Some interesting thoughts from Yanis Varoufakis who always has interesting perspectives. Reminds me of some of what Adam Curtis talks about in his own entertaining way.
The whole chapter in Das Kapital, in Marx’s Kapital explaining exactly this, called peace rates, the idea that capitalist employers… The one thing capitals hate more than anything is having to have workers in their premises. So if they can subcontract work, labor, to workers that are stay at home and work on peace rates or drive their own car in the case of Uber, or rent out their own apartment for which they take all the risks and pay the insurance and so on, Airbnb, all that, they will do it.
technologies, apps and so on have been used to robotize human beings and make them turn them into a precariat again. However, why am I saying that things are worse? Because now, exploitation has really become universal. If you think about it, every time anybody posts anything on Facebook, or tweets, or goes into Amazon and posts a review, you’re adding capital to the capitalists directly. Up until now, or recently, okay, the only way capital could be created was through labor, through wage labor. You worked for a capitalist, the capitalist retains your surplus value, and from that surplus value the capitalist builds capital up.
Now, the whole of humanity, even the middle classes and the upper middle classes, they are constantly on their phone. Even by telling Google Maps where you are and what you’re doing at that moment you are adding to Google’s capital, and you don’t get paid for it.
At that moment, you have the makings of what I now call techno-feudalism. Because what happens after 2000 is this. The great central banks, the Fed, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Sweden, they got together in April 2009 in London and they decided to print mountain ranges of money to refloat banking while practicing austerity for everybody, for everybody else, effectively. So you had socialism for the banks and you had crashing austerity for the masses.
Yes, and losses are socialised and profits are hardly taxed. Our acceptance of the ubiquitous nature of Face Book/ X et al is part of the problem. We like ease of use even if dangerous to our interests.
Not just tech companies. I think Yanis Varoufakis needed to broaden the varieties of those who make money charging rents. Often for the "commons". Such as the internet which was developed with State capital.
Almost all capital accumulation in NZ now goes to the people both Adam Smith and Karl Marx defined as "Rentiers".
Those who make money simply from owning something and taking from community wealth, rather than adding to it.
In a related vein: perhaps cops should be issued eftpos machines.
When the supermarket calls them because of impact on their obscene profits shoplifting, Countdown et al can be charged $200 an hour or part thereof for the service.
The Wanaka supermarket does this every Easter, but this time they probably won't get prosecuted because the NACTZ have said openly in the past they will change the holiday trading laws thus the police will probably be told quietly not to do it.
I also think ACT will be pushing to drop the penal rates for working public holidays.
I suspect that lots of people criticising Wanaka supermarkets have never lived in a tourist town.
Wanaka should be exempt like Queenstown, because buy food is an essential need. The left should be pushing for better work conditions, days in lieu and pay for stat holiday workers.
Over Easter Wanaka had 5 times its normal population due to a big event bringing visitors to the town. Imagine two supermarkets built for say 15,000 people having to accommodate 50,000 people, and doing that in two days instead of four.
Imagine what that is like for supermarket workers and locals. The effect spreads out over the week as well, because both weeks either side of Easter are short weeks and everyone is trying to fit 5 business days into 4.
I've lived in tourist towns, and I'm a fan of closing most things on stats, but doing that to supermarkets under those conditions is daft.
While the left does need to advocate, educate and organise round better work pay and conditions, the answer to food supply for locals and tourists ain't supermarkets.
I can tell you for a fact that for this disabled person, supermarkets aren't a convenience, they're an absolute necessity.
For all the other good and important things they do, I don't see the transition and resiliency communities building disabled people into their plans. Those cultures are very much self sufficiency and interdependency based on ability, they're not leftist, collective orientated. Most I know are small L libertarian.
But as per my other point, if a woman gets her period and needs to buy menstrual products and the supermarkets are closed, that's not convenience, that's necessity.
Likewise someone with bad headache who has to go to work. Or a woman with a sick child needing baby aspirin. I have other ways of managing all those things, but mos people don't. Telling tourist towns to suck it up because the revolution is coming just puts people off change.
Supermarkets have positioned themselves as necessities for economic reasons. They only are, because they schemed to be. Should we submit to their machinations, or take action to loosen their stranglehold?
I still see now plan or even mention of how to get from where we are now (which is what I was talking about) and where we need to be (which we both know we agree on, so why bother arguing that?), that takes disabled people's needs into account. Just Transition and all that.
If you and gsays don't need to use supermarkets, I'm glad for you. Meanwhile, most of the rest of us still need to eat in a way we can actually manage.
I still use a supermarket for some (few) things. Your own posts and questions here have revealed a plethora of how to get there, from network-building to community gardens, all of which could/should involve those disabled in some way. Ours here certainly do. Today, I helped at the high school garden, the community forest garden, the local organic food co-op, as well as opening-up the canopy in my own forest garden, all the while being somewhat disabled, (being unable to grasp, as you know, women's issues 🙂
Tomorrow, I'm on the Loop, riding passenger to a potential (young) driver, who requires a walking stick to get around; can drive well though, I'm assured 🙂
What are the good and important things supermarkets do?
They have royally screwed over primary producers since the '80s, repetitive anti competitive behaviour, their influence in the trucking lobby is strong, and often sell food with obscene diesel miles embedded n them (sultana biscuits from Ukraine, potato products from Belgium and American garlic).
Pain relief and menstruation products, dairies are open for emergencies.
As for the transition/resilience building groups, what do you have to offer? If yr not involved how can yr needs be met.
I'm reading a TINA attitude with regards to the food duopoly which is very defeatist.
I'm reading a TINA attitude with regards to the food duopoly which is very defeatist.
Ok, this is weird. I've been writing about transition culture on TS, posts and comments, for years. I just assumed you knew this and wouldn't talk to me as if I don't know the problems with supermarkets and relocalising food.
What I am saying is that right now, at Easter, there is no compelling reason to close supermarkets in tourist towns that have big events because food and other goods at supermarkets are essential items.
The reason for closing on stats is worker rights, and there are other ways to address that.
Pain relief and menstruation products, dairies are open for emergencies.
Yes, but they are considerably more expensive in a tourist town to buy from a dairy.
As for the transition/resilience building groups, what do you have to offer? If yr not involved how can yr needs be met.
I've been involved in those cultures for a long time. I know what I have to offer. My point here was that those cultures are not good on disability and the collective. They are not predominantly leftist, they have a strong libertarian ethic. So the people that can't do self sufficiency often don't fit in well or get supported. Yes, I am speaking from long experience.
I certainly don't doubt your cred around sustainability issues that's why I was so flummoxed to read you going into bat for the duopoly.
Yes products are more expensive at a dairy that's why Americans call them convenience stores.
Easter happens at much the same time every year. Folk be it tourists or locals shouldn't be surprised.
When you load up the impact of supermarkets on a scale, on one side you have the negative impact done to society, competition, communities, workers, the environment and primary producers. The other side has convenience and handsome returns for shareholders.
You make a good point about the libertarian streak in resilience/community building organizations. Sometimes what we so often lack in leadership is a benevolent dictator.
If you think I am going into bat for the supermarkets, you really don’t understand my argument. Fuck the supermarkets. I’m talking about the impact on people in those towns that have big events at Easter. That workers and locals even if you don’t care about the visitors.
You don’t seem to care about those people in your rush to make this about the politics of the duopoly and shareholders, which is really disappointing not least because we simply won’t get buy for transition when people see their needs being dismissed like this.
Allowing a few selected supermarkets to open where warranted will have zero negative effect on transition or relocalising food.
I'm not questioning yr cred around sustainability and that is why I was flummoxed when you 'went into bat' for the duopoly.
The price of products in dairies are more expensive and that is the price of convenience. I figure that is why yanks call 'em convenience stores.
For me, putting the negative impacts these big companies have on communities, society, primary producers, the climate and workers on a scale, the only thing I see on the others side is convenience.
I accept there is a libertarian streak to the resilience crowd and that has to be one of the strengths. We so often lack a benevolent dictator character in positions of leadership.
People seem to yearn for what they have grown accustomed to. When that disappears, they feel the loss of something that was in their life but now isn't.
I think that's the more powerful driver; it was mine, now it ain't.
Tend to agree, where I am the local New World which was closed had signs on the doors saying not to worry the four square less than a km away is open. The four square is new fully stocked with cafe etc its basically a small metro supermarket. Basically the law is a nonsense better to allow them to open and have suitable penal rates for workers.
Wanaka had about 70,000 tourists come through in Easter weekend.
It also now has about 25,000 residents including Hawea.
Wanaka has 2 supermarkets: a New World and a New World. And 1 4Square.
If you shut them down for a couple of days when you're close to 100,000 people you have a lot of hotels, restaurants, bars, retirement villages, tourist facilities, and event managers pretty unhappy.
With World Central Kitchen staff being killed in such a manner, what more adjectives are there to express how many of us feel and know about the IDF butchers?
Governments are not moving sufficiently to stop this atrocity so it is up the rest of us–BDS hard, campaign to expel the Israeli Ambassador, and keep up the solidarity actions each week.
Absolutely right. It may seem that each individual protest is ineffectual but momentum is gathering. The US would not have abstained at the Security Council if Biden were not worried. There are now no longer any lesser evil arguments that he or his supporters can make. The status quo is being shown up as pure evil. The only path to re election now is a permanent UNSC mandated cease fire backed by force if needed.
Israel has shown it's true colours in the destruction of Al-Shifa Hospital.
Hundreds of bodies inside al-Shifa complex and in the surrounding area have been found burned and mutilated, including corpses “with their heads and limbs severed,” stated the Geneva-based Euro-Meditteranean Human Rights Monitor.
The group called Israel’s destruction and slaughter at al-Shifa “one of the largest massacres in Palestinian history.”
Thanks for your reply Subliminal. Israel as a state should be wound up really, and the people of the world have the power to make it so–not today perhaps, but it will happen.
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The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Koi Tū New Zealand cannot sit back and see the collapse of its Fourth Estate, the director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman, says in the foreword of a paper published today. The paper, “If not journalists, then who?” paints a picture of an industry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dog’s shit for others to deal with doesn’t make you a hero – it’s precious and entitled behaviour. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stood on the shoreline of Auckland’s Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by ‘working as little as possible’. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like “what do you do for a crust?” “I teach chemistry at university,” is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
Winston Peters might not give a ‘rat’s derriere’ about last night’s poll, but it revealed the unusual absence of a honeymoon period and little payoff for the government’s action plan approach, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco de Jong, Lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset. ...
The government's treatment of Māori raised eyebrows, with countries saying New Zealand needed to do more to reduce health, education and justice inequities. ...
The age of criminal responsibility was one of numerous human rights issues raised during Aotearoa New Zealand’s UPR. Other key themes were racism and discrimination, the disproportionate representation of Māori in prison, and to uphold the UN Declaration ...
In a sitdown interview ahead of his final day at Parliament this week, the former Green Party co-leader tells RNZ about his lowest point during 2017's rough election campaign. ...
Is the fringe radio station really in a financial crisis, or is it just running a hyped-up donation drive? Fringe internet radio station Reality Check Radio was launched by the anti-vaccine mandates group Voices for Freedom in March 2023. For the next year, it undertook probably the most aggressive promotional ...
Above the Fold: On Monday, the biggest Māori screen production company faced down the biggest funder of Māori content at the High Court. It was an incredibly tense moment – then, just as quickly, it resolved. Duncan Greive breaks down a strange day in the screen sector.Yesterday morning, Māori ...
Opinion: The debate over single gender versus co-educational schooling has long been controversial. I went to a co-ed school and was inspired by a remarkable woman who was my maths teacher, and because of her deep knowledge and passion for the subject, I knew that maths was definitely an option ...
He won everything and he earned a knighthood and he was a senior literary figure to the point that he was a living monument to himself until his death in the weekend at 86, but there was something about Vincent O’Sullivan that flew under the radar, that was independent and ...
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It’s a ride that’s lasted almost 30 years for mother and daughter BMX riders Nancy and Toni James, and the next stop is the World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Almost 27 years ago, Nancy and her husband Gerrard took their oldest child, Daniel, to the Waitākere BMX Club. ...
When it comes to talking about the Government’s controversial fast-track consenting process, political scientist Richard Shaw refers to the famous Chinese sci-fi novel Three-Body Problem, while RNZ’s In Depth journalist Farah Hancock talks about zombie projects. Shaw is referring to the three-party coalition Government and how the proposed legislation is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The rate of women killed by their partners in Australia grew by 28% from 2021–22 to 2022–23, according to new statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology ...
Ministry of Disabled People employees were promised a permanent role, but were told to start packing three weeks before their fixed term contract finished, says a former employee. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Clean Energy Council / Neoen As Australia’s rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached “saturation point” and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan C. Walsh, Sessional Academic, The University of Queensland Arrest for witchcraft (1866) by John PettieNGV, CC BY-NC In recent decades, governments the world over have increasingly taken action to address the dark history of witch-hunting. In western Europe, memorials to ...
By Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent The US Department of Justice is being urged to condemn and cease its reliance on the “Insular Cases” — a series of US Supreme Court opinions on US territories, which have been labelled racist. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kara Dadswell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Victoria University Ask your son or daughter, niece, or nephew to draw you a picture of a sport coach. They will most probably draw a man. Why? Our latest research published in the Psychology of Sport ...
Some interesting thoughts from Yanis Varoufakis who always has interesting perspectives. Reminds me of some of what Adam Curtis talks about in his own entertaining way.
The whole chapter in Das Kapital, in Marx’s Kapital explaining exactly this, called peace rates, the idea that capitalist employers… The one thing capitals hate more than anything is having to have workers in their premises. So if they can subcontract work, labor, to workers that are stay at home and work on peace rates or drive their own car in the case of Uber, or rent out their own apartment for which they take all the risks and pay the insurance and so on, Airbnb, all that, they will do it.
technologies, apps and so on have been used to robotize human beings and make them turn them into a precariat again. However, why am I saying that things are worse? Because now, exploitation has really become universal. If you think about it, every time anybody posts anything on Facebook, or tweets, or goes into Amazon and posts a review, you’re adding capital to the capitalists directly. Up until now, or recently, okay, the only way capital could be created was through labor, through wage labor. You worked for a capitalist, the capitalist retains your surplus value, and from that surplus value the capitalist builds capital up.
Now, the whole of humanity, even the middle classes and the upper middle classes, they are constantly on their phone. Even by telling Google Maps where you are and what you’re doing at that moment you are adding to Google’s capital, and you don’t get paid for it.
At that moment, you have the makings of what I now call techno-feudalism. Because what happens after 2000 is this. The great central banks, the Fed, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Sweden, they got together in April 2009 in London and they decided to print mountain ranges of money to refloat banking while practicing austerity for everybody, for everybody else, effectively. So you had socialism for the banks and you had crashing austerity for the masses.
https://therealnews.com/yanis-varoufakis-we-are-living-in-a-post-capitalist-techno-feudalist-dystopia?
Yes, and losses are socialised and profits are hardly taxed. Our acceptance of the ubiquitous nature of Face Book/ X et al is part of the problem. We like ease of use even if dangerous to our interests.
Not just tech companies. I think Yanis Varoufakis needed to broaden the varieties of those who make money charging rents. Often for the "commons". Such as the internet which was developed with State capital.
Almost all capital accumulation in NZ now goes to the people both Adam Smith and Karl Marx defined as "Rentiers".
Those who make money simply from owning something and taking from community wealth, rather than adding to it.
The chain across the river.
And John Stewart also looks at technology as well.
It's great to have job stewart back…and that is a very good example of his ability to cut thru the crap…
If I stole from the Wanaka supermarket that was open illegally on easter Friday would it be illegal?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124732460/two-wanaka-new-world-supermarkets-will-break-the-law-and-open-on-good-friday
It would also be illegal if you stole from the supermarket while it was closed.
Great question.
In a related vein: perhaps cops should be issued eftpos machines.
When the supermarket calls them because of
impact on their obscene profitsshoplifting, Countdown et al can be charged $200 an hour or part thereof for the service.The Wanaka supermarket does this every Easter, but this time they probably won't get prosecuted because the NACTZ have said openly in the past they will change the holiday trading laws thus the police will probably be told quietly not to do it.
I also think ACT will be pushing to drop the penal rates for working public holidays.
I suspect that lots of people criticising Wanaka supermarkets have never lived in a tourist town.
Wanaka should be exempt like Queenstown, because buy food is an essential need. The left should be pushing for better work conditions, days in lieu and pay for stat holiday workers.
Over Easter Wanaka had 5 times its normal population due to a big event bringing visitors to the town. Imagine two supermarkets built for say 15,000 people having to accommodate 50,000 people, and doing that in two days instead of four.
Imagine what that is like for supermarket workers and locals. The effect spreads out over the week as well, because both weeks either side of Easter are short weeks and everyone is trying to fit 5 business days into 4.
I've lived in tourist towns, and I'm a fan of closing most things on stats, but doing that to supermarkets under those conditions is daft.
Gotta gently disagree with you here weka.
While the left does need to advocate, educate and organise round better work pay and conditions, the answer to food supply for locals and tourists ain't supermarkets.
Food for locals, grown locally, shared with tourists, if they forgot to bring their own.
Supermarkets are difficult places to find food in; lots of food-like products, but very little real food.
I think, if we are to be honest, it's convenience we are really talking about here.
I've long said inconvenience is the biggest hurdle to mitigating CC, environmental degradation, inequality etc.
And you are correct about the 'food' offered in supermarkets.
I can tell you for a fact that for this disabled person, supermarkets aren't a convenience, they're an absolute necessity.
For all the other good and important things they do, I don't see the transition and resiliency communities building disabled people into their plans. Those cultures are very much self sufficiency and interdependency based on ability, they're not leftist, collective orientated. Most I know are small L libertarian.
But as per my other point, if a woman gets her period and needs to buy menstrual products and the supermarkets are closed, that's not convenience, that's necessity.
Likewise someone with bad headache who has to go to work. Or a woman with a sick child needing baby aspirin. I have other ways of managing all those things, but mos people don't. Telling tourist towns to suck it up because the revolution is coming just puts people off change.
Supermarkets have positioned themselves as necessities for economic reasons. They only are, because they schemed to be. Should we submit to their machinations, or take action to loosen their stranglehold?
I still see now plan or even mention of how to get from where we are now (which is what I was talking about) and where we need to be (which we both know we agree on, so why bother arguing that?), that takes disabled people's needs into account. Just Transition and all that.
If you and gsays don't need to use supermarkets, I'm glad for you. Meanwhile, most of the rest of us still need to eat in a way we can actually manage.
I still use a supermarket for some (few) things. Your own posts and questions here have revealed a plethora of how to get there, from network-building to community gardens, all of which could/should involve those disabled in some way. Ours here certainly do. Today, I helped at the high school garden, the community forest garden, the local organic food co-op, as well as opening-up the canopy in my own forest garden, all the while being somewhat disabled, (being unable to grasp, as you know, women's issues 🙂
Tomorrow, I'm on the Loop, riding passenger to a potential (young) driver, who requires a walking stick to get around; can drive well though, I'm assured 🙂
I'm not sure where to start.
What are the good and important things supermarkets do?
They have royally screwed over primary producers since the '80s, repetitive anti competitive behaviour, their influence in the trucking lobby is strong, and often sell food with obscene diesel miles embedded n them (sultana biscuits from Ukraine, potato products from Belgium and American garlic).
Pain relief and menstruation products, dairies are open for emergencies.
As for the transition/resilience building groups, what do you have to offer? If yr not involved how can yr needs be met.
I'm reading a TINA attitude with regards to the food duopoly which is very defeatist.
Ok, this is weird. I've been writing about transition culture on TS, posts and comments, for years. I just assumed you knew this and wouldn't talk to me as if I don't know the problems with supermarkets and relocalising food.
What I am saying is that right now, at Easter, there is no compelling reason to close supermarkets in tourist towns that have big events because food and other goods at supermarkets are essential items.
The reason for closing on stats is worker rights, and there are other ways to address that.
Yes, but they are considerably more expensive in a tourist town to buy from a dairy.
I've been involved in those cultures for a long time. I know what I have to offer. My point here was that those cultures are not good on disability and the collective. They are not predominantly leftist, they have a strong libertarian ethic. So the people that can't do self sufficiency often don't fit in well or get supported. Yes, I am speaking from long experience.
I certainly don't doubt your cred around sustainability issues that's why I was so flummoxed to read you going into bat for the duopoly.
Yes products are more expensive at a dairy that's why Americans call them convenience stores.
Easter happens at much the same time every year. Folk be it tourists or locals shouldn't be surprised.
When you load up the impact of supermarkets on a scale, on one side you have the negative impact done to society, competition, communities, workers, the environment and primary producers. The other side has convenience and handsome returns for shareholders.
You make a good point about the libertarian streak in resilience/community building organizations. Sometimes what we so often lack in leadership is a benevolent dictator.
If you think I am going into bat for the supermarkets, you really don’t understand my argument. Fuck the supermarkets. I’m talking about the impact on people in those towns that have big events at Easter. That workers and locals even if you don’t care about the visitors.
You don’t seem to care about those people in your rush to make this about the politics of the duopoly and shareholders, which is really disappointing not least because we simply won’t get buy for transition when people see their needs being dismissed like this.
Allowing a few selected supermarkets to open where warranted will have zero negative effect on transition or relocalising food.
https://thestandard.org.nz/what-if-we-had-a-transition-enabling-act/
https://thestandard.org.nz/what-local-food-can-look-like-and-why/
https://thestandard.org.nz/climate-extremes-make-nzs-supply-chains-highly-vulnerable-its-time-to-rethink-how-we-grow-and-ship-food/
I'm not questioning yr cred around sustainability and that is why I was flummoxed when you 'went into bat' for the duopoly.
The price of products in dairies are more expensive and that is the price of convenience. I figure that is why yanks call 'em convenience stores.
For me, putting the negative impacts these big companies have on communities, society, primary producers, the climate and workers on a scale, the only thing I see on the others side is convenience.
I accept there is a libertarian streak to the resilience crowd and that has to be one of the strengths. We so often lack a benevolent dictator character in positions of leadership.
Sorry about doubled up comment. posting on my fone at work.
tsk tsk.
Convenience? Maybe…
People seem to yearn for what they have grown accustomed to. When that disappears, they feel the loss of something that was in their life but now isn't.
I think that's the more powerful driver; it was mine, now it ain't.
Therefore, I'll protest.
taking food supplies away from the population before those systems are in place is very bad idea.
Yep. That's the kind of thing an earthquake can do…
Tend to agree, where I am the local New World which was closed had signs on the doors saying not to worry the four square less than a km away is open. The four square is new fully stocked with cafe etc its basically a small metro supermarket. Basically the law is a nonsense better to allow them to open and have suitable penal rates for workers.
Wanaka had about 70,000 tourists come through in Easter weekend.
It also now has about 25,000 residents including Hawea.
Wanaka has 2 supermarkets: a New World and a New World. And 1 4Square.
If you shut them down for a couple of days when you're close to 100,000 people you have a lot of hotels, restaurants, bars, retirement villages, tourist facilities, and event managers pretty unhappy.
bars and restaurants
I would have thought they'd be happy. Only places to get food and alcohol.
240 tonnes of aid has been returned to Cyprus.
https://twitter.com/muhammadshehad2/status/1775137325636317569
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/world-central-kitchen-halts-gaza-operations-after-israeli-strike-kills-7-aid-workers
While the headline from DiEM25 is a little dramatic, the article is nicely explanatory.
https://diem25.org/is-natural-gas-the-real-reason-for-the-genocide-in-gaza/
With World Central Kitchen staff being killed in such a manner, what more adjectives are there to express how many of us feel and know about the IDF butchers?
Governments are not moving sufficiently to stop this atrocity so it is up the rest of us–BDS hard, campaign to expel the Israeli Ambassador, and keep up the solidarity actions each week.
Absolutely right. It may seem that each individual protest is ineffectual but momentum is gathering. The US would not have abstained at the Security Council if Biden were not worried. There are now no longer any lesser evil arguments that he or his supporters can make. The status quo is being shown up as pure evil. The only path to re election now is a permanent UNSC mandated cease fire backed by force if needed.
Israel has shown it's true colours in the destruction of Al-Shifa Hospital.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/al-shifa-hospital-ruins
Thanks for your reply Subliminal. Israel as a state should be wound up really, and the people of the world have the power to make it so–not today perhaps, but it will happen.
Test
Test cursor in place 👍
Go Chloe.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/a-country-is-not-a-company-and-a-prime-minister-is-not-a-ceo-chloe-swarbrick/3USXRUBPIZERJDH2EJ73RIFUKY/
Works here… didn't when I tried to reply to yr above..
do you know how to use the Replies tab?