Could be an entire new ministry will be required to build sea-walls?
Naish said vulnerable places in Auckland included the waterfront around the bays, Tamaki Drive, the Viaduct, areas around the Northwestern Motorway at Point Chevalier, St Heliers and Mission Bay.
He said many of these places already have issues during king tides, are close to sea level, and are sinking.
At the Viaduct the land is sinking about about 2.5mm a year. "That almost doubles the rate of expected sea-level rise and halves the time you have. The city council, [and] the port authority are all going to have to start looking closely in terms of their future activities at this new information."
He said in many parts of Auckland the sea-level would rise 30 to 50 percent faster than what was previously thought.
The switch is due to discovery of land dropping. The scientists have mapped it nationwide and provided an interactive website so you can check out how it affects your neighbourhood.
The new advice combines data about where land is sinking with the latest international sea-level rise projections. It will be an major new tool for councils, businesses and homeowners to assess risk from erosion and floods… The information is timely, coming hot on the heels of the climate change draft adaptation plan released last week. It asks for public input on the plans, and on so-called ''managed retreat'" – abandoning areas where it is not possible or financially viable to live any longer.
First consideration is if councils can cope with providing new defensive infrastructure. If not, how does the govt do the job – within the ministry of climate change or the ministry of transport?
As Ashley Bloomfield's star fades, new messiahs arise with missionary zeal. I don't think I will be buying their T-Shirts.
In the clip below, Napier Airport was given as an example of land sinking . Of course, Napier Airport is build on land pushed up by an earthquake.
Richard Levy and Tim Naish have done what seems like excellent research followed by predictions based on that research. All that's needed now is for nature to follow those linear time lines they have set out.
All that's needed now is for nature to follow those linear time lines they have set out.
Normally humans survive by reacting to a threat to their survival. Are you trying to suggest Nats are sub-human? If so, spit the dummy & say so. If not, tell us why they ought to do nothing except wait for nature to produce disaster.
Oh wait, you mean the Nats would actually do politics on the basis of science instead of ignoring it? They just need a little time to digest the science? Fair enough. Not everyone's a fast learner.
''Normally humans survive by reacting to a threat to their survival.''
Correct. If you come towards me in a threatening manner I straight away compensate with a remedial defensive action.
''Are you trying to suggest Nats are sub-human? If so, spit the dummy & say so.''
I don't know what that means because I don't care one iota what National think, or don't, about climate change. I doubt they have a clue themselves.
''If not, tell us why they ought to do nothing except wait for nature to produce disaster.''
It's not a matter of doing nothing. It's about a gamble costing billions either way. Are we prepared to accept that on research that is yet to be peer reviewed. Or are we prepared to sit tight and hope for the best? Play the cards.
You seem to have forgotten our dire economic situation thanks to Labour's largesse for all squeaky wheels and ideological itches.
"As Ashley Bloomfield's star fades, new messiahs arise with missionary zeal."
Uncalled for. Inferring Bloomfield was some crazy who set himself up as a messiah but no-one listens to him anymore? He happened to be Director General of Health when Covid arrived and it was his job to lead the health response to the pandemic in NZ.
It was more a statement about hero worship. We in New Zealand have a dearth of glitzy stars to idolise. Therefore we tend to admire the more mundane. Ruud Kleinpaste, the bug man, for example.
''He happened to be Director General of Health when Covid arrived and it was his job to lead the health response to the pandemic in NZ.''
Exactly – it was his job.
But he morphed into something larger with his regular appearances on the ''Pulpit Of Truth.'' Adulation and t-shirts followed.
I'm betting Richard Levy and Tim Naish are about to become media darlings. Their word will be gospel, and God help any fuckwit who says otherwise.
''You're a dork Blade.''
That's unkind. But, in my opinion, you have always come across as a shallow thinker.
You forgot the waste of taxpayer money. Truancy has nothing to do with school attendance… it has more to do with cultural values. And in Maoridom, education isn't a high priority with many. Mana on the rugby field and in a fight rate very high.
From Jester’s link:
''The package also included $11.2m for a positive behaviour and learning programme and $7.75m specifically for Māori and Pasifika communities, where there are large discrepancies.''
[You are in Pre-Moderation until you correct the following statement or provide links to support it:
And in Maoridom, education isn’t a high priority with many. Mana on the rugby field and in a fight rate very high.
You have one shot at it, to avoid numerous time-wasting comments going to & from, and one day – Incognito]
Even a ‘mere opinion’ doesn’t come out of the blue and stands alone in isolation in a referential vacuum without some framework to form and sustain (aka confirm) it.
Blade doesn't shy away from a challenge so he's never going to walk that back. I'm expecting genetic evidence and a full history of the heritage of the infamous Rugby gene will be forthcoming.
Can be difficult to know when you’re on “safer ground” – is nothing sacred?
Racism starts small. Sometimes it lives in everyday actions and comments that we laugh off, nod in agreement to, excuse, and therefore accept. But we don’t have to. We can stop casual racism from growing into something more extreme. We can give it no encouragement. No respect. No place. No power. We can give it nothing. http://www.givenothing.co.nz
Taika needs to stop doing doing Marvel movies, stop hiring Tessa Thompson (although I guess there are other reasons) and more movies like Jojo or What We Do In The Shadows etc
All humans have to some extent with an in-group preference. It expresses itself in sexual selection and family bonding. It would be a very strange thing indeed if we did not have an unconscious bias toward people we feel genetically and culturally connected with.
This selectivity and tribalism is an exceedingly common behaviour across almost all of the higher mammals I can immediately think of. It should be no surprise or even controversial that humans share this trait as well.
But remarkably we also have the capacity to overlay this trait with a broader abstraction around the universality of humanity. We can take the idea that all humans stand equal before their Maker and expand our ethical horizon to ultimately include all 7.5b people on the planet. We can formulate intellectually the idea that 'the earth is but one planet and mankind its citizens'. This is the root motivation that demands we condemn the wrong idea that some human races are genetically superior to others. Racism was founded in a mistaken interpretation of why some cultures and societies came to dominate while others were overrun all throughout history. We now should understand that it had nothing to do with genetics and almost everything with technology and institutional development.
But to then argue this means there is no difference between any of the cultures and societies is wrong as well. That is nothing more than an attempt to cancel out one stupid mistake with another. It is the reason why the woke left claims that all differences in outcomes can only be explained by racism. And if they cannot find any significant examples of personal racist anima, nor any institutional laws or policies to explain differences – then untestable concepts such as 'unconscious bias' and 'institutional racism' are trotted out to fill the gap.
Yet as I suggested above – all humans have an intrinsic unconscious bias, yet invoking this explains everything and nothing at the same time. Nor does pointing to institutional bias explain much either, it would be very surprising if the dominant culture anywhere did not organise their public life to suit themselves. Why would they not? This is the very stuff of culture and diversity is it not?
Human diversity and selectivity is innate and instinctively enduring. We would not want it to be otherwise. But skin colour and the land of our birth are but accidents; they are the least important aspect of who we are and tell us nothing of our character, competency and potential for achievement.
Because our long, agonising history tells another far more inspiring story of how we have learned to expand our moral horizons painfully and progressively, embracing ever larger groups of peoples and cultures – culminating now in a universal recognition of our common humanity, dignity and right to justice.
And for me that is a battle worth having – against those who would divide us yet again.
I have absolutely no problem saying Western Democratic cultures are superior to anything else we have and we all know it yet, to some, thats borderline, if not outright, racist
One of the most interesting papers I did at Uni was a paper on Social Psychology where that sort of stuff was covered.
Ingroup and outgroup biases and the like. In short, it is nearly impossible for any of us not to have some degree of bias or prejudice, whether that be conscious or unconscious bias.
The best way to break down those prejudices is by setting superordinate goals that require groups to work together to solve the issues.
I guess a great example would be the situation in Ukraine. Prior to the war there would likely have been lots of divisions over all sorts of matters. But when they are all focusing on the goal of defeating the Russians those sort of divisions are forgotten and people are united behind the common cause.
Propaganda and fake news usually also contain snippets of truth, so not being “completely wrong” doesn’t make it/him right either – it’s a nonsensical thing to say. The assertion was about Māoridom, not about gangs. So, perhaps I should ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.
I did, but you didn't listen because you didn't want to hear it because you don't want to answer it. Did you really think it was a rhetorical question? Perhaps you realise that you have enough rope to get tangled up in knots or worse. A commenter cannot force another commenter to answer, least of all to answer in a certain way, but a Mod can force some response if there are good grounds for this. You were and still are following the clear signpost to those grounds.
'Did you really think it was a rhetorical question?'
Yes I did.
'So, perhaps I should ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.'
The perhaps makes what could have been a simple question into something ambiguous:
Perhaps you’ll ask me a question or perhaps not.
I thought you were just jumping in with your usual sort of subtlety, like your use of the Spanish Archer, which I first thought was some sort of obscure sexual position (like the reverse cowgirl)
Try this instead:
'So I'll ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.'
That makes basically the same question clear and unambiguous.
So to your question, my response was to Nic the NZers response to Blade.
I thought Nic was over the top in his reply so I replied to Nic with an example that I thought would further expand on Blades point.
The “perhaps” was intended to leave you with a clear choice: either put up or shut up. Maybe that was too subtle for you – I forgot I was dealing with a simpleton.
You decided to run interference with moderation, in which case you may be treated as such and end up in Pre-Moderation too, or you could simply stay out of it – the choice is yours, still, but not for much longer.
Unless you can read Blade’s mind or you are in communication with Brother Blade you were only adding your own reckons, which were not helpful in the slightest.
'Maybe that was too subtle for you – I forgot I was dealing with a simpleton.'
Perhaps you're not as clever as you think you are, perhaps you jump into discussions when you don't need to and perhaps you feel a little inadequate since you're clearly not as experienced as the other moderators and so, perhaps, you feel you need to make up for it in other ways.
Have you tried asking the other moderators for advice?
I know when I've been over my head and out of my depth (like you are now) that asking for advice from other better, more experienced people can be a little hard on the ego but is generally always worth it in the long run.
[You’re now also in Pre-Moderation until you also have finished and completed Blade’s homework in your own words and with your own links – no cheating this time. Same terms and conditions apply as for Blade. Bye now – Incognito]
“I also told the Minister that, with all due respect, teaching prison inmates Te Kāinga Maori will not lessen incarceration rates. They are not in prison because they lack Te Kāinga Maori, they are there because of bad parenting. The same applies to white people in jail … again that is largely due to bad parenting, a lack of education and a failure to instil values. That is what I want to get across.''
''Tribal groups might seek to fight others to increase tribal or personal mana.''
''Traditionally the mana or prestige of a tribe and its members was all important. Tribes and their rangatira could increase mana by triumphing over other tribal groups.''
In Māori society rugby has come to be viewed as a platform to maintain an indigenous model of masculinity as well as one of the main sites for the achievement of prestige. National and international representations of the Māori man as a rugby player—a present-day version of the Māori warrior
[You’ve got a bonus try for your effort, which fell way short.
As a Māori you know that you do not and cannot speak for all Māoridom – with personal opinions one can only speak for oneself. You made a specific assertions, which you were asked to correct or support, and so far you’ve done much less than half of the task.
I fail to see how Alan Duff’s quote of his personal views on teaching prison inmates Te Kāinga Māori supports your assertions about Māoridom. Ironically, the article starts with Duff’s “desire to use the written word to influence those behind bars to lead better lives”.
Why do simpletons such as you and Puckish Rogue tend to use Māoridom, gangs & crime, and prison population almost synonymously? Are distinctions, nuances, and context too hard for you or are you keener on pushing a certain narrative?
Similarly, the quote about traditional Māori warfare has little bearing on your assertions about present-day Māoridom.
The special status conferred to Māori men playing rugby again doesn’t support your assertions about how Māoridom values and prioritises education.
No more bonus tries after this one – Incognito]
[You didn’t correct or support your assertions about Māoridom, as you were asked to do and I don’t want to waste anymore of my time on this. Take 10 days off and don’t pretend to be a spokesperson for or an expert on Māoridom when you get back because you’re clearly neither – Incognito]
Every culture has its dark side and blind spots. But I think you’ll find that the dismal statistics for Maori also correlate with relative economic privilege. There is a reason for all the targeted government programmes — as a people they have been subjected to systematic violence by the colonial settler state, and while the rest of us sit around arguing on blogs & sipping cappuccinos, our wealth is based on massive theft from 17% of the population.
Hmm. It's difficult to tell exactly where the money is going – but it sounds like bureaucracy. I can't conceive that "$11.2m for a positive behaviour and learning programme" is going to achieve much.
If there are behaviour issues (and, according to my teacher friends, these are order-of-magnitude more severe than pre-Covid), then schools need support to deal with these right now – not in 2 years time when the 'programme' has been designed.
What schools actually need is the funding for additional classroom support for these kids – whether that looks like additional teachers in existing classrooms, or small group coaching, or even non-standard classes (if teens are working shelf-stacking [as quoted in the article], then perhaps concentrate on the key NCEA subjects when they're at school – and at least get them the core qualifications – you need NCEA L2 English and Maths for most apprenticeships).
I don't see how developing a programme (which the schools won't have the funding to carry out) – is going to do anything except keep bureaucrats employed.
The PBL program has been around for ages. It was in my daughter's primary school and she's now 20. It's a whole school approach with incentives and rewards for positive behaviour – it does teach some kids to suck-up to the teachers though. With the new funding, it should be able to get into more schools.
It's like most anything a government does (regardless of who is in) and that's throw money at the situation
At best it'll do something positive (rarely), usually no change will happen (but the government can say we've done something) and occasionally it'll make the problem even worse
You're right in what would help the problem, targeted support to those that need it but it needs to start with the vulnerable families while the mother is pregnant not years later at school
I agree with the earlier support — but it has to be AND ALSO rather than pick one or the other.
Absent a time machine, we can't fix the early years of kids now at school. Yes, we need to intervene now to prevent the next tranche arriving with preventable issues – but we also need to work with the kids now in school (or missing from school) and put solutions to those issues in place.
I mean you can and should do both but rather than have two different programs running concurrently there should be only one program starting before the child is born which older children can be entered into
The more programs you run means more costs and more chances of kids falling through the cracks
Goodness gracious me! This issue has been popping up to the surface every few years since before my offspring began school. Another study and another initiative and more targeted funding and 'special' funding for those groups with 'discrepancies'. And it only gets worse.
How about we chuck all that aside and go and speak with the families living in overcrowded homes, juggling four or five jobs, living from hand to mouth and generally ticking all the 'most at risk' boxes but whose children are attending school and are succeeding?
As always we focus on the causes of failures and not on how many families in similar circumstances make it work for their children.
The first two drivers would be (if we asked them) that these parents realise education is the key to a more secure job and a better future, and these parents genuinely want their children to have a better life than than they had.
"How about we chuck all that aside and go and speak with the families living in overcrowded homes, juggling four or five jobs, living from hand to mouth and generally ticking all the 'most at risk' boxes but whose children are attending school and are succeeding?"
A suggestion that is based on existing solutions, and grassroots perspectives?
Then what'll happen to all the consultants ready to advise?
I'm not saying that they make up a significant number of the 60% absent…but could it be that some of those being counted as truant are actually being home schooled?
More than 10,000 students in New Zealand are now learning from home, but there is growing concern their learning methods aren’t being scrutinised.
But some want the reviews reinstated as applications for home schooling grow.
There have been 5,000 new applications in the last year.
Kaitaia Primary School’s Principal, Brendon Morrissey, says “that’s a big number.”
It is quite possible that some parents do not realise you have to apply to home school and have simply pulled their kids out of mainstream education.
Homeschool reviews were initially reduced, and then eliminated because in terms of expense vs negative homeschool reviews, the ERO decided it was a budgetary save.
Despite once being a committee member on a National Home Ed organisation, I only ever viewed Home Ed as another choice, as opposed to a universally better one. The approach of families and engagement of children are as diverse as the population. Quite a few with exemptions were not part of any group.
My addition to your sensible suggestion re: truancy.
Make the school experience better. Because if that doesn't change, all that's been achieved is returning a child to where they don't want to be.
How's that help with encouraging a love of learning? Disruption in the classroom to indicate pushback, would be expected at the least.
Okay, granted it was a different time…and technologywise might as well be a different universe…do you think that there might have been certain elements of the 'old' school environment that was more conducive to attending and engaging than today's?
I heard today that a newish school in the Waikato, designed and built to encompass all the very latest in modern learning has removed practically all the non- fiction books from the Library. (Library is deliberately capitalised, as befitting it's importance.) The learners don't need all those dusty dog eared reference books… the world's knowledge is all there on Goggle and Wiki.
Thing is, you ask Goggle or Wiki a specific question and voilla, the answer is delivered instantaneously. The old way, you'd wander down through the rows looking for the book about Space or Deserts and along the way be sidetracked by books about Ancient Civilizations or WWII.
Maybe the Young People have been conditioned to expect everything to be delivered at the push of the enter key or the swipe of a screen. Even the littlies have their iPads. Attention spans are practically non- existent.
Many years ago there were Truancy Officers, and from memory for a period there were also Visiting Teachers (both in primary schools; secondary may have had somebody doing some work on truancy). The jobs overlapped to a certain extent; I think the Truancy Officers were eliminated first, then later the Visiting Teachers. Talking to those whose children are already attending would seem to be less important than talking to the parents of children that do not attend.
For many years they were called Visiting Teachers, in the 70's and 80's. They visited the homes and helped with problems which were contributing…. Children going with Parents to interpret, for example.
Things going from bad to worse for the Keystone-cops Russian military in Ukraine.
Now their General in charge of the war Gerasimov has been evacuated to Belgorod due to shrapnel injuries from a Ukrainian attack.
According to this twitter thread there was a Ukrainian attack against a meeting of high ranking officers at a Russian command headquarters in the Russian-held area of Izyum in Ukraine. It appears that 20 may have been killed and up to 40 injured.
Not only that, there was just another huge fire in Belgorod. Judging by all the secondary explosions, it looks like it was a weapons depot.
According to this twitter thread and video, helicopters were circling the area 30 minutes prior to the explosion suggesting a VIP was about to arrive. Joining the dots, it seems likely that the Russians were securing the area waiting for Gerasimov to arrive.
So, it looks like the poor guy would have had quite a greeting when he arrived to the sound of a massive explosion at an arms depot in the area.
Here's a succinct look at how his famous Gerasimov Doctrine (all instruments of state deployed carefully and accurately to achieve victory) supports broader strategy within the Russian state:
Agreed. Not that I feel particularly sorry for him given his past form. Karma is a wonderful thing.
But this horrendous attrition of their top leadership must be becoming very problematic for the Russian war effort. They tend to have a very top down military structure, and those in the lower-down ranks don't have much of a clue what to do.
The Ukrainians must be getting some good intel on the whereabouts of senior officers in Ukraine.
It could be the US intelligence service. Or maybe the Russians are still using unsecured communications despite all the trouble that has caused them so far. Or maybe it is the Russian military themselves feeding info back given that a lot of them don’t particularly like their senior officers and don’t particularly want to be there. Or it could be a combination of all the above.
For as long as it suits Xi, and not a smidgen longer. Xi can yank Putin's chain anytime. That he's been keeping quiet for so long tells us he likes what's happening. Not a threat to Belt & Road, apparently…
The longer the war continues the more likely is Russia will win it. And there is no mechanism for reflection – or regime change – in the Putin regime.
For example Valery Gerasimov was sent to the Ukraine by Putin last week, and was apparently wounded yesterday by a Ukrainian MLRS strike on the CP (Command Post) of Maj. Gen. Andrei Simonov who was killed in the attack. Siminov was the ninth Russian general to die in this war and was killed near the city of Izyum – the fulcrum of the supposed northern spear head of the Russian Donbas offensive.
As an aside, Siminov was the senior officer commanding all Russia's electronic warfare units and the targeting information for this Ukrainian strike almost certainly came from an U.S. RC-135 "Rivet Joint" signals intelligence surveillance aircraft that has been operating over the Black Sea. Make what you will of how provocative that knowledge must be to the Russians.
The fate of Gerasimov (the closest of Putin confidantes) – fall from favour, disappearance from public view, sent to the front to get things moving or find salvation in death on the battlefield – is in the finest of totalitarian traditions (the fact he was only wounded and has fled the front will have Field Marshal Paulus chuckling in his grave) and should tell us all we need to know about the ability of Russia to find a way out of this war that doesn't involve a bloody victory.
I think the longer it goes on, the more it favours the Ukrainians. That is because a long war becomes a war of attrition, and a war of attrition favours the side that can replace its losses.
Ukraine doesn't have this problem with the west committing to supply their military needs for as long as required. For instance, it looks like the US will be committing another $33 billion to Ukraine alone. Plus all the gear coming in from Britain and the rest of Europe.
Most of this isn't even in the field yet. When the Ukrainians are trained on all that, and they are able to get it into the field imagine how much damage they will be able to do to the Russian army compared to what they are doing now. Even as it stands at the moment, Ukraine is giving the Russians a lot of trouble just using the equipment they have. And that is going to get progressively worse for the Russians.
I think that is a reason the Russians attacked a lot earlier than they probably wanted to given the muddy conditions that is confining Russian forces to the road. Ideally, it would suit the Russian armour advantage to be on the open ground that is to their advantage in the Donbas. But that isn't really possible at the moment.
There was the May 9th deadline from Putin. But I think also, the Russians probably rightly concluded that if they held off until conditions favoured them, the Ukrainians would have got a lot stronger by that time.
Excepting of course that Russia could choose deploy weapons that would essentially 'win' the war in a matter of minutes. The longer it drags out the closer we get to that outcome I suspect.
That would be the temptation. However, I believe that NATO have stated that their response to such action would be proportionate, though not not necessarily the same.
So, for instance, NATO might bite the bullet and completely cut gas imports from Russia, which would completely deplete the Russian war effort nearly immediately.
Also, even China might be compelled to condemn such an action, and may not want to be seen giving tacit support to such action.
Things going from bad to worse for the Keystone-cops Russian military in Ukraine
Morale must be in the shitter.
Our briefing this week sets out just how rotten the army has been. Russia’s defence budget, of over $250bn at purchasing power, is about three times that of Britain or France, but much of it is squandered or stolen. Mr Putin and his top commanders kept their invasion plans from senior officers, reflecting a crippling lack of trust. Disaffected troops, fed on out-of-date rations, have deserted their vehicles. Units have tortured, raped and murdered only to be honoured by the Kremlin. Russia has failed to win control of the skies or combine air power with tanks, artillery and infantry. Wallowing in corruption, unable to foster initiative or learn from their mistakes, its frustrated generals abandoned advanced military doctrine and fell back on flattening cities and terrorising civilians.
And the Ukrainians still haven't got into service all the good stuff the west is sending so I understand.
So, it looks like they are giving the Russians a hard time with the stuff they are using already. Doesn't bode well for the Russians once all the western heavy artillery etc gets into the field.
All they are doing is backing the Ukrainian's own willingness to fight for their country. A bit different to Afghanistan that folded like a pack of cards when the Western military left, despite all the investment there in helping them become self-sufficient militarily.
Seems more likely that Putin is fighting to the last Russian from what I can see. It reminds me of something from "The Walking Dead" where the Russian soldiers are like the zombies that keep coming and keep getting wiped out.
Whether they are going to have enough to win by force of numbers with that strategy seems unlikely given that this is a "special military operation'', not a war, according to the Russians, which limits their ability to call up reservists or launch a major draft. Even if they did that, it is going to take a long time before those forces can be brought into the combat. Also, equipping new forces will be an issue for the Russians given the attrition of their equipment and the difficulties in them replacing it.
So, the Russians are pretty much stuck with what they have got at the moment.
On the other hand, the Ukrainians have no such constraints and are training up as many as possible for the fight.
Probably all printed money. There is an endless supply of that.
But, I think the Ukrainians would be fighting with or without international support. They would likely be under a lot more Russian control by now. But they probably would go to more of an insurgency type war.
So, the US and Europe are just backing the Ukrainians in a fight they intend to have any way.
This stuff from the Russians about them fighting NATO or whatever is ridiculous. At the moment it is the might of the Russian army against the might of NATO’s little finger.
All that NATO has given the Ukrainians up until recently is basically some anti-tank and anti-aircraft gear, and some old Soviet stuff that the NATO nations wanted to get rid of for better stuff anyway.
'This stuff from the Russians about them fighting NATO or whatever is ridiculous. At the moment it is the might of the Russian army against the might of NATO’s little finger'
Oh really!You might be interested to know that the U.S.A is a member of NATO…and has a rather large….'finger'.
I did say "at the moment''. But that is certainly starting to change. Hence while Russia is trying to do as much as they can while they have the chance.
That they are. But remember, it is not like they are supporting Ukraine to invade Russia. Ukraine never asked to be invaded, and Russia can end this any time they want to by withdrawing.
The Ukrainian's outstanding combat performance will only degrade as their best units are chewed up in attritional positional warfare in the Donbas, whereas for the Russians the only way is up. At some point in the short to medium term a convergence in combat performance will occur. Already reports are the remaining Russian are fighting a lot better. This is why the Ukrainians are desperate for artillery, a type of weapon whose lethality is almost independent of the skill of the infantry. In this sense, the fighting in the Donbas is analogous to most 20th century warfare. For example the Somme in 1916, where the huge losses of Kitcheners ill-trained "new armies" was of less military importance than the destruction of Germany's best pre-war infantry, with Ludendorff lamenting the conversion of the German army into a militia. Subsequent to the Somme as the Allies armies improved the Germans were forced to retreat to the Hindenburg Line & adopt an elastic defense based on concrete and a cadre of elite machines gunners. Or perhaps more relevant the huge losses of the Red army in 1941-42 were of less importance than the massive and irresplaceable attrition of the Germans in the same period. By the time of the post-Kursk counter-offensives the Red Army still wasn't very good but it had killed enough of the very good Germans of 1941 for it not to matter anymore.
Another thing not being covered in the media is the crippling fuel crisis engulfing the Ukrainian army. Don’t be seduced by propaganda, the Russians are not stupid. All Ukrainian refining capacity was destroyed early on in this war and much of the subsequent Russian cruise missile attacks have been on the fuel storage and transport net, particularly railways, which has basically starved the Ukrainians of fuel for their still powerful tank brigades. Almost all imagery of Ukrainian heavy armour I've seen recently is showing it dug in, with probably only enough fuel for emegency use.
All in all, the fate of the Ukraine will probably be decided in the next 2 weeks. If the Russians can't achieve a clean breakthough and surround the Donbas salient – and there is good reason to suppose they lack the combat power for this – then Putin will either declare war on or after the May Day parades and simply use brute force and numbers to overwhelm the Ukraine or someone will have to come up with a face-saving Russian "victory" with a ceasefire along the current battlelines – again if we were to look to history the Finnish defeat in the 1939 Winter war might be a good guideline. I know Zelensky will vehemently oppose any ceding of land but if that is what the US and Russia and China can cook up and the bulk of the Ukraine retains it's independence then that might be what he'll have little choice but to accept.
I think the Russian artillery are good at attacking civilian cities where they can't really miss. But I think their targeting ability is not as good as the Ukrainians.
Fuel is definitely an issue. But at the moment, the Ukrainians don't need to move around as much as the Russians. The Ukrainians are able to maintain more defensive positions, and Putin has put the onus on the Russians to do the attacking.
But fuel supply is something they definitely will need to solve when they start more counter-offensives. They have a similar problem to the Russians at the start of the war, in terms of long supply lines. They may need to start sending out fuel trucks from Poland or similar.
If the Ukrainians are able to, now would be a good time for them to counter attack, while the Russians are low on leadership, and don't want to waste their own ammo and fuel due to their own logistical problems.
Declaring war is an option for Putin to increase the soldiers available, which is a major lack at the moment. But those soldiers aren’t magicked up over night. They have to be trained, equipped, and incorporated into the existing forces.
Given the attrition rate on Russian equipment, and the difficulty of replacing it, this is going to be problematic for Russia, even if a state of war is declared.
And, how much does Russia really want to weaken its armed forces over this conflict? They are just playing into the stated objectives of the US who want a weakened Russia.
Thre is no indication I have seen that the Ukrainians have sufficient combat power to conduct anything more than local counter-attacks. I think a counter offensive is completely beyond them and anyway, no armoured offensive has had any chance of succeeding if the enemy has air superority since 1940.
The Russians will keep up a methodical, Great War style artillery dominated postional warfare to seize and hold limited objectives ('Artillery conquers, infantry occupies' to quote JFC Fuller) and using western artillery the Ukrainians will then counter-attack. The Russian will suffer hugely going in, and the Ukrainians will suffer hugely throwing them out again. This fighting will be almost exactly like the Western Front in 1917. IMHO, the war in the Ukraine will most likely develop into a version of Passchendaele.
I understand they have quite a good counter-offensive going around Kharkiv at the moment. That may be where the attack on Belgorod came from, as the Ukrainians are quite close to that border. And they are also threatening to cut off Russian supply lines from there.
I understand their counter-attack around Kherson has come to a bit of a halt atm. But, from what I have read, the Russians have had to send a lot more forces back there to hold the ground. So, that removes Russian forces from attacking elsewhere.
From what I have read, it looks like a lot of the Russian battle groups are very undermanned due to losses they have taken and are not really fully functional. For instance, apparently, some of their APCs are going out with only a couple of people in them rather than 8 or whatever the ideal number is.
It sounds like their biggest problem is really not having enough infantry. I think this is in part due to their war strategy and also massive attrition. But it makes it very hard for them to hold ground and go forward. The problem being that, as they go forward, they have to leave troops behind to hold taken ground. This thins their forces out further as they continue to advance.
So, where the Ukrainians have retreated, it often is strategic, going back to strong defensive positions and inviting the Russians to keep coming. Continually attacking defensive positions results in very high attrition, which is what we are seeing at the moment.
The big mistake the Russians made at the start was to attack on too many fronts. So, the Ukrainians don't want to repeat the same mistake, and should focus their counter-attacks where they can have good effect.
No links for the above sorry as it would take ages to find all the stuff I have looked at. As you can see, this is a bit of an obsession for me atm!!
Good comments from both of you. I can well understand how absorbing these events are. To my mind the Ukrainian agony makes so many of the other 'outrage de jour' seem like petty, narcissistic distractions.
On the point of the fuel shortages for the Ukrainians, one thing they have in their advantage is the use of drone technology. This stuff is a lot more portable, and less fuel intensive than heavy armour. The Russians don't seem to be up with that so much.
Obviously the TB2 Turkish drone that has been well publicised. But also the US switchblade kamakaze drones. And they are also utilising hobby drones and converting them for munitions use. Including using 3D printers to customise tail fins etc so that are fitted to common, cheap munitions they have.
It must be really unsettling as a soldier knowing that sort of thing can happen out of the blue. It must cause the sort of effect on morale that snipers cause.
Apparently they are customising armour-piercing munitions to be dropped from hobby drones on the likes of tanks and APCs. The cost-benefit of that equation is staggering. The cost of the drone plus munition is less than $1000, and they can take out a piece of equipment that might be worth $3/4 of a million or more.
If sea level rise was Labour-Greens' opening panic story to introduce their Zero Carbon strategy, starting a debate about sea walls, insurance stripping away location-specific premiums to zero coverage, the great Westport tombstone, and Canute-like 'heroic' resistance, we should probably expect a related panic theme every week coming out from Shaw and Roberston.
The gist from Newshub's breaking story last night was that it was driven by a new scientific discovery. Neither Shaw nor Robertson seem to do panic. Shaw does pragmatic response (usually too understated) and Robertson does complacent ignorance (I've never noticed him personally addressing the climate crisis).
If they were to collaborate, it'd be a good thing. Watch for any specific climate-change framing in his budget speech, huh? If you can cite it here, I'll applaud. If not, he'll prove me right.
They have a lot of levers with Queenstown Lakes. They own much of the Queenstown CBD where QLDC resides. They are a JV partner on a couple of properties with them. They are one of the largest tourism operators in QLDC, in a city that runs on tourism. They are partners in Queenstown and Wanaka Kiwibuild. They are signatories on the NZTA-QLDC roading alliance that rebuilt the town centre and is now building the bypass SH1 road. They will also be one of the largest governance beneficiaries of 3 Waters.
The local government elections are going to be very interesting. I'd expect that, if the Council has moved to supporting 3 waters, the anti-group will be looking to topple them. There's a strong swell of popular opinion against 3 waters (in the way that it's currently been packaged) – which all local body reps will be eyeing with concern….
In 3 Waters there are now so many safeguards against privatisation that they forgot that the 50% iwi ownership is pretty close to privatisation itself.
There's not even a 49-51% split that John Key did for the electricity generator selloff.
While this government clearly sees a rationality in renationalising health and tertiary education, the state is forming a structure for water in which Ministers (and hence voters) get the least possible influence.
I bet if Labour proposed to National that the regional and co-governance model was dumped and they simply set up a nationwide water asset owner, it would go the same was as the National+Labour+Act vote that the Carbon legislation got: enduring Parliamentary mandate.
As it happens this morning I found out an old colleague of mine is working in a leadership role in just this space, and I think I have made it clear I am fully supportive of major water industry consolidation for any number of good technical reasons.
But caucus seems to have conflated it with another agenda altogether that looks for all practical purposes indistinguishable from 'separate development'. And some of us might recall where that led to.
The SuperCity was initially Labour’s idea but when National won in 2008 it became the plaything of ACT and Rodney Hide forced through breaking changes in unseemly haste, way outside of the transition plan, and the resulting beast was not what the royal commission envisaged. The RW tried to fuck up Auckland by turning the main council services into corporate CCO’s that mostly ignore democracy. Luckily Aucklanders were wise to the gNats asset-stripping ways and have tried to elect left wing Councillors ever since.
There was a swell of opposition to 3 Waters. That swell is rapidly being reduced, by strategic manoeuverings, to a harmless ripple. There will be no community up-rising to topple councillors who support 3 Waters.
So the pop culture wars currently being played out on our screens, books, comics and games are certainly getting interesting.
I get the feeling that the current woke/intersectional/garbage is slowly, but surely, turning.
The BBC, finally, realized that the 13th Doctor (or Doctor Karen if you prefer) was poorly written and was greatly disliked (not because shes a woman but because the scripts were garbage) and so Russel T Davies has returned and we're all now waiting for the death of Doctor Karen and who will be the new Doctor
To bring back the audiences I see no better option than David Tennant and Billie Piper (though I think Christopher Eccleston was best) coming back for a limited run and then handing off to the new Doctor
Batwoman finally cancelled, this show basically epitomised all that was bad about woke culture:
Amazon have made a major boo boo with the Rings of Power, heres a reuploaded clip that Amazon put out of 'superfans' talking about the trailer and then Amazon removed it because of how bad it was received
Comedians and actors are now starting to speak out, Bill Maher has certainly seen which way the wind is blowing.
Disney is haemorrhaging money, Netflix loses over 50 billion and subscriptions for the first time
Get woke go broke is now starting to become mainstream
We've still got a long way to go but at least theres a distant light at the end of the tunnel
However there are still many, many problems and this isn't just a left right issue but a good entertainment issue, heres a list of best picture winners and nominees form today back, have a look at the movies this decade and compare them to previous decades
Movies from decades past used to be both critically acclaimed and popular with audiences, look at the movies on the list and look at some of the movies that were nominated and didn't win and compare them to today
What that means is movies are going backwards and we're suffering for it.
I think he really did come across like an alien (not that I've met an alien) and while Billies chemistry with David was off the charts Christopher is still the best Doctor
Hopefully hes got his mental illnesses under control because he was really not doing well at all not so long ago
Eccleston was a great way to reboot the franchise but to me, Tennant was the most watchable Doctor, even the canonical Dr Who. He brought humour and zany energy. The downside was an unfortunate tendency to be a foppish nerd and talk a lots of BS rather than take action. I blame the writers for that. Tennant is a great actor
Enjoyed the "BatWoman" trailer — at least they use the word "Woman" simply and clearly. Never watched the show.
As for the Amazon show, it's based on the appendices to LOTR, they don't have rights to the real stories from the Silmarillion or Lost Tales, so it's doomed to be weak. I don't mind a different take on Middle Earth. (The Last Ringbearer by Kirill Yeskov was great). But I am worried that they won't be telling the great stories we hope for.
Different takes are fine, some of those really into the books don't like the movies and thats fine.
The problem is they're using Tolkiens name and leeching off the movies (as much as they can) but also are trying to erase Tolkien as much as possible and rewrite his works for 'todays' audiences
Its almost as if they've forgotten that the books have been translated into over 30 (nearly 40) languages so other cultures seem to be fine with what Tolkien wrote or that the movies made nearly 3 billion dollars world wide (nearly 6 if you count The Hobbit film series)
So people all over the world were happy with the books and happy with the films yet these producers have decided their must be Hobbits Harfoots, black beardless female dwarves, black elves with short hair, Galadriel must be shown in armour and swinging a sword (because being top three most powerful beings in the third age just isn't enough)
You want to make movie or a series with black elves then go for it, beardless dwarves is aok with me
Bezos has reportedly spent a billion dollars (money acquired by notoriously exploiting his workers) trying to get this thing to the screen. Will enjoy the schadenfreude if it fails. And I agree it does look to be a travesty against Tolkien’s vision, because too many millennial writers are making it into their own political ego trip.
But on the other hand, Middle Earth is such an amazing place & I love to see it brought to life.
The end times are nigh. The war in the police hierarchy between progressive commanders and fascists has entered the attrition phase. As the numbers turn against him, the police director of the national organised crime group, Greg Williams, wrote in an email that it “makes my head hurt".
Stuff requested under the OIA any correspondence between the district commanders and Police National Headquarters over the proposal.
The emails from last year reveal that many district commanders felt the national operation was a poor use of resources and was a distraction from action against organised crime, guns and methamphetamine.
Of the 12 police districts, only three – Tasman in the South Island, and Central and Eastern in the North Island – expressed support for conducting aerial cannabis search and destroy operations.
Waikato police district commander superintendent Bruce Bird criticised an official report into the national operation. He said the initiative had failed to make cannabis any more expensive, suggesting that supply had not been dramatically affected. “This paper is full of assumptions and speculation, but lacks any evidence,” he said. “There is also evidence that the price for a tinny [a small amount of cannabis] never changes – that is an impact on supply and demand.”
He seems to mean the evidence shows no impact on supply and demand – but the words got scrambled in his head and came out wrong.
Canterbury district commander John Price wrote in an email in September that they had not run aerial operations “for a few years”. “The intelligence is not there to support the benefit realisation".
Intelligence not being there has never been a problem for cops in the past, so looks like radical progress is happening.
Waitematā district commander Naila Hassan wrote in an email in September that she did not support the plan. “In Waitematā we don’t see any worthwhile benefit to this operation being run in our district.” Bay of Plenty district commander Andy McGregor also wrote that he did not support a national operation.
Gosh, it's almost as if there's been an outbreak of common sense. No wonder the crime ringleader dude got spooked.
Wellington district crime services manager John van den Heuvel summarised feedback from staff in the capital in another email last September. “With benefit not obvious, the proposed annual NCCO may be viewed as an operation for the sake of an operation,’’ one bullet point in the email stated.
The feedback was sent to police director of national organised crime group, Greg Williams, who replied in an email that it was not productive.
Who would expect a fascist to notice when a feedback process produced a consensus? They don't get training in how to spot a consensus, so can't blame them.
Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick: "the price of a tinny has not been impacted." Word on the street? Part of the hip younger generation, so I guess she gets it. Anyway, price stability is the goal of the RB, neoliberalism, and our parliamentary bipartisan consensus, so it's win/win/win all around. Except for the fascists.
Small question of hyperbole here. "Fascism : a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government." Can you marry this definition of fascism with your depiction of some police commanders as 'fascists' who are still seeing air surveillance of marijuana growing as worthwhile? I get you don't agree but really…. fascist?
Let's keep that word for those to whom it really applies.
good post. have had personal experience with a couple of those places, high tides co-inciding with inland rainfall can be devastating, and its getting common. I think that most sea-protection happens where the land is worth more, somewhere there is a correlation between not believing climate change, and demanding that something be done about something you dont believe in, the nth shore springs to mind. there will be neighbourhood valuation groups meeting and discussing what can be done to stop rising waters, and lowering values…
Had you made some decent attempt to explain your thinking and referenced what it is in the post you think frames economy vs climate, I might have let this go. I’ve told you many times now that you don’t understand my position, and I’ve asked you to stop misrepresenting it. In the post I said that Labour should be helping coal mining communities to transition to other livelihoods. That’s the economy and climate action. I’m not willing to have people continually making shit up about what I write so please stay out of my posts for the rest of the month.
But having moved this to OM I can now say what I really think. The Greens everywhere have for decades vociferously stifled the one technology that would have prevented this crisis – yet even now when the failure is blatantly obvious – you still cannot tolerate anyone talking about it.
As I said – your OP on the other thread framed the problem as a false choice between coal and the industries on which our economy depends.
In the post I said that Labour should be helping coal mining communities to transition to other livelihoods.
Without specifying even in the broadest outline how you think this can be done – this is a pretty meaningless claim. My problem with all of these de-power schemes is that while they might look superficially appealing, once you start to dig into the complex energy, material and technology linkages involved in everything you take for granted about the modern world – they start to look less pretty.
You once argued there was no reason why we could not go back to living something like we did in the 1950's. Sure – but there is no reason to think that would be any more a stable state than it was back then. Moreover you would also have to accept that a population of 8b is not going to survive with the food production we had then. No computers, no internet, no medical tech – so many things we take for granted in 2022, are just not possible in a 1950 context.
Nor would I suggest that a second wave feminism would have happened. The opportunity for women to access the workforce in very large numbers was largely possible to the elimination of a lot of physical labour with automation for instance. All of this tech is inter-woven in ways most people do not see – and you generally either get the whole enchilada or none at all. There is not much scope for picking the things you want to have in 1950, like mRNA vaccines, but not computers mining bitcoin.
The point I have made many times – but you refuse to acknowledge – is that technology drives social change. If you deconstruct and regress the technology, the same will likely happen with the social conditions – only in ways you will probably not really like. Indeed if you want to see what would likely happen – consider the lives of the very poorest women on earth, still living in absolute poverty. These people are wonderfully de-powered, yet you would find their living conditions intolerable.
There is of course scope for us to trim excess and waste – and we keep doing this all the time. But the idea we can happily regress backward in time to a previous era that was somehow better and safer is dishonest, unadulterated rose-tint as far as I am concerned.
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Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
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So we have a new crisis:
Could be an entire new ministry will be required to build sea-walls?
The switch is due to discovery of land dropping. The scientists have mapped it nationwide and provided an interactive website so you can check out how it affects your neighbourhood.
First consideration is if councils can cope with providing new defensive infrastructure. If not, how does the govt do the job – within the ministry of climate change or the ministry of transport?
Tamaki Drive got rebuilt with an 80cm lift last year.
State Highway 17 to Auckland's west was pushed up over a metre after the SH20 tunnels were built.
SH1 Kaikoura was lifted and rebuilt together with the earthquake rebuild.
Mission Bay has a pretty good seawall already.
Wellington rail and Lower Hutt have massive rebuilds underway.
The places I would focus on would be:
– Awanui, Taipa and Kaeo in the far north
– State highway from Haast to Fox Glacier
– Westport. Looking forward to the West Coast Regional Chairman Allan Birchfield telling Westport not to worry. Again.
West Coast councillor continues denying sea level rise | RNZ News
– Eastborne and Days Bay in Wellington
– Christchurch estuary settlements
– Hauraki Plains including Thames and Paeroa
– Invercargill east and south including airport
As Ashley Bloomfield's star fades, new messiahs arise with missionary zeal. I don't think I will be buying their T-Shirts.
In the clip below, Napier Airport was given as an example of land sinking . Of course, Napier Airport is build on land pushed up by an earthquake.
Richard Levy and Tim Naish have done what seems like excellent research followed by predictions based on that research. All that's needed now is for nature to follow those linear time lines they have set out.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/05/alarming-new-statistics-reveal-new-zealand-s-sea-level-could-rise-30cm-in-next-10-to-20-years.html
All that's needed now is for nature to follow those linear time lines they have set out.
Normally humans survive by reacting to a threat to their survival. Are you trying to suggest Nats are sub-human? If so, spit the dummy & say so. If not, tell us why they ought to do nothing except wait for nature to produce disaster.
Oh wait, you mean the Nats would actually do politics on the basis of science instead of ignoring it? They just need a little time to digest the science? Fair enough. Not everyone's a fast learner.
''Normally humans survive by reacting to a threat to their survival.''
Correct. If you come towards me in a threatening manner I straight away compensate with a remedial defensive action.
''Are you trying to suggest Nats are sub-human? If so, spit the dummy & say so.''
I don't know what that means because I don't care one iota what National think, or don't, about climate change. I doubt they have a clue themselves.
''If not, tell us why they ought to do nothing except wait for nature to produce disaster.''
It's not a matter of doing nothing. It's about a gamble costing billions either way. Are we prepared to accept that on research that is yet to be peer reviewed. Or are we prepared to sit tight and hope for the best? Play the cards.
You seem to have forgotten our dire economic situation thanks to Labour's largesse for all squeaky wheels and ideological itches.
"As Ashley Bloomfield's star fades, new messiahs arise with missionary zeal."
Uncalled for. Inferring Bloomfield was some crazy who set himself up as a messiah but no-one listens to him anymore? He happened to be Director General of Health when Covid arrived and it was his job to lead the health response to the pandemic in NZ.
You're a dork Blade.
Thank you Anne, the petty bitterness is strong in the likes of Blade and a few others here. Relentlessly negative and relentlessly boring.
It was more a statement about hero worship. We in New Zealand have a dearth of glitzy stars to idolise. Therefore we tend to admire the more mundane. Ruud Kleinpaste, the bug man, for example.
''He happened to be Director General of Health when Covid arrived and it was his job to lead the health response to the pandemic in NZ.''
Exactly – it was his job.
But he morphed into something larger with his regular appearances on the ''Pulpit Of Truth.'' Adulation and t-shirts followed.
I'm betting Richard Levy and Tim Naish are about to become media darlings. Their word will be gospel, and God help any fuckwit who says otherwise.
''You're a dork Blade.''
That's unkind. But, in my opinion, you have always come across as a shallow thinker.
I see "ferals" – How often do you see them? – All the time. They're everywhere.
Now this is no silver bullet but a good move by Labour.
Budget 2022: School attendance, truancy focus of $88 million funding package and strategy – NZ Herald
Sounds like a recipe for more committees, consultants, advisors, meetings and lots of tick box exercises. Yep, that'll do it.
You forgot the waste of taxpayer money. Truancy has nothing to do with school attendance… it has more to do with cultural values. And in Maoridom, education isn't a high priority with many. Mana on the rugby field and in a fight rate very high.
From Jester’s link:
''The package also included $11.2m for a positive behaviour and learning programme and $7.75m specifically for Māori and Pasifika communities, where there are large discrepancies.''
[You are in Pre-Moderation until you correct the following statement or provide links to support it:
You have one shot at it, to avoid numerous time-wasting comments going to & from, and one day – Incognito]
"Mana on the rugby field and in a fight rate very high."
Untrue and offensive.
As bizzare as it is.
Mere opinion?
Even a ‘mere opinion’ doesn’t come out of the blue and stands alone in isolation in a referential vacuum without some framework to form and sustain (aka confirm) it.
Mod note
Blade doesn't shy away from a challenge so he's never going to walk that back. I'm expecting genetic evidence and a full history of the heritage of the infamous Rugby gene will be forthcoming.
He's not completely wrong, especially with the added "with many" bit
Gangs especially respect sports prowess, size and violence and education can be seen as a negative "you think you're smart don't you"
Unfortunately the media being what it is it'll glorify the gangs and ignore those with their heads down getting on with it
Your thinking of having a go at the pre-mod challenge too?
Yes PR would be on much safer ground just sticking to telling us how racist white people are.
Can be difficult to know when you’re on “safer ground” – is nothing sacred?
Racism starts small. Sometimes it lives in everyday actions and comments that we laugh off, nod in agreement to, excuse, and therefore accept. But we don’t have to. We can stop casual racism from growing into something more extreme. We can give it no encouragement. No respect. No place. No power. We can give it nothing. http://www.givenothing.co.nz
See – very safe ground. No pre-mod for the uber woke.
Yep, doubt Taika will be cancelled anytime soon. He can read a room.
Taika needs to stop doing doing Marvel movies, stop hiring Tessa Thompson (although I guess there are other reasons) and more movies like Jojo or What We Do In The Shadows etc
I think a clip from a popular Tony Award winning, Broadway and West End play might just be applicable to this situation:
All humans have to some extent with an in-group preference. It expresses itself in sexual selection and family bonding. It would be a very strange thing indeed if we did not have an unconscious bias toward people we feel genetically and culturally connected with.
This selectivity and tribalism is an exceedingly common behaviour across almost all of the higher mammals I can immediately think of. It should be no surprise or even controversial that humans share this trait as well.
But remarkably we also have the capacity to overlay this trait with a broader abstraction around the universality of humanity. We can take the idea that all humans stand equal before their Maker and expand our ethical horizon to ultimately include all 7.5b people on the planet. We can formulate intellectually the idea that 'the earth is but one planet and mankind its citizens'. This is the root motivation that demands we condemn the wrong idea that some human races are genetically superior to others. Racism was founded in a mistaken interpretation of why some cultures and societies came to dominate while others were overrun all throughout history. We now should understand that it had nothing to do with genetics and almost everything with technology and institutional development.
But to then argue this means there is no difference between any of the cultures and societies is wrong as well. That is nothing more than an attempt to cancel out one stupid mistake with another. It is the reason why the woke left claims that all differences in outcomes can only be explained by racism. And if they cannot find any significant examples of personal racist anima, nor any institutional laws or policies to explain differences – then untestable concepts such as 'unconscious bias' and 'institutional racism' are trotted out to fill the gap.
Yet as I suggested above – all humans have an intrinsic unconscious bias, yet invoking this explains everything and nothing at the same time. Nor does pointing to institutional bias explain much either, it would be very surprising if the dominant culture anywhere did not organise their public life to suit themselves. Why would they not? This is the very stuff of culture and diversity is it not?
Human diversity and selectivity is innate and instinctively enduring. We would not want it to be otherwise. But skin colour and the land of our birth are but accidents; they are the least important aspect of who we are and tell us nothing of our character, competency and potential for achievement.
Because our long, agonising history tells another far more inspiring story of how we have learned to expand our moral horizons painfully and progressively, embracing ever larger groups of peoples and cultures – culminating now in a universal recognition of our common humanity, dignity and right to justice.
And for me that is a battle worth having – against those who would divide us yet again.
Agreed.
I have absolutely no problem saying Western Democratic cultures are superior to anything else we have and we all know it yet, to some, thats borderline, if not outright, racist
One of the most interesting papers I did at Uni was a paper on Social Psychology where that sort of stuff was covered.
Ingroup and outgroup biases and the like. In short, it is nearly impossible for any of us not to have some degree of bias or prejudice, whether that be conscious or unconscious bias.
The best way to break down those prejudices is by setting superordinate goals that require groups to work together to solve the issues.
I guess a great example would be the situation in Ukraine. Prior to the war there would likely have been lots of divisions over all sorts of matters. But when they are all focusing on the goal of defeating the Russians those sort of divisions are forgotten and people are united behind the common cause.
I didn't think his range was up to re-inventing the racist prison guard trope just yet. I will have to defer to your faith in his abilities of course.
Propaganda and fake news usually also contain snippets of truth, so not being “completely wrong” doesn’t make it/him right either – it’s a nonsensical thing to say. The assertion was about Māoridom, not about gangs. So, perhaps I should ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.
Have you received my reply with the information and links I provided?
Yes, and it was no good.
If you want to ask me a question ask it
I did, but you didn't listen because you didn't want to hear it because you don't want to answer it. Did you really think it was a rhetorical question? Perhaps you realise that you have enough rope to get tangled up in knots or worse. A commenter cannot force another commenter to answer, least of all to answer in a certain way, but a Mod can force some response if there are good grounds for this. You were and still are following the clear signpost to those grounds.
'Did you really think it was a rhetorical question?'
Yes I did.
'So, perhaps I should ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.'
The perhaps makes what could have been a simple question into something ambiguous:
Perhaps you’ll ask me a question or perhaps not.
I thought you were just jumping in with your usual sort of subtlety, like your use of the Spanish Archer, which I first thought was some sort of obscure sexual position (like the reverse cowgirl)
Try this instead:
'So I'll ask you to explain why you put up this diversion.'
That makes basically the same question clear and unambiguous.
So to your question, my response was to Nic the NZers response to Blade.
I thought Nic was over the top in his reply so I replied to Nic with an example that I thought would further expand on Blades point.
I thought my reply was over the top as well, until Blade decided to defend his comments.
The “perhaps” was intended to leave you with a clear choice: either put up or shut up. Maybe that was too subtle for you – I forgot I was dealing with a simpleton.
You decided to run interference with moderation, in which case you may be treated as such and end up in Pre-Moderation too, or you could simply stay out of it – the choice is yours, still, but not for much longer.
Unless you can read Blade’s mind or you are in communication with Brother Blade you were only adding your own reckons, which were not helpful in the slightest.
'Maybe that was too subtle for you – I forgot I was dealing with a simpleton.'
Perhaps you're not as clever as you think you are, perhaps you jump into discussions when you don't need to and perhaps you feel a little inadequate since you're clearly not as experienced as the other moderators and so, perhaps, you feel you need to make up for it in other ways.
Have you tried asking the other moderators for advice?
I know when I've been over my head and out of my depth (like you are now) that asking for advice from other better, more experienced people can be a little hard on the ego but is generally always worth it in the long run.
[You’re now also in Pre-Moderation until you also have finished and completed Blade’s homework in your own words and with your own links – no cheating this time. Same terms and conditions apply as for Blade. Bye now – Incognito]
Mod note
Nope.
Not playing your silly game, no matter what I link to it won't be enough.
[As you wish; you’ve used enough rope to hang yourself out to dry for 3 weeks. Bye – Incognito]
Mod note
Of course he's completely wrong. Blade claimed, "truancy has nothing to do with school attendance". But here is the definition of the word:
I wasn't commenting on the truancy aspect
Yes, you were commenting on the accuracy of the claim that education isn't a high priority for many Maori.
Perhaps your view of Maori has been affected by your professional life?
So what was the point of adding in the truancy if you knew what I posted wasn't about truancy?
I had to re-read that crap, unfortunately. Came to the same conclusion. The comment is completely wrong on all counts.
l'm a Maori. I think that gives me some insight into myself and my fellow Maori.
https://www.cambridgenews.nz/2019/09/alan-duffs-cambridge-conversation/
Quote:
“I also told the Minister that, with all due respect, teaching prison inmates Te Kāinga Maori will not lessen incarceration rates. They are not in prison because they lack Te Kāinga Maori, they are there because of bad parenting. The same applies to white people in jail … again that is largely due to bad parenting, a lack of education and a failure to instil values. That is what I want to get across.''
https://teara.govt.nz/en/riri-traditional-maori-warfare/page-2
Quote:
''Tribal groups might seek to fight others to increase tribal or personal mana.''
''Traditionally the mana or prestige of a tribe and its members was all important. Tribes and their rangatira could increase mana by triumphing over other tribal groups.''
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14442213.2016.1191530
Quote:
In Māori society rugby has come to be viewed as a platform to maintain an indigenous model of masculinity as well as one of the main sites for the achievement of prestige. National and international representations of the Māori man as a rugby player—a present-day version of the Māori warrior
[You’ve got a bonus try for your effort, which fell way short.
As a Māori you know that you do not and cannot speak for all Māoridom – with personal opinions one can only speak for oneself. You made a specific assertions, which you were asked to correct or support, and so far you’ve done much less than half of the task.
I fail to see how Alan Duff’s quote of his personal views on teaching prison inmates Te Kāinga Māori supports your assertions about Māoridom. Ironically, the article starts with Duff’s “desire to use the written word to influence those behind bars to lead better lives”.
Why do simpletons such as you and Puckish Rogue tend to use Māoridom, gangs & crime, and prison population almost synonymously? Are distinctions, nuances, and context too hard for you or are you keener on pushing a certain narrative?
Similarly, the quote about traditional Māori warfare has little bearing on your assertions about present-day Māoridom.
The special status conferred to Māori men playing rugby again doesn’t support your assertions about how Māoridom values and prioritises education.
No more bonus tries after this one – Incognito]
[You didn’t correct or support your assertions about Māoridom, as you were asked to do and I don’t want to waste anymore of my time on this. Take 10 days off and don’t pretend to be a spokesperson for or an expert on Māoridom when you get back because you’re clearly neither – Incognito]
Mod note
I may, or may not, be a simpleton but at least I know how to use perhaps in a sentence clearly and unambiguously.
Unlike you.
Living dangerously, Puck!
I come from a culture where if you dish it out you're expected to take it and if you can't handle it then don't start it.
Nice irony 😀
Every culture has its dark side and blind spots. But I think you’ll find that the dismal statistics for Maori also correlate with relative economic privilege. There is a reason for all the targeted government programmes — as a people they have been subjected to systematic violence by the colonial settler state, and while the rest of us sit around arguing on blogs & sipping cappuccinos, our wealth is based on massive theft from 17% of the population.
Mod note #2
Hmm. It's difficult to tell exactly where the money is going – but it sounds like bureaucracy. I can't conceive that "$11.2m for a positive behaviour and learning programme" is going to achieve much.
If there are behaviour issues (and, according to my teacher friends, these are order-of-magnitude more severe than pre-Covid), then schools need support to deal with these right now – not in 2 years time when the 'programme' has been designed.
What schools actually need is the funding for additional classroom support for these kids – whether that looks like additional teachers in existing classrooms, or small group coaching, or even non-standard classes (if teens are working shelf-stacking [as quoted in the article], then perhaps concentrate on the key NCEA subjects when they're at school – and at least get them the core qualifications – you need NCEA L2 English and Maths for most apprenticeships).
I don't see how developing a programme (which the schools won't have the funding to carry out) – is going to do anything except keep bureaucrats employed.
The PBL program has been around for ages. It was in my daughter's primary school and she's now 20. It's a whole school approach with incentives and rewards for positive behaviour – it does teach some kids to suck-up to the teachers though. With the new funding, it should be able to get into more schools.
It's like most anything a government does (regardless of who is in) and that's throw money at the situation
At best it'll do something positive (rarely), usually no change will happen (but the government can say we've done something) and occasionally it'll make the problem even worse
You're right in what would help the problem, targeted support to those that need it but it needs to start with the vulnerable families while the mother is pregnant not years later at school
I agree with the earlier support — but it has to be AND ALSO rather than pick one or the other.
Absent a time machine, we can't fix the early years of kids now at school. Yes, we need to intervene now to prevent the next tranche arriving with preventable issues – but we also need to work with the kids now in school (or missing from school) and put solutions to those issues in place.
Yeah sorry I wasn't too clear in what I meant.
I mean you can and should do both but rather than have two different programs running concurrently there should be only one program starting before the child is born which older children can be entered into
The more programs you run means more costs and more chances of kids falling through the cracks
Goodness gracious me! This issue has been popping up to the surface every few years since before my offspring began school. Another study and another initiative and more targeted funding and 'special' funding for those groups with 'discrepancies'. And it only gets worse.
How about we chuck all that aside and go and speak with the families living in overcrowded homes, juggling four or five jobs, living from hand to mouth and generally ticking all the 'most at risk' boxes but whose children are attending school and are succeeding?
As always we focus on the causes of failures and not on how many families in similar circumstances make it work for their children.
The first two drivers would be (if we asked them) that these parents realise education is the key to a more secure job and a better future, and these parents genuinely want their children to have a better life than than they had.
"How about we chuck all that aside and go and speak with the families living in overcrowded homes, juggling four or five jobs, living from hand to mouth and generally ticking all the 'most at risk' boxes but whose children are attending school and are succeeding?"
A suggestion that is based on existing solutions, and grassroots perspectives?
Then what'll happen to all the consultants ready to advise?
I'm not saying that they make up a significant number of the 60% absent…but could it be that some of those being counted as truant are actually being home schooled?
More than 10,000 students in New Zealand are now learning from home, but there is growing concern their learning methods aren’t being scrutinised.
But some want the reviews reinstated as applications for home schooling grow.
There have been 5,000 new applications in the last year.
Kaitaia Primary School’s Principal, Brendon Morrissey, says “that’s a big number.”
It is quite possible that some parents do not realise you have to apply to home school and have simply pulled their kids out of mainstream education.
A private Christian school in Mosgiel has quadrupled its roll by offering a mixed model of teaching where home schooled kids are offered 'distance support''.
Homeschool reviews were initially reduced, and then eliminated because in terms of expense vs negative homeschool reviews, the ERO decided it was a budgetary save.
Despite once being a committee member on a National Home Ed organisation, I only ever viewed Home Ed as another choice, as opposed to a universally better one. The approach of families and engagement of children are as diverse as the population. Quite a few with exemptions were not part of any group.
My addition to your sensible suggestion re: truancy.
Make the school experience better. Because if that doesn't change, all that's been achieved is returning a child to where they don't want to be.
How's that help with encouraging a love of learning? Disruption in the classroom to indicate pushback, would be expected at the least.
Make the school experience better.
Okay, granted it was a different time…and technologywise might as well be a different universe…do you think that there might have been certain elements of the 'old' school environment that was more conducive to attending and engaging than today's?
I heard today that a newish school in the Waikato, designed and built to encompass all the very latest in modern learning has removed practically all the non- fiction books from the Library. (Library is deliberately capitalised, as befitting it's importance.) The learners don't need all those dusty dog eared reference books… the world's knowledge is all there on Goggle and Wiki.
Thing is, you ask Goggle or Wiki a specific question and voilla, the answer is delivered instantaneously. The old way, you'd wander down through the rows looking for the book about Space or Deserts and along the way be sidetracked by books about Ancient Civilizations or WWII.
Maybe the Young People have been conditioned to expect everything to be delivered at the push of the enter key or the swipe of a screen. Even the littlies have their iPads. Attention spans are practically non- existent.
Maybe I'm just old.
Many years ago there were Truancy Officers, and from memory for a period there were also Visiting Teachers (both in primary schools; secondary may have had somebody doing some work on truancy). The jobs overlapped to a certain extent; I think the Truancy Officers were eliminated first, then later the Visiting Teachers. Talking to those whose children are already attending would seem to be less important than talking to the parents of children that do not attend.
They're call attendance officers now.
http://www.papamoacollege.school.nz/vdb/document/931
For many years they were called Visiting Teachers, in the 70's and 80's. They visited the homes and helped with problems which were contributing…. Children going with Parents to interpret, for example.
Things going from bad to worse for the Keystone-cops Russian military in Ukraine.
Now their General in charge of the war Gerasimov has been evacuated to Belgorod due to shrapnel injuries from a Ukrainian attack.
According to this twitter thread there was a Ukrainian attack against a meeting of high ranking officers at a Russian command headquarters in the Russian-held area of Izyum in Ukraine. It appears that 20 may have been killed and up to 40 injured.
Not only that, there was just another huge fire in Belgorod. Judging by all the secondary explosions, it looks like it was a weapons depot.
According to this twitter thread and video, helicopters were circling the area 30 minutes prior to the explosion suggesting a VIP was about to arrive. Joining the dots, it seems likely that the Russians were securing the area waiting for Gerasimov to arrive.
So, it looks like the poor guy would have had quite a greeting when he arrived to the sound of a massive explosion at an arms depot in the area.
I guess we all have days like that sometimes….
Here's a succinct look at how his famous Gerasimov Doctrine (all instruments of state deployed carefully and accurately to achieve victory) supports broader strategy within the Russian state:
The Primakov (Not Gerasimov) Doctrine in Action – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Putin needs this guy alive.
Agreed. Not that I feel particularly sorry for him given his past form. Karma is a wonderful thing.
But this horrendous attrition of their top leadership must be becoming very problematic for the Russian war effort. They tend to have a very top down military structure, and those in the lower-down ranks don't have much of a clue what to do.
The Ukrainians must be getting some good intel on the whereabouts of senior officers in Ukraine.
It could be the US intelligence service. Or maybe the Russians are still using unsecured communications despite all the trouble that has caused them so far. Or maybe it is the Russian military themselves feeding info back given that a lot of them don’t particularly like their senior officers and don’t particularly want to be there. Or it could be a combination of all the above.
Yes,the U.S commanders have alot more recent experience in conducting…war.
How long can this war go on?
Both the U.S and Russia seem so determined to….achieve their aims.
How long can this war go on?
For as long as it suits Xi, and not a smidgen longer. Xi can yank Putin's chain anytime. That he's been keeping quiet for so long tells us he likes what's happening. Not a threat to Belt & Road, apparently…
Interesting.
The BRIC countries seem keen on alternatives to the dominance of the $U.S in international commerce,but China does hold alot of U.S paper.
The strengthening of the U.S dollar is a two edged sword.
If the status of the U.S dollar is undermined ,America loses its huge leverage over the rest of the world.
It doesn't give me any sense of optimism for Ukraine though.
If it sets into a war of attrition that will favour Ukraine.
Due to the sanctions, Russia is unable to replace a lot of their military equipment. On the other hand, Ukraine has heaps pouring in from the west.
In a war of attrition, the advantage is to the side that can replace their losses. In this case, it looks very much like Ukraine.
The longer the war continues the more likely is Russia will win it. And there is no mechanism for reflection – or regime change – in the Putin regime.
For example Valery Gerasimov was sent to the Ukraine by Putin last week, and was apparently wounded yesterday by a Ukrainian MLRS strike on the CP (Command Post) of Maj. Gen. Andrei Simonov who was killed in the attack. Siminov was the ninth Russian general to die in this war and was killed near the city of Izyum – the fulcrum of the supposed northern spear head of the Russian Donbas offensive.
As an aside, Siminov was the senior officer commanding all Russia's electronic warfare units and the targeting information for this Ukrainian strike almost certainly came from an U.S. RC-135 "Rivet Joint" signals intelligence surveillance aircraft that has been operating over the Black Sea. Make what you will of how provocative that knowledge must be to the Russians.
The fate of Gerasimov (the closest of Putin confidantes) – fall from favour, disappearance from public view, sent to the front to get things moving or find salvation in death on the battlefield – is in the finest of totalitarian traditions (the fact he was only wounded and has fled the front will have Field Marshal Paulus chuckling in his grave) and should tell us all we need to know about the ability of Russia to find a way out of this war that doesn't involve a bloody victory.
I don't agree.
I think the longer it goes on, the more it favours the Ukrainians. That is because a long war becomes a war of attrition, and a war of attrition favours the side that can replace its losses.
As mentioned in another post, the Russians are having major problems with replacing equipment at the moment. For instance, Russia is having major difficulties with tank production. And a lot of their equipment depends on imported parts which are affected by sanctions.
Ukraine doesn't have this problem with the west committing to supply their military needs for as long as required. For instance, it looks like the US will be committing another $33 billion to Ukraine alone. Plus all the gear coming in from Britain and the rest of Europe.
Most of this isn't even in the field yet. When the Ukrainians are trained on all that, and they are able to get it into the field imagine how much damage they will be able to do to the Russian army compared to what they are doing now. Even as it stands at the moment, Ukraine is giving the Russians a lot of trouble just using the equipment they have. And that is going to get progressively worse for the Russians.
I think that is a reason the Russians attacked a lot earlier than they probably wanted to given the muddy conditions that is confining Russian forces to the road. Ideally, it would suit the Russian armour advantage to be on the open ground that is to their advantage in the Donbas. But that isn't really possible at the moment.
There was the May 9th deadline from Putin. But I think also, the Russians probably rightly concluded that if they held off until conditions favoured them, the Ukrainians would have got a lot stronger by that time.
Excepting of course that Russia could choose deploy weapons that would essentially 'win' the war in a matter of minutes. The longer it drags out the closer we get to that outcome I suspect.
That would be the temptation. However, I believe that NATO have stated that their response to such action would be proportionate, though not not necessarily the same.
So, for instance, NATO might bite the bullet and completely cut gas imports from Russia, which would completely deplete the Russian war effort nearly immediately.
Also, even China might be compelled to condemn such an action, and may not want to be seen giving tacit support to such action.
Also, Ukraine gave up its own nukes on the basis of a security guarantee from the US in case of nuclear attack.
So, there is a bit for Russia to weigh up in deciding whether such action is worth the consequences.
A happy little gathering of nuclear subs in Scotland.
If this isn't sending a not so subtle message to Vlad, I don't what the picnics all about!
Morale must be in the shitter.
Our briefing this week sets out just how rotten the army has been. Russia’s defence budget, of over $250bn at purchasing power, is about three times that of Britain or France, but much of it is squandered or stolen. Mr Putin and his top commanders kept their invasion plans from senior officers, reflecting a crippling lack of trust. Disaffected troops, fed on out-of-date rations, have deserted their vehicles. Units have tortured, raped and murdered only to be honoured by the Kremlin. Russia has failed to win control of the skies or combine air power with tanks, artillery and infantry. Wallowing in corruption, unable to foster initiative or learn from their mistakes, its frustrated generals abandoned advanced military doctrine and fell back on flattening cities and terrorising civilians.
https://archive.ph/JJYWh
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/04/30/how-rotten-is-russias-army
And the Ukrainians still haven't got into service all the good stuff the west is sending so I understand.
So, it looks like they are giving the Russians a hard time with the stuff they are using already. Doesn't bode well for the Russians once all the western heavy artillery etc gets into the field.
Yes the West is sending all the 'good stuff'….they will fight to the last Ukrainian.
Russia has more to lose than just this….conflict.
All they are doing is backing the Ukrainian's own willingness to fight for their country. A bit different to Afghanistan that folded like a pack of cards when the Western military left, despite all the investment there in helping them become self-sufficient militarily.
Seems more likely that Putin is fighting to the last Russian from what I can see. It reminds me of something from "The Walking Dead" where the Russian soldiers are like the zombies that keep coming and keep getting wiped out.
Whether they are going to have enough to win by force of numbers with that strategy seems unlikely given that this is a "special military operation'', not a war, according to the Russians, which limits their ability to call up reservists or launch a major draft. Even if they did that, it is going to take a long time before those forces can be brought into the combat. Also, equipping new forces will be an issue for the Russians given the attrition of their equipment and the difficulties in them replacing it.
So, the Russians are pretty much stuck with what they have got at the moment.
On the other hand, the Ukrainians have no such constraints and are training up as many as possible for the fight.
Afghanistan lasted 20 years and cost $2trillion .
Biden is asking Congress for another 33billion for the Ukraine.
I do wonder if merkins think what good 33billion could do ,regarding all the homeless people in U.S cities.
I guess having a bought and paid for strategic pawn on Russias border is more valuable to the U.S….longterm.
Probably all printed money. There is an endless supply of that.
But, I think the Ukrainians would be fighting with or without international support. They would likely be under a lot more Russian control by now. But they probably would go to more of an insurgency type war.
So, the US and Europe are just backing the Ukrainians in a fight they intend to have any way.
This stuff from the Russians about them fighting NATO or whatever is ridiculous. At the moment it is the might of the Russian army against the might of NATO’s little finger.
All that NATO has given the Ukrainians up until recently is basically some anti-tank and anti-aircraft gear, and some old Soviet stuff that the NATO nations wanted to get rid of for better stuff anyway.
'This stuff from the Russians about them fighting NATO or whatever is ridiculous. At the moment it is the might of the Russian army against the might of NATO’s little finger'
Oh really!You might be interested to know that the U.S.A is a member of NATO…and has a rather large….'finger'.
I did say "at the moment''. But that is certainly starting to change. Hence while Russia is trying to do as much as they can while they have the chance.
'at the moment',the U.S(NATO=member) is up to their eyeballs in it without actually deploying official boots on…the ground.
That they are. But remember, it is not like they are supporting Ukraine to invade Russia. Ukraine never asked to be invaded, and Russia can end this any time they want to by withdrawing.
The Ukrainian's outstanding combat performance will only degrade as their best units are chewed up in attritional positional warfare in the Donbas, whereas for the Russians the only way is up. At some point in the short to medium term a convergence in combat performance will occur. Already reports are the remaining Russian are fighting a lot better. This is why the Ukrainians are desperate for artillery, a type of weapon whose lethality is almost independent of the skill of the infantry. In this sense, the fighting in the Donbas is analogous to most 20th century warfare. For example the Somme in 1916, where the huge losses of Kitcheners ill-trained "new armies" was of less military importance than the destruction of Germany's best pre-war infantry, with Ludendorff lamenting the conversion of the German army into a militia. Subsequent to the Somme as the Allies armies improved the Germans were forced to retreat to the Hindenburg Line & adopt an elastic defense based on concrete and a cadre of elite machines gunners. Or perhaps more relevant the huge losses of the Red army in 1941-42 were of less importance than the massive and irresplaceable attrition of the Germans in the same period. By the time of the post-Kursk counter-offensives the Red Army still wasn't very good but it had killed enough of the very good Germans of 1941 for it not to matter anymore.
Another thing not being covered in the media is the crippling fuel crisis engulfing the Ukrainian army. Don’t be seduced by propaganda, the Russians are not stupid. All Ukrainian refining capacity was destroyed early on in this war and much of the subsequent Russian cruise missile attacks have been on the fuel storage and transport net, particularly railways, which has basically starved the Ukrainians of fuel for their still powerful tank brigades. Almost all imagery of Ukrainian heavy armour I've seen recently is showing it dug in, with probably only enough fuel for emegency use.
All in all, the fate of the Ukraine will probably be decided in the next 2 weeks. If the Russians can't achieve a clean breakthough and surround the Donbas salient – and there is good reason to suppose they lack the combat power for this – then Putin will either declare war on or after the May Day parades and simply use brute force and numbers to overwhelm the Ukraine or someone will have to come up with a face-saving Russian "victory" with a ceasefire along the current battlelines – again if we were to look to history the Finnish defeat in the 1939 Winter war might be a good guideline. I know Zelensky will vehemently oppose any ceding of land but if that is what the US and Russia and China can cook up and the bulk of the Ukraine retains it's independence then that might be what he'll have little choice but to accept.
Here is some nice artillery work by the Ukrainians that may be the attack referred to in my post. But you can see they are very accurate.
I think the Russian artillery are good at attacking civilian cities where they can't really miss. But I think their targeting ability is not as good as the Ukrainians.
Fuel is definitely an issue. But at the moment, the Ukrainians don't need to move around as much as the Russians. The Ukrainians are able to maintain more defensive positions, and Putin has put the onus on the Russians to do the attacking.
But fuel supply is something they definitely will need to solve when they start more counter-offensives. They have a similar problem to the Russians at the start of the war, in terms of long supply lines. They may need to start sending out fuel trucks from Poland or similar.
Also, logistics continue to be a big problem for the Russians. Not only did the Ukrainians take out an arms depot, they have also just taken out several Russian railway bridges essential to supplying the Russian army.
If the Ukrainians are able to, now would be a good time for them to counter attack, while the Russians are low on leadership, and don't want to waste their own ammo and fuel due to their own logistical problems.
Declaring war is an option for Putin to increase the soldiers available, which is a major lack at the moment. But those soldiers aren’t magicked up over night. They have to be trained, equipped, and incorporated into the existing forces.
Given the attrition rate on Russian equipment, and the difficulty of replacing it, this is going to be problematic for Russia, even if a state of war is declared.
And, how much does Russia really want to weaken its armed forces over this conflict? They are just playing into the stated objectives of the US who want a weakened Russia.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61214176
Thre is no indication I have seen that the Ukrainians have sufficient combat power to conduct anything more than local counter-attacks. I think a counter offensive is completely beyond them and anyway, no armoured offensive has had any chance of succeeding if the enemy has air superority since 1940.
The Russians will keep up a methodical, Great War style artillery dominated postional warfare to seize and hold limited objectives ('Artillery conquers, infantry occupies' to quote JFC Fuller) and using western artillery the Ukrainians will then counter-attack. The Russian will suffer hugely going in, and the Ukrainians will suffer hugely throwing them out again. This fighting will be almost exactly like the Western Front in 1917. IMHO, the war in the Ukraine will most likely develop into a version of Passchendaele.
I understand they have quite a good counter-offensive going around Kharkiv at the moment. That may be where the attack on Belgorod came from, as the Ukrainians are quite close to that border. And they are also threatening to cut off Russian supply lines from there.
I understand their counter-attack around Kherson has come to a bit of a halt atm. But, from what I have read, the Russians have had to send a lot more forces back there to hold the ground. So, that removes Russian forces from attacking elsewhere.
From what I have read, it looks like a lot of the Russian battle groups are very undermanned due to losses they have taken and are not really fully functional. For instance, apparently, some of their APCs are going out with only a couple of people in them rather than 8 or whatever the ideal number is.
It sounds like their biggest problem is really not having enough infantry. I think this is in part due to their war strategy and also massive attrition. But it makes it very hard for them to hold ground and go forward. The problem being that, as they go forward, they have to leave troops behind to hold taken ground. This thins their forces out further as they continue to advance.
So, where the Ukrainians have retreated, it often is strategic, going back to strong defensive positions and inviting the Russians to keep coming. Continually attacking defensive positions results in very high attrition, which is what we are seeing at the moment.
The big mistake the Russians made at the start was to attack on too many fronts. So, the Ukrainians don't want to repeat the same mistake, and should focus their counter-attacks where they can have good effect.
No links for the above sorry as it would take ages to find all the stuff I have looked at. As you can see, this is a bit of an obsession for me atm!!
Good comments from both of you. I can well understand how absorbing these events are. To my mind the Ukrainian agony makes so many of the other 'outrage de jour' seem like petty, narcissistic distractions.
Thanks for that Red.
On the point of the fuel shortages for the Ukrainians, one thing they have in their advantage is the use of drone technology. This stuff is a lot more portable, and less fuel intensive than heavy armour. The Russians don't seem to be up with that so much.
Obviously the TB2 Turkish drone that has been well publicised. But also the US switchblade kamakaze drones. And they are also utilising hobby drones and converting them for munitions use. Including using 3D printers to customise tail fins etc so that are fitted to common, cheap munitions they have.
Here is an example of bombs being dropped from a hobby drone. That was a nice effort, dropping the bomb right through a car sunroof. Nothing but net!
Note: Trigger warning. That video does contain real war footage that some may find distressing.
That is no fake trigger warning.
It must be really unsettling as a soldier knowing that sort of thing can happen out of the blue. It must cause the sort of effect on morale that snipers cause.
Apparently they are customising armour-piercing munitions to be dropped from hobby drones on the likes of tanks and APCs. The cost-benefit of that equation is staggering. The cost of the drone plus munition is less than $1000, and they can take out a piece of equipment that might be worth $3/4 of a million or more.
Btw, I put the wrong link into the first link of my first post today.
Here is the link I meant to put in:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10772727/Putins-military-commander-Valery-Gerasimov-wounded-forced-evacuate-war-zone.html
If sea level rise was Labour-Greens' opening panic story to introduce their Zero Carbon strategy, starting a debate about sea walls, insurance stripping away location-specific premiums to zero coverage, the great Westport tombstone, and Canute-like 'heroic' resistance, we should probably expect a related panic theme every week coming out from Shaw and Roberston.
The gist from Newshub's breaking story last night was that it was driven by a new scientific discovery. Neither Shaw nor Robertson seem to do panic. Shaw does pragmatic response (usually too understated) and Robertson does complacent ignorance (I've never noticed him personally addressing the climate crisis).
If they were to collaborate, it'd be a good thing. Watch for any specific climate-change framing in his budget speech, huh? If you can cite it here, I'll applaud. If not, he'll prove me right.
The story was designed as a precursor to the Carbon Zero announcement coming up in a couple of weeks.
The carbon farming in the budget has been well telegraphed for months.
It's the first and last time the Greens will get to shine this term.
The narrative is clear as they rolled out the draft adaption plan first,then a model,then the CC initiatives,then the budget.
Great to see Ngai Tahu focusing the minds of Queenstown Lakes District Council and getting a total pullout of that Councils' opposition to 3 Waters.
Council flips on Three Waters | Otago Daily Times Online News (odt.co.nz)
This follows Dunedin City Council and Central Otago also seeing the light.
Who else is going to crumble?
Seems Ngai Tahu already have an influential governance stake. What pressure will they have put on the council?
They have a lot of levers with Queenstown Lakes. They own much of the Queenstown CBD where QLDC resides. They are a JV partner on a couple of properties with them. They are one of the largest tourism operators in QLDC, in a city that runs on tourism. They are partners in Queenstown and Wanaka Kiwibuild. They are signatories on the NZTA-QLDC roading alliance that rebuilt the town centre and is now building the bypass SH1 road. They will also be one of the largest governance beneficiaries of 3 Waters.
The local government elections are going to be very interesting. I'd expect that, if the Council has moved to supporting 3 waters, the anti-group will be looking to topple them. There's a strong swell of popular opinion against 3 waters (in the way that it's currently been packaged) – which all local body reps will be eyeing with concern….
But then without water, and with less and less say in transport, what power does any local government really hold anymore?
The Nat-proxies may well storm the castle at the local elections to find that it now has only one tall and very thin tower to defend.
The local government kingdom has been lost.
Next the hated colonial central government. No more of that nasty democratic tyranny of the majority anymore.
In 3 Waters there are now so many safeguards against privatisation that they forgot that the 50% iwi ownership is pretty close to privatisation itself.
There's not even a 49-51% split that John Key did for the electricity generator selloff.
While this government clearly sees a rationality in renationalising health and tertiary education, the state is forming a structure for water in which Ministers (and hence voters) get the least possible influence.
I bet if Labour proposed to National that the regional and co-governance model was dumped and they simply set up a nationwide water asset owner, it would go the same was as the National+Labour+Act vote that the Carbon legislation got: enduring Parliamentary mandate.
As it happens this morning I found out an old colleague of mine is working in a leadership role in just this space, and I think I have made it clear I am fully supportive of major water industry consolidation for any number of good technical reasons.
But caucus seems to have conflated it with another agenda altogether that looks for all practical purposes indistinguishable from 'separate development'. And some of us might recall where that led to.
The Natz were not too concerned about the locals when it came to the …. Auckland Supercity.
The touted synergies and savings proved to be ….b/s.
Tru dat. Anyone expecting cheaper water bills after 3 Waters?
The SuperCity was initially Labour’s idea but when National won in 2008 it became the plaything of ACT and Rodney Hide forced through breaking changes in unseemly haste, way outside of the transition plan, and the resulting beast was not what the royal commission envisaged. The RW tried to fuck up Auckland by turning the main council services into corporate CCO’s that mostly ignore democracy. Luckily Aucklanders were wise to the gNats asset-stripping ways and have tried to elect left wing Councillors ever since.
There was a swell of opposition to 3 Waters. That swell is rapidly being reduced, by strategic manoeuverings, to a harmless ripple. There will be no community up-rising to topple councillors who support 3 Waters.
Today and tomorrow there is an electrical generation imbalance,where demand can exceed supply at ant time.
https://nzgb.redspider.co.nz/
So the pop culture wars currently being played out on our screens, books, comics and games are certainly getting interesting.
I get the feeling that the current woke/intersectional/garbage is slowly, but surely, turning.
The BBC, finally, realized that the 13th Doctor (or Doctor Karen if you prefer) was poorly written and was greatly disliked (not because shes a woman but because the scripts were garbage) and so Russel T Davies has returned and we're all now waiting for the death of Doctor Karen and who will be the new Doctor
To bring back the audiences I see no better option than David Tennant and Billie Piper (though I think Christopher Eccleston was best) coming back for a limited run and then handing off to the new Doctor
Batwoman finally cancelled, this show basically epitomised all that was bad about woke culture:
Amazon have made a major boo boo with the Rings of Power, heres a reuploaded clip that Amazon put out of 'superfans' talking about the trailer and then Amazon removed it because of how bad it was received
Comedians and actors are now starting to speak out, Bill Maher has certainly seen which way the wind is blowing.
Disney is haemorrhaging money, Netflix loses over 50 billion and subscriptions for the first time
Get woke go broke is now starting to become mainstream
We've still got a long way to go but at least theres a distant light at the end of the tunnel
However there are still many, many problems and this isn't just a left right issue but a good entertainment issue, heres a list of best picture winners and nominees form today back, have a look at the movies this decade and compare them to previous decades
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture#2020s
Movies from decades past used to be both critically acclaimed and popular with audiences, look at the movies on the list and look at some of the movies that were nominated and didn't win and compare them to today
What that means is movies are going backwards and we're suffering for it.
Christopher Eccleston was great. He is still doing good work – as well as appearing at places like the Manchester Working Class Movement Library.
I think he really did come across like an alien (not that I've met an alien) and while Billies chemistry with David was off the charts Christopher is still the best Doctor
Hopefully hes got his mental illnesses under control because he was really not doing well at all not so long ago
Eccleston was a great way to reboot the franchise but to me, Tennant was the most watchable Doctor, even the canonical Dr Who. He brought humour and zany energy. The downside was an unfortunate tendency to be a foppish nerd and talk a lots of BS rather than take action. I blame the writers for that. Tennant is a great actor
Enjoyed the "BatWoman" trailer — at least they use the word "Woman" simply and clearly. Never watched the show.
As for the Amazon show, it's based on the appendices to LOTR, they don't have rights to the real stories from the Silmarillion or Lost Tales, so it's doomed to be weak. I don't mind a different take on Middle Earth. (The Last Ringbearer by Kirill Yeskov was great). But I am worried that they won't be telling the great stories we hope for.
Different takes are fine, some of those really into the books don't like the movies and thats fine.
The problem is they're using Tolkiens name and leeching off the movies (as much as they can) but also are trying to erase Tolkien as much as possible and rewrite his works for 'todays' audiences
Its almost as if they've forgotten that the books have been translated into over 30 (nearly 40) languages so other cultures seem to be fine with what Tolkien wrote or that the movies made nearly 3 billion dollars world wide (nearly 6 if you count The Hobbit film series)
So people all over the world were happy with the books and happy with the films yet these producers have decided their must be
HobbitsHarfoots, black beardless female dwarves, black elves with short hair, Galadriel must be shown in armour and swinging a sword (because being top three most powerful beings in the third age just isn't enough)You want to make movie or a series with black elves then go for it, beardless dwarves is aok with me
Just don't say its Tolkien
Bezos has reportedly spent a billion dollars (money acquired by notoriously exploiting his workers) trying to get this thing to the screen. Will enjoy the schadenfreude if it fails. And I agree it does look to be a travesty against Tolkien’s vision, because too many millennial writers are making it into their own political ego trip.
But on the other hand, Middle Earth is such an amazing place & I love to see it brought to life.
(Correction: “Unfinished Tales” not “Lost Tales”)
The end times are nigh. The war in the police hierarchy between progressive commanders and fascists has entered the attrition phase. As the numbers turn against him, the police director of the national organised crime group, Greg Williams, wrote in an email that it “makes my head hurt".
He seems to mean the evidence shows no impact on supply and demand – but the words got scrambled in his head and came out wrong.
Intelligence not being there has never been a problem for cops in the past, so looks like radical progress is happening.
Gosh, it's almost as if there's been an outbreak of common sense. No wonder the crime ringleader dude got spooked.
Who would expect a fascist to notice when a feedback process produced a consensus? They don't get training in how to spot a consensus, so can't blame them.
Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick: "the price of a tinny has not been impacted." Word on the street? Part of the hip younger generation, so I guess she gets it. Anyway, price stability is the goal of the RB, neoliberalism, and our parliamentary bipartisan consensus, so it's win/win/win all around. Except for the fascists.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/128504777/police-division-over-controversial-cannabis-operation-revealed
Small question of hyperbole here. "Fascism : a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government." Can you marry this definition of fascism with your depiction of some police commanders as 'fascists' who are still seeing air surveillance of marijuana growing as worthwhile? I get you don't agree but really…. fascist?
Let's keep that word for those to whom it really applies.
Sorry, should be a reply addressed to Dennis Frank at #8.
good post. have had personal experience with a couple of those places, high tides co-inciding with inland rainfall can be devastating, and its getting common. I think that most sea-protection happens where the land is worth more, somewhere there is a correlation between not believing climate change, and demanding that something be done about something you dont believe in, the nth shore springs to mind. there will be neighbourhood valuation groups meeting and discussing what can be done to stop rising waters, and lowering values…
The plot thickens. Is the PM going to break her promise about no wealth tax this term? What about in the future should Labour be re elected?
She wont' say. Maybe because she is set to move on?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/05/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-says-parts-of-nz-s-tax-system-are-unfair-refuses-to-rule-out-wealth-tax.html
David Parker also seems to be chomping at the bit to get stuck into these rich pricks given his utterances on the issue lately.
Bring it on.
See how the choice in the OP is framed between climate or the economy. Not allowed both.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Had you made some decent attempt to explain your thinking and referenced what it is in the post you think frames economy vs climate, I might have let this go. I’ve told you many times now that you don’t understand my position, and I’ve asked you to stop misrepresenting it. In the post I said that Labour should be helping coal mining communities to transition to other livelihoods. That’s the economy and climate action. I’m not willing to have people continually making shit up about what I write so please stay out of my posts for the rest of the month.
Just giving you the chance to keep your arm in.
But having moved this to OM I can now say what I really think. The Greens everywhere have for decades vociferously stifled the one technology that would have prevented this crisis – yet even now when the failure is blatantly obvious – you still cannot tolerate anyone talking about it.
As I said – your OP on the other thread framed the problem as a false choice between coal and the industries on which our economy depends.
Presumably you've seen 2067.
It's very Australian.
(2) CHRONICAL: 2067 Official Trailer (2020) SciFi – YouTube
ooo I like it.
In the post I said that Labour should be helping coal mining communities to transition to other livelihoods.
Without specifying even in the broadest outline how you think this can be done – this is a pretty meaningless claim. My problem with all of these de-power schemes is that while they might look superficially appealing, once you start to dig into the complex energy, material and technology linkages involved in everything you take for granted about the modern world – they start to look less pretty.
You once argued there was no reason why we could not go back to living something like we did in the 1950's. Sure – but there is no reason to think that would be any more a stable state than it was back then. Moreover you would also have to accept that a population of 8b is not going to survive with the food production we had then. No computers, no internet, no medical tech – so many things we take for granted in 2022, are just not possible in a 1950 context.
Nor would I suggest that a second wave feminism would have happened. The opportunity for women to access the workforce in very large numbers was largely possible to the elimination of a lot of physical labour with automation for instance. All of this tech is inter-woven in ways most people do not see – and you generally either get the whole enchilada or none at all. There is not much scope for picking the things you want to have in 1950, like mRNA vaccines, but not computers mining bitcoin.
The point I have made many times – but you refuse to acknowledge – is that technology drives social change. If you deconstruct and regress the technology, the same will likely happen with the social conditions – only in ways you will probably not really like. Indeed if you want to see what would likely happen – consider the lives of the very poorest women on earth, still living in absolute poverty. These people are wonderfully de-powered, yet you would find their living conditions intolerable.
There is of course scope for us to trim excess and waste – and we keep doing this all the time. But the idea we can happily regress backward in time to a previous era that was somehow better and safer is dishonest, unadulterated rose-tint as far as I am concerned.