the fundamentalists who will not tolerate any dissent and would like to dunk/drown the naysayers like the ‘witches’ of old, and on the other you have an equally vehement lot who retreat further into their position largely because they are being accused of being witches.

    Labelling the scientific majority “fundamentalists” betrays your bias vto, as does the claims of witch hunting.

    There is no witch hunt. Deniers are just wrong, plain and simple, and they make up this witch hunting stuff as a pathetic “reason” for their continued failure to simply admit that they are wrong.

    • vto 7.1

      r0b, labelling ‘the other side’ “deniers” is as emotive as it comes. Perhaps if that ‘side’ calmed down and stopped the emotive and dismissive labelling then the issue may settle into something more rational.

      • r0b 7.1.1

        I agree that “deniers” is an unfortunate term, with unpleasant connotations. But that in itself does not constitute fundamentalism or witch hunting, that’s a hysterical overreaction — shooting the messenger because you can’t face the message.

        Put aside the connotations of the deniers label and in purely functional terms it is correct. Some people deny that climate change is occurring and that we need to be taking action. They are wrong, dangerously wrong. And you should understand the frustration of some in the majority at the willingness of this group to ignore the scientific consensus and the accumulating evidence (some just because they don’t like it, or are too emotionally immature to simply admit that they are wrong).

      • Ari 7.1.2

        Given that there’s no credible large-scale alternative models, I’d say “denying”, as in disbelief that is not based on rational data and analysis, is not too unfair a description, even if it misleads some into thinking they’re not being given a chance to present alternatives.

        They are. They just haven’t come up with anything better than climate change theories have.

  8. vto 8

    About 10,000 years ago the sea level in Canterbury was roughly 150m below where it is now. That means the coast was out past the eastern edge of Banks Peninsula. 10,000 years is not that far back. Mankind has been around for a whole lot longer than 10,000 years ago – so maybe we should ask the peoples who were here in NZ back then how they coped. (moved above the high tide mark I imagine).

    May sound glib but ffs the polemic that streams out in this debate demands nothing more…

    • Matthew Pilott 8.1

      Yes, and I think you’ll find that the reamining hunter/gatherers and nomads will cope a whole better than the rest of us, unless of course we decide we want their land.

      Any other useless points you want to make because you’ve unilaterally decided “the polemic that streams out in this debate demands nothing more “, a self fulfilling prophecy if ever I’ve seen one.

  9. higherstandard 9

    “Deniers are just wrong, plain and simple, and they make up this witch hunting stuff as a pathetic ?reason? for their continued failure to simply admit that they are wrong.”

    Depends on what they’re denying doesn’t it r0b – and the point being made by some of the people above is that some of the examples being trotted proof positive of global warming are garbage.

    While I’d agree that anyone who doesn’t accept that climate change is occuring is wrong, I’m also sympathetic to those who would say that the impact of mankind on climate change is not fully understood.

  10. r0b 10

    Depends on what they’re denying doesn’t it r0b

    Of course.

    and the point being made by some of the people above is that some of the examples being trotted proof positive of global warming are garbage.

    No, the points made above are full spectrum denial. Redbaiter describes global warming as ” the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on this earth”, vto calls climate change science a “religion” practised by “fundamentalists” engaged in a witch hunt.

    • Bill 10.1

      Got the following quote from http://climateprogress.org/2009/03/08/ponzi-scheme-madoff-friedman-natural-capital-renewable-resources/ (Capitalism as a ponzi scheme…worth the read.)

      But the quote seems particularly relevant in the context of some of the comments on this thread…. “we are the subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens. Isn’t it great being the only species that gets to name all the species, so we can call ourselves “wise’ twice! But given how we have been destroying the planet’s livability, I think at the very least we should drop one of the sapiens. And, perhaps provisionally, we should put the other one in quotes, so we are Homo “sapiens’ at least until we see whether we are smart enough to save ourselves from ourselves.”

    • vto 10.2

      No r0b, I said it “seems” like religion, and I said both sides are equally emotional. You have twisted it a bit, naughty.

  11. Redbaiter 11

    “and the point being made by some of the people above is that some of the examples being trotted proof positive of global warming are garbage.”

    Dead right, and the above examples, Cataret islands and lake Chad are two of them.

    But there is a need to shift the emphasis.

    The real concern should be that the the media are lying to us en masse.

    The media’s betrayal of their craft is as big a threat to civilization as any perceived threat from global warming.

    Those whose job it is to protect us from fraud and deceit are now fraudsters and deceivers.

    Traitors to their traditional craft, todays so called “journalists’ are liars and frauds and fakes, and that this is an extremely dangerous circumstance has been historically proved, for example when they failed to scrutinize, and cheered for H*tl*r when he rose to power.

    Now their deceit and fraud is universal.

    All over the world the fine craft of journalism has been perverted into a means of propaganda for leftist causes.

    The global warming fraud and the charlatan Obama’s election to POTUS are just two examples of this.

    Forget Global Warming, the real threat is the universal political perversion of journalism.

    [lprent: No need to put it in twice. If there is a holdup from auto-moderation then we’ll release it soonish. Just have to remember to not use the words that I’ve previously found as indicators of trolls. Zapping the other copy]

  12. r0b 12

    Say redbaiter, I’m worried about your blood pressure comrade. I suggest gentle exercise, and spending some time outside in the fresh air. Tramping is perfect if you can manage it, get your boots on, walk for health.

    • Kevin Welsh 12.1

      That’s what happens when you keep your coffee in a padlocked container in the fridge.

  13. Bart Hanson 13

    Lincoln University scientists have found that levels of carbon dioxide produced naturally are far lower than the figures the international community has used to base carbon credit calculations on.
    http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/story21173.html
    There may well be unsettled weather which we can partly inaccurately describe as “climate change”
    The term “Global Warming” though is pseudo-science and is politically motivated.
    I have not noticed the sea level rising one bit on the East Coast of the South Island here in New Zealand.
    Man is vain to think he can “control” these things. Think about what one volcano produces.

  14. r0b 14

    Lincoln University scientists have found that levels of carbon dioxide produced naturally are far lower than the figures the international community has used to base carbon credit calculations on.

    Wrong: that article is about Nitrous Oxide (not carbon dioxide), it’s about the Kyoto protocol obligations (not carbon trading), and it’s about science refining some approximate guidelines (not politically motivated pseudoscience).

    I have not noticed the sea level rising one bit on the East Coast of the South Island here in New Zealand.

    Uh huh.

  15. Ianmac 15

    Isn’t it a better thing we do to clean the air and the water and the soil, regardless of the reason?
    Those who believe that we have a lefty conspiracy to claim problems that do not exist, presumably will fight tooth and nail to retain the present levels of pollution. Good on yer Redbaiter. Resist any effort to clean up the planet. Throw your garbage in the river. Spill your smoke into the air. Use/waste resources as hard as you can. Double our population. You are a good bloke. Proud of your standing by your beliefs!

  16. Redbaiter 16

    [lprent: No need to put it in twice. If there is a holdup from auto-moderation then we’ll release it soonish. Just have to remember to not use the words that I’ve previously found as indicators of trolls. Zapping the other copy]

    OK, that’s fine. I’ll wait in future.

  17. Redbaiter 17

    “Those who believe that we have a lefty conspiracy to claim problems that do not exist, presumably will fight tooth and nail to retain the present levels of pollution.”

    What insane garbage. It is free enterprise that has embraced pollution control. How was it in your Soviet Union before it collapsed?? I’ll tell you, a damn disaster.

    We believe in caring for the environment as much as anyone else, and more than politically motivated socialists, we just don’t buy into lies and propaganda. That’s because we’re more intelligent than you. Sad truth that isn’t it? (to coin someone else above)

  18. r0b 18

    It is free enterprise that has embraced pollution control.

    Tee hee! Nice one. I’m sure the folks at the EPA got a great laugh out of it.

  19. Redbaiter 19

    “I’m sure the folks at the EPA got a great laugh out of it.”

    Sneer away. Everything I say here I can prove. Your problem is always your blinkered world view.

  20. r0b 20

    Sneer away. Everything I say here I can prove.

    Oh don’t be silly.

  21. George Darroch 21

    I know I’m a little late to the party, but this documentary on the Carterets, spoken by the matriarch Ursula, is absolutely worth watching.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1AqSuy5As0

  22. Redbaiter 22

    Matriach smatriach.. of course they want to get off that god forsaken hole, and if they need to prey on the ignorance and prejudices of one issue politically motivated zealots like you George, they’ll do it with gusto and enthusiasm.

  23. George Darroch 23

    “of course they want to get off that god forsaken hole”

    You are accusing Ursula of directly lying to us. She says quite emotively that she wants to stay there, and speaks about losing the islands in ways that are very difficult to interpret otherwise.

    You don’t give a shit about her and her family.

    I know people from Pacific islands who are facing these problems directly. They love their homes, and don’t want to leave. I suppose you’re going to accuse these people of lying to me too?

    But if you’re a political zealot, then these things don’t matter. Global warming is a cynical conspiracy perpetrated by socialist “scientists” with a Gaia agenda.

  24. Ianmac 24

    Redbaiter: “Sneer away.” so you say. Did it not occur to you that most of your comments are phrased as sneering at others?

    • BLiP 24.1

      Don’t fall into the trap of trying to reason with RedBaiter. Its like having a battle of wits with an unarmed man.

  25. Snail 25

    vto, am I surprised at you.. and this — May sound glib but ffs the polemic that streams out in this debate..

    Required then proof – positive and/or negative – to your counter view.

    Not assertion, not like RB, but proof. Scientific, not scientism. Top standard and backed up, not feeble and enfeebled.

    If you don’t have it you don’t have it, but sticks and stones.. the words of crones and croneydom are wasting yours, ours and this whole world of many peoples’ time.

  26. Snail 26

    To hand, news of Pete Postlethwaite’s latest venture — The Age of Stupid..

    Go, see And know.

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  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    2 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    2 days ago
  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    4 days ago
  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    4 days ago
  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    4 days ago
  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    5 days ago
  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    5 days ago
  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago
  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • GRAHAM ADAMS:  Media knives flashing for Luxon’s government
    The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishing Graham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    6 days ago
  • Top 10 news links for Wednesday, Nov 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Smokefree Fallout and a High Profile Resignation.
    The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • As Cabinet revs up, building plans go on hold
    Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • National takes over infrastructure
    Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them.  POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees  National MPs Chris ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • At a glance – Evidence for global warming
    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 ...
    7 days ago
  • Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
    7 days ago
  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • National’s murderous smoking policy
    One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    7 days ago
  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago
  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago
  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    7 days ago
  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    1 week ago
  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    1 week ago
  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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