Willful blindness over the benefits wouldn’t matter so much if there wasn’t also wilful blindness to the costs.
This applies to NZ as well.
Because we’ve comparatively few barriers to negotiate away we’ve been under pressure to agree to other things, like tighter copyright rules and extra-territorial tribunals to which foreign firms (but not our own firms) can take the Australian government after losing their case in Australian courts.
Normally I don’t notice any web ad pop-ups. But last weekend I looked up some transistor datasheets, and now half the web ads are for electronic components very specific to the kinds of circuits that would use those transistors. Big Data is getting really scary…
—
They’ll identify the device you are using the new email account with and see if there are any other email accounts associated with that device.
They can identify your device via various net queryable ID’s eg. the IMSI of your smartphone.
At that moment they will associate your new email account with your device, which is already associated with you.
Then they can track the size and other characteristics of your typical emails, who you are sending to and receiving from, and when, and from where, and using which wifi connections, to determine if you are the user of the new email account.
At which time they can link all the past records from your past email accounts to your new email account.
This is why people use “burner phones” (and “burner laptops”) etc.
Set your browser up to delete cookies when it’s closed Andre, except for some sites you log into that’s how targeted ads are served. Then make a habit of closing your browser when you’re finished using it. They don’t (yet) use IP addresses to serve ads.
Few people seem to realise that cookies are near-permanent unless they’re manually removed or the browser is configured to delete them on closure.
With sites like Google, Ebay, even Trademe, it pays to do your searches when you’re not logged in… and don’t do it after you log out because the cookie stays set.
You could try reading the article, which says just what I’ve said.
To serve targeted ads the advertiser must be able to identify you. They do that with cookies which are unique identifers.
It wouldn’t surprise me to find Google Chrome has a built-in ID as well but so far it’s never been reported. Anyone who uses Google products is just asking for trouble IMO.
Aren’t there also hardware unique identifiers? That get used for validating software licenses (and no doubt many other things)? It may be they also use IP addresses, since a few electronic component ads started appearing on my son’s computer when he’s on my WiFi, and I’m pretty sure we only used my computer to look up the datasheets.
They’re always trying for new ways to identify people but it’s not that easy to make it consistent without installing an app on the target. IP address is an obvious one but since we mostly have dynamic IPs the advertisers felt it too unreliable. Reboot your router and you’ll get a new IP, if they target ads that way you’ll end up with someone else’s ads. Mobile computers roam a lot and their IP will change with it.
In theory the browser can’t pull personal data from a PC, phone or whatever, there are rules on what browsers are allowed to do without user permission. Cookies were never intended for tracking, they just had features which advertisers discovered they could exploit.
Think of it that the IP adress is the postcode, the MAC address is the name on the envelope, if there’s only one of you on the planet.
But also there are things like comparing IP address plus browser type plus OS to give a pretty good approximation of unique individual.
That’s all passive gathering, rather than cookies which require your machine’s active coperation.
Data mining can lead to some interesting associations, including shops knowing you’re pregnant before anyone else does. In fact, with enough data it might end up telling with reasonable accuracy when someone is pregnant – or going to be – before they know it themselves.
“It wouldn’t surprise me to find Google Chrome has a built-in ID as well but so far it’s never been reported. Anyone who uses Google products is just asking for trouble IMO.”
Does that include the gmail address I have and also the searching I do using Google?
Gmail lets them target ads more accurately. Cookies identify the browser but not the user, if more than one person is using the computer the ads will often be misdirected from cookies alone. Log into gmail and they know exactly what ads to serve you.
I thought I read somewhere that Google were robot-mining actual emails for more specific targeting but I could be mistaken on that, may have been someone else.
Google are not a charity, they make their dosh from ads and their idea of privacy is not always in sync with ours.
Google search has tracking. Copy & paste any of the links in a search result and you’ll find its not the address you end up at. They redirect it.
What price are they getting for me? If it’s just putting up with some visual pollution on my screen and a slightly slower connection, I’m willing to live with that trade-off. Since it’s pretty obvious.
If they’re getting something I can’t see and don’t know about, I’d sure like to fix that blind spot.
probably doesn’t even affect the number of ads you get.
Just makes the ads more aimed at who they think you are, based on your past behaviour and compared against everyone else’s.
Sort of like this guy, whose flatmate bought facebook adspace for a mix of segments that could only apply to him. In the entire world. Evil little trick 🙂
Thanks for that DH. My Gmail address is a secondry address and it is only given to selected people. However I guess it is good to be aware of these things Thanks.
Thanks, DH. I’m not bothered by the ads, and leaving cookies there is actually enough of a convenience for my other browsing that I’ll leave things the way they are. I was more surprised about how precise the targeting is these days. And worried about how it could get much more subtle in the future, rather than overtly in-your-face like it is now.
If I ever get in a situation where I want to do things on a computer that I really don’t want some spotty-faced yoof in Utah, San Fran, or Beijing looking at it, that computer’s going to be air-gapped with all wireless comms disabled.
“idiocracy” to late for that, you only have to look at the state of our main stream media and the quality of debate about issues to see we have pretty much crossed that threshhold. three terms of the national government have seen to that
Thanks Andre, my wife’s papers hadn’t arrived, and she was concerned they weren’t coming, since she was too late sending in the first round and missed voting.
Was it extra stinking hot this summer where you live?
February has been uncomfortably hot, (for me, quite unbearable), here in Wellington. We were one of a few centres who had a record hot February, 2 degrees hotter than usual (Dominion Post, Newshrub). Records for Wellington have been held for almost 90 years. Apparently this is down to El Nino.
But this summer we’re experiencing a “Godzilla” El Nino:
“Bill Patzert, a climatologist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, gave this El Niño its “Godzilla” moniker. The “Godzilla” El Niño of 2015-2016 is already one of the strongest on record, having large consequences on global weather. ”
2 Degrees sounds like nothing but it’s what the Paris Climate talks agreed to try to keep climate change below. If these 2 degrees are a taste of what it to come as we age and climate change continues to strengthen its impact, then this is still a disruptive kind of a temperature to cope with is it not?
my feijoa have yet to fruit, my plums did not produce even half of last years crop, my lemon is pulling a sour face, and above all i have yet to see a single bee.
the heat is something quite else. I did read an article that the heat will have an impact on us but that the humidity is what is killing people.
But then I guess, i keep my head firmly in the sand and all is well.
If your plums had a heavy crop last year Sabine it would be expected that you would get a much lighter crop this year. It’s called biennial bearing and most fruits trees do it. It’s simply the trees way of recouping the enormous energy that’s been spent producing the heavy crop. You can try and even things out by thinning off some of the excess fruit in a heavy crop year.
As for the feijoas lack of fruit, if like me you live in the south then I think the exceptionally cold spring we had will be the culprit this year.
And the bees are gone. There are no feral honey bees left in most places in NZ anymore thanks to the Varroa mite. They can’t survive anymore without human intervention. Utterly depressing to think about unless, of course, you are a bumblebee, in which case you’ll be loving the free run.
I have lived at this property for a while, and the lack of fruit is not quite the same as a smaller crop from year to year.
It is the lack of crop that I find astonishing, and the lack of bee’s. I have seen butterflies, I have seen millions of fly’s but not one single bee.
I live Auckland, and i don’t even have a shriveled or ‘lack of rain’ stunted fruit on these trees, nothing, absolutely nothing. Never seen this before.
Same with the Lemon tree, it is one of the old varieties and usually does good.
I guess i will have to get better at hand pollinating.
We need to keep bees as pets and limit our cats. Guideline, before more than one cat, a small beehive after you have joined the local bee-raising community. We have to widen our lives to include our necessary interdependent species.
“Feijoa growers are generally more concerned with attracting pollinating bird species such as blackbirds and mynahs than having to control avian pests.
Pollination
To maximise yields, frequent visits by larger birds such as blackbirds and mynahs are essential to spread pollen throughout the orchard and to ensure the cross-pollination of compatible varieties. As these birds feast on the flower petals they collect pollen on their heads and carry it from tree to tree. Small birds such as waxeyes and insects including bees have little effect and, indeed, may actually reduce the chances of successful pollination as they compete for pollen but rarely come into contact with the stigma.”
i have a lot of birds, thrush, black bird, tui, wax eye, sparrows you name it.
I have a lot of ‘wild parts’ in my garden but this year everything seem out of whack. The cat on my property is an indoor cat, the dog is well she is a daisy dog. What can i say, me animals resemble me :).
As i said, i had heeps of monarchs, and birds, n flies but nothing took, i assume it is the lack of water, the weird humidity and such.
That’s interesting Glenn. Of course feijoas and native birds didn’t evolve together or bees either. So you need the pushy furriners do you, pushing themselves into the petals and travelling round.
Hand pollinating will always work – China is formally using it as a crop maximisation technique.
However feijoas are bird-pollinated. That’s why the petals of their flowers taste so nice (ever tried them in a salad?). If you attract birds to your garden and keep cats away, your feijoa crops should improve.
But get some beehives anyway. The world needs more bees, as colony collapse disease grows and spreads.
Yes, that and varroa mites. So much is due to the spread of tourism, and wasteful use of resources in transport of cargo of things we should make ourselves.
So we have unemployment in the midst of huge choice of imported things with engineered limits of good wear. What goes around comes around including fan worm, fruit flies, measles, flus, TB, Aids all that stuff.
the heat is something quite else. I did read an article that the heat will have an impact on us but that the humidity is what is killing people.
Indeed. High humidity moves the wet bulb temp upwards, and in the end its that which causes real heat stress in people as bodies can no longer cool themselves.
eg
40 deg C 100% humidity is far more dangerous than 45 deg C 50% humidity.
That humidity does suck if you live in Auckland. 16 summers of it was enough for me. The humidity did me in. (and a whole lot of other things but I won’t go into that).
This summer has felt like being back in Ak all over again, a drier heat none the less but just intolerable.
No bee’s around here either despite planting plenty of bee friendly plants. Lots of bumble bees though.
Might have to take the bees under your wing so to speak, community hives etc.
Citizens can’t wait for responsible government to act, that’s an oxymoron or something here in NZ. The bee business has come under Federated Farmers fold, and we know that they don’t stir too much about things that haven’t got that magic profit margin they expect.
We have a way to go before business/finance interests have sucked every trace of profit dry here, leaving us gaping, open-mouthed. How did they saw NZ into quarters before our very eyes. It’s Black Magic.
Been a struggle for me too Rosie, I’m in Auck and also spent some time up north where it was also hot. Humidity like the tropics on one particular evening.
Layout of voting paper is designed to catch you out, with tea towel placed ABOVE current NZ flag. So all those like me who want to retain the NZ flag need to take care as the natural instinct is to expect the current flag to be the first one on the voting paper…. not the bottom one. Just another dirty little Key trick to manipulate the outcome.
i think i may be starting to suffer from BMDS. you might want to cut KDS onto a clipboard cause i think your going to have to use it an awfull lot as resentment about this government boils over. and by the way, its not just key that inspires this level of contempt, its the entire national party – maybe you need to change that to NPDS. or perhaps we could have a different “Derangement syndrome for each of the worst offending (most visible) nat party members, how about BDS (interchangable for paula bennet and gerry brownley and bridges) and of course CDS for the crusher PDS for parata… icould go on but i think you get the picture
If you’re going to parrot KDS every time someone mentions key you’re going to get very annoying very quickly. It’s not very original and makes you sound like a school kid. (sorry kids, no offence)
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 5.2
That’s a paid-for article praising the Govt, it’s not promoting the advertiser one iota, and I’m curious to know what KPMG are getting out of it. Why would they pay to advertise for someone else?
I agree CV but in theory the Govt of the day has no real authority to give any work or contracts to KPMG. That’s all meant to be handled by the ‘independent’ bureaucracy.
It seems a rather unsubtle hint that these big corporates are buying favours and that the Govt has a command influence over who gets what state contracts.
I agree CV but in theory the Govt of the day has no real authority to give any work or contracts to KPMG. That’s all meant to be handled by the ‘independent’ bureaucracy.
This elite crowd and their hangers-on efficiently work all these little details out at dinner parties, over cocktails, and in the Sky corporate box, leaving the Left far behind in their wake.
A feel good ad on how to buy into projects that will look and be sold as doing something in the welfare field better than the government, and be a great little earner with a $12 billion funding pool to dip into. Oh bliss. All those bloody poor people are going to be good for something after all.
I looked at this too. It looked like blatant support for government profiling of poorer people.
Why don’t they support the profiling of business people to recognize those who are going to dodge taxes, run a finance company broke, start a Ponzi scheme and all manner of other financial crimes that cost the community bucket-loads. I’d have thought with their financial expertise they would have had a huge head start on this.
The writing in the background sums it up… “Beats working”. Typical of Key, [r0b: I know I’m being overcautious – but I still prefer to leave them out of it thanks].
How does the current monetary system affect the economy?
In several ways. The most drastic way is that the current system is inherently unstable – giving rise to gradual unsustainable build ups of debt which can turn into financial crises, as we have seen in 2007/2008. This happens because money comes into circulation almost entirely by banks making loans. In Switzerland 90% of the money supply M1 has been lent into existence by banks, and only 10% comes from the Swiss National Bank. Banks base their decision on whether to give a loan on one criterion only: do they expect it to make a profit for them? They do not have to check they have sufficient reserves, nor do they take the health of the economy in general into account. The result is that they tend to make too many loans in the economic good times, and they tend to stop lending in the bad times when boom turns to bust, which means either too many or too few projects get funded. The trouble with a financial crash is that it doesn’t just affect financial industries, but the whole economy and society.
Bold mine.
This is why the government should be the sole creator of currency which is then spent into the economy.
That money is spent in numerous ways. Extraction of resources such as coal, oil, gold, etc, provision of services such as health and research, development and production of numerous essential items such as arms for defense and medical equipment. Owning enough farms to ensure that all NZers have a healthy diet at all times would also be a bonus. There would also be the UBI.
This would be a stable flow of money into and out of the economy which would then support the private sector in doing the nice to have stuff. I won’t say that it would get rid of the business cycle but it would no longer cause crashes such as the Great Depression and the GFC.
Businesses come and go but society remains and there’d be no poverty or deprivation caused by the private sector collapsing as happens now.
I wonder how much the stability of NZ basic economy is owed to the pump action of old age pension spending? It is reliable, tightly controlled, and must be an important part in keeping the country and especially the ignored regions ticking over.
Quite a bit. ~$10 billion per year with a multiplier effect of ~3 times so about $30 billion of the $200 billion GDP. Other benefits would have a similar effect.
@Draco TB
Thanx for that. I didn’t have such a big number in my head – wow! And of course the multiplier which follows schoolbook economics of payment to businesses for reinvestment in product, some to wages, some to government in tax which in turn is drawn on for admin, infrastructure and more superannuation (old age pensions) and other pensions. And round again till, as you note, after three times of circulation of the original dollar, reducing each time as tax is withdrawn which is like an administration fee for handling the money, then it finally dissipates.
It is interesting for people to see where a local dollar travels and how many people have used it when a community sets up a short-term system. It is a good example of economics in action. A Council could give away ten one dollar local notes with each rate demand once a year, with a list of local businesses where they could be spent, and a grid where each business could put its stamp or code. Then the businesses would pay each week to the Council the accumulated local dollars, and the Council would give them the likely IRD tax they would have to pay to cover those transactions, plus a free ticket to a Council sponsored concert or sports event.
It would be a good way of creating business flow if there is a deadly quiet off-season that make it so hard for businesses to survive.
There will be a lot of ground preparing for policy and mind modification to be observed if you look and listen with a discerning mind.
Saw one featured in the r-h column from L Wiggs about how wonderful it will be growing food in enclosed areas where bugs and bacteria fungi can’t get at them. Buildings devoted to crops grown vertically so saving ground space. Energy provided by panels using the sun and batteries probably charged from the sun. http://lancewiggs.com/2016/02/28/is-there-a-future-in-food-for-new-zealand/
True organic produce comes in a bad second to this new approach. And the living earth and its health benefits is passe’.
Mind modification and gene modification and forget about humanity, just think of the brave new world. Humans are wonderful and have such potential to all live amazing and creditable lives of our own making now. That’s if we brought our true intelligence, love for others and the rest of our living world and understandings to bear. But no. Try harder!
I’m reading a book by Colin Cotterill who lives in Thailand. He has been over there in Asia for a long time, knows the country well. The books of his I read are detective stories with a difference. Very enjoyable This is an extract where an old Lao politician and diplomat is giving a run-down of the area around the time of the Vietnam war and the convolutions which changed political leanings to the volatile present. Very lively writing and probably close to reality.
These were the days of what Civilai liked to call ‘bedroom farce’ politics. Countries were frantically jumping in and out of bed with other countries who had once been mortal enemies. In the USA, TIME magazine had named Deng Xiao Ping their man of the year. The Chinese Premier travelled to Washington, where amnesia had apparently set in over the insults they’d lavished upon him just a year before.
The Soviet Union, sensing a Chinaless void to flood with its style-less domestic appliances, had hurriedly thrown together a peace delegation to visit the region. They had agreed to several educational and cultural projects in the spirit of socialist harmony. The Soviets were currently airlifting Vietnamese troops out of Cambodia to shore up Vietnam’s northern borders. On the southern front, capitalist Thailand had put together its own love team led by a Prime Minister who had suggested just a year earlier that Laos was a backwater run by idiots. The Mekhong had been reclassified from a volatile border to a waterway of opportunity. The Morning Market was stocking up on Thai-made junk.
Agreed, whats impressive to me is as good a cricketer as he was his musings on the game were just as good, just as informative, insightful and easily understood
Are you in favour of politicians directing Pharmac, and subsequently pharmaceutical companies targeting politicians?
He had been trying to make the more general point that if politicians intervened in Pharmac’s drug funding decisions it would create an environment where drug companies would focus their attention on publicity campaigns, he said.
“What I am criticising is the actions of politicians from several sides who have indicated that they would definitely fund this drug.
“As a politician, it’s clear that that would be a popular decision … but it would be the wrong thing to do.”
New Zealand’s pharmaceuticals budget had been underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars and that was where the political focus should be, Mr Hague said.
In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss democracies committing suicide (as John Adams had warned) and the ominous “BoJo Hair Formation” taking place in sterling as the pound plunges on Mayor of London Boris Johnson announcing his support for the Leave campaign in the EU referendum.
In the second half, Max interviews alternative media star Alex Jones about his first-of-its-kind interview with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and what role the mainstream media has played in Trump’s rise by refusing to cover certain stories important to Americans outside the Beltway.
I don’t normally look at the Farrar-go of Kiwiblog, but a friend quoted an article from it that claimed that minimum wage workers are better off now then they were under Labour. He compares after (income) tax earnings, ignores the GST increase, counts a reduction in ACC in National’s favour which is at the least suspect), and inflates April 2008 earnings at an unknown rate to compare with April 2016. I am suspicious of the period chosen – a month before may give a different result, and why not November 2008 to November 2015? The comparison also ignores that productivity increases have not affected the minimum wage under Labour – commentary based on median ratehr than average wage is probably also spin. It is likely that a shonkey comparison would be shoved over to the spin-meister rather than have a Nat MP get shot down with it, but I’d be interested in any analysis or thoughts from others.
Never thought in eleventy trillion years that I would ever say this … but I might start spending more time here if I am welcome.
Georges place has changed a lot over the past few months … which is very sad.
But a week or so ago … when I was doing some research on a certain subject … I noticed that the Standard is a very different site compared to 12 months ago.
Right now … you are less moderated than YourNZ … which is another thing that I never thought I would ever say. LOL.
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TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
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TPP- an Australian view.
I love this line
This applies to NZ as well.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/close-but-no-transpacific-partnership-cigar-hillary-20160301-gn7pjo.html#ixzz41lzeEcAt
+1 TMM
Maybe the AIs won’t take us over by going “Terminator” on us. Maybe they’ll just turn us into “Idiocracy” and we’ll never notice.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/machine-learning-free-will_us_56d5a849e4b0871f60ecab33?ir=Science§ion=us_science&utm_hp_ref=science
Normally I don’t notice any web ad pop-ups. But last weekend I looked up some transistor datasheets, and now half the web ads are for electronic components very specific to the kinds of circuits that would use those transistors. Big Data is getting really scary…
Does this kind of thing still track me if I change email addresses and providers?
TL/DR: yes and very quickly
—
They’ll identify the device you are using the new email account with and see if there are any other email accounts associated with that device.
They can identify your device via various net queryable ID’s eg. the IMSI of your smartphone.
At that moment they will associate your new email account with your device, which is already associated with you.
Then they can track the size and other characteristics of your typical emails, who you are sending to and receiving from, and when, and from where, and using which wifi connections, to determine if you are the user of the new email account.
At which time they can link all the past records from your past email accounts to your new email account.
This is why people use “burner phones” (and “burner laptops”) etc.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Burner%20phone
Set your browser up to delete cookies when it’s closed Andre, except for some sites you log into that’s how targeted ads are served. Then make a habit of closing your browser when you’re finished using it. They don’t (yet) use IP addresses to serve ads.
Few people seem to realise that cookies are near-permanent unless they’re manually removed or the browser is configured to delete them on closure.
With sites like Google, Ebay, even Trademe, it pays to do your searches when you’re not logged in… and don’t do it after you log out because the cookie stays set.
It’s a bit more involved than just cookies.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/using-chrome-can-really-trust-google/
You could try reading the article, which says just what I’ve said.
To serve targeted ads the advertiser must be able to identify you. They do that with cookies which are unique identifers.
It wouldn’t surprise me to find Google Chrome has a built-in ID as well but so far it’s never been reported. Anyone who uses Google products is just asking for trouble IMO.
Aren’t there also hardware unique identifiers? That get used for validating software licenses (and no doubt many other things)? It may be they also use IP addresses, since a few electronic component ads started appearing on my son’s computer when he’s on my WiFi, and I’m pretty sure we only used my computer to look up the datasheets.
They’re always trying for new ways to identify people but it’s not that easy to make it consistent without installing an app on the target. IP address is an obvious one but since we mostly have dynamic IPs the advertisers felt it too unreliable. Reboot your router and you’ll get a new IP, if they target ads that way you’ll end up with someone else’s ads. Mobile computers roam a lot and their IP will change with it.
In theory the browser can’t pull personal data from a PC, phone or whatever, there are rules on what browsers are allowed to do without user permission. Cookies were never intended for tracking, they just had features which advertisers discovered they could exploit.
MAC addresses.
Think of it that the IP adress is the postcode, the MAC address is the name on the envelope, if there’s only one of you on the planet.
But also there are things like comparing IP address plus browser type plus OS to give a pretty good approximation of unique individual.
That’s all passive gathering, rather than cookies which require your machine’s active coperation.
Data mining can lead to some interesting associations, including shops knowing you’re pregnant before anyone else does. In fact, with enough data it might end up telling with reasonable accuracy when someone is pregnant – or going to be – before they know it themselves.
“It wouldn’t surprise me to find Google Chrome has a built-in ID as well but so far it’s never been reported. Anyone who uses Google products is just asking for trouble IMO.”
Does that include the gmail address I have and also the searching I do using Google?
Gmail lets them target ads more accurately. Cookies identify the browser but not the user, if more than one person is using the computer the ads will often be misdirected from cookies alone. Log into gmail and they know exactly what ads to serve you.
I thought I read somewhere that Google were robot-mining actual emails for more specific targeting but I could be mistaken on that, may have been someone else.
Google are not a charity, they make their dosh from ads and their idea of privacy is not always in sync with ours.
Google search has tracking. Copy & paste any of the links in a search result and you’ll find its not the address you end up at. They redirect it.
If you are not buying things from your search provider, email provider, or social media provider, chances are that YOU are the product being sold.
What price are they getting for me? If it’s just putting up with some visual pollution on my screen and a slightly slower connection, I’m willing to live with that trade-off. Since it’s pretty obvious.
If they’re getting something I can’t see and don’t know about, I’d sure like to fix that blind spot.
shouldn’t affect your connection too much.
probably doesn’t even affect the number of ads you get.
Just makes the ads more aimed at who they think you are, based on your past behaviour and compared against everyone else’s.
Sort of like this guy, whose flatmate bought facebook adspace for a mix of segments that could only apply to him. In the entire world. Evil little trick 🙂
“If they’re getting something I can’t see and don’t know about, I’d sure like to fix that blind spot.”
I think it takes away a lot of the freedom of the ‘net Andre.
If search engines keep pushing you to their paying advertisers you’ll struggle to find exactly what you want on the ‘net.
Thanks for that DH. My Gmail address is a secondry address and it is only given to selected people. However I guess it is good to be aware of these things Thanks.
Thanks, DH. I’m not bothered by the ads, and leaving cookies there is actually enough of a convenience for my other browsing that I’ll leave things the way they are. I was more surprised about how precise the targeting is these days. And worried about how it could get much more subtle in the future, rather than overtly in-your-face like it is now.
Yeah that is a downside, losing your site preferences, but I find it worth the small price.
The precision is probably due more to the dominance of Google, not so many cookie harvesters fighting over ad space these days.
If I ever get in a situation where I want to do things on a computer that I really don’t want some spotty-faced yoof in Utah, San Fran, or Beijing looking at it, that computer’s going to be air-gapped with all wireless comms disabled.
Good measures, and even then its just partial protection.
“idiocracy” to late for that, you only have to look at the state of our main stream media and the quality of debate about issues to see we have pretty much crossed that threshhold. three terms of the national government have seen to that
As I’ve been saying for awhile. It’s not the government watching you that’s scary – it’s the corporations.
Are there others out there, who like me are yet to receive their voting papers for the flag ?
It looks like the papers start getting mailed out today, and finish getting mailed out on the 11th.
http://www.elections.org.nz/events/referendums-new-zealand-flag-0/timetable-flag-referendums
Thanks Andre, my wife’s papers hadn’t arrived, and she was concerned they weren’t coming, since she was too late sending in the first round and missed voting.
yes, waiting for ours with anticipation.
Was it extra stinking hot this summer where you live?
February has been uncomfortably hot, (for me, quite unbearable), here in Wellington. We were one of a few centres who had a record hot February, 2 degrees hotter than usual (Dominion Post, Newshrub). Records for Wellington have been held for almost 90 years. Apparently this is down to El Nino.
But this summer we’re experiencing a “Godzilla” El Nino:
“Bill Patzert, a climatologist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, gave this El Niño its “Godzilla” moniker. The “Godzilla” El Niño of 2015-2016 is already one of the strongest on record, having large consequences on global weather. ”
https://wunderground.atavist.com/el-nino-forecast
2 Degrees sounds like nothing but it’s what the Paris Climate talks agreed to try to keep climate change below. If these 2 degrees are a taste of what it to come as we age and climate change continues to strengthen its impact, then this is still a disruptive kind of a temperature to cope with is it not?
think Wellington is bad….try South Africa
http://www.fin24.com/Opinion/drought-pushes-south-africa-to-water-energy-and-food-reckoning-20160124
my feijoa have yet to fruit, my plums did not produce even half of last years crop, my lemon is pulling a sour face, and above all i have yet to see a single bee.
the heat is something quite else. I did read an article that the heat will have an impact on us but that the humidity is what is killing people.
But then I guess, i keep my head firmly in the sand and all is well.
If your plums had a heavy crop last year Sabine it would be expected that you would get a much lighter crop this year. It’s called biennial bearing and most fruits trees do it. It’s simply the trees way of recouping the enormous energy that’s been spent producing the heavy crop. You can try and even things out by thinning off some of the excess fruit in a heavy crop year.
As for the feijoas lack of fruit, if like me you live in the south then I think the exceptionally cold spring we had will be the culprit this year.
And the bees are gone. There are no feral honey bees left in most places in NZ anymore thanks to the Varroa mite. They can’t survive anymore without human intervention. Utterly depressing to think about unless, of course, you are a bumblebee, in which case you’ll be loving the free run.
I have lived at this property for a while, and the lack of fruit is not quite the same as a smaller crop from year to year.
It is the lack of crop that I find astonishing, and the lack of bee’s. I have seen butterflies, I have seen millions of fly’s but not one single bee.
I live Auckland, and i don’t even have a shriveled or ‘lack of rain’ stunted fruit on these trees, nothing, absolutely nothing. Never seen this before.
Same with the Lemon tree, it is one of the old varieties and usually does good.
I guess i will have to get better at hand pollinating.
Or get a couple of bee hives.
not on this property, but i will for the paddock of paradise.
http://overthehill.co.nz/beehives/beehive-rental/
I’ve hired a hive in Auckland from
http://www.beezthingz.co.nz
My bees have totally ignored my plants though and have buggered off to the neighbours 🙂
That’s a bit of a pisser, damn bees.
At least you’re getting some honey though.
We need to keep bees as pets and limit our cats. Guideline, before more than one cat, a small beehive after you have joined the local bee-raising community. We have to widen our lives to include our necessary interdependent species.
“Feijoa growers are generally more concerned with attracting pollinating bird species such as blackbirds and mynahs than having to control avian pests.
Pollination
To maximise yields, frequent visits by larger birds such as blackbirds and mynahs are essential to spread pollen throughout the orchard and to ensure the cross-pollination of compatible varieties. As these birds feast on the flower petals they collect pollen on their heads and carry it from tree to tree. Small birds such as waxeyes and insects including bees have little effect and, indeed, may actually reduce the chances of successful pollination as they compete for pollen but rarely come into contact with the stigma.”
http://www.tharfield.co.nz/crop.php?fruitid=19_Feijoa
i have a lot of birds, thrush, black bird, tui, wax eye, sparrows you name it.
I have a lot of ‘wild parts’ in my garden but this year everything seem out of whack. The cat on my property is an indoor cat, the dog is well she is a daisy dog. What can i say, me animals resemble me :).
As i said, i had heeps of monarchs, and birds, n flies but nothing took, i assume it is the lack of water, the weird humidity and such.
That’s interesting Glenn. Of course feijoas and native birds didn’t evolve together or bees either. So you need the pushy furriners do you, pushing themselves into the petals and travelling round.
Hand pollinating will always work – China is formally using it as a crop maximisation technique.
However feijoas are bird-pollinated. That’s why the petals of their flowers taste so nice (ever tried them in a salad?). If you attract birds to your garden and keep cats away, your feijoa crops should improve.
But get some beehives anyway. The world needs more bees, as colony collapse disease grows and spreads.
Yes, that and varroa mites. So much is due to the spread of tourism, and wasteful use of resources in transport of cargo of things we should make ourselves.
So we have unemployment in the midst of huge choice of imported things with engineered limits of good wear. What goes around comes around including fan worm, fruit flies, measles, flus, TB, Aids all that stuff.
Indeed. High humidity moves the wet bulb temp upwards, and in the end its that which causes real heat stress in people as bodies can no longer cool themselves.
eg
40 deg C 100% humidity is far more dangerous than 45 deg C 50% humidity.
That humidity does suck if you live in Auckland. 16 summers of it was enough for me. The humidity did me in. (and a whole lot of other things but I won’t go into that).
This summer has felt like being back in Ak all over again, a drier heat none the less but just intolerable.
No bee’s around here either despite planting plenty of bee friendly plants. Lots of bumble bees though.
Might have to take the bees under your wing so to speak, community hives etc.
Citizens can’t wait for responsible government to act, that’s an oxymoron or something here in NZ. The bee business has come under Federated Farmers fold, and we know that they don’t stir too much about things that haven’t got that magic profit margin they expect.
We have a way to go before business/finance interests have sucked every trace of profit dry here, leaving us gaping, open-mouthed. How did they saw NZ into quarters before our very eyes. It’s Black Magic.
Been a struggle for me too Rosie, I’m in Auck and also spent some time up north where it was also hot. Humidity like the tropics on one particular evening.
Voting papers in my P O Box this morning.
Layout of voting paper is designed to catch you out, with tea towel placed ABOVE current NZ flag. So all those like me who want to retain the NZ flag need to take care as the natural instinct is to expect the current flag to be the first one on the voting paper…. not the bottom one. Just another dirty little Key trick to manipulate the outcome.
KOF… tick bottom box!
KDS strikes again.
The more strikes the better. Anything to expose that creep and get him out of NZ…. and you can carry his bags for him.
i think i may be starting to suffer from BMDS. you might want to cut KDS onto a clipboard cause i think your going to have to use it an awfull lot as resentment about this government boils over. and by the way, its not just key that inspires this level of contempt, its the entire national party – maybe you need to change that to NPDS. or perhaps we could have a different “Derangement syndrome for each of the worst offending (most visible) nat party members, how about BDS (interchangable for paula bennet and gerry brownley and bridges) and of course CDS for the crusher PDS for parata… icould go on but i think you get the picture
Key Disgust never goes away.
BM proves his stupidity and lack of individuality yet again.
If you’re going to parrot KDS every time someone mentions key you’re going to get very annoying very quickly. It’s not very original and makes you sound like a school kid. (sorry kids, no offence)
If you are ticked by that, cogito, may be you shouldn’t be making any decisions at all. About anything.
*tricked
There’s a curious advertorial in the Herald….
“KPMG: ‘Social investment’ set to save $12bn and help at-risk NZers better”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/kpmg/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503886&objectid=11598178
That’s a paid-for article praising the Govt, it’s not promoting the advertiser one iota, and I’m curious to know what KPMG are getting out of it. Why would they pay to advertise for someone else?
On the contrary, KPMG is smart enough to target their advertising to their most important customer base, which is what they have done with this ad.
I agree CV but in theory the Govt of the day has no real authority to give any work or contracts to KPMG. That’s all meant to be handled by the ‘independent’ bureaucracy.
It seems a rather unsubtle hint that these big corporates are buying favours and that the Govt has a command influence over who gets what state contracts.
This elite crowd and their hangers-on efficiently work all these little details out at dinner parties, over cocktails, and in the Sky corporate box, leaving the Left far behind in their wake.
Who do you think is already getting paid handsomely to do this sort of work?
A feel good ad on how to buy into projects that will look and be sold as doing something in the welfare field better than the government, and be a great little earner with a $12 billion funding pool to dip into. Oh bliss. All those bloody poor people are going to be good for something after all.
Campaigning for the next elections has already started but these things don’t count towards National’s spending total yet.
I looked at this too. It looked like blatant support for government profiling of poorer people.
Why don’t they support the profiling of business people to recognize those who are going to dodge taxes, run a finance company broke, start a Ponzi scheme and all manner of other financial crimes that cost the community bucket-loads. I’d have thought with their financial expertise they would have had a huge head start on this.
Prime Minister John Key talks about son Max’s music and cyber-bullying fears
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/77493856/prime-minister-john-key-talks-about-son-maxs-music-and-cyberbullying-fears
Pathetic….
The writing in the background sums it up… “Beats working”. Typical of Key, [r0b: I know I’m being overcautious – but I still prefer to leave them out of it thanks].
Blatant use of family in political work
creep
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2016/03/03/gordon-campbell-on-pharmacs-unequal-battle-over-keytruda/#more-4313
more real journalism…dont know where the man finds the time to do the research he does.
Interview with Dr Emma Dawnay on the Swiss referendum on monetary reform
Bold mine.
This is why the government should be the sole creator of currency which is then spent into the economy.
That money is spent in numerous ways. Extraction of resources such as coal, oil, gold, etc, provision of services such as health and research, development and production of numerous essential items such as arms for defense and medical equipment. Owning enough farms to ensure that all NZers have a healthy diet at all times would also be a bonus. There would also be the UBI.
This would be a stable flow of money into and out of the economy which would then support the private sector in doing the nice to have stuff. I won’t say that it would get rid of the business cycle but it would no longer cause crashes such as the Great Depression and the GFC.
Businesses come and go but society remains and there’d be no poverty or deprivation caused by the private sector collapsing as happens now.
I wonder how much the stability of NZ basic economy is owed to the pump action of old age pension spending? It is reliable, tightly controlled, and must be an important part in keeping the country and especially the ignored regions ticking over.
Quite a bit. ~$10 billion per year with a multiplier effect of ~3 times so about $30 billion of the $200 billion GDP. Other benefits would have a similar effect.
@Draco TB
Thanx for that. I didn’t have such a big number in my head – wow! And of course the multiplier which follows schoolbook economics of payment to businesses for reinvestment in product, some to wages, some to government in tax which in turn is drawn on for admin, infrastructure and more superannuation (old age pensions) and other pensions. And round again till, as you note, after three times of circulation of the original dollar, reducing each time as tax is withdrawn which is like an administration fee for handling the money, then it finally dissipates.
It is interesting for people to see where a local dollar travels and how many people have used it when a community sets up a short-term system. It is a good example of economics in action. A Council could give away ten one dollar local notes with each rate demand once a year, with a list of local businesses where they could be spent, and a grid where each business could put its stamp or code. Then the businesses would pay each week to the Council the accumulated local dollars, and the Council would give them the likely IRD tax they would have to pay to cover those transactions, plus a free ticket to a Council sponsored concert or sports event.
It would be a good way of creating business flow if there is a deadly quiet off-season that make it so hard for businesses to survive.
There will be a lot of ground preparing for policy and mind modification to be observed if you look and listen with a discerning mind.
Saw one featured in the r-h column from L Wiggs about how wonderful it will be growing food in enclosed areas where bugs and bacteria fungi can’t get at them. Buildings devoted to crops grown vertically so saving ground space. Energy provided by panels using the sun and batteries probably charged from the sun.
http://lancewiggs.com/2016/02/28/is-there-a-future-in-food-for-new-zealand/
True organic produce comes in a bad second to this new approach. And the living earth and its health benefits is passe’.
Mind modification and gene modification and forget about humanity, just think of the brave new world. Humans are wonderful and have such potential to all live amazing and creditable lives of our own making now. That’s if we brought our true intelligence, love for others and the rest of our living world and understandings to bear. But no. Try harder!
I’m reading a book by Colin Cotterill who lives in Thailand. He has been over there in Asia for a long time, knows the country well. The books of his I read are detective stories with a difference. Very enjoyable This is an extract where an old Lao politician and diplomat is giving a run-down of the area around the time of the Vietnam war and the convolutions which changed political leanings to the volatile present. Very lively writing and probably close to reality.
These were the days of what Civilai liked to call ‘bedroom farce’ politics. Countries were frantically jumping in and out of bed with other countries who had once been mortal enemies. In the USA, TIME magazine had named Deng Xiao Ping their man of the year. The Chinese Premier travelled to Washington, where amnesia had apparently set in over the insults they’d lavished upon him just a year before.
The Soviet Union, sensing a Chinaless void to flood with its style-less domestic appliances, had hurriedly thrown together a peace delegation to visit the region. They had agreed to several educational and cultural projects in the spirit of socialist harmony. The Soviets were currently airlifting Vietnamese troops out of Cambodia to shore up Vietnam’s northern borders. On the southern front, capitalist Thailand had put together its own love team led by a Prime Minister who had suggested just a year earlier that Laos was a backwater run by idiots. The Mekhong had been reclassified from a volatile border to a waterway of opportunity. The Morning Market was stocking up on Thai-made junk.
R.I.P. Martin, gone to soon.
You gave a great deal of pleasure to the cricketing world. Condolences to family and friends.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11462281
Agreed, whats impressive to me is as good a cricketer as he was his musings on the game were just as good, just as informative, insightful and easily understood
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/297903/green-mp-apologises-for-drug-pawn-comment
“What I am criticising is the actions of politicians from several sides who have indicated that they would definitely fund this drug.
“As a politician, it’s clear that that would be a popular decision … but it would be the wrong thing to do.”
hes a good man is Kevin
Are you in favour of politicians directing Pharmac, and subsequently pharmaceutical companies targeting politicians?
All you ever wanted to know about Boris Johnson BRIXIT….and Donald Trump Truther
https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/333806-episode-max-keiser-881/
Episode 881
In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss democracies committing suicide (as John Adams had warned) and the ominous “BoJo Hair Formation” taking place in sterling as the pound plunges on Mayor of London Boris Johnson announcing his support for the Leave campaign in the EU referendum.
In the second half, Max interviews alternative media star Alex Jones about his first-of-its-kind interview with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and what role the mainstream media has played in Trump’s rise by refusing to cover certain stories important to Americans outside the Beltway.
I don’t normally look at the Farrar-go of Kiwiblog, but a friend quoted an article from it that claimed that minimum wage workers are better off now then they were under Labour. He compares after (income) tax earnings, ignores the GST increase, counts a reduction in ACC in National’s favour which is at the least suspect), and inflates April 2008 earnings at an unknown rate to compare with April 2016. I am suspicious of the period chosen – a month before may give a different result, and why not November 2008 to November 2015? The comparison also ignores that productivity increases have not affected the minimum wage under Labour – commentary based on median ratehr than average wage is probably also spin. It is likely that a shonkey comparison would be shoved over to the spin-meister rather than have a Nat MP get shot down with it, but I’d be interested in any analysis or thoughts from others.
@TeReoPutake
Never thought in eleventy trillion years that I would ever say this … but I might start spending more time here if I am welcome.
Georges place has changed a lot over the past few months … which is very sad.
But a week or so ago … when I was doing some research on a certain subject … I noticed that the Standard is a very different site compared to 12 months ago.
Right now … you are less moderated than YourNZ … which is another thing that I never thought I would ever say. LOL.