The block to comments this morning was due to the temp directory getting full. I’d left a bash shell tail the standard’s log, and it was spooling the log output into /tmp as history. I must set the bash to not be on an infinite scroll.
Oops. I think that I j have been talking to the kitten too much – it is catching. Not too dissimilar to moderating bad behaviour here (looks at comment 2). But here I am required to treat possible humans as being human until they display troll behaviours.
I will be restricting what is allowed on this over the weekend.
However, lets see what works (preferably with something relevant to the post or OpenMike) – just add the URL with things that you think we should have on the site. If they don’t have a oEmbed support, I can add it retrospectively if I find them relevant (or I get special pleadings from someone I somewhat respect).
Usual stupidity moderation will apply, in this case I’d add the type of link to my personal ‘probably remove the oEmbed’ and the author of the comment to ‘probably ruled by their genitals’ lists respectively.
If I eventually turn an oEmbed off for comments it will leave the link. So do the usual and explain why you think that other should click on the link.
Pete George @ Your NZ:
“It’s hard to measure whether Kiwiblog is worse than The Standard – abuse at KB is generally worse but it is also more open, there’s a more subtle insidious approach often taken at TS – and it is aided by one sided moderation, and promoted by the master moderator, which arguably reflects more poorly on the blog.”
It’s a conspiracy, Robert. We master moderators have a solemn pact where we let PG comment here just to make his moaning about moderation at TS seem hypocritical. The rest of the commenters are subject to random, anarchic moderation decisions based on a throw of the I ching.
Watch out Pete’s probably writing another post on labour and Chinese names even as we speak…
‘At the Jacinda love blog the labour blackhats haters have once again ripped in again into immigrant and Chinese again as I predicted many time though a humble hobbyist and amiable amateur am I – I’m sure Mr or Mrs I ching is as deeply offended as I am at this and now I await my ban at that filthy jungle full of running dogs and sitting cats.’
Because in everyday life you don’t make a good thing if you put poor, even poisonous, ingredients in it.
And TRP the idea of letting anybody have a go as long as they don’t go against the basic rules supposedly is an example of free speech actually ignores why The Standard is important even vital in my opinion. It is an exchange of thinking peoples ideas
I’m not saying stop just make sure you’re getting what you want from it – imo you do good. Pete is Pete and that cat won’t change. But we also need to know the insidious lies he says to poison the well so if someone can stomach it well good on them.
I think I was bored, Marty. I should have instead, pursued my old habit of learning new words. Here’s a good one: grimalkin
“A grimalkin (also called a greymalkin) is an archaic term for a cat. The term stems from “grey” (the colour) plus “malkin”, an archaic term with several meanings (a cat, a low class woman, a weakling, a mop, or a name derived from a hypocoristic form of the female name Maud.”
Much more fun 🙂
Hey is that an obscure put-downm? Hah! Great word ‘grimalkin’. Thinking about cats – the Cheshire Cat might be a good concept that could indicate a paragraph of opinion within those three words. A sort of code.
Wikipedia says: “One of its distinguishing features is that from time to time its body disappears, the last thing visible being its iconic grin. ” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire_Cat
Just perfect for people who need a ban. Could say, this one deserves the Cheshire Cat treatment!
That would fit into PGs description of TS in 2 above. “It’s hard to measure whether Kiwiblog is worse than The Standard – abuse at KB is generally worse but it is also more open, there’s a more subtle insidious approach often taken at TS
Subtle, insidious, machiavellian. Just the way that the powers that be are working away manipulating our society, and people like PG are useful foot soldiers. Meet them with an understanding of their own methods I say. As long as we try to speak truth and be as open as possible except when facing the twisted.
Humans dislike being bored so much sometimes physical pain is preferable. Experiments around sensory deprivation have shown humans will even inflict pain like an electric shock on themselves (or they will even go to yawnNZ) in an effort to alleviate their boredom.
Some deadbeat subjects will even get so bored they will invent absurd fantasies like: ” I suppose that Marama Davidson is probably going to claim that Santa was a c**t though and claim him/her as being part of her taonga” to amuse themselves.
Take care Robert, stick to reading the dictionary rather than the ramblings of the deranged. 🙂
The difference between electric shocks and yawnNZ is that some people use electric shocks for fun. I can’t see PG’s work inspiring any sexual fetishists.
AND no I don’t suffer from a nail and claw disorder now that I have to have (give myself) very frequent Vitamin B12 injections to stay alive. Nails and claws are in top notch condition. LOL
veutoviper – re-claws (nails and hair too) I met a woman recently who needed to strengthen hers, so drank tea made from horsetail (equisetum) daily for a month and built strong, vigorously-growing locks and nails. She recommended it highly. Yesterday I met a bloke who recommends darkening hair with water in which un-hulled walnuts have been boiled. He too swore by the process.
Interesting, Robert. Good hair and nails are a small inconsequential tangent benefit of my injections, as my body cannot absorb B12 from food through the stomach/gastric system. Addison-Biemers Syndrome aka Pernicious Anaemia (PA) which is a bit of a misnomer as its symptoms/effects are body wide and not just haematological.
Vitamin B12 (In the case of PA – injections) are essential to make good red blood cells which can then transport oxygen around my body to keep my heart, lungs, brain and every other organ functioning and to try to stem the permanent muscular and neurological damage already done which means I can no longer walk far, or do a lot of other things in particular gardening. I have always been a very keen and active gardener (come from a long line of home and professional gardeners) and the inability to do so any more is devastating. Hence my silence to date on your posts on that subject.
(FYI the long line apparently includes three generations of Head Gardeners and gardeners at Kew Gardens London, including when Joseph Banks returned with his NZ plant collection.)
BUT a great benefit (double edged sword?) of the B12 injections is my brain function and memory have improved probably the most of all. IMO these functions are back to what they were probably in my late 30s (and the bloody brain will not stop churning in the middle of the night!)
I could write a thesis on all of this but won’t today – LOL (TG, they all say.)
Jeepers! You’ve got great Garden Cred, veutoviper!
The woman who recommended the horsetail treatment to me had also suffered from anaemia, though she didn’t say pernicious. She was from Baja California and looked Mexican. Great hair and nails!
As someone who canvasses for the Labour party I find the expression of such views useful and in particular the response to them. It gives me a greater understanding of the views out there. Unfortunately a lot of people are influenced by ridiculous anti union and anti labour views promoted by our media. It also takes me out of my bubble which is important when I want to help win elections. I do have a theory though that PG comes here to promote his blog and encourage people to click on it to see what the story is. Perhaps he comes here when his blog is quiet.
I came here recently to address false claims being made by Robert. he seems to feel aggrived that he should abide by reasonable standards of debate like everyone else (not here of course, he seems free to make things up).
Did you notice that it was Robert bringing it up here and linking to Your NZ, not me.
While some people here wonder why I and others bother to read PG’s and other blogs, I totally agree with what you have said re it being useful to know what is being said elsewhere and the reactions to it. As you say, this is needed to be able to put things in perspective and look at things from outside our own bubbles.
I also suspect your last sentence is very close to the truth as to why PG comes here. (see my last para below.)
I was actually adding to my tongue in cheek reply at 2.3.2 when I ran out of editing time, to say that I have been interested in seeing the road the comments have taken on my comment I filed on Open Mike on 1 Jan which lprent then put up as the post called “Discussion on Political Leader PR”.
After making one slightly snide reply (sorry) to someone who commented on that post, I decided to not comment further and just see where the conversation went of its own accord. It has been an interesting exercise, and I am putting together a short summary of my observations as a sort of close off comment.
While my comment started by replying to some assertions PG had made, very few people focused on what my actual comment morphed into as I wrote it which was the different treatment of PR by Ardern to that by Bridges, particularly in relation to their families – other than lprent and one or two others who actually read it in full (thanks Andre) and got the drift. I suspect most did not read it in full, but that’s life.
I may also include a short bit about my observations of the reactions to PG’s comments on his own blog re his discussions/reactions to the thread here – Hint; very few there have taken the bait and responded in detail. Focus there is also now on Kiwiblog where yesterday Farrar finally banned someone for a hideous comment re the PM’s baby. I refuse to say anymore about that but PF has done a post on the whole situation – but has also taken the opportunity to include comparisions of Ts to Kiwiblog.
But I also intended to include a comment similar to yours. That is, PG does put a lot of time and effort into his posts on his blogs and I give him credit for that. Sometimes, he gets a lot of on topic comments, but sometimes he gets very few. At times, it must be a bit soul destroying, and I have wondered more than once, whether he comes here for a different environment and different commenters when he is feeling a little disillusioned with his own blog. Fair enough, but also expect to be challenged.
I also totally agree with what mickysavage says at 2.5 – both in respect to PG and as a general principle in relation to all commenters including myself.
I have a soft spot for Pete. He has a deep respect for freedom of expression. He is tribal conservative but has reached a position where he thinks the centre provides the best result in a goldilocks sort of way.
As long as he does not infringe the basic tenets of the site he is welcome to comment.
“Hours after taking office, Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has launched an assault on environmental and Amazon protections with an executive order transferring the regulation and creation of new indigenous reserves to the agriculture ministry – which is controlled by the powerful agribusiness lobby.
The move sparked outcry from indigenous leaders, who said it threatened their reserves, which make up about 13% of Brazilian territory, and marked a symbolic concession to farming interests at a time when deforestation is rising again.”
Another step well into climate catastrophe IMO. We should have stomped on this type of shit back in the 1990s but the governments have been taken over by business and refused to listen to the science.
Now it’s going to end up being every country for themselves. The nations that won’t be too afflicted by the changing climate can’t afford the influx of refugees from those that will be.
Sounds like he Listens to Happy clappy born agains.
You know the ones who believe in the oncoming apocalypse.
“Silas Malafia, an influential televangelist and close friend of Bolsonaro, said developed countries who centuries ago cut down their own forests should pay if they wanted Brazil to preserve the Amazon.”
There is that interesting link thhat touches on Brazil’s surprisingly small haul from its oil sales. I think Brazil doesn’t have to be paid anything for doing what it should have done when the money was flowing like oi.
Glenn Greenwald shows how the Guardian has become a facade.
Five weeks ago, it published a fake news front page story. It was totally made up.
Its editor has been an ostrich and kept her head in the sand.
The Guardian now displays where its priorities lie – not with the truth and not with the public, . It has become a pillar of the deep state.
Thanks Ed
There have been comments about The Guardian for ages and I can see that there is something there. Pity because the G sounds good. I was thinking of putting payments into their pockets but hey?
What’s going on down in China? How do people think about their system there, how do foreigners get treated? A close look by foreigners who live/have lived there and who know. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNPa8fSXzzAZuT9859GVhg
I don’t know DTB about this. I will have to check and come back with this after I have had some lunch and done some work! It’s really good so i will attend to it later.
Thanks fender.
Draco see link on fender’s comment. It’s about 19 minutes and worth seeing and listening to it all for chatty on site background. Even if you have to halt it and come back to it (hint note how many minutes have gone).
Yeah…disgustingly privileged white people fearing their loss of privileges, one of whom is an angst fulled white South African who thinks he was ‘discriminated’ against in South Africa.
From 9:04 to 10:16: Bemoaning the fact that the Chinese government does not accredit the diplomas of American international schools in China who follow their own curricula. He hates the fact that his kids should attend the local schools.
Can anyone imagine the uproar in NZ say, if there were Chinese established schools teaching entirely in Chinese, teaching Chinese cultural and political perspectives, and these schools expecting to be fully accredited under the NZQA system?
These people are pure FILTH (Failed in London Try Hong Kong) types. China would do well to be rid of such types.
Gardening question for our resident organic gardeners.
My brussel sprout plants are being overrun by aphids or might be cabbage butterfly larvae. The plants are looking really unwell. What is the peraculture solution to this please?
A garlic spray can deter aphids, mites and white butterflies. Try crushing several cloves of garlic, add 1 litre of boiling water, leave to cool, then strain through a sieve. Add 1 teaspoon of soap or detergents to help the spray stick to the leaves.
I am going to try to put this up as a totally neutral comment (with one exception*).
FYI, yesterday David Farrar finally banned someone on his Kiwiblog General Debate post for an absolutely noxious* comment wishing violence to the PM’s daughter.
I am not going to link to that comment or Kiwiblog, or give any more detail.
Today, no General Debate post has been put up on Kiwiblog.
h/t to a commenter on Pete George’s YourNZ blog. (I have checked and there is no GD for today on KB.)
Pete George has done a detailed post on his blog on this banning and his views on comments on Kiwiblog and Farrar’s approach to moderation.
This post and the comments on it can be viewed here.
There are no mentions of The Standard in the post itself but there are some in the comments, primarily by Pete George, with one or two small related replies from others.
FYI, yesterday David Farrar finally banned someone on his Kiwiblog General Debate post for an absolutely noxious* comment wishing violence to the PM’s daughter.
They egg each other on and lose their sense of perspective. Seen fresh from the outside it all looks sick but the players know the nuances and histories of who’s saying what and see it all very differently. I think it suits Farrar to have those things said on his blog; he simply claims he can’t moderate them and thus allowing the harmful claims to see the light of day where a lot of “silent watchers” will see them. It’s an ugly strategy, imo.
Bryan Bruce reflects on knighthoods, questions the hardworking ethic of the new rich and lament the loss of egalitarianism in this country.
As ever, he is spot on.
“While I think it is important to acknowledge people for their contribution to our communities and our country, I do think it’s time we had the discussion again about what Knighthoods and Damehoods signify.
Do we still want to cling to these vestiges of the British Empire or is it time to replace them with our own honours that reflect our now diverse multi-cultural country ?
Your answer to that question, I suspect ,reflects what you think it means to be a New Zealander.
A few days ago I was talking with Liz Gunn on her Drive show on Radio Live when I found myself remembering out loud that one of the things that once marked our National character is that we were an egalitarian country – that we believed “Jack was as good as his master” and that we called no man “Sir”
It’s a charactistic, I regret to say, that is in grave risk of disappearing from the New Zealand psyche.”
I don’t mind giving homage to a man or woman that I deeply respect. Some deserve it. It is who receives this homage that bothers me. I think it should be up to the people to vote.
MEMO: greywarshark
FROM: The Knights of the British Empire
It has been brought to our attention that you have had the gall and temerity to write: “Some deserve it. It is who receives this homage that bothers me. I think it should be up to the people to vote..”
We would like to point out that a Knighthood is the culmination of a lifetime of careful groveling to the powerful and assiduously keeping an eye out for “the main chance.” This process is what the “great unwashed”, i.e., such oiks as yourself, are obliged to call “public service”.
We strongly contest your implication that some Knights and Dames do not deserve their honours.
Respectfully,
Sir Paul Holmes
Sir Thomas Eichelbaum
Sir Jimmy Savile
Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet
Sir Peter Leitch
Sir Jeremiah Mateparae
Sir John Key
Sir William “Double Dipper” English
Sir William Gallagher
Dame Lesley Max
Sir Clive Woodward
Sir Robert Jones
Well Morry i can see some obvious ones in the list that bring to mind that old circular saying that someone is famous for being famous (although having some position in the community and/or wealth would be a requirement.)
Perhaps we should retrospectively duck them in a pond and see if they come up to see who is one of the truly chosen.
And to be really boring I’ll repeat Bad Sir Brian Botany which I guess not everyone has come across, I hope.
“Today, on the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, don’t forget that for years the ENTIRE WORLD has voted at the UN to call for an end to the illegal, crippling US embargo on Cuba.
In 2018, the vote was 189 nations to 2 (USA and Israel).
189. To. 2.”
I would add the words of Morgan Artyukhina that Cuba is “a model for socialism & decolonization in innumerable ways. Real grassroots democracy ensures popular participation in politics everyday-not 1 day every 2-4 years like in capitalist democracies. Its medical system is the envy of the world, based on the local polyclinic.”
Happy 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution! ¡Hasta la victoria siempre!.
Day and night, the screams of tormented women in panic and desperation who cry for God’s mercy fall upon the deaf ears of prison authorities. They are confined to narrow cells with no sunlight called “drawers” that have cement beds, a hole on the ground for their bodily needs, and are infested with a multitude of rodents, roaches, and other insects.
These female prisoners lack all sort of necessary personal possessions and almost always have no water, even for bathing, often drinking this precious liquid full of insects. The food distributed to them is terrible, smells rotten, and is stored in receptacles lacking in hygiene. Even prison officials have complained of the small quantities served.
In these “drawers” the women remain weeks and months. When they scream in terror due to the darkness (blackouts are common) and the heat, they are injected sedatives that keep them half-drugged.
They are supervised by men who personally administer the feminine products they need and who so often open these “drawers” without respecting their privacy.
One female prisoner cried out, “get me out!”, “get me out, I’m suffocating!”, and an official called Marino replied: “stick your nose out through a hole and shut up!”
If anyone in the penitentiary protests out loud, they are taken to assigned punishment cells where they must abide by a ruthless discipline.
That is horrible joe90. I was wondering if Amnesty International has been trying to put pressure on them. I haven’t heard them referred to in the years I have been coming to TS. Does anyone write with them? Perhaps Cuba would be a good place to start.
One of the only nations where the Red Cross is banned fron visiting prisons. Under there rules all of us would get about 17 years in prison for our anti National or anti Labour comments. So hardly a free country.
The health system as commented by ED is free but it’s also not free. Treatment is compulsory with no right of complaint. If the doctor wants to cut your arm off, your arm gets cut off. Some of the high profile political prisoners are Doctors and without free speech we actually have no way of knowing how good the system actually is. We very rarely hear about its errors or failings. Life expectancy figures shows it’s pretty good. Born today 78.8 years male: 76.5 years female. Not sure why women die younger. Maybe with less economic pressure etc on men unlike our society things are better for men. Plus they have regulated shared care so don’t have the ridiculous male suicide rate we get from our fault divorce, gynocentric family court scam.
Okay Cuba isn’t paradise. I’ll write it off my list of drawcards for my next overseas holiday, though if they are poor they might welcome me. Howecver I had better have super health insurance by the sounds of it. Probably a picture for much of the world.
I read many reviews on climate change. After spending an afternoon in the garden, whilst in the bathroom spotting a few exposed areas that missed out on suntan lotion, gave thought to how strong the sun is and the absence of comment regarding the ozone. NZ may “benefit” from a change in climate, yet we face hash consequences from the loss in ozone. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/06/ozone-layer-not-recovering-over-populated-areas-scientists-warn
Hitchens jumped, suddenly and inexplicably, on to the doomed ship of neocon fools after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Even more foolish than that mad choice was his crazed attack shortly after on, of all people, Noam Chomsky. Interviewed by Kim Hill on National Radio in early 2002, Chomsky memorably wrote Hitchens off as “incoherent.”
In October 2014, this writer, i.e. moi, wrote that Hitchens was:
a supremely gifted writer, who ended up being regarded by most people as a courtier, a crawler and a callous, unapologetic liar. In his risible final book, he spends several pages enviously detailing how wonderfully urbane his friend Martin Amis was in the company of the young women at a Manhattan brothel they were visiting. He also indulges in a ridiculous attack on Noam Chomsky, and calls the democratically elected Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez a “dictator”.
George Galloway, who memorably humiliated him in 2005 in New York City, was dead right when he said that Hitchens had transformed himself from a butterfly into a slug.
I never could fathom why he turned from the brightest of lights to a slavish defender of the neocon wars of conquest.
That debate between Galloway and Hitchens is memorable.
In it George said of Hitchens,”What you have witnessed is something unique in natural history – the first ever metamorphosis of a butterfly back into a slug.”
If that didn’t quite signal the full animosity he meant to convey, he extended the image: “The one thing a slug leaves behind it is a trail of slime.”
This could result in a few murders or even a war. OK there’s been a few murders already but the dreaded, often predicted water wars.
Egyptians population growth is out of control with population set to double over the next 50 years. They are already facing an immediate fresh water crisis, power crisis so unless they get there act together things will get nasty.
Then there is this bold move by Ethiopia. Yes Ethiopia.
Explian how that worthless comment matters to the dam? The article is News far more than opinion so deal with it.
I’ll quote who I like. Most if not all your fixations on media is irrational. All of us realise that media, no matter who it is, are pushing one eyed wheelbarrows.
The recent comments by the former female editor of the NY Times is a good example of bias. The NY Times being blatantly anti Trump, driven by click bait and graduates out of the lefty indoctrinated universities. Same in NZ.
@Lprent – for your notes, auto-embed worked and then it disappeared when I edited the text. Oh, and now it’s back even though the edit window is still open.
Ed
She does have the right to consider Corbyn unsatisfactory. Why don’t you think of some things to ask your next local government candidates as on Matthew’s post?
She does not have the right to recycle vicious lies, however.
Yes, yes, she’s made a career out of penning fantasies, but she’s foolishly signed up to repeat the sad and stupid fantasies of Yenta Hodge, Rudolf Giuliani, Alan Shredowitz, Binyamin Netanyahoo, et al.
As we see every day with that loon in the White House, money can’t undo the stupid.
Rowling; influenced by socialist writer Mitford, a well heeled supporter of multiple causes including ending child poverty, single parents, the welfare of child mental health patients, Médecins Sans Frontières, human rights, refugees, and a long time supporter and donor to UK Labour.
Ed, an ahistoric, poe-faced malcontent with a boner for war criminals and corrupt, authoritarian thugs.
Your really don’t get it do you.
Your source Norman? Links to Twitter, that longs further into Twitter. Why not direct to the Rowling comment.
A Rowling comment.
“I chose to remain a domiciled taxpayer for a couple of reasons. The main one was that I wanted my children to grow up where I grew up, to have proper roots in a culture as old and magnificent as Britain’s; to be citizens, with everything that implies, of a real country, not free-floating ex-pats, living in the limbo of some tax haven and associating only with the children of similarly greedy tax exiles.
A second reason, however, was that I am indebted to the British welfare state; the very one that Mr Cameron would like to replace with charity handouts. When my life hit rock bottom, that safety net, threadbare though it had become under John Major’s Government, was there to break the fall. I cannot help feeling, therefore, that it would have been contemptible to scarper for the West Indies at the first sniff of a seven-figure royalty cheque. This, if you like, is my notion of patriotism. On the available evidence, I suspect that it is Lord Ashcroft’s idea of being a mug”
The top tax rate is 45% and she has earnt at least 650million pounds. You want her to pay more? Other people’s money eh.
You’re such a little cheer germ aren’t you Ed. Always something overseas, or here, to pass judgment on. Find us one good piece of news a day will you, and not about kittens please. Lprent is covering that.
Just curious, has Mort been verbed yet? As in, “What happened to my sandals?” “Oh, they just got Morted.” or “Where’s the kitten?” “He’s busy Morting your cables.”
You should read her repulsive tweets about Corbyn.
Yeah, how dare a woman draw attention to his spinless incompetence and refusal to listen to his party’s members that’s giving the Tories licence to pursue their Brexit plan with no political opposition.
/
Three-quarters of Labour party members want a second EU referendum, according to a new poll.
Research by YouGov on behalf of Queen Mary University and Sussex University found that 72% want another poll to be carried out, compared to just 18% who do not.
The poll of 1,034 Labour members also showed that 88% of them would vote to stay in the EU if another referendum took place.
‘A former All Blacks manager and national rugby president has claimed a Polynesian star was robbed of a match appearance because the tour bosses couldn’t spell his name.
The outrageous revelation was made by West Coast rugby identity John Sturgeon, and brought howls of laughter from a Greymouth audience.’
It was a superb example of ineffective management though. What a dumbie, and couldn’t the office workers get their information correct? Was there a legal side, where you are expected to have names correct? It’s not necessarily racism, it’s slackism.
Does anyone know why Music 101 and Alex Behan have been dropped from Radionz?
And going back why did Simon Mercep get put off? He’d hardly got started.
Everyone is having trouble fronting up to the waste problem. The authorities don’t take control – in this case the workers are losing out as well as those trying to run a difficult business. This in Scotland.
But Indians are generating more waste than ever as processed food takes over kitchens, cheap electronics fly off the rack, and home delivery apps fill up phones. And a deep-rooted sense of thrift (the same one that has fuelled India’s famous “jugaad” or cheap innovation)
Interesting 2019 predictions from Bomber Bradbury.
I agree with someof them…. I don’t see the establishment being shaken out of its complacency to climate change, I am hopeful Jeremy Corbyn will lead a Lexit.
Interesting thoughts from Martin.
Thought provoking.
The Western Australia has got there future on the correct path renewable enery is going to power our future ka pai
Renewable energy
New lithium hydroxide factory in Western Australia wins federal approval
Plant set to boost local jobs and supply growing global demand for lithium, which is used in renewable energy storage Earthworks for a new lithium hydroxide factory in Western Australia are expected to begin this month after the $1bn project received federal environmental approval.
The plant owned by the world’s largest lithium producer, the US chemical company Albemarle, was approved by the WA government in October and is estimated to create up to 500 jobs in construction, with another 100 to 500 operational jobs once it is operational.
Australia’s trade minister, Simon Birmingham, said the plant would provide a much-needed local jobs boost and supply a growing global demand for lithium, which is used in renewable energy storage.The company has been ordered to identify a new breeding and foraging habitat for WA’s three threatened black cockatoo species – Carnaby’s cockatoo, Forest red-tailed cockatoo, and Baudin’s black cockatoo – to offset habitat lost by clearing the 89ha plant site, including 54ha of coastal plain vegetation that is home to a number of threatened native orchids.
The director of the Conservation Council of Western Australia, Piers Verstegen, said the environmental impacts of the project were “manageable” Ka kite ano links below P.S I know wild whenua will be ruined but its will counter by limiting carbon being burnt
‘Momentum is growing’: reasons to be hopeful about the environment in 2019
As we reflect on a year of extreme weather and ominous climate talks, Guardian environment writer Fiona Harvey explains why 2019 could see some much-needed breakthroughs E
xtreme weather hit the headlines throughout 2018, from the heatwave across much of the northern hemisphere, which saw unprecedented wildfires in Sweden, drought in the UK and devastating wildfires in the US, to floods in India and typhoons in south-east Asia.
According to the World Meteorological Organisation, last year was the fourth hottest on record and confirms a trend of rising temperatures that is a clear signal that we are having an effect on the climate. Droughts, floods, fiercer storms and heatwaves, as well as sea level rises, are all expected to increase markedly as a result.
Late in the year there was also the starkest warning yet from scientists of what our future will be if we allow climate change to take hold. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global body of the world’s leading climate scientists, which has been producing regular reports on the state of climate science since 1988, produced its latest comprehensive overview examining what the future will look like if we undergo 1.5C (2.7F) of warming. That does not sound like a lot – most people would be hard put to notice a temperature difference of 1.5C – but in climate terms, 1.5C above pre-industrial levels is enough to take us into the danger zone. It would see the mass die-off of coral reefs, the extinction of some species, rising sea levels, wet areas of the world becoming wetter and dry areas drier, and the decline of agricultural productivity across swaths of the globe Ka kite ano links below.
Its cheaper and more intelligent to prevent making a mess of our lakes and awa rivers. Change to organic farming the tourist boom was predicted by national so why was there no intro structure money invested in the places were they new the tourist booms would take place well ask simon. We need to get the toilets and sewage systems up to a standard to handle the tourist.
The end is nigh for our lakes
Queenstown and Wanaka are New Zealand’s poster children, Instagram worthy and renowned around the world – always with our ostensibly ‘pristine’ lakes in the foreground.
The appearance belies the reality – our Southern-Lakes waterways are in danger and no-one is talking loudly enough about it. It’s not bad all the time, and for some, that’s enough leeway to ignore the problem.
There’s a map, on the Ministry of the Environment’s webpage that shows the real-time, most recently recorded water quality for every large lake and river in the country. The colour coding goes from red being ‘poor’ to blue being ‘excellent’.
If you look closely enough, there’s a trend, the red dots are creeping their way upstream, multiplying, coming ever-closer to the source. Our waterways are dying.
Water quality is a weathervane, it signals changes on the horizon. Those changes are occurring at a rapid rate. The Southern-Lakes is home to New Zealand’s fastest growing population, increasing annually at around 8 percent – a lot when compared with Auckland’s 2 percent.
We have over 3 million visitors a year, and that number is multiplying with airport expansions and draft tourism strategies tabled that forecast five million visitors in the not too distant future. Our water quality is in danger across the district – not only big bodies of water under regional council control but also drinking water and stormwater under local district council control. The infrastructure is under too much pressure – from development runoff, stormwater provisions, sewage treatment
E. Coli, cyanobacteria, Lake Snot, these are all terms that have become part of our everyday vocabulary. We have begun to expect days in summer where the quality is so bad as to be unswimmable rather than being shocked by it. That desensitisation leads to a slippery slope of acceptance.
The only response to anything less than pristine and excellent condition of our waterways should be outrage. Foot-stamping, loud, vocal, in-your-face outrage. There’s a crisis afoot, not just brewing, and we need our authorities to recognise it.
Just because water looks clear doesn’t mean it isn’t contaminated. So where’s the problem? What is causing it? And most importantly, what can we do about it?
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Te kaea one has to keep a eye on the weather when diving there are a few people drowning While diving.
Ngati porou pa wars is going strong I seen a couple of faces I know.
Feed the need is a good idear feeding the children with no lunches at school.
Ka pai Te whano apunui has a wakama team for there tamariki.
It’s cool to see way wine boxing getting some media coverage.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub some people need to learn how to forgive the American hip-hop 2 different groups from the USA fight in Aotearoa no way to be a role model for the tamariki.
I wonder if he knows that he has bitten off more than he can chew trump that is .
Let’s hope there is not any lives lost or to much damage in the Tasmanian Bush fires.
Ka pai to all the new Democrats members of the American Representative of The House.
It was a sad loss the Rugby league Fai drowning trying to save a m8.
Congratulations to China for landing a spacecraft’s on the far side of the Marama.
I seen a show were a lady could detect some dease just buy smell to .
It will be a great way to diagnose cancers from someone’s breath that will save a lot of lives. Ka kite ano
Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
The Facts has posted – KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
Voters are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris Hipkins’ valiant rearguard action. So where are they heading? Clearly not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that the outcome will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a few weeks ago was ...
Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out.Graham Adams writes – With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR:National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.Brian Easton writes – Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR:Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...
A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 17, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 23, 2023. Story of the Week Opinion: Let’s free ourselves from the story of economic growth A relentless focus on economic growth has ushered in ...
Have you been looking out of your window for signs of the apocalypse? Don’t worry, you haven’t been door knocked by a representative of the Brian Tamaki party. They’re probably a bit busy this morning spruiking salvation, or getting ready to march on our parliament, which is closed. No, I’ve ...
Climate Town is the YouTube channel of Rollie Williams and a ragtag team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians. They examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you. The latest ...
A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was similar to the May Budget BEFU, ...
Back in June, we learned that Kiri Allan was a Parliamentary bully. And now there's another one: Labour MP Shanan Halbert: The Labour Party was alerted to concerns about [Halbert's] alleged behaviour a year ago but because staffers wanted to remain anonymous, no formal process was undertaken [...] The ...
Its that time in the election season where the status quo parties are busy accusing each other of having fiscal holes in a desperate effort to appear more "responsible" (but not, you understand, by promising to tax wealth or land to give the government the revenue it needs to do ...
JERRY COYNE writes – If you want to see what the government of New Zealand is up to with respect to science education, you can’t do better than listening to this video/slideshow by two exponents of the “we-need-two-knowledge-systems” view. I’ve gotten a lot of scary stuff from Kiwi ...
Buzz from the Beehive First, we were treated to the news (from Finance Minister Grant Robertson) that the economy has turned a corner and New Zealand never was in recession. This was triggered by statistics which showed the economy expanded 0.9 per cent in the June quarter, twice as much as ...
It has taken 17 months to get a comment published pointing out the obvious errors in the Scafetta (2022) paper in GRL. Back in March 2022, Nicola Scafetta published a short paper in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) purporting to show through ‘advanced’ means that ‘all models with ECS > ...
TL;DR: In the middle of a climate emergency and in a city prone to earthquakes, Victoria University of Wellington announced yesterday it would stop teaching geophysics, geographic information science and physical geography to save $22 million a year and repay debt. Climate change damage in Aotearoa this year is already ...
For nearly thirty years the pundits have been telling the minor parties that they must be good little puppies and let the big dogs decide. The parties with a plurality of the votes cast must be allowed to govern – even if that means ignoring the ...
Another poll, another 27 for Labour. It was July the last time one of the reputable TV company polls had Labour's poll percentage starting with a three, so the limbo question is now being asked: how low can you go?It seems such an unlikely question because this doesn't feel like the kind ...
After the trench warfare of Tuesday night, when the two major parties went head to head, last night was the turn of the minor parties. Hosts Newshub termed it “thePowerbrokers' Debate”.Based on the latest polls the four parties taking part - ACT, the Greens, New Zealand First, and Te ...
Hi,You can’t make this stuff up.People involved with Sound of Freedom, the QAnon-infused movie about anti-child trafficker Tim Ballard, are dropping like flies. I won’t ruin your day by describing it here, but Vice reports that footage has emerged of executive producer Paul Hutchinson being inappropriate with a 16-year-old trafficking ...
The trading banks yesterday concluded that though GDP figures released yesterday show the economy is not in recession, it may well soon be. Nevertheless, the fact that GDP has gone up 0.8 per cent in the latest quarter and that StatsNZ revised the previous quarter’s figure to show a ...
.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..A recent political opinion poll (20 September) on TV1 presented what could only be called bleak news for the Left Bloc:National: 37%, down two points equating to 46 seatsLabour: 27%, down one point (34 ...
Open access notables At our roots Skeptical Science is about cognition of the results of climate science research in the minds of the entire human population. Ideally we'd be perfectly communicating understanding of Earth's climate, and perfectly understood. We can only approximate that, but hopefully converging closer to perfection. With ...
Coming Over The Top: Rory Stewart's memoir, Politics On The Edge, lays bare the dangerous inadequacies of the Western World's current political model.VERY FEW NEW ZEALANDERS will have heard of Rory Stewart. Those with a keen eye for the absurdities of politics may recognise the name as that of the ...
A bit of a narrative has been building that these two guys, your Chris and your Chris, are not so very different.It's true to a point. The bread and butter timidity has been dispiriting to watch, if you have a progressive disposition. It does leave the two of them relatively ...
Richard Prebble writes – There was a knockout winner of the Leaders’ debate. Check for yourself. Recall how they looked. If you cannot remember or missed it, the debate is on TVNZ’s website. Turn off the sound and ask: “Which one looks like a Prime Minister?” ...
Just like National when it was in government, Labour bought nominal GDP growth and momentum by pulling as hard as it could on the population lever. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR:Stats NZ has reported better-than-expected GDP growth in the June quarter, thanks largely to record-high net migration of ...
We already know that the National Party are de facto climate change deniers who want to reverse virtually all climate change policy. So how do they think they'll cut emissions? According to their climate change spokesperson, polluting corporations will do it out of the goodness of their hearts: The ...
Dairy farmers, or at least those who are also shareholders in the Fonterra dairy co-operative would have received a second dose of good news this week, when the dairy giant reported a massive profit jump. This followed news of a better sale at the Fonterra GDT auction this week. Net ...
A longtime New Zealand broadcaster and commentator is taking a theatrical turn in advance of the General Election to draw different kinds of attention to the issues New Zealanders will be voting on in October.In a pre-election event that invites audiences to consider New Zealand politics through a theatrical lens ...
Our busy ministers – desperately busy trying to whip up voters’ support as their poll support sags, among other things – have added just one item of news to the government’s official website over the past 24 hours or so. It’s the news that the Government has accepted the Environment ...
On Monday, we learned that Queenstown, one of the country's largest tourist destinations, suddenly had to boil its water to avoid cryptosporidium. Now, it looks like it will last for months. Why? The usual reason: they'd been keeping rates low: Queenstown could face months of having to boil water ...
This week’s ONE News-Verian poll had the National/ACT coalition teetering on the edge of being able to govern alone while – just as precariously – having its legislative agenda vulnerable to a potential veto by Winston Peters in the House. So close, but so perilous. During the run-up to election ...
National Leader Christopher Luxon likes to bag the way the Resource Management Act worked. Though it has been repealed and replaced by the Labour government, Luxon plans, before Christmas, to repeal the new legislation and, for the foreseeable future, revert to the old Act that he has consistently criticised. ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. Over a year later, its climate provisions remain a hot topic. The law’s proponents argue that it’s created a boom in domestic manufacturing jobs within the United States while paving ...
New Zealand’s dairy farmers will be relieved that prices rose for the second time this month at the latest Fonterra GDT auction. The encouraging feature of the sale was the activity of Chinese buyers who drove up prices. As a result, the GDT price index rose 4.6%, helped by a 4.6% lift ...
Here is a review of last night’s Democracy McNuggets debate, delivered in the style of last night's Democracy McNuggets debate.McNugget #1This format was very advantageous for the man who speaks in lazy SLAM DUNK.To hark back a few editions: The lazy SLAM DUNK doesn’t bother to make its case. It simply offers ...
Unfortunately I will need to take a bit of time off from this blog. After months of misdiagnoses and a change in GPs, my precious son is in Starship Hospital about to have major surgery. He already has had one … Continue reading → ...
Buzz from the BeehiveSource: ANZ The latest balance of payments statistics – providing a broad measure of what the country earns and spends internationally – gave grist to Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s publicity mill today. The current account deficit narrowed to 7.5 per cent of ...
Can This Be Possible? For nearly thirty years the pundits have been telling the minor parties that they must be good little puppies and let the big dogs decide. The parties with a plurality of the votes cast must be allowed to govern – even if that means ignoring the ...
Since we began worrying about climate change, the market fundamentalists have pushed the idea of "offsets" rather than actual emissions reductions. There's just one atmosphere after all, so in theory it doesn't matter where the reductions are made, so you can just pay someone on the other side of the ...
Ministers are pretending the former PM has simply vanished.Graham Adams writes – Late last week, Tova O’Brien asked Grant Robertson on her Stuff podcast if Jacinda Ardern should be “rolled out” to “galvanise the base” to help save Labour’s faltering campaign. Robertson laughed. ”I’m sure for ...
Owners of property deemed at risk from climate change related floods and rising sea levels will increasingly find their access to affordable insurance shut off. Some may become ‘prisoners’ in their uninsurable and therefore unbankable homes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR:IAG, which insures more than 60% of homes ...
Labour’s fiscal plan will continue its focus on carefully managing the books while protecting critical public services like health and education and investing to deliver high wage jobs and a low carbon economy. ...
The Green Party will double the Best Start payment and make it available for every child under three years of age - and it will be paid for with a fair tax system. ...
Labour will fund more medicines for more New Zealanders by investing over $1 billion of new funding into Pharmac if re-elected, Chris Hipkins announced today. ...
New Zealand faces a stark choice this election – vote for Labour to continue to confront the climate emergency with eyes wide open or bury your head in the sand alongside Christopher Luxon. ...
Labour is supercharging its plan to solve the public housing shortfall created by National, promising another 6,000 homes on top of what has already been committed says Labour Housing spokesperson Dr Megan Woods. ...
Labour will back migrant working families by introducing a 10-year multiple-entry parents’ and grandparents’ Super Visa, and make good on the Dawn Raids apology by providing a one-off visa for overstayers who have been in the country ten years or more, Labour’s Immigration Spokesperson Andrew Little says. ...
The Green Party is today welcoming Labour coming to the table to ensure an amnesty for overstayers, but only the Greens will ensure immigration settings actually reflect the reality of people who have been failed by our immigration system. ...
The Green Party is calling on Auckland Council to do more to protect urban trees and housing developer Aedifice Property Group to restore and replant the native forest it cleared, and protect all the remaining trees on Ngahere Road in Pukekohe after a significant number of native trees were cut ...
Latest Police data shows monthly ram raids have hit a two-year low, laying waste to Christopher Luxon’s false claim that there are two ram raids a day says Labour’s Police Spokesperson Ginny Andersen. ...
Free and healthy school lunches will be here to stay if Labour is re-elected, guaranteeing food for our kids who need it most and significant cost saving for parents. ...
The next Labour Government will build a new hospital in Hawke’s Bay, Labour leader Chris Hipkins and Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall announced. ...
The Green Party will keep up the fight to support exploited migrant workers, including pushing to end single employer visas, after the government picked up Green recommendations to improve immigration settings. ...
Green Party co leader James Shaw visited a home in Auckland today that has been upgraded with a wide range of energy improvements, similar to those that would be supported through the Green Party’s Clean Power Payment. ...
The Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s presence in New York today at the United Nations General Assembly is a contempt of New Zealand’s “caretaker government” convention. Despite the long-standing caretaker convention, Minister Mahuta is today at the UN to sign a highly contentious “Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement”, delivering a ...
The Pre-Election Fiscal Update Changes EverythingWithin an hour of this speech there is going to be a debate between the political parties that the media, under MMP, still think are the only parties that matter in this campaign. Both of those parties are riddled with inexperience, as evidenced by ...
National and ACT's tax plans don't add up, and that means deep cuts to the public services New Zealanders rely on, says Labour Campaign Chair Megan Woods. ...
Thank you for your invitation to speak with you this afternoon about New Zealand Foreign Policy. After offering one or two general thoughts about the nature of foreign policy, the focus today will be the Pacific Reset and why its goals remain even more important today as when they were ...
National’s plan to cut policies that are reducing New Zealand’s climate emissions will result in a huge gap in the country’s emissions budgets and could see Kiwis paying significantly more at the petrol pump as a result of Christopher Luxon hiking the ETS price. ...
Labour’s plan to support rooftop solar is a step in the right direction, but falls short of what could be achieved through the Green Party’s Clean Power Payment. ...
Labour will double the number of houses with rooftop solar in New Zealand, lowering household power bills, reducing emissions and boosting renewable electricity generation. ...
A re-elected Labour Government will continue its proud tradition of advancing women’s health, employment, and legal rights Spokesperson for Women Jan Tinetti said. ...
Speaking at the E Tū Election Launch in Auckland today, Green Party co leader Marama Davidson outlined the Green Party’s manifesto commitment to ensure everyone has five weeks of annual leave. ...
A re-elected Labour Government will protect hard-fought workers’ rights and keep the momentum on wage growth to lift incomes for all New Zealanders, leader Chris Hipkins announced today. ...
New Zealand First is proud to announce the Party List for the upcoming 2023 General Election. We have had a great number of applicants and potential candidates moving through the selection process over the past few months. Our final selection for our list proves we have a wide range ...
Massive cuts to public service are on the cards as Nicola Willis has promised to resign if she doesn’t deliver tax cuts but is refusing to make the same commitment if she doesn’t raise enough income from her bungled foreign buyer’s tax. ...
Labour will help more victims of crime achieve justice faster by introducing a formal class-action regime, modernising consent laws and increasing the use of technology to speed up hearings. ...
Labour will deliver the largest ever increase to the number of doctors trained each year, adding an additional 335 doctors a year to our health workforce from 2027, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins has announced. ...
Today’s PREFU has some alarming statistics showing an economy deteriorating and the cost of unaffordable government expenditure, mainly in the 2022 and 2023 budgets. Despite this alarming economic and fiscal picture, political parties are making unaffordable promises, talking about a surplus by 2027, or four years time, all of which ...
If re-elected Labour will make cervical screening services free to all women and people with a cervix aged 25 – 69 years, delivering better cancer care for over 1.4 million New Zealanders. ...
Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
Judicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...
Tangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...
40 solar energy systems on community buildings in regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events Virtual capability-building hub to support community organisations get projects off the ground Boost for community-level renewable energy projects across the country At least 40 community buildings used to support the emergency response ...
The lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...
Susie Houghton of Auckland has been appointed as a new District Court Judge, to serve on the Family Court, Attorney-General David Parker said today. Judge Houghton has acted as a lawyer for child for more than 20 years. She has acted on matters relating to the Hague Convention, an international ...
The Government has today confirmed $2.5 million to fund a replace and upgrade a stopbank to protect the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant. “As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, the original stopbank protecting the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant was destroyed. The plant was operational within 6 weeks of the ...
Another $2.1 million to boost capacity to deal with waste left in Cyclone Gabrielle’s wake. Funds for Hastings District Council, Phoenix Contracting and Hog Fuel NZ to increase local waste-processing infrastructure. The Government is beefing up Hawke’s Bay’s Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up capacity with more support dealing with the massive amount ...
The future of Supercars events in New Zealand has been secured with new Government support. The Government is getting engines started through the Major Events Fund, a special fund to support high profile events in New Zealand that provide long-term economic, social and cultural benefits. “The Repco Supercars Championship is ...
The economy has turned a corner with confirmation today New Zealand never was in recession and stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. “The New Zealand economy is doing better than expected,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s continuing to grow, with the latest figures showing ...
The Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known as Pupū Springs), Environment Minister David Parker announced today. “Te Waikoropupū Springs, near Takaka in Golden Bay, have the second clearest water in New Zealand after ...
Temporary package of funding for accommodation and essential living support for victims of migrant exploitation Exploited migrant workers able to apply for a further Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa (MEPV), giving people more time to find a job Free job search assistance to get people back into work Use of 90-day ...
An export boost is supporting New Zealand’s economy to grow, adding to signs that the economy has turned a corner and is on a stronger footing as we rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle and lock in the benefits of multiple new trade deals, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “The economy is ...
The Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. More than half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there. “Te Karaka was badly hit during Cyclone Gabrielle when the Waipāoa River ...
The Government is helping businesses recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and attract more people back into their regions. “Cyclone Gabrielle has caused considerable damage across North Island regions with impacts continuing to be felt by businesses and communities,” Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Building on our earlier business support, this ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has turned the first sod to start construction of a new Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) at Burnham Military Camp today. “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our Defence Force to better maintain and repair equipment,” Andrew Little said. “This Government ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will represent New Zealand at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week, before visiting Washington DC for further Pacific focussed meetings. Nanaia Mahuta will be in New York from Wednesday 20 September, and will participate in UNGA leaders ...
Around 1,700 Te Whatu Ora employed midwives and maternity care assistants will soon vote on a proposed pay equity settlement agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO), Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “Addressing historical pay ...
Aotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...
The Government is investing over $22 million across 18 projects to improve the resilience of roads in the West Coast that have been affected by recent extreme weather, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. A dedicated Transport Resilience Fund has been established for early preventative works to protect the state ...
The Government has today confirmed a $2 million grant towards the regeneration of Greymouth’s CBD with construction of a new two-level commercial and public facility. “It will include a visitor facility centred around a new library. Additionally, it will include retail outlets on the ground floor, and both outdoor and ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in Suva, Fiji alongside New Zealand’s regional counterparts. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply committed to working with our pacific whanau to strengthen our cooperation, and share ways to combat the challenges facing the Blue Pacific Continent,” ...
Economy to grow 2.6 percent on average over forecast period Treasury not forecasting a recession Inflation to return to the 1-3 percent target band next year Wages set to grow 4.8 percent a year over forecast period Unemployment to peak below the long-term average Fiscal Rules met - Net debt ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall proudly opened the Canterbury Cancer Centre in Christchurch today. The new facility is the first of its kind and was built with $6.5 million of funding from the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group scheme for shovel-ready projects allocated in 2020. ...
$12 million to improve the resilience of roads in the Nelson, Marlborough and Tasman regions Hope Bypass earmarked in draft Government Policy Statement on land transport $127 million invested in the top of the south’s roads since flooding in 2021 and 2022 The Government is investing over $12 million to ...
Ko tēnei te wiki e whakanui ana i tō tātou reo rangatira. Ko te wā tuku reo Māori, e whakanuia tahitia ai te reo ahakoa kei hea ake tēnā me tēnā o tātou, ka tū ā te Rātū te 14 o Mahuru, ā te 12 o ngā hāora i te ahiahi. ...
The 70-year-old Wildlife Act will be replaced with modern, fit-for-purpose legislation to better protect native species and improve biodiversity, Minister of Conservation Willow-Jean Prime has announced. “New species legislation is urgently needed to address New Zealand’s biodiversity crisis,” Willow-Jean Prime said. “More than 4,000 of our native species are currently ...
Central and Local Government are today announcing a range of new measures to tackle low-level crime and anti-social behaviour in the Auckland CBD to complement Police scaling up their presence in the area. “Police have an important role to play in preventing and responding to crime, but there is more ...
The Government has confirmed $73.7 million over the next four years and a further $40.5m in outyears to continue to transform the disability support system, Minister for Disability Issues Priyanca Radhakrishnan has announced. “The Enabling Good Lives (EGL) approach is a framework which guides positive change for disabled people, ...
Standard and Poor’s is the latest independent credit rating agency to endorse the Government’s economic management in the face of a deteriorating global economy. S&P affirmed New Zealand’s long term local currency rating at AAA and foreign currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook. It follows Fitch affirming New ...
Christchurch barrister Kelvin Reid has been appointed as a Judge of the Environment Court and the District Court, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. Mr Reid has extensive experience in Resource Management Act issues, including water quality throughout the South Island. He was appointed to the Technical Advisory Group advising the ...
New Zealand is on track to have greener steel as soon as 2026 with New Zealand Steel’s electric arc furnace project reaching a major milestone today. The Government announced a conditional partnership with New Zealand Steel in May to deliver the country’s largest emissions reduction project to date. Half of ...
Everything the Labour Party has promised it can pay for with some left over, it says, but National has dubbed the notion a fantasy The Labour Party has released its fiscal plan showing how its election promises and the ongoing cost pressures in the public sector would fit within Budget allowances. Finance spokesperson ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Thorpe, Professor in Sociology of Sport and Gender, University of Waikato As a former competitive snowboarder and instructor, and later a researcher of snow sports, I’ve been lucky to enjoy ski resorts around the world. But nothing compares to Mount Ruapehu ...
Explainer - On 2 October, early voting will begin for the general election that will decide who will govern the country for the next three years. So let's take a look at the nuts and bolts of casting a vote. ...
Customer and financial data 'not compromised', city's transport agency believes Auckland Transport confirms hackers have made good on their threat to offer up the transport agency’s stolen data on the dark web. Roger Jones, the executive general manager for business technology, and his team were monitoring the threat overnight, after a group ...
Benefit advocate and Welfare Expert Advisory Group member Kay Brereton is calling for some basic facts and empathy from political parties looking to fish for votes with beneficiary bashing. Brereton says the call to put sanctions on people on benefits ...
Chris Hipkins’ claim this morning that Labour’s costings for removal of GST off fruit and veg account for behavioural changes are completely untrue. Responding to Mr Hipkins’ attacks on the Union, spokesman Jordan Williams said: “We couldn’t ...
A Charles Sturt University journalism academic says the evolving communication course at his institution in Australia continues to feed the ranks of the irrepressible “Mitchell Mafia’”. Jock Cheetham, senior lecturer in news and media in the Charles Sturt School of Information and Communication Studies in Bathurst, said recent “news” ...
Te Tai Tonga, the largest of the 71 electorates, and encompassing the entire South Island, Stewart Island, the Chatham Islands, all the islands in the Southern Ocean, as well as a large part of Wellington City, has been held by incumbent Labour MP Rino Tirikatene for 12 years. And according ...
Citing an escalation in crime in CBD areas, National has announced it would increase the number of frontline police officers focused on inner-city crime, if elected. ...
This week in our campaign style series, Winston Peters is the king of snot-less pocket squares and bringing things back from the depths of his wardrobe. Not many encyclopaedic entries include politicians’ personal style, choosing instead things like biography, policies, speeches and ideological alignments. But in Te Ara, the official ...
As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts ...
Nearly half of voters aged 18-39 [49%] said, in a Curia Poll, they would consider giving the Women’s Rights Party their party vote in the upcoming Election. In a poll conducted by Curia Market Research commissioned by the Women’s Rights ...
It’s a cold and blustery day here in the central Hawke’s Bay and I’ve just pulled into a local cafe for a coffee and some food (I now understand why being on the road like our political leaders encourages you to eat a very pastry-heavy diet). I’m here to spend ...
Media have once again been led into incorrect reporting on the firearm registry, this time repeating claims that the new firearms registry enabled identification of a firearm on-seller, even though the data had been collected separately by Police ...
No surprises in today’s final fiscal announcement – but clear evidence Labour believes its request that National ‘show it the money’ is working. Prime minister Chris Hipkins and finance minister Grant Robertson delivered Labour’s fiscal plan – its vision for how it will raise money, and what it will spend ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist The New Zealand government has given its full blessing to Cook Islands and Niue establishing diplomatic relations with the United States. At the US-Pacific summit on Monday (Washington time), President Joe Biden said he recognised the two island nations as sovereign and independent states, ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist The New Zealand government has given its full blessing to Cook Islands and Niue establishing diplomatic relations with the United States. At the US-Pacific summit on Monday (Washington time), President Joe Biden said he recognised the two island nations as sovereign and independent states, ...
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland could experience a six per cent reduction in GDP compared to the rest of Aotearoa New Zealand in 2050, according to a new climate report. Mitigating climate change in New Zealand: impacts on Auckland’s economy describes how the ...
It’s easy to take for granted, but technology exists to help us. The Spinoff spoke to four people with disabilities about the tech they consider essential. We often think of technology as irking us – Duolingo scolds, Instagram pesters and TikTok steals time. But, if I did throw my phone ...
The inspired casting of Tāme Iti on a fundamentally silly reality TV show paid off in an impossibly resonant scene last night. The scene is unimaginably pretty. Somewhere outside Wānaka, on an island far from any road, two men wander along the lakeside. The pair are bathed in sun despite ...
Climate change campaigners will be delivering 40,000 leaflets around the country to alert voters about which parties are best and worst on climate change policies. See attached leaflet. "You wouldn't know it from a lot of political posturing ...
Following the release of the International Energy Agency (IEA) ‘Net Zero Roadmap Update' yesterday, Greenpeace Aotearoa says that the National Party is out of touch with its promise to reverse the 2018 ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration. ...
Labour has released its fiscal plan, a 12-page document laying out its spending plans over the next three years in response to the PREFU released earlier this month. It is forecasting a return to budget surplus in 26/27, and net debt to peak at 22.8% in the 24/25 fiscal year. ...
Labour has released its fiscal plan, a 12-page document laying out its spending plans over the next three years in response to the PREFU released earlier this month. It is forecasting a return to budget surplus in 26/27, and net debt to peak at 22.8% in the 24/25 fiscal year. ...
The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index (ECI) fell by 7.4 points to 98.3 in the September quarter. This is the first time since March 2021 that households have held a negative view about conditions in the labour market, and the lowest reading ...
At an event in Grey Lynn last night hosted by advocacy group Renters United, candidates for the Mount Albert electorate discussed housing issues with renters. Instead of a standard debate format, the event rotated candidates between tables of renters, giving attendees the chance to talk about some of their concerns ...
At an event in Grey Lynn last night hosted by advocacy group Renters United, candidates for the Mount Albert electorate discussed housing issues with renters. Instead of a standard debate format, the event rotated candidates between tables of renters, giving attendees the chance to talk about some of their concerns ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Labas, Lecturer in Management, Federation University Australia Food waste is a global problem with approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food wasted each year throughout the food lifecycle – from the farm to food manufacturers and households. Across the food supply chain, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacob Prehn, Associate Dean Indigenous College of Arts, Law, and Education; Senior Lecturer – Indigenous Fellow, Social Work, University of Tasmania GettyImages The lead-up to the Voice referendum is already affecting the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Wolpe, Non-resident Senior Fellow, United States Study Centre, University of Sydney As former Labor minister Barry Jones has wisely noted, the Voice referendum feels like 2016 all over again. The shock from the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shidan Tosif, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne While COVID in children has generally been milder than in adults, there are concerns long COVID may be a major consequence for children and young people arising from the pandemic. Long COVID, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olaf Meynecke, Research Fellow in Marine Science, Griffith University WA Western Whale Watch Australia, CC BY-NC-ND If you’re a whale, there’s often not too much to see out in deeper water. Perhaps that’s why so many whales get playful with ...
For New Zealand scientists trying to solve big-picture problems, turning them into commercial businesses is often an afterthought. Vanessa Young from the MacDiarmid Institute talks to some of the people guiding scientists through this journey.For many of us, trying to understand the hi-tech world of startups is challenging at ...
For New Zealand scientists trying to solve big-picture problems, turning them into commercial businesses is often an afterthought. Vanessa Young from the MacDiarmid Institute talks to some of the people guiding scientists through this journey.For many of us, trying to understand the hi-tech world of startups is challenging at ...
The deputy PM on boosting the Pasifika vote turnout, her go-to cafe order and why she doesn’t want to be prime minister. Nestled among Titirangi’s native bush and towering trees, down a short steep driveway, with Labour Party hoardings spotting the yard, is the home of deputy prime minister and ...
The voters aren't coming to them, so Maungakiekie's candidates are going to the voters. ‘They want to hear me say that if I become the local MP, I will lie on the proposed railway tracks. And I will!’ ...
Overseas voting in the October election starts today, ahead of local voting booths opening on Monday. In today’s Bulletin, the rise and rise of advance voting. In 2020, Claire Robinson concluded that advance voting probably benefits the traditional major parties and that the so-called minor parties benefit from late strategic voting. “Since ...
It’s Tuesday, September 27 and welcome back to The Spinoff’s election live updates. I’m Stewart Sowman-Lund, on deck from Palmerston North, with support from our news team around the country. Get in touch with me on [email protected]Learn more about the political parties and where they stand at Policy.nz ...
In the same week National leader admitted he would work with New Zealand First, both parties have launched new policies aimed at reducing the number of people on benefits. Both take a hardline approach, though are significantly differ. While National’s proposal would introduce a tiered, traffic light framework at which ...
Tayla Bruce has gone from a teenager fan with an NZ fern in her hair to world champion in bowls. Angela Walker tells her remarkable story “A true full circle moment,” is how Tayla Bruce described the surprise celebration that was put on for her at her bowls club in Christchurch. When ...
Overseas voting opens today and advance voting starts on Monday. How influential could offshore voting be, and why are we still waiting for fiscal plans, asks Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priya Kurian, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Waikato The Green Party has run a strong campaign. With a 14.2% share in the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll, up by 1.9 percentage points since the previous poll, that is more ...
Aaron Smale tuned in to TVNZ’s Kaupapa Māori Debate which heard from Māori from each of the main parties. He didn't find a lot to get excited about. Comment: It was a shambles but it was also telling. None of the political parties seem to have any coherent vision about where ...
Independent Whangarei Candidate Fiona Green thinks bottom trawling and dredging should be phased out because they have significant negative impacts on marine ecosystems. "Bottom trawling involves dragging a large net along the seafloor to catch fish ...
Members of the 2019 Welfare Expert Advisory Group have rejected National's claim their report backs up the party's harsher sanctions for some jobseekers. ...
Ahead of the election, Breast Cancer Foundation NZ has laid down a challenge to political parties to tackle breast cancer – the leading killer of New Zealand women under 65. The charity surveyed the seven biggest parties, asking them to adopt the ...
Overseas voting in the general election opens today. Could those in Australia decide the winner? One million New Zealanders currently live overseas, representing 20% of New Zealand’s resident population and eligible voters. Almost 70% of our offshore citizens reside in Australia, which could mean up to half a million votes ...
In the heart of a politically charged city, a high-stakes election battle is unfolding between three highly impressive candidates with significant political potential, all almost perfectly tied in the polls.With the Beehive at its centre, the symbolic importance of Wellington Central is obvious: it’s the home of the government, ...
An annual report on the state of New Zealand fiction as something that people actually want to buy About 18 months ago, I wrote a piece for Newsroom that, along with plugging our inaugural Allen & Unwin Fiction prize, lamented the sorry state of New Zealand fiction sales at ...
The more we know, the more it costs when it comes to delivering water. With new discoveries about bugs come new technologies to deal with them, and it often adds up to more than councils can afford. In the 1950s, supplying drinking water was simple: find your cleanest ...
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ANALYSIS:By Ella Stewart, RNZ News longform journalist, Te Ao Māori National Party leader Christopher Luxon made claims about health outcomes that were clearly false. Why was he left unchallenged? In the TVNZ leaders’ debate last night, Luxon and Labour’s Chris Hipkins had a testy exchange over Māori healthcare. Hipkins ...
ANALYSIS:By Ella Stewart, RNZ News longform journalist, Te Ao Māori National Party leader Christopher Luxon made claims about health outcomes that were clearly false. Why was he left unchallenged? In the TVNZ leaders’ debate last night, Luxon and Labour’s Chris Hipkins had a testy exchange over Māori healthcare. Hipkins ...
A recent webinar hosted by the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) brought together minds from across the region to delve into the intricate issues of the digital economy and data value. The webinar’s focus was clear — shed light on who was shaping the rules of the digital landscape ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Strangio, Professor of Politics, Monash University Daniel Andrews, who has announced he will step down after nearly nine years as premier, leaves office as a titan of Victorian politics. An activist premier, a gifted political communicator and a hard man of ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart by Keith Rankin. Chart by Keith Rankin. The principal measure of economic success in the mainstream narrative is economic growth. The pointy heads associated with that narrative will correctly point out that its economic growth per capita that matters, and which serves as a crude ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of ...
National says its new benefit sanctions policy would target the kind of person who shows up to a job interview in their pyjamas, not struggling young families. ...
A new Taxpayers’ Union – Curia poll in the Auckland Central Electorate has voters undecided between Greens incumbent Chlöe Swarbrick (polling at 26% of voters) and National candidate Mahesh Muralidhar (polling at 24%) - a statistical tie when accounting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the federal government’s employment white paper is “ambitious”. I’m not convinced. A clearly ambitious statement would have specified a target for unemployment, ideally one ...
With a large undecided vote it's looking like a very close race between the pair, Labour's Oscar Sims trailing a distant 12 points behind Muralidhar. ...
Chlöe Swarbrick has a battle on her hands to retain Auckland Central, with a new poll by Curia for the Taxpayers’ Union putting the Green MP just a couple of percentage points ahead of National candidate Mahesh Muralidhar. Swarbrick, whose victory in the high-profile seat was one of the most ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Dan Andrews has announced he is quitting, after nine years as premier and three election wins. Andrews’ surprise announcement came early Tuesday afternoon. He said his resignation would take effect at 5pm Wednesday. ...
The block to comments this morning was due to the temp directory getting full. I’d left a bash shell tail the standard’s log, and it was spooling the log output into /tmp as history. I must set the bash to not be on an infinite scroll.
Thanks again. Lynn.
I was the culprit that caused the problem 🙁
Naughty Lynn…
Oops. I think that I j have been talking to the kitten too much – it is catching. Not too dissimilar to moderating bad behaviour here (looks at comment 2). But here I am required to treat possible humans as being human until they display troll behaviours.
Test facebook links. Got it with an amusing cat video from facebook… Mort trying to destroy my shoes.
Facebook;
https://www.facebook.com/lyn.collie/videos/10155628361146572/
I will be restricting what is allowed on this over the weekend.
However, lets see what works (preferably with something relevant to the post or OpenMike) – just add the URL with things that you think we should have on the site. If they don’t have a oEmbed support, I can add it retrospectively if I find them relevant (or I get special pleadings from someone I somewhat respect).
Usual stupidity moderation will apply, in this case I’d add the type of link to my personal ‘probably remove the oEmbed’ and the author of the comment to ‘probably ruled by their genitals’ lists respectively.
If I eventually turn an oEmbed off for comments it will leave the link. So do the usual and explain why you think that other should click on the link.
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Pahtrisha/status/1052032773651759104
Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/77119177
Youtube:
https://youtu.be/DC7sHxzRQAA
Quora:
https://www.quora.com/As-a-software-developer-what-is-the-most-obnoxious-request-you-ve-ever-received-during-your-career
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq8Y_d0F4Xe/
NZ Herald:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12185292
Stuff:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/109723967/the-queen-was-not-amused-when-australia-tried-a-government-shutdown-in-1975
Pete George @ Your NZ:
“It’s hard to measure whether Kiwiblog is worse than The Standard – abuse at KB is generally worse but it is also more open, there’s a more subtle insidious approach often taken at TS – and it is aided by one sided moderation, and promoted by the master moderator, which arguably reflects more poorly on the blog.”
https://yournz.org/2019/01/03/farrar-acts-on-ongoing-attacks-on-ardern/#comment-336562
Why do we allow George to comment here?
His views seem poisonous.
It’s a conspiracy, Robert. We master moderators have a solemn pact where we let PG comment here just to make his moaning about moderation at TS seem hypocritical. The rest of the commenters are subject to random, anarchic moderation decisions based on a throw of the I ching.
Ah! Now I understand how it all works, TRP! The I Ching! Suddenly, it all makes sense!
That’s a relief!
Watch out Pete’s probably writing another post on labour and Chinese names even as we speak…
‘At the Jacinda love blog the labour blackhats haters have once again ripped in again into immigrant and Chinese again as I predicted many time though a humble hobbyist and amiable amateur am I – I’m sure Mr or Mrs I ching is as deeply offended as I am at this and now I await my ban at that filthy jungle full of running dogs and sitting cats.’
🙂
mm Risible +100
The I ching, my goodness get with the times. Toss a D20 dice or shake up a custom made 8 ball filled with moderation decisions to spice things up.
Why do you care so much Robert?
Because in everyday life you don’t make a good thing if you put poor, even poisonous, ingredients in it.
And TRP the idea of letting anybody have a go as long as they don’t go against the basic rules supposedly is an example of free speech actually ignores why The Standard is important even vital in my opinion. It is an exchange of thinking peoples ideas
Good question, marty mars – I have no reasonable answer to offer and thanks to you, I’m abandoning all interest in his waffling.
I’m not saying stop just make sure you’re getting what you want from it – imo you do good. Pete is Pete and that cat won’t change. But we also need to know the insidious lies he says to poison the well so if someone can stomach it well good on them.
I think I was bored, Marty. I should have instead, pursued my old habit of learning new words. Here’s a good one: grimalkin
“A grimalkin (also called a greymalkin) is an archaic term for a cat. The term stems from “grey” (the colour) plus “malkin”, an archaic term with several meanings (a cat, a low class woman, a weakling, a mop, or a name derived from a hypocoristic form of the female name Maud.”
Much more fun 🙂
Hey is that an obscure put-downm? Hah! Great word ‘grimalkin’. Thinking about cats – the Cheshire Cat might be a good concept that could indicate a paragraph of opinion within those three words. A sort of code.
Wikipedia says: “One of its distinguishing features is that from time to time its body disappears, the last thing visible being its iconic grin. ”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire_Cat
Just perfect for people who need a ban. Could say, this one deserves the Cheshire Cat treatment!
That would fit into PGs description of TS in 2 above.
“It’s hard to measure whether Kiwiblog is worse than The Standard – abuse at KB is generally worse but it is also more open, there’s a more subtle insidious approach often taken at TS
Subtle, insidious, machiavellian. Just the way that the powers that be are working away manipulating our society, and people like PG are useful foot soldiers. Meet them with an understanding of their own methods I say. As long as we try to speak truth and be as open as possible except when facing the twisted.
“I think I was bored…”
Humans dislike being bored so much sometimes physical pain is preferable. Experiments around sensory deprivation have shown humans will even inflict pain like an electric shock on themselves (or they will even go to yawnNZ) in an effort to alleviate their boredom.
Some deadbeat subjects will even get so bored they will invent absurd fantasies like: ” I suppose that Marama Davidson is probably going to claim that Santa was a c**t though and claim him/her as being part of her taonga” to amuse themselves.
Take care Robert, stick to reading the dictionary rather than the ramblings of the deranged. 🙂
Thanks, fender – it’s nice to know someone cares 🙂
The difference between electric shocks and yawnNZ is that some people use electric shocks for fun. I can’t see PG’s work inspiring any sexual fetishists.
That’s just a reflection of your lack of imagination.
Mine too.
Ha. Fair point. It takes a village…
That sounds vaguely provocative and challenging.
“But we also need to know the insidious lies he says”
That is more of an insidious lie than your vague unsubstantiated assertion.
https://www.petfinder.com/cats/cat-care/senior-cat/
Hardly vague Pete.
You and Pete got a bit of bro love going on Robert The mutual infatuation is sweet 😊
You’re right, Bewildered. Pete won’t admit to it though 🙂
You jealous bewildered?
Robert, thanks for keeping an eye on Your NZ and passing on some of the waffle – sorry to read you won’t be doing this anymore.
Pete George’s catty assessment of The Standard’s moderation (and “master moderator”) arguably reflects more poorly on Pete George, and is weak poison.
Petey is getting on in years and may be suffering from a nail and claw disorder:
https://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/skin/c_ct_nail_nailbed_disorders
Well, Drowsy, if Pete’s suffering from onychomycosis, which might explain his caterwauling (https://www.catster.com/cat-behavior/caterwauling-what-is-it-and-why-do-cats-do-it), then he deserves our sympathy, or at least mine, and I’m happy to offer it.
That’s OK – I probably will!
BUT a warning – I am probably older than PG …
AND no I don’t suffer from a nail and claw disorder now that I have to have (give myself) very frequent Vitamin B12 injections to stay alive. Nails and claws are in top notch condition. LOL
veutoviper – re-claws (nails and hair too) I met a woman recently who needed to strengthen hers, so drank tea made from horsetail (equisetum) daily for a month and built strong, vigorously-growing locks and nails. She recommended it highly. Yesterday I met a bloke who recommends darkening hair with water in which un-hulled walnuts have been boiled. He too swore by the process.
Interesting, Robert. Good hair and nails are a small inconsequential tangent benefit of my injections, as my body cannot absorb B12 from food through the stomach/gastric system. Addison-Biemers Syndrome aka Pernicious Anaemia (PA) which is a bit of a misnomer as its symptoms/effects are body wide and not just haematological.
Vitamin B12 (In the case of PA – injections) are essential to make good red blood cells which can then transport oxygen around my body to keep my heart, lungs, brain and every other organ functioning and to try to stem the permanent muscular and neurological damage already done which means I can no longer walk far, or do a lot of other things in particular gardening. I have always been a very keen and active gardener (come from a long line of home and professional gardeners) and the inability to do so any more is devastating. Hence my silence to date on your posts on that subject.
(FYI the long line apparently includes three generations of Head Gardeners and gardeners at Kew Gardens London, including when Joseph Banks returned with his NZ plant collection.)
BUT a great benefit (double edged sword?) of the B12 injections is my brain function and memory have improved probably the most of all. IMO these functions are back to what they were probably in my late 30s (and the bloody brain will not stop churning in the middle of the night!)
I could write a thesis on all of this but won’t today – LOL (TG, they all say.)
Jeepers! You’ve got great Garden Cred, veutoviper!
The woman who recommended the horsetail treatment to me had also suffered from anaemia, though she didn’t say pernicious. She was from Baja California and looked Mexican. Great hair and nails!
Suffering from nail and claw problems? Or perhaps foot-and-mouth – though different animal? That could come from trying to beef up his arguments!
As someone who canvasses for the Labour party I find the expression of such views useful and in particular the response to them. It gives me a greater understanding of the views out there. Unfortunately a lot of people are influenced by ridiculous anti union and anti labour views promoted by our media. It also takes me out of my bubble which is important when I want to help win elections. I do have a theory though that PG comes here to promote his blog and encourage people to click on it to see what the story is. Perhaps he comes here when his blog is quiet.
I came here recently to address false claims being made by Robert. he seems to feel aggrived that he should abide by reasonable standards of debate like everyone else (not here of course, he seems free to make things up).
Did you notice that it was Robert bringing it up here and linking to Your NZ, not me.
https://www.catster.com/cat-behavior/stop-cats-fighting
I can see the truth of your opinions TFG. That was helpful explanation.
While some people here wonder why I and others bother to read PG’s and other blogs, I totally agree with what you have said re it being useful to know what is being said elsewhere and the reactions to it. As you say, this is needed to be able to put things in perspective and look at things from outside our own bubbles.
I also suspect your last sentence is very close to the truth as to why PG comes here. (see my last para below.)
I was actually adding to my tongue in cheek reply at 2.3.2 when I ran out of editing time, to say that I have been interested in seeing the road the comments have taken on my comment I filed on Open Mike on 1 Jan which lprent then put up as the post called “Discussion on Political Leader PR”.
After making one slightly snide reply (sorry) to someone who commented on that post, I decided to not comment further and just see where the conversation went of its own accord. It has been an interesting exercise, and I am putting together a short summary of my observations as a sort of close off comment.
While my comment started by replying to some assertions PG had made, very few people focused on what my actual comment morphed into as I wrote it which was the different treatment of PR by Ardern to that by Bridges, particularly in relation to their families – other than lprent and one or two others who actually read it in full (thanks Andre) and got the drift. I suspect most did not read it in full, but that’s life.
I may also include a short bit about my observations of the reactions to PG’s comments on his own blog re his discussions/reactions to the thread here – Hint; very few there have taken the bait and responded in detail. Focus there is also now on Kiwiblog where yesterday Farrar finally banned someone for a hideous comment re the PM’s baby. I refuse to say anymore about that but PF has done a post on the whole situation – but has also taken the opportunity to include comparisions of Ts to Kiwiblog.
But I also intended to include a comment similar to yours. That is, PG does put a lot of time and effort into his posts on his blogs and I give him credit for that. Sometimes, he gets a lot of on topic comments, but sometimes he gets very few. At times, it must be a bit soul destroying, and I have wondered more than once, whether he comes here for a different environment and different commenters when he is feeling a little disillusioned with his own blog. Fair enough, but also expect to be challenged.
I also totally agree with what mickysavage says at 2.5 – both in respect to PG and as a general principle in relation to all commenters including myself.
I have a soft spot for Pete. He has a deep respect for freedom of expression. He is tribal conservative but has reached a position where he thinks the centre provides the best result in a goldilocks sort of way.
As long as he does not infringe the basic tenets of the site he is welcome to comment.
Cat-lover, huh!
I’m sorry, mickysavage. I’ll stop now.
Haha
Happy new year Robert!
One of the reasons I have a degree of respect for Pete …
https://yournz.org/2018/11/03/nottingham-fails-again-in-court-of-appeal-judicial-system-faltering/
Yeah, I saw all that; he sure can dig in, badger-like, when he feels aggrieved!
Happy new year to you, mickeysavage 🙂
“Hours after taking office, Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has launched an assault on environmental and Amazon protections with an executive order transferring the regulation and creation of new indigenous reserves to the agriculture ministry – which is controlled by the powerful agribusiness lobby.
The move sparked outcry from indigenous leaders, who said it threatened their reserves, which make up about 13% of Brazilian territory, and marked a symbolic concession to farming interests at a time when deforestation is rising again.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/02/brazil-jair-bolsonaro-amazon-rainforest-protections
The war has just gone up a few notches.
And we get another step closer to climate catastrophe.
Another step well into climate catastrophe IMO. We should have stomped on this type of shit back in the 1990s but the governments have been taken over by business and refused to listen to the science.
Now it’s going to end up being every country for themselves. The nations that won’t be too afflicted by the changing climate can’t afford the influx of refugees from those that will be.
Sounds like he Listens to Happy clappy born agains.
You know the ones who believe in the oncoming apocalypse.
“Silas Malafia, an influential televangelist and close friend of Bolsonaro, said developed countries who centuries ago cut down their own forests should pay if they wanted Brazil to preserve the Amazon.”
There is that interesting link thhat touches on Brazil’s surprisingly small haul from its oil sales. I think Brazil doesn’t have to be paid anything for doing what it should have done when the money was flowing like oi.
Hence the fevered support from Netanyahu, Pence and Haley.
Another order removed the concerns of the LGBT community from consideration by the new human rights ministry.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2019-01-02/brazils-bolsonaro-hinders-demarcation-of-indigenous-lands
Glenn Greenwald shows how the Guardian has become a facade.
Five weeks ago, it published a fake news front page story. It was totally made up.
Its editor has been an ostrich and kept her head in the sand.
The Guardian now displays where its priorities lie – not with the truth and not with the public, . It has become a pillar of the deep state.
https://t.co/PvHYD56DYv?amp=1
Thanks Ed
There have been comments about The Guardian for ages and I can see that there is something there. Pity because the G sounds good. I was thinking of putting payments into their pockets but hey?
What’s going on down in China? How do people think about their system there, how do foreigners get treated? A close look by foreigners who live/have lived there and who know.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNPa8fSXzzAZuT9859GVhg
You linked to the person’s subscriber channel. Which particular video are you talking about?
I don’t know DTB about this. I will have to check and come back with this after I have had some lunch and done some work! It’s really good so i will attend to it later.
Could be the one titled The Mass Exodus of Foreigners from China
Thanks fender.
Draco see link on fender’s comment. It’s about 19 minutes and worth seeing and listening to it all for chatty on site background. Even if you have to halt it and come back to it (hint note how many minutes have gone).
Righto
Yeah…disgustingly privileged white people fearing their loss of privileges, one of whom is an angst fulled white South African who thinks he was ‘discriminated’ against in South Africa.
From 9:04 to 10:16: Bemoaning the fact that the Chinese government does not accredit the diplomas of American international schools in China who follow their own curricula. He hates the fact that his kids should attend the local schools.
Can anyone imagine the uproar in NZ say, if there were Chinese established schools teaching entirely in Chinese, teaching Chinese cultural and political perspectives, and these schools expecting to be fully accredited under the NZQA system?
These people are pure FILTH (Failed in London Try Hong Kong) types. China would do well to be rid of such types.
Gardening question for our resident organic gardeners.
My brussel sprout plants are being overrun by aphids or might be cabbage butterfly larvae. The plants are looking really unwell. What is the peraculture solution to this please?
Kia ora Maui,
This might help.
A garlic spray can deter aphids, mites and white butterflies. Try crushing several cloves of garlic, add 1 litre of boiling water, leave to cool, then strain through a sieve. Add 1 teaspoon of soap or detergents to help the spray stick to the leaves.
Cool, thanks for that Fran. Worth a go.
yes and using a baby hair brush to knock them down helps. Put small pots of cornstarch out for the ants. They actually put the aphids to work Cheers’
Thanks Patricia. ideally I’m looking for a solution that is part of the garden design and doesn’t involve human interaction if possible.
prob gd to have the brassica doing most of their growing in a cooler time of the year maui ditto peas etc
I am going to try to put this up as a totally neutral comment (with one exception*).
FYI, yesterday David Farrar finally banned someone on his Kiwiblog General Debate post for an absolutely noxious* comment wishing violence to the PM’s daughter.
I am not going to link to that comment or Kiwiblog, or give any more detail.
Today, no General Debate post has been put up on Kiwiblog.
h/t to a commenter on Pete George’s YourNZ blog. (I have checked and there is no GD for today on KB.)
Pete George has done a detailed post on his blog on this banning and his views on comments on Kiwiblog and Farrar’s approach to moderation.
This post and the comments on it can be viewed here.
https://yournz.org/2019/01/03/farrar-acts-on-ongoing-attacks-on-ardern/
There are no mentions of The Standard in the post itself but there are some in the comments, primarily by Pete George, with one or two small related replies from others.
The most important word being finally.
A High five for you!
They egg each other on and lose their sense of perspective. Seen fresh from the outside it all looks sick but the players know the nuances and histories of who’s saying what and see it all very differently. I think it suits Farrar to have those things said on his blog; he simply claims he can’t moderate them and thus allowing the harmful claims to see the light of day where a lot of “silent watchers” will see them. It’s an ugly strategy, imo.
Spot on, Robert…
That is precisely what DF is doing…
I’ve been to KB once many years ago…read the comments sections…never went back…
I’ve also seen well known and highly placed business people link and quote from KB…
DF takes his orders from somewhere…ugly indeed…
Bryan Bruce reflects on knighthoods, questions the hardworking ethic of the new rich and lament the loss of egalitarianism in this country.
As ever, he is spot on.
“While I think it is important to acknowledge people for their contribution to our communities and our country, I do think it’s time we had the discussion again about what Knighthoods and Damehoods signify.
Do we still want to cling to these vestiges of the British Empire or is it time to replace them with our own honours that reflect our now diverse multi-cultural country ?
Your answer to that question, I suspect ,reflects what you think it means to be a New Zealander.
A few days ago I was talking with Liz Gunn on her Drive show on Radio Live when I found myself remembering out loud that one of the things that once marked our National character is that we were an egalitarian country – that we believed “Jack was as good as his master” and that we called no man “Sir”
It’s a charactistic, I regret to say, that is in grave risk of disappearing from the New Zealand psyche.”
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/01/03/guest-blog-bryan-bruce-call-no-man-sir/
I don’t mind giving homage to a man or woman that I deeply respect. Some deserve it. It is who receives this homage that bothers me. I think it should be up to the people to vote.
MEMO: greywarshark
FROM: The Knights of the British Empire
It has been brought to our attention that you have had the gall and temerity to write: “Some deserve it. It is who receives this homage that bothers me. I think it should be up to the people to vote..”
We would like to point out that a Knighthood is the culmination of a lifetime of careful groveling to the powerful and assiduously keeping an eye out for “the main chance.” This process is what the “great unwashed”, i.e., such oiks as yourself, are obliged to call “public service”.
We strongly contest your implication that some Knights and Dames do not deserve their honours.
Respectfully,
Sir Paul Holmes
Sir Thomas Eichelbaum
Sir Jimmy Savile
Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet
Sir Peter Leitch
Sir Jeremiah Mateparae
Sir John Key
Sir William “Double Dipper” English
Sir William Gallagher
Dame Lesley Max
Sir Clive Woodward
Sir Robert Jones
We?
Well Morry i can see some obvious ones in the list that bring to mind that old circular saying that someone is famous for being famous (although having some position in the community and/or wealth would be a requirement.)
Perhaps we should retrospectively duck them in a pond and see if they come up to see who is one of the truly chosen.
And to be really boring I’ll repeat Bad Sir Brian Botany which I guess not everyone has come across, I hope.
Here is a reading from Chris Blue who is a NZr, He also does another one about knights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKoL-fVMm5A
Brilliant! Thanks, Mr Shark!
Talley is a notorious knight.
Ben Norton nails it.
“Today, on the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, don’t forget that for years the ENTIRE WORLD has voted at the UN to call for an end to the illegal, crippling US embargo on Cuba.
In 2018, the vote was 189 nations to 2 (USA and Israel).
189. To. 2.”
I would add the words of Morgan Artyukhina that Cuba is “a model for socialism & decolonization in innumerable ways. Real grassroots democracy ensures popular participation in politics everyday-not 1 day every 2-4 years like in capitalist democracies. Its medical system is the envy of the world, based on the local polyclinic.”
Happy 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution! ¡Hasta la victoria siempre!.
Amazing numbers there. Cross your heart that’s totally factual?
Good on Cuba, anyway. They have been through the mill. What about Puerto Rico?
Your kinda place, eh, Ed.
/
https://web.archive.org/web/20090331143515/http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y03/nov03/10e8.htm
That is horrible joe90. I was wondering if Amnesty International has been trying to put pressure on them. I haven’t heard them referred to in the years I have been coming to TS. Does anyone write with them? Perhaps Cuba would be a good place to start.
This is what Amnesty say about Cuba:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/04/cuba-change-of-leadership-must-herald-a-new-era-for-human-rights/
One of the only nations where the Red Cross is banned fron visiting prisons. Under there rules all of us would get about 17 years in prison for our anti National or anti Labour comments. So hardly a free country.
The health system as commented by ED is free but it’s also not free. Treatment is compulsory with no right of complaint. If the doctor wants to cut your arm off, your arm gets cut off. Some of the high profile political prisoners are Doctors and without free speech we actually have no way of knowing how good the system actually is. We very rarely hear about its errors or failings. Life expectancy figures shows it’s pretty good. Born today 78.8 years male: 76.5 years female. Not sure why women die younger. Maybe with less economic pressure etc on men unlike our society things are better for men. Plus they have regulated shared care so don’t have the ridiculous male suicide rate we get from our fault divorce, gynocentric family court scam.
Okay Cuba isn’t paradise. I’ll write it off my list of drawcards for my next overseas holiday, though if they are poor they might welcome me. Howecver I had better have super health insurance by the sounds of it. Probably a picture for much of the world.
A fast talking punchy USA comedian Hasan Minhaj. Looking at Amazon and the behaviour of behemoths.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5maXvZ5fyQY
I read many reviews on climate change. After spending an afternoon in the garden, whilst in the bathroom spotting a few exposed areas that missed out on suntan lotion, gave thought to how strong the sun is and the absence of comment regarding the ozone. NZ may “benefit” from a change in climate, yet we face hash consequences from the loss in ozone.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/06/ozone-layer-not-recovering-over-populated-areas-scientists-warn
Christopher Hitchens at his best
Try to forget the memory of the sad fellow he became in the 2000s. He used to be great once….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJFMRYTaJSI
Poor Hitchens must have been in despair in those years, knowing how low he’d fallen in morrissey’s esteem.
Hitchens jumped, suddenly and inexplicably, on to the doomed ship of neocon fools after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Even more foolish than that mad choice was his crazed attack shortly after on, of all people, Noam Chomsky. Interviewed by Kim Hill on National Radio in early 2002, Chomsky memorably wrote Hitchens off as “incoherent.”
In October 2014, this writer, i.e. moi, wrote that Hitchens was:
Still, thanks to the wonders of YouTube and the library, we can now appreciate Hitchens as he used to be, before he became unhinged.
I never could fathom why he turned from the brightest of lights to a slavish defender of the neocon wars of conquest.
That debate between Galloway and Hitchens is memorable.
In it George said of Hitchens,”What you have witnessed is something unique in natural history – the first ever metamorphosis of a butterfly back into a slug.”
If that didn’t quite signal the full animosity he meant to convey, he extended the image: “The one thing a slug leaves behind it is a trail of slime.”
Contrarianism, pure and simple. He just didn’t care.
This could result in a few murders or even a war. OK there’s been a few murders already but the dreaded, often predicted water wars.
Egyptians population growth is out of control with population set to double over the next 50 years. They are already facing an immediate fresh water crisis, power crisis so unless they get there act together things will get nasty.
Then there is this bold move by Ethiopia. Yes Ethiopia.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jan/2/egypt-water-anxiety-grows-over-ethiopia-dam-nile/
You fool, you’ve quoted a Moonie paper.
Explian how that worthless comment matters to the dam? The article is News far more than opinion so deal with it.
I’ll quote who I like. Most if not all your fixations on media is irrational. All of us realise that media, no matter who it is, are pushing one eyed wheelbarrows.
The recent comments by the former female editor of the NY Times is a good example of bias. The NY Times being blatantly anti Trump, driven by click bait and graduates out of the lefty indoctrinated universities. Same in NZ.
Blatantly anti-Trump. Perhaps she is just trying to find that elusive balance. Are you a Trump supporter?
The ability of the do-it-yourselfer with or without No.8 wire, this guy uses duct tape and lots of it, is the subject of this next serious skill-building video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKoL-fVMm5Ahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOU3d_kJEls
Stoked to see the top-notch material that talented NZ musicians and film-makers can produce these days:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RxHDd_qrDc
@Lprent – for your notes, auto-embed worked and then it disappeared when I edited the text. Oh, and now it’s back even though the edit window is still open.
J.K. Rowling writes amusing children’s fantasy,
but that’s as far as her talent goes, unfortunately.
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2018/12/30/nouveau-riche-j-k-rowling-doesnt-want-to-share-her-bundle-of-swag-so-naturally-she-cries-antisemitism/
She is a notorious anti-lefty on Twitter.
Spends hours going after Corbyn.
She has forgotten the days she was penniless writing in an Edinburgh cafe.
Ed
She does have the right to consider Corbyn unsatisfactory. Why don’t you think of some things to ask your next local government candidates as on Matthew’s post?
She does not have the right to recycle vicious lies, however.
Yes, yes, she’s made a career out of penning fantasies, but she’s foolishly signed up to repeat the sad and stupid fantasies of Yenta Hodge, Rudolf Giuliani, Alan Shredowitz, Binyamin Netanyahoo, et al.
As we see every day with that loon in the White House, money can’t undo the stupid.
Rowling; influenced by socialist writer Mitford, a well heeled supporter of multiple causes including ending child poverty, single parents, the welfare of child mental health patients, Médecins Sans Frontières, human rights, refugees, and a long time supporter and donor to UK Labour.
Ed, an ahistoric, poe-faced malcontent with a boner for war criminals and corrupt, authoritarian thugs.
Ed, an ahistoric, poe-faced [sic] malcontent with a boner for war criminals and corrupt, authoritarian thugs.
You’re trying too hard, joe. Lying like you’re doing never helps. Not for long.
Your really don’t get it do you.
Your source Norman? Links to Twitter, that longs further into Twitter. Why not direct to the Rowling comment.
A Rowling comment.
“I chose to remain a domiciled taxpayer for a couple of reasons. The main one was that I wanted my children to grow up where I grew up, to have proper roots in a culture as old and magnificent as Britain’s; to be citizens, with everything that implies, of a real country, not free-floating ex-pats, living in the limbo of some tax haven and associating only with the children of similarly greedy tax exiles.
A second reason, however, was that I am indebted to the British welfare state; the very one that Mr Cameron would like to replace with charity handouts. When my life hit rock bottom, that safety net, threadbare though it had become under John Major’s Government, was there to break the fall. I cannot help feeling, therefore, that it would have been contemptible to scarper for the West Indies at the first sniff of a seven-figure royalty cheque. This, if you like, is my notion of patriotism. On the available evidence, I suspect that it is Lord Ashcroft’s idea of being a mug”
The top tax rate is 45% and she has earnt at least 650million pounds. You want her to pay more? Other people’s money eh.
You should read her repulsive tweets about Corbyn.
You’re such a little cheer germ aren’t you Ed. Always something overseas, or here, to pass judgment on. Find us one good piece of news a day will you, and not about kittens please. Lprent is covering that.
Obsessed parent. All I ever hear is kitten, kitten… Oh well it makes a change from engineers. Back to work Monday.
But morrissey appears to just be emulating his namesakes.
Just curious, has Mort been verbed yet? As in, “What happened to my sandals?” “Oh, they just got Morted.” or “Where’s the kitten?” “He’s busy Morting your cables.”
Yeah, how dare a woman draw attention to his spinless incompetence and refusal to listen to his party’s members that’s giving the Tories licence to pursue their Brexit plan with no political opposition.
/
Three-quarters of Labour party members want a second EU referendum, according to a new poll.
Research by YouGov on behalf of Queen Mary University and Sussex University found that 72% want another poll to be carried out, compared to just 18% who do not.
The poll of 1,034 Labour members also showed that 88% of them would vote to stay in the EU if another referendum took place.
https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/jeremy-corbyn/news/100810/three-quarters-labour-members-want
https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/jeremy-corbyn/news/100810/three-quarters-labour-members-want
‘A former All Blacks manager and national rugby president has claimed a Polynesian star was robbed of a match appearance because the tour bosses couldn’t spell his name.
The outrageous revelation was made by West Coast rugby identity John Sturgeon, and brought howls of laughter from a Greymouth audience.’
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12184488&fbclid=IwAR0FbcCoWyy4ujfsG2f6YuY8qRhoX_n6gkW8S9j2EwB4WUt7ApiVc56cPC0
So, not only was Va’aiga Tuigamala’s career adversely affected, Sturgeon and his audience think racism is hilarious.
But, hey no racism in Newzild, eh.
It was a superb example of ineffective management though. What a dumbie, and couldn’t the office workers get their information correct? Was there a legal side, where you are expected to have names correct? It’s not necessarily racism, it’s slackism.
Does anyone know why Music 101 and Alex Behan have been dropped from Radionz?
And going back why did Simon Mercep get put off? He’d hardly got started.
Everyone is having trouble fronting up to the waste problem. The authorities don’t take control – in this case the workers are losing out as well as those trying to run a difficult business. This in Scotland.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-46741497
And in India, two poor brothers run an efficient scrap business and just make a living. Is this what the west really want?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46616372
But Indians are generating more waste than ever as processed food takes over kitchens, cheap electronics fly off the rack, and home delivery apps fill up phones. And a deep-rooted sense of thrift (the same one that has fuelled India’s famous “jugaad” or cheap innovation)
So what’s this ‘jugaad’?
Interesting 2019 predictions from Bomber Bradbury.
I agree with someof them…. I don’t see the establishment being shaken out of its complacency to climate change, I am hopeful Jeremy Corbyn will lead a Lexit.
Interesting thoughts from Martin.
Thought provoking.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/01/03/pessimistic-predictions-for-2019/
The Western Australia has got there future on the correct path renewable enery is going to power our future ka pai
Renewable energy
New lithium hydroxide factory in Western Australia wins federal approval
Plant set to boost local jobs and supply growing global demand for lithium, which is used in renewable energy storage Earthworks for a new lithium hydroxide factory in Western Australia are expected to begin this month after the $1bn project received federal environmental approval.
The plant owned by the world’s largest lithium producer, the US chemical company Albemarle, was approved by the WA government in October and is estimated to create up to 500 jobs in construction, with another 100 to 500 operational jobs once it is operational.
Australia’s trade minister, Simon Birmingham, said the plant would provide a much-needed local jobs boost and supply a growing global demand for lithium, which is used in renewable energy storage.The company has been ordered to identify a new breeding and foraging habitat for WA’s three threatened black cockatoo species – Carnaby’s cockatoo, Forest red-tailed cockatoo, and Baudin’s black cockatoo – to offset habitat lost by clearing the 89ha plant site, including 54ha of coastal plain vegetation that is home to a number of threatened native orchids.
The director of the Conservation Council of Western Australia, Piers Verstegen, said the environmental impacts of the project were “manageable” Ka kite ano links below P.S I know wild whenua will be ruined but its will counter by limiting carbon being burnt
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/03/new-lithium-hydroxide-factory-in-western-australia-wins-federal-approval
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqR7MihP5k4
‘Momentum is growing’: reasons to be hopeful about the environment in 2019
As we reflect on a year of extreme weather and ominous climate talks, Guardian environment writer Fiona Harvey explains why 2019 could see some much-needed breakthroughs E
xtreme weather hit the headlines throughout 2018, from the heatwave across much of the northern hemisphere, which saw unprecedented wildfires in Sweden, drought in the UK and devastating wildfires in the US, to floods in India and typhoons in south-east Asia.
According to the World Meteorological Organisation, last year was the fourth hottest on record and confirms a trend of rising temperatures that is a clear signal that we are having an effect on the climate. Droughts, floods, fiercer storms and heatwaves, as well as sea level rises, are all expected to increase markedly as a result.
Late in the year there was also the starkest warning yet from scientists of what our future will be if we allow climate change to take hold. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global body of the world’s leading climate scientists, which has been producing regular reports on the state of climate science since 1988, produced its latest comprehensive overview examining what the future will look like if we undergo 1.5C (2.7F) of warming. That does not sound like a lot – most people would be hard put to notice a temperature difference of 1.5C – but in climate terms, 1.5C above pre-industrial levels is enough to take us into the danger zone. It would see the mass die-off of coral reefs, the extinction of some species, rising sea levels, wet areas of the world becoming wetter and dry areas drier, and the decline of agricultural productivity across swaths of the globe Ka kite ano links below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/02/climate-change-environment-2019-future-reasons-hope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvaCM1TNBBk
Its cheaper and more intelligent to prevent making a mess of our lakes and awa rivers. Change to organic farming the tourist boom was predicted by national so why was there no intro structure money invested in the places were they new the tourist booms would take place well ask simon. We need to get the toilets and sewage systems up to a standard to handle the tourist.
The end is nigh for our lakes
Queenstown and Wanaka are New Zealand’s poster children, Instagram worthy and renowned around the world – always with our ostensibly ‘pristine’ lakes in the foreground.
The appearance belies the reality – our Southern-Lakes waterways are in danger and no-one is talking loudly enough about it. It’s not bad all the time, and for some, that’s enough leeway to ignore the problem.
There’s a map, on the Ministry of the Environment’s webpage that shows the real-time, most recently recorded water quality for every large lake and river in the country. The colour coding goes from red being ‘poor’ to blue being ‘excellent’.
If you look closely enough, there’s a trend, the red dots are creeping their way upstream, multiplying, coming ever-closer to the source. Our waterways are dying.
Water quality is a weathervane, it signals changes on the horizon. Those changes are occurring at a rapid rate. The Southern-Lakes is home to New Zealand’s fastest growing population, increasing annually at around 8 percent – a lot when compared with Auckland’s 2 percent.
We have over 3 million visitors a year, and that number is multiplying with airport expansions and draft tourism strategies tabled that forecast five million visitors in the not too distant future. Our water quality is in danger across the district – not only big bodies of water under regional council control but also drinking water and stormwater under local district council control. The infrastructure is under too much pressure – from development runoff, stormwater provisions, sewage treatment
E. Coli, cyanobacteria, Lake Snot, these are all terms that have become part of our everyday vocabulary. We have begun to expect days in summer where the quality is so bad as to be unswimmable rather than being shocked by it. That desensitisation leads to a slippery slope of acceptance.
The only response to anything less than pristine and excellent condition of our waterways should be outrage. Foot-stamping, loud, vocal, in-your-face outrage. There’s a crisis afoot, not just brewing, and we need our authorities to recognise it.
Just because water looks clear doesn’t mean it isn’t contaminated. So where’s the problem? What is causing it? And most importantly, what can we do about it?
Ka kite ano
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/01/03/377614/the-end-is-nigh-for-our-lakes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQOm37Szgow
No need for Eco Maori words this mana wahine say’s it all for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5153NQZ4wj8
No need for Eco Maori words Tama Iti say it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeK3SkxrZRI
Kia ora Te kaea one has to keep a eye on the weather when diving there are a few people drowning While diving.
Ngati porou pa wars is going strong I seen a couple of faces I know.
Feed the need is a good idear feeding the children with no lunches at school.
Ka pai Te whano apunui has a wakama team for there tamariki.
It’s cool to see way wine boxing getting some media coverage.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub some people need to learn how to forgive the American hip-hop 2 different groups from the USA fight in Aotearoa no way to be a role model for the tamariki.
I wonder if he knows that he has bitten off more than he can chew trump that is .
Let’s hope there is not any lives lost or to much damage in the Tasmanian Bush fires.
Ka pai to all the new Democrats members of the American Representative of The House.
It was a sad loss the Rugby league Fai drowning trying to save a m8.
Congratulations to China for landing a spacecraft’s on the far side of the Marama.
I seen a show were a lady could detect some dease just buy smell to .
It will be a great way to diagnose cancers from someone’s breath that will save a lot of lives. Ka kite ano