Very cool to see journalists still going back to Orwell to remind us that "The present political chaos is connected with the decay of language." (Orwell, 1941)
The whole article starts off on the wrong premise by not understanding the difference in the meaning of conservative in the normal sense i.e. resistant to change to the term conservative in the political sense i.e. favouring private enterprise, private ownership, traditional social mores and smaller government.
Somewhat ironic that an article quoting Orwell's commentary on the use of language would not fundamentally understand that words in English particularly can have multiple meanings.
The political conservative has never ever been resistant to change – just as long as it is change that favours their conservative outlook.
The left moves much more slowly ironically unless they are moving to the right as we saw in the 80's. Indeed it is the left that are conservative in the first meaning of the word.
It would be a much better article if it outlined that the public often don't understand the difference between the two meanings. Something that plays well into the hands of the right – conservative, prudent – the imagery they invoke.
Liz Truss typifies how quickly they move when wish. John Key's "never waste a crisis", Judith Collin's "double down".
I think what you are pointing towards is the intersection in the word "conservative" between broad left and right, namely: that point at which the world is saved through conservation.
I don't think the article was trying to get that far.
The same article transposed onto New Zealand conditions would have to track the splintering language that mirrors the splintering of epistemic trust through COVID, revealing deep and unruly activism. That's somewhat different to the US context.
Nah just the difference between the noun and the adjective.
The noun belongs to the right.
The adjective belongs to the left.
It is why despite regular stitching of governments we had continuously moved right since the mid-80's and people can't conceive of a return eg implementing WEAG recommendations or indeed believing they have done the job eg Grant Roberson believing he has reversed benefit damage done by Ruth Richardson.
Well that lovely binary is just not true in practise here, and betrays a kind of unjustified woolly righteousness.
Otherwise we'd see for example no national parks formed under National, or Treaty agreements, or cycleways, or major constitutional advancement, or Predator Free efforts, or big public transport facilities, whereas in practise most of them are initiated under National and by National.
In fact it's the current government that is the first for a while to initiate no new national parks. And the only big PT investment Labour-Greens can claim is the North Shore Busway extension.
If we cannot see the future, or if we cannot be sure of how a particular policy will turn out, then the true conservative is a person who prefers to err on the side of caution. However the modern political conservative tends to support privilege.
In America, the term neo-conservative refers to one who believes that because America is strong enough, militarily, to do whatever it likes, she should in fact act accordingly if it's in her interests to do so.
This is where we are now. Gender Identity ideology is shifting cultural norms so that rape culture is being sanctioned. Women said no to mixed sex toilets because we know what we are talking about. Capitalism lapped up GI ideology because it’s cheaper to have mixed sex toilets than single sex ones. People working in schools are either believing in GI ideology or they’re too scared to oppose it out of fear for their jobs or losing friends.
Every day there are multiple examples of this in my twitter feed. No Debate means the general public don’t know how far it’s gone, although awareness and MSM coverage is improving.
GI ideology is regressive, harms all people and society, but women and girls the most.
Trans people have the same human rights as everyone else in liberal countries and these should be upheld. Removing the rights of women and girls is not an acceptable way to do that.
Many many people the world over really don't see girls or women as more then a comfort person. Born to provide comforts, sexual comforts, nice clean house comforts, cooked foods and sandwiches comfort, and for those that still have use for it – b irthing body comforts. that is it. The only difference in the future between the taliban / religious enforces in the west and else where is that were they like to cover their comfort providers under a bedsheet we would have them run around naked or barey dressed. The mindset is the same.
The answer still stands, those not born into a male body are they even human?
porn teaches the young men, liberal adoption of GI ideology (eg mixed sex toilets) gives them easier access. It's not rocket science. This is a well known phenomena that appears to be increasing because men are now allowed in spaces that were previously female only. Google (or better yet, twitter search) for Primark to see how this is playing out in department store and other changing rooms.
At what point did liberals stop understanding that predatory men will take advantage of situations? Some liberals don't care because the needs of some TW to access female spaces is more important than protecting women and girls. But I don't think that's most liberals, so it's mindboggling what the thinking is.
But what's newly alarming is the mix of that and the school's response: it's not such a big deal because she had her underwear on. This is straight out of rape culture minimalisation that we've been fighting for decades, and now liberals are saying it's not a big deal 🚩 Liberals are saying this.
It's the mix of those three things – porn, GI ideology, liberal's dropping boundaries that is dangerous.
GI ideology has strong connections with porn of course, via sex/kink positivity and 'sex work is work' positions, as well as queer theory's ideas around transgression/good, boundaries/bad. Lots of TW doing porn, lots of AGPs doing fetishes, and increasingly in public. I doubt that most people are aware of the very fast shift in cultural mores that is happening.
Your comment above re capitalism bears repeating, and I think goes further than just having cheaper toilets. GI as a kind of religion (i.e., whatever I thinks is true is the truth) plays right into the hands of the masters of communication, the tech lords. There is a continual push to get us all online even more, into their crappy "metaverses", where they can extract even more data and money from us.
"Come to us, you can be whatever you want and no one can tell you, or even THINK you, any different. If the meat-world rejects you, there's always room for you in the meta. Just… enter you details…" Ugh.
It was feminists who insisted for decades there was little difference between the sexes and women could do anything that men could do. More than this that male-only spaces and roles had to be dismantled.
some feminists fought for equal rights by arguing that women can do the same jobs as men, and this is true by and large. It was in an era where women were actively locked out of many jobs and thus from taking full part in society, and it made sense at the time to use this tactic. There have always been feminists who argued that men and women are different.
men's clubs were targeted as discriminatory because they were bastions of male power where the old boy's network functioned. Again, women were prevented from taking full part in society because of this arrangement. This is basic power relations 101. I have no problems with men's space generally, nor do many other feminists as evidenced by the rise of men's sheds. Noticeably men's sheds don't generally exclude women where they are community facility. Because we're no longer living in the 60s and 70s with a bunch of men in charge who thought there was something wrong with sharing power with women. Men are free to organise their own spaces, and afaik this right is protected under legislation in both the UK and NZ (for now at least, it won't survive if gender ideology trumps sex entirely).
feminists have been pushing back against transfeminine male transgression into women's space for decades. I first became aware of it in the 90s, but it was going on a lot longer than that. You are woefully uninformed, but I see quite happy to still bring out your antipathy towards feminism when it suits you. Nothing new about that either.
And I was pointing out years ago that if the boot was on the other foot – that if you reversed the sexes in most feminist argument – you would not like it.
there might be a few thousand 'feminists' the rest of us are just women who do not want men in female prisons, female changing rooms, female awards, and so one.
most of us women abhor the idea to castrate a boy in order to have him live in the correct body of a 'female' because he likes sparkles, music, and spinny the dress.
most of us women abhor the idea to sterilize girls, have their teets yeeted by some demented surgeon for good money in the name of fucking kindness.
and frankly RL this is the laziest comment you could make.
Women are not feminists. Some women are. Some men pretend to be. Most of us women really just wanted to keep our jobs once we got pregnant, really just wanted to not need the permission of the hubby to by something and have some money in the bank account, the right to sign a lease – residential or commercial without Daddies signature or that of the hubby, or gasp even buy a house on our own.
As you will remember if you actually care, non of these things were a given, and we now have young girls suffering for it.
You are laughing at women, because some 'feminists' such as Deborah Russel, Mme KereKere and even the good leader of teh Labour Party the Person Jacinda Ardern are pushing this through law into our schools and public spaces here.
Your contempt for women and girls seems to be endless.
You seem to have forgotten that I am one of the relatively few left wing males on this site to have openly and full-heartedly supported your position from the outset.
If you want to interpret this as contempt – that's entirely on you.
You seem to have forgotten that I am one of the relatively few left wing males on this site to have openly and full-heartedly supported your position from the outset.
Once again your crude dogmatic insularity confuses the:
(1) scapegoating, elite self-interest, blatant discriminatory policies, authoritarianism & cultural extremism of the Upper-Middle Woke Vanity Project
with
(2) genuine Social Democratic principles of universalism, egalitarianism, equality under law, individual human rights, democracy, free expression of ideas.
And fwiw, as a person who no longer has defintion that i can refer to when talking about myself, my body, my issues, heck who no longer even has the right to shit and piss in a toilet without male bodies hanging out for shits n giggles on the grounds of 'girl brain' and 'imagination' and 'getting a boner cause i get to wear womans face and the things who no longer have a word to define themselves are not allowed to say shit about it ' i am over that.
Seriously, you are one of the better commentators here. Please stop this Rightwing / Left wing bullshit about hte 'femminists'.
this affects us because we are removed from law, from text books, from public record so that men can have euphoria boners.
So fucking desperatly tired of this bullshit that harms us, our children, our elders. And as a consequence will in the future harm every male that wants to live as a male. Because they are gunning for you too.
Heck, we make castrating boys into female clad eunuchs a virtue. Go figure.
And fwiw, define 'left'. This is supported by left, right and the middle. Why? Why would that be?
And I was pointing out years ago that if the boot was on the other foot – that if you reversed the sexes in most feminist argument – you would not like it.
Only because you don't understand the argument.
But let's test it and see. I already gave the example of men's clubs. What's the reverse? There isn't one, because women don't have an old boys network that they exclude men from. You've been running these arguments for years, but you still don't have an actual argument.
of course we have social networks, that's not what I said. I also don't think women are powerless.
But you said "if you reversed the sexes in most feminist argument" that I wouldn't like it. Yet you still haven't made an argument or presented any evidence. It's just this vague assertion based on not understanding feminist analysis of power and how it functions in our societies.
apparently not. Like I said, vague reckons and implied whatevers but no actual argument. Which is fine, it's simply a derail so best to leave it alone.
Blaming "feminists" in the way you have, assumes that all who label themselves as feminists have the same perspective. As you know, that is demonstrably not true. There are many issues where those who call themselves feminists vehemently disagree.
weka, adequately addresses the issues regarding access to places where power and authority resided, rather than an all-out infringement on men's ability to create their own single-sex spaces.
If you can put those assertions you list aside for the moment, do you honestly not see any issues with the dismantling of safeguarding processes and boundaries for single-sex spaces?
Why would be have gaps under doors in gender neutral toilets? I have no problem having gender neutral toilets but the design has to be suitable. I also think there should always be separate same sex toilets as well – particularly in schools.
Female, male, disabled and gender neutral should be the modern standard. If you dispense with the first two then each stall should be independent with its own hand-basin etc e.g. similar to a public toilet. Just slapping a new sign on existing facilities is poor decision making and reminds me of the early days of slapping signs on standard toilets and calling them the disabled toilet even though you couldn't turn a wheelchair around to get out. We are a bit more mature now about disabled facilities.
How much of the gap under the door is classist e.g. the poorer the community the more likely / bigger the gap?
The schools response sucks. Far too many women develop anxiety over time from this sort of behaviour.
What country is this in – it would not be usual for an 11 year old to be starting secondary school in NZ?
Why would be have gaps under doors in gender neutral toilets?
Because it's cheaper. Neoliberal capitalism loves gender ideology for a reason.
I have no problem having gender neutral toilets but the design has to be suitable. I also think there should always be separate same sex toilets as well – particularly in schools.
are you suggesting that schools build mixed sex toilets alongside the single sex ones?
What's happening in the UK is that mixed sex toilets are increasingly replacing single sex ones. And guess what, they're converting women's toilets into mixed sex and keeping men's toilets.
Female, male, disabled and gender neutral should be the modern standard. If you dispense with the first two then each stall should be independent with its own hand-basin etc e.g. similar to a public toilet. Just slapping a new sign on existing facilities is poor decision making and reminds me of the early days of slapping signs on standard toilets and calling them the disabled toilet even though you couldn't turn a wheelchair around to get out. We are a bit more mature now about disabled facilities.
I've seen pictures of mixed sex toilets in the UK in a school where the area outside the toilet cubicle is open to the main hall. This is a facility designed by people absolutely clueless about women's needs.
I values women's space highly, and single sex toilets for females give women the opportunity to connect without being around men. I don't want to see that lost because a very small % of the school are trans. We can address their needs without removing women's.
How much of the gap under the door is classist e.g. the poorer the community the more likely / bigger the gap?
bloody good poin.
The schools response sucks. Far too many women develop anxiety over time from this sort of behaviour.
Indeed. Some women/girls stay home when they have their periods. Some hold on and don't go to the toilet. This was the argument for making toilets cross sex or mixed sex, that trans people were having medical problems from holding on. It's an indictment of how much sexism and misogyny we still have that society didn't listen to women who said if you make toilets mixed sex the same thing will happen to women.
See my link above from the Mail.
What country is this in – it would not be usual for an 11 year old to be starting secondary school in NZ?
UK. But it's normal here for intermediate and high school to be in the same building. What we don't know about NZ is if the push for mixed sex facilities is replacing women's/girls' toilets or being provided alongside.
"mixed sex facilities is replacing women's/girls' toilets or being provided alongside."
This is a 'reckon', but I highly doubt that there will be any new toilets built/installed – it's a major cost, and schools will be prioritizing other building projects.
It's a heck of a lot cheaper (in $$$ terms) to just change the signage.
There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.”
I'm aware of at least one person advising schools saying alongside. It took ages for this to sink in for disabled toilets. What I would not like to see is disabled toilets suggested as the alternative – not only for their space but also to avoid the notion of treating gender issues as a disability. Already seen that happen in workplaces – "just used the disabled toilet".
"if you make toilets mixed sex the same thing will happen to women."
Pretty obvious.
I suspect/know schools need much better guidance from above as well as specific funding to address. Individual boards will just produce a wide variation and religious schools are unsurprisingly resistant as are some individual principals.
Yes, we have a lot of mixed sex toilets in NZ eg in small cafes where there is only one toilet. But they didn't replace women's toilets generally. In this conversation we are talking about where women and girls need single sex toilets and those are being removed. You may feel better, but many women and girls don't. This about politics.
Actually, filming someone in the school toilets, regardless of gender, should be an automatic suspension offence. As should sharing that film on social medial. And (depending on the student's history) might result in expulsion/exclusion (whatever the latest buzz word is).
It's illegal (you have a presumption of privacy in a toilet cubicle) – and there are multiple cases of adult offenders being convicted for similar offences.
The school's response is negligent.
The suspension should continue until there is a Board of Trustees hearing into why the student should be allowed to return to the school, and what protections will be put in place to prevent re-offending.
It's possible all those things did happen, and the school still gave the message to the girl that it wasn't such a big deal because she had her undies up.
Mercer Gas Station and malls now has a 'gender neutral' toilets.
Men
Disabled
Gender Neutral
the “Womens” is now the neutral toilet. There is no more ” Womens” left. And please don’t ask for pictures, because i actually have taken them and will happily post them here.
So men can use the Mens, the mixed sex and the disabled toilet. Women well who gives a flying fuck?
All that was changed was the sign on the door. The stalls are open to the top and bottom and a tall man can have a good view over the stalls if they cared. Any one can put a camera under your toilet.
That is here in NZ. Just another country in which we pretend that anyone and their dog and pony show is a women/girl by stating so.
I'd like to see legislation introduced which requires banks to refund the money, unless they can prove that the account holder has been negligent (freely sharing passwords) or has actively chosen to transfer the money (it's not the bank's fault if you choose to send money to a 'Nigerian prince', even after being warned).
It seems as though the banks are also being hoist by their own petard of online-only services. In the 'old' days, if I wanted to change anything about my account (name, contact details, address, etc.) – I would need to physically go into a branch and produce ID. Now, all I need to do is send the details via an app. Opening up a giant hole in their security and fraud-prevention operations (once they have your account details & password – through phishing or other methods (phone cloning it looks like, here) – it's trivial for a fraudster to change the contact details – and you'll never know)
When I think about the hoops I have to go through in order to transfer money overseas – while these fraudsters happily waltz through the banks' security systems unimpeded…..
As more and more services become online-only – we should, rightly, be concerned over the security of those online systems – and their ability to protect our online identity (and, in this case, cash)
Ukraine is launching a rapid counter-offensive in the Kherson Oblast down the banks of the Dnipro at the moment causing a lot of very worried Russians.
The pace things are going, there is a high risk that a lot of Russians could be surrounded, and will find it very difficult to withdraw across the Dnipro.
Things rapidly falling apart for Putin at the moment.
The more successful the Ukrainians become, the more likely it will be that the Russians will resort to nuclear weapons. It would be in Europe’s interests to bring the parties to the peace table, However Russia won’t voluntarily give up the territories it has won and Ukraine won’t stop fighting until it has regained those territories.
I don't think the Russians will bother with tactical nukes. Most military opinion I have seen doesn't think they are very good for the job there. And the NATO has made it very clear to them that there will be specific non-nuclear but very destructive action they will take if Russia goes down that path.
The biggest risk is if Putin goes completely off the wall and decides to launch nukes at the rest of the world because he sees military defeat in Ukraine as on the same level as nukes being launched at Russia.
There is no evidence for now that weapons are being moved into position or being prepared for such strikes. US intelligence, which has been extraordinarily precise so far can be expected to pick up any details (or at least the Russian would need to assume that). No effort has been made to explain to the Russian public why such strikes might be necessary. After all Putin still insists that this is a limited operation and has refused to put the country on a war footing. As we have seen Russian figures talk garrulously about scenarios for nuclear use against NATO countries but not Ukraine. We can also assume that neither of Putin’s recent interlocutors – Xi and Modi – would be enthused. This is a scenario largely generated in the West trying to anticipate contingencies that have yet to be reached.
[…]
Postscript
The day after this post was published, Putin made a speech in which he announced military mobilisation. His description of the origins of the course of the war can be left to another day. It is an extension of the delusional analysis which he has been promoting since the start of this disastrous war. The mobilisation announced will, I suspect, aggravate rather than solve the problems faced by Russian forces at the front. I will consider these in my next post. His main statement on nuclear weapons, however, is wholly in line, with my analysis.
The German Energiewende was built on ideology not decarbonisation,replacement of Nuclear with Russian Gas,which would of allowed reduction of coal generation.
Grid replacement from the north for wind (offshore) which needs 12256km of new grid line has only completed over the last 6 years 16% with another 6 % permitted ( German planning can take 10yrs) meaning only half of its target can be reached in 2035.
Harbeck the German minister says now the two reactors will be needed this and next year,remembering that the storage this year was mostly by Russian gas.
No plan b here,as price caps on gas imports will mean no gas imports,so subsidy is the option with around 200b euro so far,which is on borrowed debt now with a trade imbalance.
I recall reading somewhere that while converting from coal to natural gas is a good thing, and responsible for much of the developed world cutting back on their carbon intensity over the past two decades – there was always one nasty gotcha that few people talked about – fugitive emissions.
The numbers I saw suggested that you only needed gas leaks in the order of 2 -3% of total use for the methane contribution to CC to exceed the CO2 gains from the coal use reduction. And considering that the Nord Stream sabotage is probably the largest every man-made methane release ever …
Using gas instead of coal,reduced emissions by being more efficient,fewer secondary emissions such SO2,etc,balanced by fugitive emissions,flaring and underestimation.
The IEA data and satellite measurement show that FF methane emissions are 70% greater then national government reporting and growing.
Also the emissions from flaring are also 5x greater then certification efficiency certification shows.( flaring thought to be a cheaper method,then capping or short term storage.
The fix here can be both cheap and profitable ,the wasted gas being around the annual needs of Europe.The other part of the problem is that the total global load of CH4 changes ie the amount of biogenic production reduces to meet the excess loads identified in the global accounts.
The other thing is, that, due to Russia cutting the gas supply, Germany is now turning back on coal generation. From an emissions perspective, nuclear would have been better.
In the case of solar, that depends where you are. In Germany, and similar parts of Europe, it isn't very good due to less sunlight, though Italy and France are OK, as is most of New Zealand. Especially good in Australia for obvious reasons.
Solar works at 20-30% efficiency even in cloudy conditions. The technology is getting better rapidly.
Nuclear proponents always lie massively about construction costs and decomissioning costs which makes nuclear power far more expensive than the figures often quoted.
Rest assured, like everywhere else, the empty suits in the German Green Party, the SPD and the FDP, will have a warm house, good food and no hardship. That is for their constituency that they have no care about.
But, i am sure the German Green will feel very green, so green, deepest green, whilst they sit warm, munching on a imported vegan strudel of sorts telling the plebs that all of this is Putins fault for not just giving the west Russias resources for free and on demand. How dare the pesky Russians pretend that they are a sovereign nation and not a supplier to Capitalism Inc.
Anyone not predicting that Russia has Europe by the balls is dumb at best and malevolent at worst and should not be anywhere in risk assessment and government. Btw, Donald Trump of all people warned them. Go figure.
Looks like there is finally movement on the Northland Drydock, better late than never I suppose.
With the 2 new Interlslander Ferries on order, the Pirates (RNZN) new Fleet Support Ship & the Landing Support Ship can't use the existing facilities in Auckland.
Plus the Planned the Southern Ocean Patrol Vessel which is going to be a biggie, the new Landing Ships & Frigate/ OPV Replacements.
The planning process for this, probably should've started already given the short to long economic development to Northland. Especially if KiwiRail pull their finger out of their freckle & build the branch line to Northport, which might see container traffic move from Auckland etc?
My biggest concern is atm, will the Greens shit can this project given its Anti Defence Stance incl Maintenance & Manufacturing?
Then we have National's Tax Cuts & it's stance against building critical Infrastructure apart from roads & cutting Public Services like Defence etc.
Very interesting point about the new ferry craft not being able to use Calliope, since they are in sea trials and work on the port upgrades for Wellington and Picton is under active negotiation.
The two new Interlslander Ferries are 50% bigger, so even if the NZ MoD/ RNZN got all the approvals to upgrade Devonport & the Drydock.
It was going to be a very tight fit, so probably going for a new greenfield site like Northport would be a better option long term.
Given that the NZ MoD/RNZN no longer owns the Married Quarters around the Devonport Area and the planned new Fleet means the Navy would have to eventually move out of Auckland sooner or later.
The now cancelled Southern Ocean Patrol Vessel was almost as big ie length & if not more beamer (width of the ship) as the current in service Frigates. And this due to the changing environmental conditions down in the Southern Ocean due to CC.
As the current in service OPV's are no longer fit for purpose to go down Sth & L421 the Landing Support Ship, they've got to pick the right time to supply Campbell Is given the design limitations & CC in the Southern Ocean nowadays.
The Pirates are going to need bigger ships in coming the decade weather the public, treasury & politicians like it or not.
"The two new Interlslander Ferries are 50% bigger, so even if the NZ MoD/ RNZN got all the approvals to upgrade Devonport & the Drydock."
A big *if* – the Devonportugese are very, very NIMBY when it comes to infrastructure development. I'm sure the Navy would have been geared up for multiple appeals to the Environment court.
An alternative site (well outside of Auckland's built-up area) looks like a much quicker option.
Ron Mark, had the NZ MoD & RNZN Scoping for possible future Base for the the Pirates from Northport, to staying in the Auckland Area, the Sounds & Port Chalmers for the Southern Ocean Patrol Vessels.
But it all went quite very quickly after last election for some unknown reason, probably Covid19 Related more likely & possible cost as well?
The Big issue with Devonport is not so that the NZ MoD/ RNZN doesn't owned much land around the Base these days. But a lack of flat land around the existing drydock area & the Drydock being listed a Grade 1 Heritage Site.
As you said, if they got all the approvals, the Heritage Listed Site that being the Drydock Area would've been a major show stopper.
The NZ MoD & RNZN would've literally had to destroy the existing facilities & therefore leaving the Navy the nowhere to go to undertake minor refit or major refits while reconstruction was taking place.
I think one of the many dumbest decisions ever taken place during the great leap backwards in the 80's & 90's was when the Railways/ Interlslander Services were told to offloaded it's floating dock in Wellington.
Which has left NZ's heavy Ship repair in a perilous state since then & having to rely on the good services of the NZ MoD, Babcock International who managed the the Drydock on behalf of RNZN & RNZN itself.
And all those $5Million plus home owners don't actually want a nasty drydock area messing up their sea-views and creating noise pollution by actually working. And they have very deep pockets when it comes to Enviro court appeals (as well as a conviction that, if they can just delay long enough, the government will give up and go away).
A sufficiently tough government could push it through – but my pick is that they'd choose to use the political capital elsewhere.
The problem is that you either have to locate facilities in an existing sea-port (with all of the associated NIMBY issues), or you build a new one (with all of the associated environmental degradation issues).
In Auckland, I do wonder about Kauri Point. Existing Defence land (with a massive unbuilt-up area because of ammo storage.
Definitely accessible by ocean-going and navy ships (both ammo loading, and Chelsea tankers).
Of course, because it's un-built-on – there would be outcries about 'destroying' the natural heritage…..
No, I'm not suggesting co-locating the drydock with ammo storage. But you could certainly look at ammo storage elsewhere….[I'm tempted to say in the heart of Devonport, but will refrain]
They could store the bang in the old underground fuel bunkers that NIMBY's got closed down at Devonport which would be a bad thing btw😂
If & when Kauri Pt is closed down? I hope it's turned into a urban national park like Charles Darwin here in Darwin which btw was the old Bomb/ Ammo dump for Nth Oz.
This is why I have unfollowed a few of the Left people on twitter, they are just relentlessly hating on Labour with no perspective on where we came from. The perfect is too often the enemy of the good.
It's like nothing is ever good enough until we have a full on socialist purge.
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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 ...
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Go Lula!
OK I give up
Who/what Lula?
Brazilian Presidential candidate
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2022/oct/02/brazil-election-2022-live-results-bolsonaro-lula-da-silva
Thanks
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/property/130021471/government-scraps-national-scheme-aimed-at-filling-ghost-homes
Ghost homes by the numbers
Our ghosts will be happy to hear that. They'd not want to be made homeless and have to find new haunts.
Very cool to see journalists still going back to Orwell to remind us that "The present political chaos is connected with the decay of language." (Orwell, 1941)
Who's a "conservative"? Not these folks — the word has become meaningless | Salon.com
The whole article starts off on the wrong premise by not understanding the difference in the meaning of conservative in the normal sense i.e. resistant to change to the term conservative in the political sense i.e. favouring private enterprise, private ownership, traditional social mores and smaller government.
Somewhat ironic that an article quoting Orwell's commentary on the use of language would not fundamentally understand that words in English particularly can have multiple meanings.
The political conservative has never ever been resistant to change – just as long as it is change that favours their conservative outlook.
The left moves much more slowly ironically unless they are moving to the right as we saw in the 80's. Indeed it is the left that are conservative in the first meaning of the word.
It would be a much better article if it outlined that the public often don't understand the difference between the two meanings. Something that plays well into the hands of the right – conservative, prudent – the imagery they invoke.
Liz Truss typifies how quickly they move when wish. John Key's "never waste a crisis", Judith Collin's "double down".
Conservative they are not.
I think what you are pointing towards is the intersection in the word "conservative" between broad left and right, namely: that point at which the world is saved through conservation.
I don't think the article was trying to get that far.
The same article transposed onto New Zealand conditions would have to track the splintering language that mirrors the splintering of epistemic trust through COVID, revealing deep and unruly activism. That's somewhat different to the US context.
Nah just the difference between the noun and the adjective.
The noun belongs to the right.
The adjective belongs to the left.
It is why despite regular stitching of governments we had continuously moved right since the mid-80's and people can't conceive of a return eg implementing WEAG recommendations or indeed believing they have done the job eg Grant Roberson believing he has reversed benefit damage done by Ruth Richardson.
Well that lovely binary is just not true in practise here, and betrays a kind of unjustified woolly righteousness.
Otherwise we'd see for example no national parks formed under National, or Treaty agreements, or cycleways, or major constitutional advancement, or Predator Free efforts, or big public transport facilities, whereas in practise most of them are initiated under National and by National.
In fact it's the current government that is the first for a while to initiate no new national parks. And the only big PT investment Labour-Greens can claim is the North Shore Busway extension.
If we cannot see the future, or if we cannot be sure of how a particular policy will turn out, then the true conservative is a person who prefers to err on the side of caution. However the modern political conservative tends to support privilege.
In America, the term neo-conservative refers to one who believes that because America is strong enough, militarily, to do whatever it likes, she should in fact act accordingly if it's in her interests to do so.
This is where we are now. Gender Identity ideology is shifting cultural norms so that rape culture is being sanctioned. Women said no to mixed sex toilets because we know what we are talking about. Capitalism lapped up GI ideology because it’s cheaper to have mixed sex toilets than single sex ones. People working in schools are either believing in GI ideology or they’re too scared to oppose it out of fear for their jobs or losing friends.
Every day there are multiple examples of this in my twitter feed. No Debate means the general public don’t know how far it’s gone, although awareness and MSM coverage is improving.
GI ideology is regressive, harms all people and society, but women and girls the most.
Trans people have the same human rights as everyone else in liberal countries and these should be upheld. Removing the rights of women and girls is not an acceptable way to do that.
https://twitter.com/ladybellatrix1/status/1576653541435142144
I'd say that's less at the foot of GI and more at the super-commercialisation of amateur porn into sites that target early teenage development.
… aided by the wanton abandonment of safeguarding and single-sex spaces, giving rise to increased opportunity.
(Note: Abusive behaviour not limited to teenagers/schools)
I wonder if lots of men don't understand quite how big a deal this is for women.
If people aren't on twitter or reading RW media, they probably don't know the extent or the analysis.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11270459/Feminist-campaigners-demand-unisex-changing-rooms-scrapped-amid-reports-traumatic-encounters.html
No need to wonder,
Many many people the world over really don't see girls or women as more then a comfort person. Born to provide comforts, sexual comforts, nice clean house comforts, cooked foods and sandwiches comfort, and for those that still have use for it – b irthing body comforts. that is it. The only difference in the future between the taliban / religious enforces in the west and else where is that were they like to cover their comfort providers under a bedsheet we would have them run around naked or barey dressed. The mindset is the same.
The answer still stands, those not born into a male body are they even human?
porn teaches the young men, liberal adoption of GI ideology (eg mixed sex toilets) gives them easier access. It's not rocket science. This is a well known phenomena that appears to be increasing because men are now allowed in spaces that were previously female only. Google (or better yet, twitter search) for Primark to see how this is playing out in department store and other changing rooms.
At what point did liberals stop understanding that predatory men will take advantage of situations? Some liberals don't care because the needs of some TW to access female spaces is more important than protecting women and girls. But I don't think that's most liberals, so it's mindboggling what the thinking is.
But what's newly alarming is the mix of that and the school's response: it's not such a big deal because she had her underwear on. This is straight out of rape culture minimalisation that we've been fighting for decades, and now liberals are saying it's not a big deal 🚩 Liberals are saying this.
It's the mix of those three things – porn, GI ideology, liberal's dropping boundaries that is dangerous.
GI ideology has strong connections with porn of course, via sex/kink positivity and 'sex work is work' positions, as well as queer theory's ideas around transgression/good, boundaries/bad. Lots of TW doing porn, lots of AGPs doing fetishes, and increasingly in public. I doubt that most people are aware of the very fast shift in cultural mores that is happening.
Your comment above re capitalism bears repeating, and I think goes further than just having cheaper toilets. GI as a kind of religion (i.e., whatever I thinks is true is the truth) plays right into the hands of the masters of communication, the tech lords. There is a continual push to get us all online even more, into their crappy "metaverses", where they can extract even more data and money from us.
"Come to us, you can be whatever you want and no one can tell you, or even THINK you, any different. If the meat-world rejects you, there's always room for you in the meta. Just… enter you details…" Ugh.
totally agree. The push to disembodiment and the ways to make money from this are glaring. Some on the left look forward to transhumanism 🙁
writing these comments today I wanted to draw a mind map of all the interrelated things, and yes techbro and techlords are intricately part of this.
It was feminists who insisted for decades there was little difference between the sexes and women could do anything that men could do. More than this that male-only spaces and roles had to be dismantled.
Now the tables are turned – you don't like it.
this is how it played out in your head.
meanwhile,
And I was pointing out years ago that if the boot was on the other foot – that if you reversed the sexes in most feminist argument – you would not like it.
And so it came to pass. I am sorry for that.
there might be a few thousand 'feminists' the rest of us are just women who do not want men in female prisons, female changing rooms, female awards, and so one.
most of us women abhor the idea to castrate a boy in order to have him live in the correct body of a 'female' because he likes sparkles, music, and spinny the dress.
most of us women abhor the idea to sterilize girls, have their teets yeeted by some demented surgeon for good money in the name of fucking kindness.
and frankly RL this is the laziest comment you could make.
Women are not feminists. Some women are. Some men pretend to be. Most of us women really just wanted to keep our jobs once we got pregnant, really just wanted to not need the permission of the hubby to by something and have some money in the bank account, the right to sign a lease – residential or commercial without Daddies signature or that of the hubby, or gasp even buy a house on our own.
As you will remember if you actually care, non of these things were a given, and we now have young girls suffering for it.
You are laughing at women, because some 'feminists' such as Deborah Russel, Mme KereKere and even the good leader of teh Labour Party the Person Jacinda Ardern are pushing this through law into our schools and public spaces here.
Your contempt for women and girls seems to be endless.
You seem to have forgotten that I am one of the relatively few left wing males on this site to have openly and full-heartedly supported your position from the outset.
If you want to interpret this as contempt – that's entirely on you.
.
Once again your crude dogmatic insularity confuses the:
(1) scapegoating, elite self-interest, blatant discriminatory policies, authoritarianism & cultural extremism of the Upper-Middle Woke Vanity Project
with
(2) genuine Social Democratic principles of universalism, egalitarianism, equality under law, individual human rights, democracy, free expression of ideas.
I do understand that.
But again, the comment was lazy.
And fwiw, as a person who no longer has defintion that i can refer to when talking about myself, my body, my issues, heck who no longer even has the right to shit and piss in a toilet without male bodies hanging out for shits n giggles on the grounds of 'girl brain' and 'imagination' and 'getting a boner cause i get to wear womans face and the things who no longer have a word to define themselves are not allowed to say shit about it ' i am over that.
Seriously, you are one of the better commentators here. Please stop this Rightwing / Left wing bullshit about hte 'femminists'.
this affects us because we are removed from law, from text books, from public record so that men can have euphoria boners.
So fucking desperatly tired of this bullshit that harms us, our children, our elders. And as a consequence will in the future harm every male that wants to live as a male. Because they are gunning for you too.
Heck, we make castrating boys into female clad eunuchs a virtue. Go figure.
And fwiw, define 'left'. This is supported by left, right and the middle. Why? Why would that be?
Only because you don't understand the argument.
But let's test it and see. I already gave the example of men's clubs. What's the reverse? There isn't one, because women don't have an old boys network that they exclude men from. You've been running these arguments for years, but you still don't have an actual argument.
There isn't one, because women don't have an old boys network that they exclude men from.
Yes you do. Women everywhere have much larger, and often rather powerful, social networks than most men.
of course we have social networks, that's not what I said. I also don't think women are powerless.
But you said "if you reversed the sexes in most feminist argument" that I wouldn't like it. Yet you still haven't made an argument or presented any evidence. It's just this vague assertion based on not understanding feminist analysis of power and how it functions in our societies.
Oh I understand the argument alright – it seems to be about power and little else.
You two are fighting the wrong enemy
And this is why you don't get it.
This is basic power relations 101.
Need I say more?
apparently not. Like I said, vague reckons and implied whatevers but no actual argument. Which is fine, it's simply a derail so best to leave it alone.
Blaming "feminists" in the way you have, assumes that all who label themselves as feminists have the same perspective. As you know, that is demonstrably not true. There are many issues where those who call themselves feminists vehemently disagree.
weka, adequately addresses the issues regarding access to places where power and authority resided, rather than an all-out infringement on men's ability to create their own single-sex spaces.
If you can put those assertions you list aside for the moment, do you honestly not see any issues with the dismantling of safeguarding processes and boundaries for single-sex spaces?
Why would be have gaps under doors in gender neutral toilets? I have no problem having gender neutral toilets but the design has to be suitable. I also think there should always be separate same sex toilets as well – particularly in schools.
Female, male, disabled and gender neutral should be the modern standard. If you dispense with the first two then each stall should be independent with its own hand-basin etc e.g. similar to a public toilet. Just slapping a new sign on existing facilities is poor decision making and reminds me of the early days of slapping signs on standard toilets and calling them the disabled toilet even though you couldn't turn a wheelchair around to get out. We are a bit more mature now about disabled facilities.
How much of the gap under the door is classist e.g. the poorer the community the more likely / bigger the gap?
The schools response sucks. Far too many women develop anxiety over time from this sort of behaviour.
What country is this in – it would not be usual for an 11 year old to be starting secondary school in NZ?
Many secondary schools are years 7 to 13.
It sounds like England – 11 years olds start secondary school and they return to school after the summer break in September.
Because it's cheaper. Neoliberal capitalism loves gender ideology for a reason.
are you suggesting that schools build mixed sex toilets alongside the single sex ones?
What's happening in the UK is that mixed sex toilets are increasingly replacing single sex ones. And guess what, they're converting women's toilets into mixed sex and keeping men's toilets.
I've seen pictures of mixed sex toilets in the UK in a school where the area outside the toilet cubicle is open to the main hall. This is a facility designed by people absolutely clueless about women's needs.
I values women's space highly, and single sex toilets for females give women the opportunity to connect without being around men. I don't want to see that lost because a very small % of the school are trans. We can address their needs without removing women's.
bloody good poin.
Indeed. Some women/girls stay home when they have their periods. Some hold on and don't go to the toilet. This was the argument for making toilets cross sex or mixed sex, that trans people were having medical problems from holding on. It's an indictment of how much sexism and misogyny we still have that society didn't listen to women who said if you make toilets mixed sex the same thing will happen to women.
See my link above from the Mail.
UK. But it's normal here for intermediate and high school to be in the same building. What we don't know about NZ is if the push for mixed sex facilities is replacing women's/girls' toilets or being provided alongside.
"mixed sex facilities is replacing women's/girls' toilets or being provided alongside."
This is a 'reckon', but I highly doubt that there will be any new toilets built/installed – it's a major cost, and schools will be prioritizing other building projects.
It's a heck of a lot cheaper (in $$$ terms) to just change the signage.
this would be my guess too, although I suspect (and hope) only some of the girls' toilets will be changed.
What will happen in new school builds is another matter.
I would guess that unisex toilets will be mandated – and schools will be able to opt for single sex ones in addition – if they choose.
Agree, weka.
This casual handwaving away of issues of privacy, dignity and safety FOR no considered reason is breath-taking in it's stupidity.
No thought at all given to the many benefits of single-sex spaces:
https://fs.blog/chestertons-fence/
that's very good, thanks!
I'm aware of at least one person advising schools saying alongside. It took ages for this to sink in for disabled toilets. What I would not like to see is disabled toilets suggested as the alternative – not only for their space but also to avoid the notion of treating gender issues as a disability. Already seen that happen in workplaces – "just used the disabled toilet".
"if you make toilets mixed sex the same thing will happen to women."
Pretty obvious.
I suspect/know schools need much better guidance from above as well as specific funding to address. Individual boards will just produce a wide variation and religious schools are unsurprisingly resistant as are some individual principals.
agree about the need for caution around disability toilets. Bizarre that that took so long to establish.
Don't know about how sensible NZ schools will be. There are others with a better sense of what is happening than me (mostly I know them on twitter).
Plenty of gender neutral toilets on our coastline and parks in the Auckland region are just solid concrete block, which just feels better.
Yes, we have a lot of mixed sex toilets in NZ eg in small cafes where there is only one toilet. But they didn't replace women's toilets generally. In this conversation we are talking about where women and girls need single sex toilets and those are being removed. You may feel better, but many women and girls don't. This about politics.
IIRC, gaps are part of H&S design, so access to a distressed/self harming child is possible.
Happy to be corrected here.
New MoE design for toilets specifies full height walls and doors
"Toilets are self-contained and include hand basin and drying facilities. Full height walls and doors are used for more visual and acoustic privacy."
https://www.education.govt.nz/school/property-and-transport/projects-and-design/design/design-standards/toilet-reference-design/
A big departure from the previous standard with a row of cubicles and a row of handbasins.
Well, the new MoE designs do not allow for easy access to distressed/self harming or unconscious students. Good to know.
MoE guidelines are not gold standard in many areas, this will be added to the list.
The benefits of gaps can be fully realised in single-sex spaces, as they avoid the opportunity for abusive behaviour of males towards females.
Actually, filming someone in the school toilets, regardless of gender, should be an automatic suspension offence. As should sharing that film on social medial. And (depending on the student's history) might result in expulsion/exclusion (whatever the latest buzz word is).
It's illegal (you have a presumption of privacy in a toilet cubicle) – and there are multiple cases of adult offenders being convicted for similar offences.
The school's response is negligent.
The suspension should continue until there is a Board of Trustees hearing into why the student should be allowed to return to the school, and what protections will be put in place to prevent re-offending.
and the police should be called.
It's possible all those things did happen, and the school still gave the message to the girl that it wasn't such a big deal because she had her undies up.
I doubt, if the school is giving that message to the victim, that they have imposed any sanctions on the offender/s.
Mercer Gas Station and malls now has a 'gender neutral' toilets.
Men
Disabled
Gender Neutral
the “Womens” is now the neutral toilet. There is no more ” Womens” left. And please don’t ask for pictures, because i actually have taken them and will happily post them here.
So men can use the Mens, the mixed sex and the disabled toilet. Women well who gives a flying fuck?
All that was changed was the sign on the door. The stalls are open to the top and bottom and a tall man can have a good view over the stalls if they cared. Any one can put a camera under your toilet.
That is here in NZ. Just another country in which we pretend that anyone and their dog and pony show is a women/girl by stating so.
It seems as though the online fraudsters are just getting more and more sophisticated. And the banking response is lagging well behind.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/union-boss-mike-treens-online-bank-accounts-allegedly-hacked-by-fraudsters-13k-drained/AFONM6EWADUV3XKKK6PXC42YCU/?c_id=1&objectid=12555653&ref=rss
I'd like to see legislation introduced which requires banks to refund the money, unless they can prove that the account holder has been negligent (freely sharing passwords) or has actively chosen to transfer the money (it's not the bank's fault if you choose to send money to a 'Nigerian prince', even after being warned).
It seems as though the banks are also being hoist by their own petard of online-only services. In the 'old' days, if I wanted to change anything about my account (name, contact details, address, etc.) – I would need to physically go into a branch and produce ID. Now, all I need to do is send the details via an app. Opening up a giant hole in their security and fraud-prevention operations (once they have your account details & password – through phishing or other methods (phone cloning it looks like, here) – it's trivial for a fraudster to change the contact details – and you'll never know)
When I think about the hoops I have to go through in order to transfer money overseas – while these fraudsters happily waltz through the banks' security systems unimpeded…..
As more and more services become online-only – we should, rightly, be concerned over the security of those online systems – and their ability to protect our online identity (and, in this case, cash)
Ukraine is launching a rapid counter-offensive in the Kherson Oblast down the banks of the Dnipro at the moment causing a lot of very worried Russians.
The pace things are going, there is a high risk that a lot of Russians could be surrounded, and will find it very difficult to withdraw across the Dnipro.
Things rapidly falling apart for Putin at the moment.
Putin can't afford to lose…he will throw everything at this.
The more successful the Ukrainians become, the more likely it will be that the Russians will resort to nuclear weapons. It would be in Europe’s interests to bring the parties to the peace table, However Russia won’t voluntarily give up the territories it has won and Ukraine won’t stop fighting until it has regained those territories.
Here come the mushroom clouds!
I don't think the Russians will bother with tactical nukes. Most military opinion I have seen doesn't think they are very good for the job there. And the NATO has made it very clear to them that there will be specific non-nuclear but very destructive action they will take if Russia goes down that path.
The biggest risk is if Putin goes completely off the wall and decides to launch nukes at the rest of the world because he sees military defeat in Ukraine as on the same level as nukes being launched at Russia.
British historian Lawrence Freedman;
Conclusion
There is no evidence for now that weapons are being moved into position or being prepared for such strikes. US intelligence, which has been extraordinarily precise so far can be expected to pick up any details (or at least the Russian would need to assume that). No effort has been made to explain to the Russian public why such strikes might be necessary. After all Putin still insists that this is a limited operation and has refused to put the country on a war footing. As we have seen Russian figures talk garrulously about scenarios for nuclear use against NATO countries but not Ukraine. We can also assume that neither of Putin’s recent interlocutors – Xi and Modi – would be enthused. This is a scenario largely generated in the West trying to anticipate contingencies that have yet to be reached.
[…]
Postscript
The day after this post was published, Putin made a speech in which he announced military mobilisation. His description of the origins of the course of the war can be left to another day. It is an extension of the delusional analysis which he has been promoting since the start of this disastrous war. The mobilisation announced will, I suspect, aggravate rather than solve the problems faced by Russian forces at the front. I will consider these in my next post. His main statement on nuclear weapons, however, is wholly in line, with my analysis.
https://samf.substack.com/p/going-nuclear
https://twitter.com/LawDavF
The Russian offensive Operation Iceblock continues,as does the cost of poor economic policy in Europe.
https://twitter.com/GazpromEN/status/1576253694214959104?cxt=HHwWgMCj-cWY_d8rAAAA
It will be somewhat offset due to the demand decreasing for cooked food,as food will a distant memory as agriculture policy bites in the Netherlands.
https://twitter.com/jsblokland/status/1575755246076399616?cxt=HHwWgMC89YXDmt4rAAAA
.
The German Greens must have strong confidence in winter energy supplies to now fully abandon nuclear.
I don't think EU energy policy could reasonably have predicted Russia fully shutting all gas access, even with Ukraine post-2014.
If EU can get through this winter they can get through anything.
If.
At present the Rhetoric worked until the cold weather came then the shortages in reality became obvious,as the IEA shows.
https://twitter.com/fbirol/status/1576221639494492160
The German Energiewende was built on ideology not decarbonisation,replacement of Nuclear with Russian Gas,which would of allowed reduction of coal generation.
Grid replacement from the north for wind (offshore) which needs 12256km of new grid line has only completed over the last 6 years 16% with another 6 % permitted ( German planning can take 10yrs) meaning only half of its target can be reached in 2035.
Harbeck the German minister says now the two reactors will be needed this and next year,remembering that the storage this year was mostly by Russian gas.
No plan b here,as price caps on gas imports will mean no gas imports,so subsidy is the option with around 200b euro so far,which is on borrowed debt now with a trade imbalance.
You always provide excellent links thankyou.
Great info Poission. Europe is pretty much in chaos in terms of energy.
I recall reading somewhere that while converting from coal to natural gas is a good thing, and responsible for much of the developed world cutting back on their carbon intensity over the past two decades – there was always one nasty gotcha that few people talked about – fugitive emissions.
The numbers I saw suggested that you only needed gas leaks in the order of 2 -3% of total use for the methane contribution to CC to exceed the CO2 gains from the coal use reduction. And considering that the Nord Stream sabotage is probably the largest every man-made methane release ever …
Using gas instead of coal,reduced emissions by being more efficient,fewer secondary emissions such SO2,etc,balanced by fugitive emissions,flaring and underestimation.
The IEA data and satellite measurement show that FF methane emissions are 70% greater then national government reporting and growing.
https://www.iea.org/news/methane-emissions-from-the-energy-sector-are-70-higher-than-official-figures
Also the emissions from flaring are also 5x greater then certification efficiency certification shows.( flaring thought to be a cheaper method,then capping or short term storage.
https://twitter.com/EDFEnergyEX/status/1576308533066448898
The fix here can be both cheap and profitable ,the wasted gas being around the annual needs of Europe.The other part of the problem is that the total global load of CH4 changes ie the amount of biogenic production reduces to meet the excess loads identified in the global accounts.
That is really just virtue signaling on a national scale.
The reason being that Germany imports electricity from France. And France generates 70% of its electricity from nuclear power.
So, what the Germans are doing is all about the feelz more than anything else.
The other thing is, that, due to Russia cutting the gas supply, Germany is now turning back on coal generation. From an emissions perspective, nuclear would have been better.
Also from a health perspective. More people die EVERY day from coal powered stations than have EVER died in 'N word' accidents. Sigh.
As I have commented several times on TS, both solar and wind power are now cheaper than nuclear power.
In the case of solar, that depends where you are. In Germany, and similar parts of Europe, it isn't very good due to less sunlight, though Italy and France are OK, as is most of New Zealand. Especially good in Australia for obvious reasons.
Solar works at 20-30% efficiency even in cloudy conditions. The technology is getting better rapidly.
Nuclear proponents always lie massively about construction costs and decomissioning costs which makes nuclear power far more expensive than the figures often quoted.
Rest assured, like everywhere else, the empty suits in the German Green Party, the SPD and the FDP, will have a warm house, good food and no hardship. That is for their constituency that they have no care about.
But, i am sure the German Green will feel very green, so green, deepest green, whilst they sit warm, munching on a imported vegan strudel of sorts telling the plebs that all of this is Putins fault for not just giving the west Russias resources for free and on demand. How dare the pesky Russians pretend that they are a sovereign nation and not a supplier to Capitalism Inc.
Anyone not predicting that Russia has Europe by the balls is dumb at best and malevolent at worst and should not be anywhere in risk assessment and government. Btw, Donald Trump of all people warned them. Go figure.
This totally …
just nicked this from defencetalk.com
Looks like there is finally movement on the Northland Drydock, better late than never I suppose.
With the 2 new Interlslander Ferries on order, the Pirates (RNZN) new Fleet Support Ship & the Landing Support Ship can't use the existing facilities in Auckland.
Plus the Planned the Southern Ocean Patrol Vessel which is going to be a biggie, the new Landing Ships & Frigate/ OPV Replacements.
The planning process for this, probably should've started already given the short to long economic development to Northland. Especially if KiwiRail pull their finger out of their freckle & build the branch line to Northport, which might see container traffic move from Auckland etc?
My biggest concern is atm, will the Greens shit can this project given its Anti Defence Stance incl Maintenance & Manufacturing?
Then we have National's Tax Cuts & it's stance against building critical Infrastructure apart from roads & cutting Public Services like Defence etc.
https://www.defencetalk.com/military/forums/t/nzdf-general-discussion-thread.6137/post-412635
Very interesting point about the new ferry craft not being able to use Calliope, since they are in sea trials and work on the port upgrades for Wellington and Picton is under active negotiation.
The two new Interlslander Ferries are 50% bigger, so even if the NZ MoD/ RNZN got all the approvals to upgrade Devonport & the Drydock.
It was going to be a very tight fit, so probably going for a new greenfield site like Northport would be a better option long term.
Given that the NZ MoD/RNZN no longer owns the Married Quarters around the Devonport Area and the planned new Fleet means the Navy would have to eventually move out of Auckland sooner or later.
The now cancelled Southern Ocean Patrol Vessel was almost as big ie length & if not more beamer (width of the ship) as the current in service Frigates. And this due to the changing environmental conditions down in the Southern Ocean due to CC.
As the current in service OPV's are no longer fit for purpose to go down Sth & L421 the Landing Support Ship, they've got to pick the right time to supply Campbell Is given the design limitations & CC in the Southern Ocean nowadays.
The Pirates are going to need bigger ships in coming the decade weather the public, treasury & politicians like it or not.
"The two new Interlslander Ferries are 50% bigger, so even if the NZ MoD/ RNZN got all the approvals to upgrade Devonport & the Drydock."
A big *if* – the Devonportugese are very, very NIMBY when it comes to infrastructure development. I'm sure the Navy would have been geared up for multiple appeals to the Environment court.
An alternative site (well outside of Auckland's built-up area) looks like a much quicker option.
Ron Mark, had the NZ MoD & RNZN Scoping for possible future Base for the the Pirates from Northport, to staying in the Auckland Area, the Sounds & Port Chalmers for the Southern Ocean Patrol Vessels.
But it all went quite very quickly after last election for some unknown reason, probably Covid19 Related more likely & possible cost as well?
The Big issue with Devonport is not so that the NZ MoD/ RNZN doesn't owned much land around the Base these days. But a lack of flat land around the existing drydock area & the Drydock being listed a Grade 1 Heritage Site.
As you said, if they got all the approvals, the Heritage Listed Site that being the Drydock Area would've been a major show stopper.
The NZ MoD & RNZN would've literally had to destroy the existing facilities & therefore leaving the Navy the nowhere to go to undertake minor refit or major refits while reconstruction was taking place.
I think one of the many dumbest decisions ever taken place during the great leap backwards in the 80's & 90's was when the Railways/ Interlslander Services were told to offloaded it's floating dock in Wellington.
Which has left NZ's heavy Ship repair in a perilous state since then & having to rely on the good services of the NZ MoD, Babcock International who managed the the Drydock on behalf of RNZN & RNZN itself.
And all those $5Million plus home owners don't actually want a nasty drydock area messing up their sea-views and creating noise pollution by actually working. And they have very deep pockets when it comes to Enviro court appeals (as well as a conviction that, if they can just delay long enough, the government will give up and go away).
A sufficiently tough government could push it through – but my pick is that they'd choose to use the political capital elsewhere.
The problem is that you either have to locate facilities in an existing sea-port (with all of the associated NIMBY issues), or you build a new one (with all of the associated environmental degradation issues).
In Auckland, I do wonder about Kauri Point. Existing Defence land (with a massive unbuilt-up area because of ammo storage.
Definitely accessible by ocean-going and navy ships (both ammo loading, and Chelsea tankers).
Of course, because it's un-built-on – there would be outcries about 'destroying' the natural heritage…..
No, I'm not suggesting co-locating the drydock with ammo storage. But you could certainly look at ammo storage elsewhere….[I'm tempted to say in the heart of Devonport, but will refrain]
They could store the bang in the old underground fuel bunkers that NIMBY's got closed down at Devonport which would be a bad thing btw😂
If & when Kauri Pt is closed down? I hope it's turned into a urban national park like Charles Darwin here in Darwin which btw was the old Bomb/ Ammo dump for Nth Oz.
Hmmm.
Word from my bid team is: "Not in my lifetime."
It'll fall between Kiwirail and NZDF, so it just falls.
Yes, it does have Sir Humphrey's feel to it😂
Mind you this entire NZ parliamentary term feels & looks like Yes Minister.
This is why I have unfollowed a few of the Left people on twitter, they are just relentlessly hating on Labour with no perspective on where we came from. The perfect is too often the enemy of the good.
It's like nothing is ever good enough until we have a full on socialist purge.
was that a reply to something?
Oops, yeah it was a brief reply to Darien Fenton's recent post.