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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National Messiah? Chris Luxon identifies himself as an evangelical Christian. If he is genuine in this self-characterisation, then he will take every opportunity his public office provides to proselytise on behalf of his faith. He will also feel obliged to bear witness against beliefs and practices he believes to be ...
I'm going to make a Reckless Prediction™ that the Tories have 'topped out' in the 'poll of polls' / Britain Elects multipoll tracker at about 38%, and in the next week we will start to see Labour creep up on them.In fact, we might just be seeing the start of ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Lizzie Marvelly: “I may have missed this… has @afterellen gone all terf-y? Or am I reading something incorrectly? “ https://twitter.com/LizzieMarvelly/status/1191840059105742849 After Ellen is a lesbian website that is unashamedly pro-lesbian, as you’d expect. So why is Ms Marvelly so bothered about lesbians having their ...
Did you know there once was a time when it was illegal to be a gypsy (aka Romani) in Britain?That was between 1530, when the Egyptians Act was passed, and 1856, when it was repealed.Amongst other things, the act forbade the entry of 'Egyptians' into England, ordered those already there ...
Some days I sit and think, “what will I write…?” What do you say when you get to 1000 posts? Maybe you just start where you are, diverge to where this all began, then offer a collection of reader’s favourite posts, and a few of your own? (And throw in ...
Counter-Puncher: The “activists” and “radicals” (his own words) from the Indian community who took such strong exception to Shane Jones’ remarks about Immigration NZ’s treatment of arranged marriages, may end up bitterly regretting their intervention. Jones is not the sort of person who turns the other cheek to his critics.SHANE ...
In the spirit of Remember, remember the fifth of November, let's keep this in mind FOREVER.
Oh dear. Extraordinary interview on PM with Andrew Bridgen and @EvanHD just now. Bridgen was defending Jacob Rees Mogg’s Grenfell comments. Evan asked him if JRM had meant to say he would have left ...
Collision Course? In conditions of ideological white-out, the international bankers’ “Woop-Woop! Pull Up!” warning may have come too late to save global capitalism.WHAT DOES IT MEAN when international bankers are more willing to embrace radical solutions than our politicians and their electors? At both the International Monetary Fund and the ...
Pertussis (whooping cough) is a conundrum. It is a disease that was described hundreds of years ago and the bacteria that causes it (Bordetella pertussis) isolated in 1906. We have had vaccines for about 80 years but this disease is defiant in the face of human immunity. I wanted to ...
The Zero Carbon Bill has just passed its third reading, uanimously. In the end, National supported it - but we all know they'll turn around and gut it the moment they regain power. Meanwhile, I guess ACT's David Seymour didn't even bother to show up. I am on record as ...
Dr Lindsay Robertson, Dr Jerram Bateman, Professor Janet HoekMembers of the public health community hold divergent views on how access to vaping products or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products should be arranged. Some believe ENDS should be as widely available as smoked tobacco and argue for liberal ...
When the Police were trying to cover up for the National Party over Dirty Politics, they went all-in with their abuses of power. They illegally search Nicky Hager's house, violating his journalistic privilege and invading his privacy. They unlawfully acquired Hager's bank records. They did the same to left-wing blogger ...
Last month, in response to a wave of protests by Extinction Rebellion, the British government purported to ban their protests from the whole of London. It was a significant interference with the freedoms of expression and assembly, and another sign of the country's decline into tyranny. But now, a court ...
Last year, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security reported on significant problems with the intelligence warrant system. While they were unwilling to declare any warrant "irregular" (meaning unlawful) due to the recent law change, they were also not willing to give the system a clean bill of health. Now, they've ...
The National Party has come out in support of encouraging greater vaccination uptake. But it sure isn’t the way I’d do it. National’s suggested docking the benefits of those on benefit whose kids aren’t keeping up with their vaccinations. Some in National have suggested extending that to payments under Working ...
Feeding The Flames: It is simply not enough to demand an end to “corruption”, or “inequality”, or the overbearing influence of the authorities in Beijing. These are just “lowest common denominator” demands: the sort of slogans that pull people onto the streets. They are not a plan.WHERE’S THE PLAN? Across ...
The labour market statistics have been released, and unemployment has risen to 4.2%. There are 115,000 unemployed - 11,000 fewer than when Labour took office. In that time the minimum wage has gone up by $2 an hour, which shows that the right's fears about increases causing unemployment are simply ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has called for submissions on Andrew Little's tyrannicalTerrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill. Normally I encourage participation in the democratic process. I am not doing so in this case. Instead, I encourage all of you to boycott this submissions process, and to post ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIf tiny concentrations of carbon dioxide can hold enough heat ...
Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and within it, one of the fastest sources is elite travel: billionaires flitting around the world in their private jets, spewing excessive pollution into the atmosphere just so they can avoid mixing with us dirty peasants. But in ...
That's what we face if we don't stop climate change, according to a warning from 11,000 scientists:The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists. “We declare clearly and unequivocally ...
by Phil Duncan Here’s just a few of the kind of threats issued day in and day out against gender-critical women – feminists, marxists, etc – overwhelmingly by MEN (albeit men identifying as women). “Kill all Terfs”. “Shoot a Terf today”. “All terfs deserve to be shot in the head”. ...
This is the third of the synopses of parts of the opening chapter of John Smith’s Imperialism in the 21st Century (New York, Monthly Review Press, 2016). The synopsis and commentary below is written by Phil Duncan. Unlike the humble cup of coffee and t-shirt that we looked at in ...
Tom MooreTraditionally a food source and cutting tool, freshwater mussels/kākahi are now widely valued as water filters that help clean our waterbodies and maintain ecosystem health throughout Aotearoa. The improvement they provide in water quality can make it easier for other animals to live in streams and rivers, as ...
And to think he gave all the potential goodwill away with that moronic, cult-like statement (repeated ad nauseam by many National hardliners) that Key is quite simply “the greatest PM we ever had”…Installation complete: this was nothing ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is back in the House today for its second reading. While this isn't the final stage, its still effectively D-Day for the bill. Because today, at around 5pm, is when we're going to find out if it has a majority, whether National will support it or ...
Winston Peters is in court today, suing a bunch of former Minister and civil servants over their pre-election leak of his superannuation repayment. He's characterised the leak as malicious, and said that it is repugnant that his information was passed on to Ministers to use for political advantage. And he's ...
Murray CoxDo I have to finish my favourite genome? That’s an often-asked question. Geneticists generally strive to produce high-quality genomes that sequence every last gene, making full use of the state-of-the-art technologies coming on stream. Sequencing DNA means determining the order of the four chemical building blocks – called ...
Transformative Politics: The idea is to turn each recipient into an unwitting accomplice in their own transformation. From interested observer to hyped-up activist, sharing our messages promiscuously with ‘friends’. You’ll be part of an ever-expanding circulatory system, Jennifer, for the ideas that will win us the election.”JENNIFER SKITTERED her chair ...
The boycott is a fundamental tool of protest. By choosing who we buy from, we can send a message, and hopefully change corporate behaviour. Historically, boycotts have been effective, for example over apartheid in South Africa and Israel, in forcing divestment from Myanmar, and in ending bus segregation in the ...
Jan Rivers spoke at the Abortion Legislation Select Committee in favour of the bill, but in opposition to calls from other submitters to exchange the word ‘woman’ for ‘person’ throughout the bill. Jan is a supporter of the feminist group Speak Up For Women and has recently written an excellent ...
I checked my traffic stats:I was intrigued by 'monica29' - who was this very dedicated individual? I clicked on the link, to be greeted with ...Ho, hum.Spreadin' the word, spreadin' the word. Doesn't matter who hears it, as long as it gets out there. ...
There have been three polls since the election was announced, and I will shamelessly steal YouGov / UK Polling Report's Anthony Wells' summary of them:Survation – CON 34%, LAB 26%, LDEM 19%, BREX 12%, GRN 1% Ipsos MORI – CON 41%, LAB 24%, LDEM 20%, BREX 7%, GRN 3% YouGov ...
The following article is translated from Lutte Ouvrière, the weekly newspaper of the organisation usually known by the same name in France. When, for the second time this year, Chilean President Piñera announced an increase in the price of Metro tickets from 800 to 830 pesos, students in the high ...
Today, a worker contacted me asking if she could go to the police over her employer stealing thousands of dollars from her in unpaid wages. The employer also did not pay this worker’s taxes or student loan which amounts to tax fraud. As a workers rights activist, who founded the ...
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, They're Yours: Is there any person more vulnerable than a jilted lover on the rebound? Or, anything more certain than that the charmer, the predator, the glib spinner of lies and promises will seek such broken people out? Yes, of course, he will love every one of ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First backs the public to decide on the End of Life Choice Bill via a referendum at the 2020 General Election. The Bill, with New Zealand First’s referendum provision incorporated, passed its final reading in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Justice New Zealand First is proud that a key Coalition Agreement commitment which will provide for a more transparent and effective criminal justice system has been realised. Legislation to establish the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent body focused on identifying and responding to possible miscarriages of ...
"Today we have made a choice that will leave a legacy... I hope that means that future generations will see that we, in New Zealand, were on the right side of history." - Jacinda Ardern, Third Reading of the Zero Carbon Bill ...
Darroch Ball, New Zealand First List MP A Member’s bill has been proposed that would provide income tax exemptions for all New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel while on operational deployment overseas. The Income Tax (Exemption for Salary or Wages of NZDF Members on Active Deployment) Amendment Bill proposed by New Zealand First ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have brought common sense to the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, which passed its final reading in Parliament today. Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says months of hard work went into negotiating a balanced ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First has listened to calls to recognise paramedics as registered health professionals under the Health Practitioners’ Competence Assurance Act (the Act).Today, the Coalition Government announced plans for paramedics to be registered as health practitioners under the Act, and the establishment of a ...
We began the week by commemorating the New Zealand Wars and celebrating a major increase in the number of teachers. Then, we were busy supporting offenders into work and getting our rail back on track after years of underinvestment. And that's just the start! ...
In October I was sworn in as the Mayor of Lower Hutt.It’s the privilege of my life to serve Hutt people as their Mayor. There is something really special to be able to serve the community where I was raised, and where I live. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters met with Korea Racing Authority Chairperson Nak Soon Kim in Seoul today to discuss closer cooperation between the New Zealand and Korean horse racing industries. As part of the visit to the Seoul Racecourse, Mr Peters witnessed ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10 million to establish Otago as the centre of New Zealand’s creative digital industry over the next ten years, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “The initiative will bring us closer to the vision of ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)’s skills and employment programme will help young Otago people into long-term forestry careers, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. Te Ara Mahi will invest $63,000 in the 2020 school year to support eight 17 and 18 ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will support local plans to revitalise and stimulate economic development opportunities in Otago, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The four Regional Economic Development Ministers have approved an in-principle investment of $19.9 million towards the region’s ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is pleased to have received the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) report on the Coalition Government’s Mycoplasma bovis eradication efforts, which shows significant progress in the fight against the disease. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, says the report’s findings ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon David Parker, Minister for Trade and Export Growth The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing to support economic growth opportunities for Otago’s engineering and manufacturing sectors, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Trade and Export Minister David Parker announced today. Almost $20 million ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, discussed in Seoul today opportunities to work more closely in the Pacific and the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Mr Peters and Minister Kang confirmed New Zealand and the ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister for Māori Development The three marae in the historic Parihaka Pa complex in Taranaki have been upgraded to high speed broadband with the support of the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Connecting the ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence Minister of Defence Ron Mark will today launch the Advancing Pacific Partnerships 2019 Defence Assessment during a speech at Te Papa. The Assessment outlines how Defence will partner with our Pacific Island neighbours and invest in Pacific regional security architecture. The Plan aligns with the Coalition ...
A new Provincial Growth Fund investment could create about 80 new jobs in Gisborne over the next two years, turning a local small business into a “beacon of employment” in the process. Regional Economic Development Parliamentary Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau said the PGF’s Te Ara Mahi funding stream would provide $1.6m ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter says today’s release of sexual and reproductive health data reinforces the significance of the Government’s commitment to providing free or very low-cost contraception. The Ministry of Health today published statistics from the Ministry of Health’s 2014/15 Health Survey. “It is important people can make ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that at the request of the Samoan Government, New Zealand will be providing further support to Samoa as it faces a worsening measles outbreak. “In response to a request from the people of Samoa, New Zealand is providing 3000 measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) ...
“The new Disability Action Plan 2019–2023 moves us towards the inclusive and accessible New Zealand that this government has committed to,” Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “The Action Plan was designed by disabled people, their family and supporters, the disability sector and government agencies. It will ensure ...
Third Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting 14 November 2019 Joint Statement 1. Defence Ministers Ron Mark and Dr Ng Eng Hen today conducted their third annual Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore. 2. Building on the Enhanced Partnership signed between both countries in May this year, this annual meeting ...
A Bill to improve the court system’s response to sexual violence has passed its first reading in Parliament today. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Sexual Violence Legislation Bill will reduce the trauma sexual violence complainants experience in court, while maintaining defendants’ fundamental rights and making sure the trial process ...
Streamlined payment practices are a step closer for Kiwi businesses with the formal launch of New Zealand’s e-Invoicing framework. Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says the government has now established the structure to enable automated and direct data exchange between the accounting systems of buyers and sellers. “The move to ...
Another 51 quarantine officers and four new biosecurity detector dog teams will help protect New Zealand from invasive pests and diseases this summer, says Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor. “The Government is delivering on its commitment to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity system and support our valuable primary sector “New Zealand’s flora, fauna ...
A new report has found New Zealand’s space sector contributed $1.69 billion to the economy in the last financial year and employs 12,000 people, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. The report by Deloitte was commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and shows New Zealand ...
Judge Coral Shaw has been appointed as the new Chair of the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. "Judge Shaw, who is currently one of the inquiry commissioners, is extremely well qualified for the ...
The Government has confirmed its third major mental health facility upgrade since the Budget, this time at Palmerston North Hospital. The Prime Minister and Health Minister today visited MidCentral DHB to announce that $30 million has been allocated to upgrade its acute mental health facility. It follows earlier announcements in ...
The roll out of the National Bowel Screening Programme has reached the halfway mark, with 10 out of 20 District Health Boards now part of the programme. MidCentral DHB, which covers Palmerston North, Manawatu and surrounding districts, this week became the latest to DHB to offer free bowel screening to ...
The Government welcomes PHARMAC’s decision to fund a vaccine to protect young people from meningococcal disease from 1 December this year. “Meningococcal disease is a serious threat which people at higher risk should be protected from,” says Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter. “The combined pharmaceutical budget was increased by ...
Groups involved with innovative fisheries research projects are encouraged to apply for government support in the latest funding round from the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures programme. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash says the SFF Futures funding is designed to be flexible enough to support small or large projects across a ...
The Government has fixed an issue affecting how Immigration New Zealand has processed visa applications for culturally arranged marriages, which will now see a consistent process applied which ensures people with legitimate arranged marriages can visit New Zealand while also preventing any rorting of the system. Earlier this year Immigration ...
The Royal Commission into the Attacks on Christchurch Mosques will report back on 30 April 2020 to give it more time to hear submissions and consider information, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Royal Commission was originally scheduled to report back to Government by 10 December 2019. “There has ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Washington DC today to attend a ministerial meeting focused on defeating ISIS, and to continue pursuing New Zealand’s trade opportunities. Mr Peters will participate in a meeting of Foreign and Defence Ministers from key countries contributing to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. ...
The recently crowned Bird of the Year, the hoiho/yellow eyed penguin, is getting a much needed helping hand alongside more than 168 other community conservation projects announced Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage today. 168 community conservation projects throughout New Zealand are benefiting from $8 million in government grants, including $500,000 ...
Controls on assault rifles and semi-automatic firearms are to be broadened to include some types of pistols, under changes to a bill currently making its way through Parliament. Police Minister Stuart Nash has tabled a Supplementary Order Paper to the Arms Legislation Bill, which is currently before a Select Committee ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark will travel to Singapore today to conduct a counterpart visit and to co-chair the third annual Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting with his counterpart, Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen. “Singapore is one of our most important defence partners in the region, and our ...
Nelson’s Salisbury School is to be rebuilt, creating a modern and suitable learning environment for students at the residential special school, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The school for girls aged 8-15, in Richmond, was earmarked for closure by National until the process ...
The panel undertaking a comprehensive review of the Resource Management Act has identified the main issues to be addressed and options for reform and is calling for feedback to inform its final report. In July the Government announced the comprehensive review of the resource management system, including the RMA - ...
An important safety valve has been added to New Zealand’s criminal justice system with the third reading of the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill today. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will investigate claimed miscarriages of justice. “We’ve seen how our justice system can very occasionally get things spectacularly wrong, ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters welcomes the tabling of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) 2019 Annual Report in Parliament today. He says the 2019 Annual Report marks the point when New Zealand’s racing industry’s decline was arrested and a turnaround started. RITA’s 2019 Annual Report recorded an industry net profit ...
The New Zealand Government is today sending 21 firefighters to help fight the ongoing catastrophic Australian bushfires. “The fires in Australia are in some of the toughest, most challenging conditions ever,” says Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. “As of yesterday morning, there were 100 active bushfire-related incidents across Queensland and ...
More frontline support for schools through a new education agency, as part of a redesigned Ministry of Education More support for principals and school boards including through a new centre of leadership and local leadership advisor roles New independent disputes panels for parents and students Management of school property ...
The Government’s reform of the Tomorrow’s Schools system is a watershed moment in education and an opportunity to create meaningful change for ākonga Māori and their whānau, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis said today. “Last year through Kōrero Mātauranga | Education Conversation, Māori teachers, parents, ākonga, whānau, hapū and iwi ...
Infrastructure Minister is welcoming the first of many updated project pipelines from the newly established New Zealand Infrastructure Commission today. The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, has released an expanded pipeline of major capital projects – another crucial step towards delivering better infrastructure outcomes. “The first iteration of the ...
Tougher gun laws designed to improve public safety through firearms prohibition orders are proposed in a new document released for public input. Police Minister Stuart Nash says firearms prohibition orders (FPOs) would give new powers to Police to ensure high-risk individuals come nowhere near firearms. “We have already prohibited the ...
Andy Coupe has been confirmed as TVNZ’s new Board Chair. “Mr Coupe has strong commercial and capital markets experience and TVNZ has benefited from his technical knowledge of business and finance, as well as his extensive governance experience,” the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Kris Faafoi said. Andy ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today officially opened a separated pathway, following the completion of the Kaiwharawhara Stream bridge, which will improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians along Hutt Road. The $6.8m Hutt Road project provides a separated path for cycling and pedestrians, the replacement of informal parking ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of career diplomat Si’alei van Toor as New Zealand’s next Ambassador to Russia. “I’m pleased to appoint Ms van Toor to this position. She brings a wealth of experience to the role having previously served as Senior Trade Adviser to the ...
The Treasury’s 2019 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) will be released on Wednesday December 11, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Coalition Government will publish the 2020 Budget Policy Statement at the same time, outlining the priorities for Budget 2020. Further details on arrangements for the release will ...
A new initiative to better support small businesses through hands-on mentoring and advice has been launched by the Minister for Small Business. The first event in the Kiwi Business Boost series of regional workshops and online tools has been launched in Wairoa by Stuart Nash. “The Business Boost initiative combines ...
The latest Quarterly Connectivity Report shows that more and more New Zealanders are moving to Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB), with Rolleston having the highest uptake at 74 per cent, as at the end of September. “This means that nearly three quarters of Rolleston’s households and businesses have moved to ultra-fast services. ...
The passing of the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill will help ensure a safe planet for our kids and grandkids, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw said today. The landmark legislation which provides a framework to support New Zealanders to prepare for, and adapt to, the effects ...
The review of Oranga Tamariki practice around the planned uplift of a Hastings baby in May shows significant failings by the Ministry and that the planned and funded changes to shift from a child crisis service to a proper care and protection service need to be accelerated, Children’s Minister Tracey ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins has wished students the best of luck for this year’s NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams which start tomorrow. Around 140,000 students will have participated in 119 NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams by the end of the exam period on 3 December. “I want to ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of Bede Corry as New Zealand’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. “The appointment of a senior diplomat to this important role underlines the significance New Zealand places on our relationship with the United Kingdom,” said Mr Peters. “The United ...
An innovative approach to boosting the number of frontline Police has seen 20 new officers graduate from one of the uncommon training wings in Auckland. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation of 20 constables today means that 1,765 new Police officers have been deployed since the coalition government took ...
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says the 1.2 million hours of community work completed by offenders in the last financial year has helped local communities right across the country. “Community work sentences are a great way for people to pay something positive back to society. There is a massive benefit to ...
A new poem by writer and performer Freya Daly Sadgrove.TURDUCKEN I blow my body around like the huge clump of brown hairthat I once saw blowing up Cuba StreetI follow its movements with interestI put a video of it on the internet my favourite bragis that a groundskeeper ...
PHARMAC has backed down on a controversial drug brand switch affecting patients with epilepsy and mental health conditions after three people died following the change. ...
Tara Ward reviews Goodnight Kiwi, a new series that features well-known New Zealanders reading bedtime stories to kids. It’s strange to think that New Zealand television wasn’t always the 24-hour, infomercial-tastic extravangza that it is today. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, our televisions used to go dark every night at ...
FIRST Union members at Countdown have ratified a new agreement that will set their supermarket team on a path towards a living wage, and significantly raise the pay of 15,000 workers across the country. ...
13 moments that prove the music awards are so much > than all other award showsBENEE cleaned up, every performance was somewhere between an eight and a ten, there was an unfeasible quantity of award presenter awkwardness and many nights ended very late. The music awards are over 50 and ...
While the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Commission are examining whether New Zealand laws properly balance the issues of freedom of speech and hate speech (whatever that might be), taxpayers are helping to finance Chinese propaganda. Hateful propaganda, we suggest. The Screen Production Grant has handed a $243,000 subsidy to a ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Media Peter Thompson (Stuff): A new model for public media – but have the old ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (Viking Penguin $35)“Olive struggles to figure herself out, and has an urgent ...
After more than seven months of trying to end a tenancy to protect neighbours, a Rotorua property manager has finally received approval from the High Court to end the tenancy. ...
We agree with the Ombudsman Peter Boshier in his new report on councils QUOTE ; “leaders, officials lack of action to "ensure an approach is adopted that is consistent with openness and transparency" Un-quote. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1911/S00186/chief-ombudsman-new-report-wakeup-call-for-council-leaders.htm ...
Māori food systems are rich with potential, and whānau-based food producers across the country are looking to traditional ways to ensure their communities thrive in the future. Alice Neville reports from the Eat New Zealand Food Hui.In recent years there has been much talk – in food business, hospitality, tourism ...
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) commends the Government’s proposal to take school zoning responsibilities out of the hands of school boards and principals and instead have these taken up by a new Education Service Agency. ...
SINGAPORE, Nov 15, 2019 - (ACN Newswire) - Global BioLife Inc, the U.S. subsidiary of Singapore eDevelopment Ltd (SeD), will present its 3F Antimicrobial Fragrance as a new method to prevent and treat Tuberculosis at the ASM Biothreats Conference, ...
The National Party is calling for the Auditor General to investigate a bid for tax payer money made by a forestry company set up by a senior New Zealand First figure; and an award-winning author detained on Manus Island by Australia for six years has touched down in Auckland ...
Responding to news that the Screen Production Grant handed a $243,000 subsidy to a propaganda film produced by Chinese state-owned enterprises, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Louis Houlbrooke says: “Taxpayers have all been made complicit ...
The campaign to take more colour coded bins into the regions has been developed by The Packaging Forum which promotes recycling under the Government’s Love NZ brand and The Auckland Litter Prevention Steering Group which manages the Be a Tidy Kiwi ...
Shane Jones calls protesting farmers 'rednecks' following rowdy march on Parliament; and top council staff 'manipulated' reports to hide bad news from councillors and public. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodie Bradby, Professor of Physics, Australian National University There’s a lot of uncertainty in a research career. Most funding – and most jobs – are doled out by the project, or in chunks of a few years at a time. Recently, however, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wanning Sun, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of Technology Sydney The Australian government has indicated that “diaspora communities” are crucial to Australia’s public diplomacy mission to promote the country abroad. It has also identified online and social media as essential ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bright, Senior Lecturer of Addiction, Edith Cowan University For many parents whose teenage children are completing Year 12, this time of year means mixed emotions. Parents might feel proud, exhausted and excited. And as young people start heading to schoolies and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heiko Timmers, Associate Professor of Physics, School of Science, UNSW Canberra, UNSW Much is made of the “next generation” of nuclear reactors in the debate over nuclear power in Australia. They are touted as safer than older reactors, and suitable for helping ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fran Gale, Senior Lecturer, Social Work and Community Welfare, School of Social Science and Psychology, Western Sydney University Children are too rarely asked their perspectives on public spaces. Traditionally, adults make choices for children, particularly about how they live and play. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW What do a billionaire, a former vice president, and a US democratic socialist have to do with Australia’s nearly three-decade run of economic growth? More than you might think. The race for the Democratic Party’s 2020 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lydia Edwards, Fashion historian, Edith Cowan University Eyebrows can turn a smile into a leer, a grumpy pout into a come hither beckoning, and sad, downturned lips into a comedic grimace. So, it’s little wonder these communicative markers of facial punctuation have ...
The rules around use of parliamentary TV are set to be liberalised and MPs will no longer have to give permissions for clips of them to be used in political advertising. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When five former fire chiefs held a news conference on Thursday to urge the federal government to take more action on climate change, it was a challenging moment for Scott Morrison. Those who fronted the ...
A powerful New Zealand First figure helped establish a forestry company that then pushed for money from two key funding streams controlled by a New Zealand First Minister. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Farmers square off with Shane Jones at parliament, tax rebates for Chinese propaganda film criticised, and ructions over future shape of public media.Now first of all, I just want to make it clear rednecks isn’t the term I’d use. But it was ...
'Policing' is increasingly falling to private security and citizen-led initiatives. Yet the wages and the training don't match the responsibility. So what can we do? ...
The biggest shakeup in the country’s broadcasting history looks to be looming as the Government gets serious about its options for strengthening public service broadcasting. ...
Support for the Zero Carbon Bill shows our action on climate will have to disrupt the status quo, writes Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton. That will mean new opportunities - and costs. ...
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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.