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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. . April 3: Day 9 of living in lock-down… Another late-start to my work day. Everything is temporarily upended as clients are shuffled around so we can minimise our “bubble” by reducing the number of people we help. One of my colleagues has been removed from his clients; his ...
In order to meet our 2050 carbon target and do our bit to avoid making the Earth uninhabitable, New Zealand needs to decarbonise our economy, replacing fossil fuels with electricity in the energy, industrial and transport sectors. The good news is that it will mean cheaper power for all of ...
For those folk who find my other Lock-Down Diary versions too “negative” or otherwise unpalatable… Here’s a photo of a pretty flower, . . Better? Tomorrow’s Sanitised Version: a cute animal video. . . . =fs= ...
. . April 2: Day eight of living in lock-down… Today, my work day starts late. Our rosters and clients have been dramatically changed, lessening (theoretically) the number of people in our work “bubble”. If just one of us catches covid19 the impact could be considerable as Grey Base Hospital ...
As Aotearoa enters week two of lockdown, it’s clear we’re all still working out what our “bubbles” look like and how to stay in them to stop the spread of Covid-19. New to the government’s Covid-19 website is some good guidance for people living in apartment blocks. Recent decades have ...
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” Lenin Don’t we all know that feeling now.
Prospect Magazine alerted me to this particularly apt quote. It is a much more evocative quote than Hemingway’s “gradually then suddenly” which is also doing ...
Yesterday was the day the consequences of the lockdown suddenly got very real for many. Firms have been closing and laying people off since the outset of the quarantine but this has mostly been happening out of the public eye. The mass closure of a number of iconic New Zealand ...
Brian Williamson1, Prof Nick Wilson2 (1Economic consultant, UK; 2University of Otago Wellington)In this blog, we outline how a win-win social contract could be forged to address the major dimensions of response to the COVID-19 pandemic when using a mitigation strategy: the particular need to protect older people from high ...
Resuming Normal Service: The Republican Party's nominee for in 1920, Warren Harding, promised the American people: “not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration”. If she wishes to remain our prime minister, then Jacinda Ardern will offer New Zealanders the same.HOW EDUCATED AMERICA snickered when the ...
No Free Society Without A Free And Functioning News Media: If we are to surrender our civil rights to the broader cause of defeating Covid-19, then foreign corporations must, likewise, surrender their right to inflict immense economic and cultural harm on New Zealanders simply because it improves their bottom line.I’M ...
by Daphna Whitmore A third of the world is under lockdown and a clear assessment of this measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 is urgently needed. With any high-stakes decisions it has to be asked what are we dealing with here? Are the measures warranted? Will they achieve their ...
I haven’t done a huge amount in the last few days. I’m reading The Poppy War and I’ve sort of poked at a couple of games – I started SOMA but I’m a wimp and I quit while in the first room after the brain scan. I might try it ...
The swan politicians may be gliding on the water, occasionally snapping at one another. Meanwhile, as the Covid19 crisis illustrates, the officials are desperately paddling below providing the real locomotion. One of the most fatuous recent grandstanding comments (of about a week ago), adding to the public’s anxieties, was ...
Much has been written about the importance of discretion in an emergency situation, and the concerns raised by the potential for it to be exercised arbitrarily. Given the quality of the discussion, there seemed little point in adding to it at any length. In particular, I point to the evidence ...
Today has felt surreal. I was all set to touch base online with my science communication students when a colleague shared the news that Bauer Media would be shutting down its publications immediately. The first link I saw implied it was Woman’s Weekly affected, and even that shocked me. But ...
Bogeymen, Real And Imagined: Is the number of psychopathic and sociopathic individuals in any given society truly as vanishingly small as we like to tell ourselves? Isn’t it more likely that the mass-shooters and serial-killers filling the headlines represent only the tip of a much, much larger iceberg of frightfulness? ...
Outgoing Police Commissioner Mike Bush appeared before the Epidemic Response Committee today, who asked him for the rules police are using to enforce the lockdown. He refused:Police Commissioner Mike Bush has admitted the advice given to Kiwis about what they're able to do during the lockdown hasn't been clear enough. ...
For those folk who find my other Lock-Down Diary versions too “negative” or otherwise unpalatable… Here’s a photo of my cat, . . Better? Tomorrow’s Sanitised Version: a pretty flower. . . . =fs= ...
. . April 1: Day seven of living in lock-down… This morning I had a brief chat with one of my neighbours, “D” (social distance between us, a good three or four metres). I learned he had resigned from his previous job and had been hired by another company – ...
Funnily enough, my thought as I start this post is whether it will be well written enough. Or should that be well enough written? Because so much of what I know about good writing came from my two stints at The Listener, which this morning was shut down due to ...
With normal democratic procedures in abeyance, there were two ways to go. First, it was open for the government to dissolve itself and invite the National Party to join a ministry of national salvation. That would have lessened the democratic deficit of the times by having a team of rivals without ...
Dr Kirsty Ross Children and young people can respond differently in times of distress. This also varies by age and developmental stage, with younger children having more magical and imaginative thinking, and older children having more awareness and knowledge of the issues our communities are facing (which brings up ...
Hungary has been a virtual dictatorship for a decade now, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has gradually eroded its democracy. But now, its official, with the passage of an indefinite emergency law allowing rule by decree:Hungary’s parliament has passed a new set of coronavirus measures that includes jail terms for ...
While the economy is on pause under lockdown, the government is beginning to plan how to cope with the post-lockdown, post-tourism, post-export education world we will eventually find ourselves in. They're planning a lot of infrastructure spending as economic stimulus, and have asked for proposals which can start the moment ...
It's my distraction, setting up tiny scenes to photograph. I've got stuck on the Babushka dolls for now. Something about their bubble shape. Something about their never changing, smiling features, suggesting persistent equanimity. Can we get through everything that is being thrown at us and keep at least a tiny ...
. . March 31: Day six of living in lock-down… This time I managed to sleep a little longer and the alarm woke me at the pre-set time: 6.55am. Then remembered I was working a later shift and could’ve slept in. Oh well, there are things to do at home. ...
Image credit:Diamond Harbour School Blogs I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or ...
Yesterday's Horizon poll showing support for a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum sliding into the majority for the first time in a year looked like good news for reformers – and it probably is. But the result warrants some scrutiny.The poll is the fifth in a series commissioned ...
For almost a week now, every one of us who isn’t an essential worker has been confined to their bubble. We are allowed to go shopping for groceries, to visit the doctor, and to get a bit of exercise if we stay local. The reason we are doing this is ...
The Covid-19 saga will no doubt produce many twists and turns for us before it is finally brought to an end. But one thing it has shown us – and what comfort it should bring us – is that our country’s government is in good hands. I am not thinking ...
In the absence of a vaccine or a cure for a deadly disease, staying home in your bubble is what you do, the concept is not new. To the best of my knowledge last time we did this in NZ was for polio, in the years before a vaccine came ...
The following statement was released on March 28 by the National Network on Cuba, a coalition of 40 groups, based in the United States. In recent weeks, Cuba has deployed hundreds of medical providers to over a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, as well as to their neighbors in Latin ...
This has been a terrible summer for Hector’s dolphins. The first indication was very low numbers of dolphin sightings during late spring and early summer. The Otago University Marine Mammal Research Team has carried out routine dolphin surveys at Banks Peninsula for more than 30 years. In all that time, ...
On March 17, Finance Minister Grant Robertson was quick out of the blocks with an economic rescue package to help businesses through the inevitable recession resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Robertson had pulled together a scheme in short order that so far seems to have saved many jobs. In his ...
The purpose of the lockdown is to save lives, by reducing the spread of covid-19. We won't know if its really working for another week, but given the devastation that will result if it doesn't - 14,000 dead is the optimistic scenario - its definitely worth trying. But pausing the ...
. . March 30: Day five of living in lock-down… Woke up still in darkness. Alarm hadn’t gone off. Turn to radio clock; it’s a few minutes after 6am… I lie there in the dark, waiting to drift off to sleep… but it ain’t happening. Clock ticks over to 6.55 ...
The story of Les Gray, the public sector psychologist who told the truth about his use of cannabis and set off a storm, has a special place in the lore of cannabis reform in New Zealand.When Paul Shannon interviewed Gray for the 'Dope and Hope' issue of Planet magazine in ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that New Zealand will enter into transit arrangements with a range of countries to make it easier for each other’s citizens to get home. “There are millions of people around the world stranded ...
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Government has striven to provide calm, clear and consistent communication, including daily press conference updates from the Prime Minister. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says getting New Zealanders back home and other travellers out of the country is "a nightmare for our embassies, consuls, and staff around the world".Speaking to NewstalkZB's Mike Hosking, the Foreign Minister said that he gave a clear message to people travelling overseas that they ...
The domestic travel ban has been lifted for stranded foreign tourists trying to get to international airports to fly home, after the Coalition Government announced a plan to help the tens of thousands of foreigners stranded here. Foreign Minister Rt. Hon. Winston Peters spoke with RNZ's Susie Ferguson said foreign ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters believes the country is rediscovering its resilience and self-reliance through its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.He says he is heartened that the mass majority of New Zealanders are following lockdown rules and that the government looking at the future, including paying to keep much ...
New Zealand can emulate the success of the US after the Great Depression by exploiting our own resources to turn the economy around quickly, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says. Mr. Peters told Magic Talk that New Zealand has an opportunity to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic a "superior, ...
All 45 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel are either on their way back to New Zealand, or already in the country, according to Defence Minister Ron Mark."Twenty-eight personnel arrived back in New Zealand last week and are in isolation at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in ...
The COVID-19 situation in New Zealand is moving fast - and to avoid what we've seen overseas - the Government's response must be to move fast too. We're committed to keeping New Zealanders safe and well-informed every step of the way. ...
We know people are feeling anxious about COVID-19. While the situation is serious, New Zealand has a world-class health system and we’re well-prepared to keep New Zealanders safe. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging New Zealanders overseas to stay where they are amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are reaching a point where the best option for most New Zealanders offshore is to shelter in place, by preparing to safely stay where they are.” "This includes following the instructions ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging the tens of thousands of New Zealanders travelling overseas to consider sheltering in place, in light of COVID-19. “Since 18 March, we have been warning New Zealanders offshore that the window for flying ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentThe Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is ramping up support for Tairāwhiti’s wood processing sector to bolster the region’s economy at a time of heightened uncertainty, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today.Following earlier announcements today of a regional support package for ...
All driver licences, WoFs, CoFs, and some vehicle certifications, that expired on or after 1 January 2020 will be valid for up to six months from 10 April 2020, Transport Minister Phil Twyford has announced. “People shouldn’t have to worry about getting fined for having an expired document if driving ...
The Government has today released the report from the Public Inquiry into the Earthquake Commission chaired by Dame Silvia Cartwright. Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission Grant Robertson says the Government wants to learn from people’s experiences following the Canterbury earthquakes and other recent natural disasters. “Dame Silvia’s report documents ...
The Government has extended by two weeks till April 27 the amount of time priority groups, such as health workers and those aged over 65, have to get their flu vaccine before it is made available to the wider public. This year’s vaccination campaign is a key component of the ...
Communities stepping up to help New Zealanders stay at home to break the transmission of COVID-19 and save lives have received Government support, said Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “Delivering groceries for the elderly who can’t shop online, providing data packs for low income families to keep them connected, and being ...
Across New Zealand 120 sites are taking samples to be tested for COVID-19. 68 community based assessment centres (CBACs) have been established to take samples from people with COVID-19 symptoms. Alongside this, 52 other centres including designated general practices, swabbing centres, and mobile clinics are now testing people for ...
The Ministry of Education is working with partners to develop a package of options so that students can learn at home when Term 2 begins on 15 April, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. Supports are also being prepared for households with children under five, to help parents and whānau ...
Māori Television to begin educational te reo programmes Ki te Ao Mārama – a new online learning space Thousands of hard copy learning packs ready for distribution Helpdesk and advice service for kōhanga, kura and wharekura Television, the internet and hard copy learning packs are some of the ways whānau ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced an initial package of support to help the people and the Government of Vanuatu respond to the impact of Tropical Cyclone Harold. “Our Pacific neighbours have been hit by a Category 5 Cyclone at the same time as dealing with the economic impacts ...
Tourism New Zealand to lead work reimagining the way tourism operates in post-COVID-19 world. Ministers to review International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy investment plan. The Government, industry and business are working together to develop a plan for how tourism will operate in a post-COVID-19 world, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis ...
More New Zealanders are taking up the chance to work in horticulture as the sector keeps New Zealanders fed and in jobs during the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our ...
The Provincial Development Unit is working through applications and projects to see where Provincial Growth Fund money can be repurposed for initiatives deemed more critical to fighting the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “We need to be throwing everything we have at ...
The Government’s wage subsidy to protect jobs and keep workers and businesses connected during the lockdown has now supported over a million New Zealanders, with $6.6 billion already paid out. “We’re supporting businesses to pay wages, and stay connected with their workers so that we are all in a better ...
The Government is stepping up efforts to help protect New Zealand’s Pacific communities in the fight against COVID-19. Cabinet has agreed that $17 million will be allocated to support a COVID-19 Pacific Response Package, which will: Support Pacific health and disability services facing increased demand; Ramp up public health messaging ...
“Yesterday evening the Health Minister advised me of his trip to a beach during the lockdown and offered his resignation,” Jacinda Ardern said. “Under normal conditions I would sack the Minister of Health. What he did was wrong, and there are no excuses. “But right now, my priority is our ...
Last night as part of my preparation for the Epidemic Response Committee, I provided the Prime Minister with a complete picture of my activity outside my home during Alert Level 4. That included the fact that on the first weekend of the Alert Level 4 lockdown I drove my family ...
A range of support is being rolled out across New Zealand to help people look after their mental health during COVID-19 Health Minister David Clark said this morning. “COVID-19 has brought a lot of uncertainty into our lives and many of us will be feeling some level of distress or ...
The New Zealand Government has made arrangements to charter a flight for New Zealanders stranded in Peru to depart the country, following agreement with the Chilean government to allow the necessary transit through Chile, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. “Like many travellers around the world at the moment, ...
Hospital preparations for COVID-19 are well advanced says Health Minister David Clark. “Hospitals across New Zealand are repurposing buildings and training staff to get ready for COVID-19 patients. This gives me confidence that we are well prepared for any potential increase in COVID-19 patients needing hospital level care,” said David ...
The Government will be introducing legislation to make changes to the Companies Act to help companies facing insolvency due to COVID-19 to remain viable and keep New Zealanders in jobs. The temporary changes include: Giving directors of companies facing significant liquidity problems because of COVID-19 a ‘safe harbour’ from insolvency ...
The Government’s plan to cushion the blow of COVID-19 by supporting incomes, jobs and businesses, and position the economy to recover has been backed by another international report. International credit rating agency Moody’s today reaffirmed its highest Aaa credit rating on New Zealand, saying the economy is expected to remain ...
The Government has stepped in to support vital air links to our offshore islands, the Chatham Islands, Great Barrier Island and Motiti Island, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. “As part of our $600 million support package to minimise the impacts of COVID-19 on the aviation sector, the Government has ...
National sports organisations have been given certainty of funding to ensure they can remain viable through the COVID-19 pandemic, Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “The global spread of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on sport and recreation in New Zealand, including the cancellation or postponement of ...
Changes have been made to allow butchers to process pork, only for supply to supermarkets or other processors or retailers that are open, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “We carefully weighed the risk of allowing butchers to open their shops for retail customers, but the risk of spreading COVID-19 ...
Essential workers who take leave from work to comply with public health guidance are being supported with a leave scheme to ensure they will continue to receive income, say the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Iain Lees-Galloway and Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni. A number of essential businesses ...
A Government WhatsApp channel has been launched to help make information more easily accessible and shareable in the fight against COVID-19. Govt.NZ, which is free to use on any mobile device, will carry information and news for the public, businesses, healthcare providers, not for profits and local government. It can ...
The Government has announced a plan to enable the safe, orderly exit of tens of thousands of stranded foreign nationals from New Zealand during the current COVID-19 Alert Level 4 restrictions, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters has said. “When we moved into lockdown a week ago, the ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says the Government is delivering on its commitment to support general practice doctors and nurses, and pharmacies on the front-line of our fight against COVID-19. "For us to overcome COVID-19, we need community health services such as general practice and community pharmacy to step up ...
Justice Susan Thomas has been appointed Chief High Court Judge, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. She replaces Justice Geoffrey Venning who has resigned from the position. David Parker paid tribute to Justice Venning, who he said had stewarded the High Court very capably over the last five years. “On behalf ...
Businesses can start applying to their banks for loans under the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme set up to support the New Zealand economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re moving quickly to protect New Zealand businesses, jobs and the economy during this unprecedented global economic shock,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. ...
Work is underway looking at measures to speed up consents for development and infrastructure projects during the recovery from COVID 19, to provide jobs and stimulate our economy. Environment Minister David Parker said the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global crisis that will have a wide ranging and lasting impact ...
Advance payments will be made to transport construction industry contractors to retain the workforce and ensure it is ready to quickly gear up to build projects which will be vital to New Zealand’s COVID-19 economic recovery, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. He said keeping the workforce required to build ...
The Government has tasked a group of industry leaders to seek out infrastructure projects that are ready to start as soon as the construction industry returns to normal to reduce the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones say. The Infrastructure ...
Work to scale up the health system in preparation for COVID-19 was today outlined by Health Minister David Clark, as he reported back to the new Epidemic Response Committee. “We are well placed to contain the spread of COVID-19. We have taken early and decisive action at our borders, and ...
The Government is refining its COVID-19 essential business guidance to include the distribution of news publications for communities which are hard to reach. The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, Kris Faafoi, said the move was in recognition of the importance for New Zealanders who might be harder to ...
The Government is ensuring supermarkets can open on Easter Sunday so we can buy groceries, but stay closed on Good Friday allowing workers to take a break. This provides a balanced approach and ensures we avoid large queues that two days closure may cause. “Supermarkets will be able to open ...
Following the successful conclusion of the Building Partner Capacity (BPC) mission at Taji, New Zealand defence personnel are returning to New Zealand from Iraq, in accordance with the Cabinet decision made in June 2019, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “New Zealand is very ...
The State of National Emergency to help stop the spread of COVID-19 has been extended for a further seven days, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare said. The initial declaration on March 25 lasted seven days and can be extended as many times as necessary. “Since we went into isolation ...
New Zealand’s ability to go hard and go early in the fight against COVID-19 has been underpinned by strong Government finances and the growing economy heading into this global pandemic, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown financial statements for the eight months to the end ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says 36 new intensive care beds at Christchurch Hospital’s new Hagley building are being fast tracked so they are available for treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Ministry of Health is working with contractor CPB and Canterbury DHB to enable access to the hospital’s ICU, ...
The Government has fast-tracked up to $1 million to help Air New Zealand move urgent freight to and from New Zealand, with the first flight to Shanghai leaving tonight, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says it’s crucial that trade in vital goods such as medical supplies and ...
The national lockdown was justifiable to protect the nation's intensive care capacity. But any prolonged lockdown and border closure will cause economic issues that lead to broader, indirect problems for our health and wellbeing, writes Professor Grant Guilford. In a caring society it is right that we do our utmost ...
She’s not a teacher or a fluent speaker – she just wants to practise with you. Join Leonie Hayden as she works through the first four weeks of Scotty Morrison’s Māori Made Easy.Yesterday we were counting things, today we’re counting people. We have different ways of counting each because people aren’t ...
A news item by Māni Dunlop, Māori News Director, has been posted on the RNZ website under the heading Government urged to put Māori at forefront of Covid-19 planning. “Forefront” means the position of greatest importance or prominence. One implication to be drawn from the headline, therefore. is that Māori ...
Women’s Rights Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo is encouraging women to seek help immediately if they find themselves in an abusive situation during the COVID-19 isolation. Often, people who were already in an abusive situation will likely ...
COMMENTARY:By Georgie Bright, Australia associate director of Human Rights Watch Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the fragile health system in Papua New Guinea was underfunded and overwhelmed, with high rates of malaria, tuberculosis, and diabetes among its population of more than eight million. Access to hospitals is extremely ...
New home owners will pay tens of thousands of dollars more on their mortgage if they accept a six-month mortgage 'holiday' option. That’s money going to the banks. But should lender and borrower be sharing the pain? There’s always a nagging worry about holidays. They are fun while they last, but ...
An Auckland bus driver tells Leonie Hayden what it’s like to operate under alert level four, and the struggle to secure a safer work environment.Mike moved to New Zealand in 2001. “I’m a Kiwi now,” he says, “and a die-hard unionist.” He’s employed by a large New Zealand bus company ...
The 1pm briefing has become appointment viewing. But it is no substitute for transparent, timely information, even in such extraordinary times, writes Newshub investigations reporter Michael Morrah in this post originally published on Newshub.Like all journalists in New Zealand right now, I’ve been covering stories day after day, all of ...
The Chair of the Earthquake Commission, Sir Michael Cullen, has welcomed Dame Silvia Cartwright’s Report of the Public Inquiry into the Earthquake Commission, released today. “The Report lays out clearly the challenges faced by EQC in responding to ...
With 14 days before the lockdown period is - for now - set to end, big questions remain about how the country is going to be able to stamp out flareups of Covid-19. ...
Environmental groups from across New Zealand have written to the Prime Minister urging the Government to restore Aotearoa in the economic recovery after lockdown. Forest & Bird, Greenpeace, WWF-New Zealand, Generation Zero, EDS and Ecologic ...
We've published a Controller update on Government spending in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. On 25 March 2020, Parliament passed legislation in response to the pandemic authorising the Government to spend up to $52 billion in addition ...
‘It is sobering watching what a country can do if it wants to. Having been told for so long that nothing is possible. These are strange times down the back of the bus, John.’Read more Lockdown Letters here.Dear John KeatsFunny that it’s had to come to this. But when I think ...
By Kelly Vacala in Suva Fiji disaster authorities have lifted movement restrictions imposed yesterday during the height of Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold have been lifted and both Queens and Kings highways are open. However, Covid-19 restrictions remain. Category 5 Harold is now heading for Tonga after leaving a trail ...
The Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Education will be taking questions from the opposition in the Epidemic Response Committee meeting. ...
Today’s EQC report urges the country’s natural disaster insurer to prepare for the next “big one”. David Williams reports The Canterbury earthquakes killed 185 people, and damaged 180,000 houses, some of which still haven’t been adequately repaired. Or re-repaired. But they also did something else. They shook people’s confidence in the ...
KiwiSaver funds invested solely in ethical companies are outperforming other funds amidst market volatility. An analysis of returns for the first quarter of 2020 shows growth funds were on average down more than 12 percent, but growth funds that were ethically invested lost on under 8 percent. Conservative and balanced ...
An Auckland small business owner says he's paying full price for broadband in an empty factory and it is not fair. Steve has been wrangling with Spark for days arguing it should share in the pain of thousands of its customers. He runs a small manufacturing business with a handful ...
Paywave limits will increase to $200 to reduce physical contact with PIN pads during the Covid-19 pandemic. Previously only transactions of $80 or less were able to be completed without a PIN using a contactless card. After a pilot, Payments NZ will progressively roll out the new higher contactless payment ...
The Overstory, the winnner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is an engulfing, worldview-shifting novel about climate catastrophe and hope, writes Susan Wardell. (Photographs are from a photo essay on kauri dieback by Michelle Hyslop; captions by Andrea Ewing). The year before last, I spent the month of January hugging ...
US death toll jumps 779 in a day; WTO warns global trade could drop by 13-33%; Trump says WHO biased towards China; WHO boss says finger-pointing just results in 'many more body bags'US toll surges: The United States is standing out in the Coid-19 numbers count with more than ...
By Sri Krishnamurthi, contributing editor of Pacific Media Watch After some weeks of heavy criticism of Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape’s government amid the Covid-19 pandemic, support for the administration has come from a surprising quarter – one of the media. Scott Waide is the Lae bureau ...
NZX50 back over 10k again as Mainfreight keeps its profit forecast with just single digit fall in sales, while Tilt Renewables' big payday helps Infratil pay a dividendPushing higher: The NZX50 finally managed to close above the key 10,000 level for the first time in almost a month, finishing ...
A philanthropist known for funding the construction of the Wellington Children’s Hospital is supporting the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners’ (COLFO) campaign against the Arms Legislation Bill. Mark Dunajtschik has endorsed COLFO’s campaign ...
The lockdown may be set to end in two weeks but region-based restrictions are still likely to be in place by the time of the general election, Justice Minister Andrew Little says. ...
The opposition doubts the public will be ready for an election in September; and the National Party insists Covid-19 contact tracing is failing to find too many people or is too slow. ...
As the government starts to work on how it can move the country on at some point from its current Alert Level-4 status, the other political parties will be starting to think about how they can re-enter the fray and normal political debate can resume. ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has spoken of the "huge tensions" between looking after the health of New Zealanders but also saving the country's economy. ...
Covid-19: Ministry of Education reveals support plans for distance learning; and Coronavirus: Flight Centre to close 58 New Zealand stores, 300 jobs to go. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Milne, Senior Lecturer, Resources, Environment and Development, Australian National University The world faces profound disruption. For Australians who lived through the most horrific fire season on record, there has been no time to recover. The next crisis is now upon us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW It has been said we are “at war” with the COVID-19 coronavirus. I’m not drawn to martial metaphors, but that’s not wrong. Another way to put it is that we, as a society, are in a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adele Wessell, Associate Professor in History, Southern Cross University The washing, drying, ironing, airing, pushing baby in his pram – these can all take on a different aspect if done with figure consciousness … Stretch to the ceiling Relax to the ...
Most banks are increasing the contactless threshold for Paywave and Paypass cards, but most are still charging the high credit fees that discourage dairies from using them More paywave transactions will be made contactless after banks raise the threshold for keypad-free transactions from $80 to $200 today. Payments NZ Chief ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Quarantine announcement expected today for arrivals, John Tamihere accused of test-seeking dishonesty, and Cyclone Harold smashes Pacific.An announcement is expected today on mandatory 14-day quarantine for all arrivals at the border, in an effort to prevent outbreaks of Covid-19. That comes ...
Auckland’s new electorate of Flat Bush* will be given the opportunity to have New Conservative’s Deputy Leader fight for their needs and wants. Elliot Ikilei has both lived and worked in or around the electorate for over a decade, with close ...
The lockdown may be set to end in two weeks but region-based restrictions are still likely to be in place by the time of the general election, Justice Minister Andrew Little says. ...
Kiwi Wealth's online share and fund trading platform Hatch has never been so busy. GM Kristen Lunman talks to Bernard Hickey about why tens of thousands of New Zealanders are now trading stocks in US markets. General Manager and Co-Founder of Hatch Kristen Lunmen has never been busier helping ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The ...
Steve Braunias reviews Madeleine Chapman's new biography of Jacinda Ardern on Kindle (available in all good bookstores when all good bookstores reopen after the lockdown.) And then there was the time I popped in to see Jacinda Ardern for a cup of tea during those strange, dreamy weeks when New ...
When and how to start loosening anti-virus controls is a vexed question in countries around the world, writes Rod Oram Fighting Covid-19 remains the absolute priority for governments and citizens. But pressure is building to allow more social movement and economic activity along the way. Once again China is ...
MediaRoom: Inside the pressure building on the Government to step in and save news media businesses before it's too late. For months, some parts of the news media have been sending out SOS messages publicly and in intense lobbying in the shadows of bureaucracy for urgent Government financial and regulatory ...
Professor of Public Health Grant Schofield asks what happens if the lockdown doesn't work, and argues it's time to be looking at a mitigation strategy Yesterday morning my teenage boys Sam and Jackson were out riding their bikes. The police pulled them over to question them about what they were doing and where ...
If you think the lockdown is the perfect time to start an exercise regime, LockerRoom writer Ashley Stanley has a warning for you. It was the fifth day after I decided to exercise, and my body was still a painful reminder of my ridiculous thinking, yet again. I had ...
As many transition to unfamiliar systems as part of working from home, being vigilant about cyber security has never been more important, writes Victoria University of Wellington's Val Hooper The past few weeks have been tumultuous as the majority of us have scampered and scrabbled to get organised for, and come ...
As schools move their teaching online, we must be cautious of the risk of amplifying our shameful record of inequalities across the education system, writes Victoria University of Wellington's Louise Starkey When schools begin teaching again it will be through a distance mode. New Zealand has a long history of distance ...
There is a great deal of anxiety about Covid-19 but in many ways we're much better off than we would be after a natural disaster: the water will keep flowing, the power will stay on, the sewers will keep working. The University of Auckland's Bill McKay makes a case for city ...
Bulk testing of samples could be the way forward for coronavirus surveillance in New Zealand, reports Mirjam Guesgen.With the number of completed coronavirus tests in New Zealand breaking 4,000 in a day on Tuesday, scientists are looking at more efficient tests to push that number even higher.By testing samples from ...
By RNZ News Social media misinformation about Covid-19 is putting Pacific communities in New Zealand at particular risk, government advisers say. The government announced a $17 million package toward building an awareness campaign in Pacific languages, as well as support for health providers. Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa identified ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marilyn McMahon, Deputy Dean, School of Law, Deakin University A distinctive feature of the prosecution of Cardinal George Pell is that the former choirboy who accused him of sexual abuse (known in the High Court as Complainant “A”) was regarded as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Palmer, Associate professor, Deakin University The law on what we can and can’t do during the coronavirus outbreak is changing on an almost hourly basis. Some of what is written now might be overtaken by the shifts in the pandemic powers ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassandra Mudgway, Senior Lecturer in Law, Auckland University of Technology As millions of people are moving work and social interactions online to protect themselves from COVID-19, existing online safety measures may not be enough to deal with a surge in harassment and ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says the primary sector will play a critical role in NZ’s economic recovery once the country emerges from the Covid-19 lockdown. It is the first time (at least within Point of Order’s close surveillance of the issue) that a coalition minister has acknowledged how the pandemic ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Doughney, Emeritus professor, Victoria University The loss of international students due to COVID-19 restrictions, and predicted second semester declines, will see universities lose between A$3 and 4.5 billion, according to Universities Australia. The higher education sector was dealt another blow this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brian Oliver, Research Leader in Respiratory cellular and molecular biology at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Professor, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney Harry Potter author JK Rowling says a breathing technique has helped her coronavirus-like respiratory symptoms, a ...
8 April 2020 This media release summarises changes to the operation of the courts entering week of COVID-19 alert level 4. It also looks ahead to how the courts will operate in the short and medium term under alert restrictions. Courts to function ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Glasziou, Professor of Medicine, Bond University Should members of the public be wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic? It’s a controversial question, with different countries and authorities giving different advice. We have reviewed the results of more than a dozen ...
The Government is moving to safeguard businesses from insolvency with 'safe harbour' legislation for directors’ liabilities and a business debt hibernation regime. Practically, the business debt hibernation regime will see company directors seeking ...
This Passover, we won’t be attending synagogue, we won’t be participating in large raucous dinners and sharing our food with our extended family and friends, we won’t be welcoming strangers into our homes, as Jewish people are instructed to do, writes Juliet Moses.Tonight, on what is hopefully the halfway point ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brad Elphinstone, Lecturer in psychology., Swinburne University of Technology The same week social distancing measures were announced in Australia (March 16 – March 22), sales of game consoles leaped 285.6%. Prior to this, sales were declining month on month. We’ve also seen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Harris, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, UNSW As part of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all elective surgeries across Australia have been temporarily cancelled. Elective surgery is non-urgent surgery people choose (elect) to have: things like cataract surgery, joint replacement, ...
Infratil and Wellington Council are preparing to lend Wellington Airport funds to help it cope with a traffic collapse because of Covid-19 restrictions, DIleepa Fonseka reports from Infratil's update to investors Wellington City Council and listed investment firm Infratil are preparing a loan to support Wellington Airport, which has seen ...
The latest in our new series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall.This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff MembersThese posts collate the most recent statistics and present them as charts and maps. The Ministry of Health typically publishes data updates in the early ...
After two weeks of lockdown, police are no longer taking "I didn't know the rules" as a valid excuse, Marc Daalder reports Two weeks into the nationwide lockdown, the police are starting to take non-compliance seriously. The number of prosecutions nearly tripled in 24 hours and 76 new breaches of ...
As the Ministry of Social Development struggles to cope with unprecedented inquiries due to Covid-19, Child Poverty Action Group is calling for the Government to fix our broken welfare system and redesign it so all New Zealanders, but particularly ...
Fijian authorities are scrambling to ensure Cyclone Harold doesn’t make the country’s Covid-19 crisis worse, Teuila Fuatai reports. As Cyclone Harold hits Fiji, authorities have issued physical distancing and sanitation guidelines for evacuation centres. Lashing rain and strong winds caused widespread flooding, power outages and damage to homes and buildings ...
The Government has announced a $88 million package to help students adjust to the new normal of learning from home Thousands of modems and internet-ready devices are being sent to households around the country, in a bid to bridge the digital divide before children resume their studies at home next ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Jenkins, Professor, Respiratory Medicine, UNSW Sydney and Clinical Professor at the University of Sydney, George Institute for Global Health The new respiratory coronavirus COVID-19 is particularly worrying for the 2.7 million Australians who already suffer from asthma. That’s roughly one in ...
By Maggie Boyle of FBC News Fiji disaster authorities have put the whole of Viti Levu island on restricted movement due to TC Harold. Director for National Disaster Management Vasiti Soko confirmed the step had been taken as a precautionary measure. Soko said everyone except emergency services were to ...
By Wansolwarastaff Fiji now has 15 coronavirus cases after a single new case has been confirmed by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. The new case was one of 25 samples that were tested at the molecular lab and is the husband of an existing patient from Lautoka – the Zumba ...
Māori will likely make up the worst unemployment figures in the forthcoming economic recession. Things can’t go back to the way they were, writes Joshua Hitchcock.Our world has changed. While it is too early to know with any certainty what the full impact of this crisis will be on Māori, ...
Open mike 03/03/2016 
Open mike is your post.
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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.