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Open mike 03/09/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 3rd, 2012 - 120 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step right up to the mike…

120 comments on “Open mike 03/09/2012 ”

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  1. Jenny 1
    3 September 2012 at 6:17 am

    .
    http://www.facebook.com/events/376891172379944/

    Concerned Citizens presents:
    Wellington fundraiser for the displaced people of Syria

    Saturday 15 September 8pm @ 13 Garrett Street, Wellington
    The Garret St party fundraiser is for the charitable foundation in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, now a shelter for many internally displaced families.
    Featuring the amazing bands:
    The Body Lyre
    All Seeing Hand
    Hutt Old Boys

    $10 donation. All proceeds to Jafra Foundation in Yarmouk, Damascus.

    http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/wellington-fundraiser-for-the-displaced-people-of-syria/

    • lprent 2.1
      3 September 2012 at 7:44 am

      We’re out of the usual winter drop early courteousy of David Shearer and his across street medical diagnosis. That and other stories gave us a 50% lift in page views over a few weeks in August.

      We usually get a few months of rising figures post winter with a abrupt drop as everyone digests Xmas and then a slow rise over summer and spring before it drops into winter again in may/june.

      The only thing that usually shifts the seasonal cycle (and why we have a seasonal cycle is beyond me) is the gradual rise over the years, and the abrupt lift we get in election years and subsequent drop the year after that we had in 2009. I am happy to say that we haven’t had the post election drop this year – we have been tracking at last years levels over winter – a lot better than 2009.

      • just saying 2.1.1
        3 September 2012 at 8:48 am

        Let’s just hope that one or two of those are members of the Labour caucus, who have previously proactively avoided paying any attention to us, or anyone else in the left/centre left.

  3. muzza 3
    3 September 2012 at 7:31 am

    You’re trusting someone else to keep your stuff secure.

    Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain last week confirmed the Government was “taking the next steps towards the adoption of cloud computing, paving the way for improved services and cost savings”.

    “Cloud computing is an exciting, emerging technology which will contribute directly to better public services, promote innovation, and substantially reduce costs,” said Mr Tremain.

    However, the cloud computing industry remains in its infancy and has come in for criticism over data security.

    Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak recently warned there would be “a lot of horrible problems” over coming years as a result of businesses and agencies placing their data on the cloud.

    “The more we transfer everything onto the web, onto the cloud, the less we’re going to have control over it.”

    • Dv 3.1
      3 September 2012 at 7:51 am

      One issue that was missed was the DotCom effect.

      What control would we have on ‘others’ forcing severs to be taken down on ‘any’ pretext.

      • lprent 3.1.1
        3 September 2012 at 8:00 am

        It is an issue that I expend time thinking about for this site. Most of the server sites I look at get rejected when I ask them the question about what they would do if they received a letter from a lawyer making an unsubstantiated claim..

        Less of a problem with the offshore sites.

        • Dv 3.1.1.1
          3 September 2012 at 8:14 am

          >>get rejected when I ask them the question about what they would do if they received a letter from a lawyer making an unsubstantiated claim..

          So what do they answer to get a rejection?

          • lprent 3.1.1.1.1
            3 September 2012 at 8:56 am

            That they immediately take the site down to reduce their liability. From what I have seen most of the complaints woudn’t stand a chance in court, but it costs them to even check that out.

            Sites here and offshore have been getting increasing end run plays whereby the complaint isn’t made to the site operator. It is made to the hosting company to try and pressure them. One of the main reasons that we run warm backups.

      • Vicky32 3.1.2
        3 September 2012 at 6:31 pm

        One issue that was missed was the DotCom effect.

        Good point!

    • BernyD 3.2
      3 September 2012 at 8:47 am

      We should be building our own clouds, even selling them internationally
      More than enough skill in NZ

      • Dv 3.2.1
        3 September 2012 at 8:53 am

        Sort of like dotcom?

        • BernyD 3.2.1.1
          3 September 2012 at 9:00 am

          Maybe, I don’t think he runs servers in NZ, but when you think about it, we should be getting in now when the industry is still emerging, it’s almost to late.

          A group of smaller businesses could co-op/fund the startup, after that it should be able to stand on it’s own.

          The government and opposition talk about encouraging business, but it’s ideas that are lacking, this one is just begging for someone in NZ

          • Dv 3.2.1.1.1
            3 September 2012 at 9:15 am

            You are right about about the dotcom servers, they were offshore.

            BUT the problem of security is significant, what is to stop the take down orders from ‘any one’.

            See lpents answer above.

            • BernyD 3.2.1.1.1.1
              3 September 2012 at 9:32 am

              As its fairly new the “Processes” aren’t in place, but as time goes on they will have precedents to work with.

              The “Cloud” doesn’t have to market to the general public, and the concept of data wharehousing has been in use in the commercial sense since the 1950s

              It’s almost walked a full circle in that regard, so I don’t think “Take down orders” are any more of a risk than power failure.

              A cloud company “Risk” is minimal all they do is provide data if court ordered, otherwise it’s business as usual.

              It all comes down to the contract the cloud client signs, they’d still be paying for the service even if it has been “Injuncted”

              The rest is in the hands of the court

              • BernyD …
                3 September 2012 at 12:21 pm

                Using virtual machines on a 64bit os, you could do it with one machine
                Farm out the VMs as it grows, easy

                • Colonial Viper …
                  3 September 2012 at 11:57 pm

                  we can’t supply overseas customers with bandwidth. And we refuse to invest in it. End of line.

          • muzza 3.2.1.1.2
            3 September 2012 at 9:20 am

            New Zealand could help set the standard for cloud computing services in Australia and beyond.

            The Institute of Information Technology Professionals, previously the Computer Society, finalised a voluntary code in May that set out the information cloud computing companies should provide to customers about their services.

            That includes where servers and backup systems are located, whether and how customers will be able to access their data if they stop paying for a service, and how – and how often – cloud providers will back up their data.

            Chief executive Paul Matthews said the code would “almost definitely” be adopted in Australia and it was very likely to go further afield.

            “It could go from a New Zealand code of practice to a global code of practice, but we will see.”

            The code has been backed by big international vendors Google and Salesforce.com, as well as local ones such as Telecom’s Gen-i and Xero, all of which are keen to promote cloud computing as a safe option compared to businesses hosting their own computer systems in-house.

            Par Botes, Singapore-based vice president of computer storage giant EMC and chairman of the Asian Cloud Computing Association, said the code was a “good start” which he expected would evolve, for example to explain what information cloud-based providers should give customers’ about their rights if they were taken over

            Scenario:

            1: Government proceeds with outsourcing of IT (services, data management, infrastructure etc)
            2: TPPA is signed, and “in effect”
            3: Outsourced cloud “provider of choice”, has security breach, or some other similar occurance
            4: Government attempts to bring services, data management, infrastructure back “in-house”
            5: Government is stonewalled, sued or similar using TPPA agreement…

            Something along those lines…

            • BernyD 3.2.1.1.2.1
              3 September 2012 at 9:33 am

              Good to know, thanks 🙂

              • muzza …
                3 September 2012 at 10:23 am

                Think of it this way – If you don’t own the company(assumed outsourced) who stores/manages and thus controls your data, and/or the infrastructure it is housed on…

                THEN YOU DONT/CANT CONTROL IT!

                No amount of legislation or voluntary codes of practice is going to prevent, or change that!

                Its rather like holding an IOU for some gold – Someone else controls the physical gold, you are holding a piece of paper!

            • Draco T Bastard 3.2.1.1.2.2
              3 September 2012 at 1:18 pm

              Government should be running it’s own cloud and not outsourcing. There’s no way that private companies should have government data in a place where they can access it.

              • muzza …
                3 September 2012 at 1:56 pm

                Correct DTB, that is exactly what should be happening, but won’t!

                The dollar savings have been estimated in a paper that will be presented to Cabinet within the month, Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain says

                However, a public servant told Fairfax Media in January that he feared the Government might press ahead without understanding all the privacy ramifications, including those of the Patriot Act in the United States which can oblige organisations with a presence in the US to secretly release information to US authorities.

                The options are expected to include using Microsoft software hosted in the cloud either in New Zealand or overseas, or a combination of the two, or making more use of Google software hosted overseas.

                Tremain said the Government would need to be clear about the security of cloud-based applications and data sovereignty issues before deciding where to go next

                Tremain said switching to cloud-based applications could follow on naturally from the Government’s decision to centralise the procurement of computer infrastructure through data centre providers Datacom, IBM and Revera.

                He was encouraged by the volume of business conducted in the year to June as a result of those whole-of-government “infrastructure-as-a-service” contracts.

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  3 September 2012 at 8:15 pm

                  … that is exactly what should be happening, but won’t!

                  Of course it won’t, the rich can’t get their hands on government funds if the government does stuff itself.

  4. William Joyce 4
    3 September 2012 at 8:59 am

    On the weekend I saw a piece by Jake Tame where he interviewed people attending the Republican National Convention. One woman asserted that Romney was a self made man who came from nothing, “He wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth” – Seriously?!
    Is that the calibre of the Romney supporters? I doubt she was representative but there is a lot more to Romney than the average punter will be aware.
    He’s Gordon Ghekko!
    Rollingstone has a a good piece on his background
    Geed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital

    • tc 4.1
      3 September 2012 at 10:09 am

      Mittens is the best Obama could hope for, when the time is right in the presidential race they’ll open him up like the can of worms he is and will find it all too taxing.

  5. Peter 5
    3 September 2012 at 8:59 am

    Banks cause house price increases not population growth or demand

    http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/28/why-exactly-are-homes-so-expensive/

    • vto 5.1
      3 September 2012 at 9:14 am

      That is of course no surprise and merely the logical conclusion of the system we allow the banks to operate under. A bit of thinking leads to horrible conclusions…..

  6. Carol 6
    3 September 2012 at 9:03 am

    Is there no end to the mean-spirited, control-freak viciousness of the owner- & boss-classes?

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/7597894/Your-boss-could-put-a-stop-to-quick-smoko-breaks

    Leaving your desk to stretch your legs, or popping out for a bite of lunch, could soon be outlawed, critics of a Government bill say.

    Legislation under consideration would mean workers could be required to keep up their work duties or remain in the workplace during their paid and unpaid breaks, if their boss asks.
    …
    Council of Trade Unions policy analyst Eileen Brown said adequate breaks were a basic employment right, and essential for the health and safety of workers. “A break is a break – there should be quite clear time off for a break. We don’t agree that having a break means you are still available to work.”

    Labour industrial relations spokeswoman Darien Fenton said she believed people could not be made to work for nothing – which was what the bill would amount to. Workers had a fundamental right to breaks, no matter what industry they were in, and even if they were working alone.

    She had heard of shop assistants working alone having to close their stores to use a mall bathroom because their stores lacked facilities – and then being disciplined by their bosses for it.

    Instead, it’d be better for the majority, if those near the top of the corporate hierarchy took a pay cut, and were banned from expensive work lunches and other over-paid freebies.

    • BernyD 6.1
      3 September 2012 at 9:10 am

      They’re trying to force a wokaholics’ work practices onto everyone.
      It worked for them, those blighters just need to emulate ME !

    • fnjckg 6.2
      3 September 2012 at 9:41 am

      “Masters/slaves”
      (btw, i still believe i am on the correct page)

      and while here; RH should hide; a “legend” in his own mind.(small legend, may have just been a little gossip)

      DNFTT(Contrary, to popular belief)

    • Rosie 6.3
      3 September 2012 at 9:49 am

      Hi Carol,

      The comments are up on the Dom Post story. So far, this time more against this amendment which is a nice change.

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/7597835/Your-boss-could-put-a-stop-to-quick-smoko-breaks

      I remember when the idea for this ammendment was first put forward several years ago and at that time I was working alone in a store where I had no breaks in the two years I was there. Having National wanting to introduce more legislation that removes employee’s hard won rights is an insult to workers and especially to and to the thousands of workers that are already coping with unfair work practices.

    • Uturn 6.4
      3 September 2012 at 10:20 am

      Article written by… Fairfax NZ News. Is that what news is these days, the product of children indoctrinated at one of 5 Fairfax endorsed journalism schools?

      “Labour industrial relations spokeswoman Darien Fenton said she believed people could not be made to work for nothing…”

      Should I bother to ask what that means? Did Fenton really say such a timid thing, or is it an uninterested unprofessional third-party observation, or was it a wantonly deceitful lie on behalf of Fairfax? Fenton has commented here before, perhaps she could clear up exactly what she said.

      As for the story itself, well gee, what a totally unexpected insight into an, at least, 25 year old argument. Discussing the Yea or Nea of a Fairfax instigated proposition would be to fall into the trap of measuring reality by neo-liberal cultural norms, and by doing so unwittingly defend it. Does no one understand anymore that arguing the question of breaks or not, slavery or not, isn’t a Left-wing perspective?

      • Carol 6.4.1
        3 September 2012 at 10:36 am

        Uturn, the general aim for the left should be much broader than small issues like work breaks. But, this is a far bigger and longer project to tackle. Meanwhile, do we just sit back and do/say nothing while the powerful classes tighten the screws bit-by-bit on the most vulnerable and powerless workers?

        • Uturn 6.4.1.1
          3 September 2012 at 11:49 am

          Being drawn into small skirmishes under the opponent’s terms drains the energy and distorts the beliefs of essential party members and the goodwill of allies. The party, the movement, loses by undermining itself; if it wins the battle, it’s a prize that is not worth winning. This industrial relations issue is not a new issue, it’s a trick designed to wound and confuse.

          You suggest strategy. Leaders talking about the broader picture would confirm to people a constructive perspective; they’d be secure in knowing how to fight, when to fight and secure in knowing when not to fight; and not so easily manipulated by their opponents.

          The Left is supposed to be about the politics of common people for common people, but no one in a position of influence talks about the wider perspective outside of middle class definitions. These leaders sigh in relief that they can so easily manipulate a well intentioned rush to the barricades by concened people, not caring in the slightest that it leads those people to believe that fighting frontal attacks on every single issue handed to them is the only option. Choosing not to fight is not the same as sitting back and doing nothing.

          Articulating a direction isn’t too hard, it just isn’t done anymore and when in it’s place we’re asked to support and get “strategic” advice from people whose ideas amount to a demand of “Let’s bash the vulnerable because if we don’t, someone more vicious will!” then we’re no longer on the left hand side of the line.

          • Carol 6.4.1.1.1
            3 September 2012 at 11:56 am

            Well, I disagree, on the small skirmishes points, Uturn.

            I agree that the left, especially Labour, needs to have more well-defined and left wing direction. But, meanwhile, I don’t think we can just watch the death of the most vulnerable by a thousand cuts, without protesting. Both broad campaign and the small struggles are important.

          • Bored 6.4.1.1.2
            3 September 2012 at 12:16 pm

            Articulating a direction isn’t too hard…it is if the language used is that framed by OR the same as that of the enemy. Which is why “spin doctors” and PR people who come from the same stable (used by National such as Pagani) are of so little value to the left.

      • fnjckg 6.4.2
        3 September 2012 at 10:45 am

        anyway, Hong Kong implementing “moral and national” education syllabus aligned with China.
        (visits to Mao) -WSJ

    • millsy 6.5
      3 September 2012 at 10:20 am

      If anyone thinks that I should work a single minute and not get paid, then they can get fucked. Plain and simple.

    • Bored 6.6
      3 September 2012 at 11:19 am

      Is there no end to the mean-spirited, control-freak viciousness of the owner- & boss-classes?

      Might I ask how you are remunerated? Do you have a salaried job, a tenured position, a secure job underwritten by taxes? Are you a shareholder? Or a rentier? Or a manager / boss?

      Forgive my cynicism but as an employer comments lumping us all together gets right up my nose. I never ste out to become an owner / bosses class member (it was more a case of creating a job so I had one).

      For the record, making sure my employees get paid comes very high on my priority list. It comes before paying me…most employers I know do the same. It is an area fraught with conflicting emotions etc, as an employer I don’t particularly want any responsibility for the workers nor any gratitude / obligations etc.

      With regard to this proposed legislation it is crap on too many fronts: its unworkable and it is unnecessary. As a pro Union person I agree fully with Eileen Brown: any employer with half a brain would do the same. At the same time we employers are probably also worried about where the current working practices leave us with regard to liability for worker safety etc etc. each coin has two sides.

      • Carol 6.6.1
        3 September 2012 at 11:29 am

        My apologies, bored, if you think I was referring to small business owners with that comment. I had more in mind the wealthy corporates – it is them that I see as the boss-classes.

        Some of those with cushy top management public sector jobs can be just as mean-spirited as those within the corporate world – Auckland Council CCO CEOs, for instance.

        Small business-owners don’t usually have that much power. For instance, in the discussion/interviews on the issue on RNZ this morning, it was claimed some Mall owners won’t allow some retail workers to close the shop for a pee-break.

        I do understand that most owners/managers of small business do not have the power and wealth of the corporate bosses, and work hard to reasonable living while using fair practices.

        • Bored 6.6.1.1
          3 September 2012 at 11:38 am

          Apology accepted. I really am genuinely worried for the people of this land: the vast majority of us get paid as either small business owners or small business employees. The fat is running out rapidly, the bones are appearing under the skin. When our skin parts exposing the bones then corporate NZ will rapidly follow.

          Can I ask if you are currently active within Labour to tell them how it really is: if they agree tell them we don’t hear their response loudly enough.

          • Carol 6.6.1.1.1
            3 September 2012 at 11:49 am

            Bored, yes I am worried for the NZ people, too.

            No, I am not now nor ever have been a party member, Labour or otherwise. I have some left principles/values, and each election try to vote for the party that comes closest. Hence I have voted for a few different left/left-leaning parties in my time – usually what I perceive to be the lesser of evils at them time. I haven’t voted for the Labour party for a few elections now, though have voted for Cunliffe in my electorate.

            I have difficulty sticking to any party line.

        • Rosie 6.6.1.2
          3 September 2012 at 12:28 pm

          Sorry to jump in here between your discussion. Carol, as a worker (albeit an unemployed at the moment!)and work rights advocate I can assure you that its ALL employers that employees worry about and feel insecure about. Often it is the small business employer/family run business that isn’t familair with the law or is being unreasonable. That is the experience for many workers. Sometimes inexperience in regard to the Employment Relations Act on the part of the employee and the employer can lead to unneccesary conflict.
          Bored, of course, is the exception to the common experience and I’d say that its Bored’s thoughtful and intelligent approach that make his workplace a successful and productive one even in the face of unprecendented economic challenges. Good on you Bored!
          Also, we do beat up alot on multi national, big corporates etcs, and rightly so, given bad corporate behaviour however, these big employers often have sound and fair contracts with their employers. Many of them don’t want to run the risk of being invloved in expensive personal grievance claims so its in their interests to make an effort to genuinely act in good faith. Workers in the corporate world can have access to perks that the regular worker can only dream of. I know of several corporates that offer 5 weeks annual leave, mental health days, and access to the Employee Assistance Programme. EAP provides confidential counselling for employees and is funded by the employer. (The employer never knows who has had counselling, they just get the bill). Currently, we have 4 weeks annual leave and 5 days sick leave. That sick leave for many has to cover bereavement leave and domestic leave. Corps often have separate leave allowances which may amount to 20 +days annually.
          Of course it isn’t all roses for all corporate employees but those I know that work for these companies have far better work conditions that oftgen exceed the bounds of NZ’s E.R.A.

          • Carol 6.6.1.2.1
            3 September 2012 at 12:56 pm

            Ah, well, Rosie, it is difficult to generalise, then. But, apart from who is at fault, the government has been steadily whittling away the hard won gains for workers’ rights. And many unscrupulous employers will take advantage.

            Many corporates may give workers good conditions, but some don’t: e.g. some of the burger chains. And some public sector employers are doing their best to undermine workers; e.g. Ports of Auckland vs MUNZ….. not to mention the driving down of wages and conditions of the least powerful in both public and private workplaces…. cleaners for instance.

            • Rosie 6.6.1.2.1.1
              3 September 2012 at 1:37 pm

              Agree with you fully Carol. Large multi national involved in hospitality, food service, agri business and retail are well known corporate offenders. I was referring more to those in the office and internal sales environment. It’s interesting though. In countries where they have better employment law, (e.g Australia, Germany) those corporates will comply with the law where as in countries with sloppier employment law (eg NZ, USA) they will fully take advantage of loop holes and weak clauses. Corporate behaviour can really vary country to country.

              You’re right about hard won gains being whittled away. Of the thirty three odd changes that Nat has made to employment law since they came to power I think the worst would be the 90 day bill. What other developed democratically organised country contravenes the International Labour Organisations’s standards?
              Actually the USA does but its still depressing that we’ve come to this, our post 2008 NZ, after decades and generations of hard work by workers, unions and good employers. Its a very insecure environment for workers now.

              • Carol …
                3 September 2012 at 1:42 pm

                Well, I think that the multinational corporates, whether or not they provide good pay and working conditions, have defined and dominated the context that small businesses operate in. And a lot of the MO has come out of the US corporate world in the last few decades.

                They have made it harder for small NZ businesses to operate and provide a living for their owners and workers.

                • Bored …
                  3 September 2012 at 2:20 pm

                  Carol / Rosie, I would dearly love to see a return to compulsory unionism and arbitration in small work places. Most employers would not agree but many would: what it does for me in the first instance is protect me from price gouging by employers with lower cost staff, and secondly from gouging by employees with pay demands.

    • Draco T Bastard 6.7
      3 September 2012 at 1:36 pm

      Is there no end to the mean-spirited, control-freak viciousness of the owner- & boss-classes?

      No, there isn’t.

      • Bored 6.7.1
        3 September 2012 at 2:33 pm

        Draco, I see the bad behavior from both employers and employees: having said that power positions corrupt and corporations in particular encourage a degree of psychopathic behavior.

        Interestingly when the Soviet Union existed with so called socialism there was also psychopathology inherent in the system: power corrupting again. The lesson is that power relationships enable and encourage “mean-spirited, control-freak viciousness” from those in power. Any system without severe limitations on power is in trouble: nobody has been able to limit the power of the banksters by making them adhere to existing law.

        I don’t think in the case of the corporate owners and the banksters that the money is of any consequence: the desire for power drives the psychopathic behavior of those at the top.

    • Vicky32 6.8
      3 September 2012 at 6:42 pm

      Legislation under consideration would mean workers could be required to keep up their work duties or remain in the workplace during their paid and unpaid breaks, if their boss asks.

      Yes, that really stinks! Rather 19th century…

  7. captain hook 7
    3 September 2012 at 9:37 am

    Yes they have gone crazy.
    Phill whats his name rang off from RNZ this morning so he could not be quizzed after the other side had their say this morning.
    Carol is write about sociopathic employers.
    the country is ready to go on the wonk.

  8. travellerev 8
    3 September 2012 at 9:48 am

    Never heard of the Chicago mercantile, weather derivatives, aluminium and barium in huge quantities in places were there was non as short a time ago as five years ago. Ever wondered why aeroplane Condensation trails seem to last forever while you remember them gone in 5-15 minutes?

    Then these two films are for you?

    What in the world are they spraying?

    Why in the world are they spraying?

    • Murray Olsen 8.1
      3 September 2012 at 4:36 pm

      Ev, I’ll think about taking chemtrails seriously once someone gets some samples and analyses them. Until then, I can’t see any difference from the condensation trails that people have been seeing since WW2.

      • travellerev 8.1.1
        3 September 2012 at 7:05 pm

        M,
        Did you watch the Video’s? Plenty of tests done. I can assure you that as someone who lived five minutes from the biggest airport in Europe with planes landing and leaving every three minutes all my life I never saw trails staying for hours and I lived in a flat country with lots of sky and contrails when I went plane spotting with my dad once in a while.
        We’ve had satellites and space stations since forever and it took them until June 2012 to show us this.

        But by all means M don’t believe anything until proven to your satisfaction as the Buddha says.

        • Murray Olsen 8.1.1.1
          4 September 2012 at 12:25 am

          If tests have been done, where are the results?
          I can’t see how it would be difficult for even an enthusiastic amateur to get atmospheric samples from an area that had supposed chemtrails. It’s probably possible with a balloon. Getting them with an aircraft would require more of an investment, but wouldn’t be impossible. It’s then pretty easy to test stuff to see what chemicals might be in it. Any undergraduate chemistry lab will have a mass spectrometer or something similar.
          I’m an open minded scientist and don’t accept anything as fact until the numbers are in. Anecdotal evidence is certainly not enough. There’s also the small problem that I know aircraft engineers and pilots and they have never seen any equipment aboard aircraft that would be needed to spray this stuff all over the place.

          • Colonial Viper 8.1.1.1.1
            4 September 2012 at 12:34 am

            I’m an open minded scientist and don’t accept anything as fact until the numbers are in.

            What a small world you live in

            There’s also the small problem that I know aircraft engineers and pilots and they have never seen any equipment aboard aircraft that would be needed to spray this stuff all over the place.

            They probably don’t work for the right organisations, and they probably don’t have sufficient clearance. BTW think about it for a second Mr Scientist. At that altitude there is no need for equipment to “spray this stuff all over the place”. Adequate dispersal would only require that droplets of a specific size were released. A few hundred dollars worth of equipment, in other words.

            • Murray Olsen 8.1.1.1.1.1
              4 September 2012 at 12:44 am

              I’m happy in my small world, thanks. At least it’s real, as well as being 15 billion light years across.
              What are the “right organisations”? How do they get their tentacles into so many aircraft run by so many different operators and no hard information gets out? What is the altitude? What is the specific size of the droplets? What would the equipment consist of?

              • Draco T Bastard …
                4 September 2012 at 12:48 am

                What is the point of spraying them across the Mid Atlantic?

                Really, chem-trails has got to be the stupidest conspiracy theory that I’ve ever heard of.

              • Colonial Viper …
                4 September 2012 at 12:49 am

                At least it’s real, as well as being 15 billion light years across.

                Do you even know if a “light year” is the same distance across that entire distance???

                What are the “right organisations”? How do they get their tentacles into so many aircraft run by so many different operators and no hard information gets out? What is the altitude? What is the specific size of the droplets? What would the equipment consist of?

                Seriously, how would I know? FYI I also don’t have the ‘right clearance’. Please come up with a longer list of inane questions, it doesn’t prove anything.

                • Murray Olsen …
                  4 September 2012 at 1:27 am

                  No, I don’t know if the physical constants are invariant in time, if that’s what you mean. There are some theories that they may not be, but there’s no compelling evidence yet.
                  If I’ve asked questions about statements you’ve made, how is it that the questions are inane?
                  You’re the one who seems to be claiming that these chemtrails are real, so any proof is up to you. I’m not trying to prove anything.
                  In fact, now that I’ve thought about it a bit, the composition of these things can most probably be determined from the ground, yet all we get are photos. I wonder why that is?

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    4 September 2012 at 1:31 am

                    In fact, now that I’ve thought about it a bit, the composition of these things can most probably be determined from the ground,

                    Really, Mr Scientist? Do propose your method of investigation.

                    • Murray Olsen …
                      4 September 2012 at 1:38 am

                      Nope. I’ll disclose the results if and when it’s done. From your tone, you have no interest in doing it, nor the knowledge to do it. In fact, you’re just another bloody troll.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      5 September 2012 at 12:59 am

                      LOL so you have no idea other than to pretend you’ve got it all worked out??? And what’s my “tone” got to do with why you can’t explain the process you have in mind lolz

                  • travellerev …
                    4 September 2012 at 9:20 am

                    Testing Mountain slope snow or its run off streams which should be pristine and have many thousands of times the amount of Aluminium particles above what is considered healthy and which never had those amounts previously should be considered as something of a give away Murray.

                    These shocking results led to additional testing of Lake Shasta with samples from the Pit River arm tributary that tested over 4,610 times the maximum contamination level of aluminum allowed in drinking water in the state of California.

                    Also, peer reviewed scientific studies conclude that bio-available aluminum, now found in huge quantities in rain world-wide, is very harmful to flora and thus the eco-system. Ironically, these are the same substances the scientists are considering implementing in the various potential “future” aerosol spraying campaigns that were being discussed at the meeting.

                    Cloud seeding is now done in 24 countries. Bill Gates wants to chuck tons of sulphur and other chemicals in the atmosphere. Bill Gates loves Monsanto too which by the way is patenting a corn resistant to high levels of Aluminium funny enough.

                    If this company can do it so can others. If cloud seeding is already part of the economic system of many countries than we don’t have to prove anything. It is accepted practice.

                    The discussion here is not: Are humans interfering with the global ecosystem via weather modification? They are.
                    The discussion is: How much are humans interfering with the Global ecosystem and is weather modification done in order to manipulate socio-economic situations.

                    Here is a link to an official European parliament document (1995) discussing the weaponisation of weather modification via cloud seeding and HAARP (High frequency Active Auroral Research Program)

                    It seems to me that if the ruling elite of an entire continent 12 years ago worried about the implications of weaponised weather modifications it behoves us to at least investigate strange weather occurrences and especially the “Why in the world are they spraying” Video gives some serious food for thought. 

        • Draco T Bastard 8.1.1.2
          4 September 2012 at 12:30 am

          all my life I never saw trails staying for hours

          I did. All it requires is still air. Throw in lots of aircraft all going the same way and you’ll get those satellite pictures.

          • TheContrarian 8.1.1.2.1
            4 September 2012 at 9:40 am

            Trails that hang around for hours have been recorded since the earliest days of jet propulsion.

          • travellerev 8.1.1.2.2
            4 September 2012 at 4:42 pm

            Murray, In all our contacts so far I have never been anything other than polite, respectful and prepared to give as much information I could while respecting your opinions yet it now appears you are prepared to diss me in a hurtful way and put me together with all kinds of nonsense such as the “Lizard people” etc.
            Not cool.

            I “like” all kinds of information and will on occasion listen to Alex Jones but I also listen to Max Keiser, Richard Gage and Architects and Engineers for 9/11 truth and others and what I have in common with all of them is that all we want is a new and independent investigation into the events of 9/11 and with 6 of the 9/11 commissioners saying they have not been told the truth by the US air force and many of the “Witnesses” who did not need to be under oath while the survivors and family members saying 70% of their questions have not been answered that is not unreasonable.
            I put up the chem trail video’s because they raise questions and I think that it is important we get answers to those questions.
            With your daughter training in the NZ army as a medic and perhaps at risk of being send into one the next conflicts John Key seems so keen on helping the US and NATO out with I would think you too would be keen to know that those wars conflicts are not started to make only a few stinking rich while sacrificing our children.

            I hope that you can get off the churlish and hurtful manner in which your are conducting yourself towards me and which I don’t deserve and get back to the reasonable man I met on facebook a while ago.

            We don’t have to agree on everything but a basic respect is not too much to ask for I hope.

            • Murray Olsen 8.1.1.2.2.1
              4 September 2012 at 4:55 pm

              Ev, please leave my family out of this. I’ve known what wars are about since the late 1960s and my views haven’t changed.
              I have no desire to hurt you, all I asked is a link to the peer reviewed studies about chemtrails which you mentioned, rather than some talking heads video. Through my university, I have free access to a lot of peer reviewed scientific literature and want to check it out. I would do the same with any of my colleagues, and on any topic.

      • muzza 8.1.2
        4 September 2012 at 9:17 am

        Well Ev, what I can tell you in this..

        On May 6 about 2pm this year, I took film footage over central auckland of a plane, very high (35-40k feet) dumping a horizon to horizon (not con) trail.
        Of what I can’t tell you, but I also saw a plane yesterday over the same location, same height, heading in the same direction doing the same thing, (pics taken) yesterday September 3, around 1pm.
        There are no scheduled flights which have those bearings and timings etc, so commercial flights they most certainly are not!

        I fly planes, and have been a “plane spotter”, hence looking upwards for a very long time indeed, and I can tell you is that the sky has changed, the “cloud” formations have changed.

        If people can’t tell the difference between a condensation trail, and these (whatever they are) trails, then I feel very sad for what people will allow to be done to them, and it shows just how dumbed down they have become!

        When you spend over 25 years looking up, you notice these things, hell even an inbicille should be able to notice these things..

        • vto 8.1.2.1
          4 September 2012 at 9:47 am

          Muzza, how about trying to find out what the plane was? Surely NZ aviation authorities will have records …

          • Te Reo Putake 8.1.2.1.1
            4 September 2012 at 9:53 am

            VTO, we don’t need the aviation authorities, we’ve got Muzza:

            “There are no scheduled flights which have those bearings and timings etc, so commercial flights they most certainly are not!”

            Sadly, there isn’t any info in his report as to direction, but I’m picking it was John Key heading to Hawaii, leaving a trail of loser dust behind him.

          • muzza 8.1.2.1.2
            4 September 2012 at 10:56 am

            VTO – whats interesting is that while I was filming, I was tracking the planes I could see overhead coming (live) and on my laptop, and matching them against what had taken off/was due to land etc from various airports around NZ, and where the flights were heading – Thing is NZ does not have a commercial international airport North of Auckland, and a flight at almost 40K feet from the north, heading south, would not have taken off in NZ, and it also was not tranmitting its codes/flight computer details.

            The trail that it left was against a pristine clear sky (may 6), and was not a condensation (vapour) trail which would evapourate very quickly at a constant rate as the plane progresses on its path. The trail left by that plane on May 6, same as Sept 3, left a horizon to horizon trail, which lasted hours, expanded and formed into those strange whispy, sheet like shapes and lines, which people think are actually cloud formations. I filmed the dispersal/expansion, over a couple of hours at different stages after it was dumped, and despite seeing the results of these flights for years now, I did not think would see it happening, and its now been twice!

            What people want to make of it all is their own personal choice, and I do not have the answers or explanations, other than to say that what I have seen and filmed is not vapour (condensation) trails, and the remnants left in the skies over AKL are not clouds, by in large. Real clouds still look like real clouds, they are easy enough to spot, if only people bothered pay attention.

            • Murray Olsen 8.1.2.1.2.1
              4 September 2012 at 11:45 am

              How do you know this plane wasn’t transmitting its codes/flight computer details?

              • muzza …
                4 September 2012 at 1:11 pm

                By using different software which picks up flight details, map flight paths etc. Anyone can learn/understand what are/are not regular flight patterns Murray, and also what is/is not “normal” coming from the plane!

                AKL’s geographic location makes it very easy to learn commercial patterns, and flight paths.

                Spending many years of life in plans, flying planes, and watching planes, leads one to being somewhat understanding and appreciative of the “changes” going on in the sky!

                • Murray Olsen …
                  4 September 2012 at 2:00 pm

                  OK, you’ve established to your satisfaction that they weren’t normally scheduled commercial flights. You presumably also have some way of detecting transmissions from aircraft and didn’t detect any at the appropriate frequencies for these ones. You saw trails which the planes left which were more persistent than anything else you’ve seen.
                  You might be happy to take the leap from this to a huge network of aircraft spraying stuff over the whole planet for the purposes of weather modification. I’m not quite ready to do that yet. If, instead of making youtube videos where people like Alex Jones and others make all sorts of claims, people actually got some samples and analysed them, I’d be more interested. With remote sensing laser spectroscopy you probably don’t even need to physically obtain samples. You’d think that if people were so concerned and so convinced of the clear and present dangers due to these “chemtrails”, some real analysis would have been done. Until it is, I see it as about as harmful as theories about lizard people, ancient Egyptians in Aotearoa, or Illuminati conspiracies against the world. It gets a lot of people talking without anyone taking any action.
                  I’ll be contacting a friend who does remote atmospheric laser spectroscopy to inform myself a bit more about making measurements. Scientific proof or conclusion depends on measurements and numbers, not on the number of videos that have been posted on youtube.

                  • muzza …
                    4 September 2012 at 2:28 pm

                    You might be happy to take the leap from this to a huge network of aircraft spraying stuff over the whole planet for the purposes of weather modification. I’m not quite ready to do that yet.

                    Can’t recall saying anything of the sort Murray. I will say that they are NOT condensation trails!

                    If, instead of making youtube videos where people like Alex Jones and others make all sorts of claims, people actually got some samples and analysed them, I’d be more interested.

                    Who is Alex Jones, and why is he relevant?

                    With remote sensing laser spectroscopy you probably don’t even need to physically obtain samples. You’d think that if people were so concerned and so convinced of the clear and present dangers due to these “chemtrails”, some real analysis would have been done. Until it is, I see it as about as harmful as theories about lizard people, ancient Egyptians in Aotearoa, or Illuminati conspiracies against the world. It gets a lot of people talking without anyone taking any action.

                    What people should have Murray is the truth, but thats not the world we live in is it, and what I see as more dangerous, are those who can’t/won’t accept this is how the world works, as it condems all of us to living in what is a very sick environment.
                    Question – Why is it more dangerous for people to ask questions or be suspicious, than those who do not ask questions?

                    I do agree with you that taking the wind out of sails is a real problem, I have mentioned it here many times.

                    I’ll be contacting a friend who does remote atmospheric laser spectroscopy to inform myself a bit more about making measurements. Scientific proof or conclusion depends on measurements and numbers, not on the number of videos that have been posted on youtube

                    That would be very good Murray, if you can post some details on what/how etc. While is great to have the measurements and numbers, even better if you can get them yourself.
                    I would also say that it is unwise to underestimate the amount of “bad data” which permeates from what people might refer to as “official sources”.

                    In this instance, Im stating what I personally saw with my own eyes, you tube has nothing to do with anything, but like the reference to lizard people, you are using as a way to sweep aside, which is unwise!

                    • Murray Olsen …
                      4 September 2012 at 2:43 pm

                      Fair enough. I’m painting with a broad brush, which is unfair to you. Anyway:
                      1. Alex Jones is an American talk show host who specialises in conspiracies. Ev seems to like his stuff.
                      2. I am asking questions. I’m asking them in a way that can be answered and is designed to get at the “truth”. I agree that people who just accept everything, whether it comes from the government or the internet, are dangerous.
                      3. I don’t have the equipment or the experimental expertise to make these measurements myself. I know people who do, so I’ll ask them about it.
                      4. I’m not sweeping anything aside here. I think the whole business about chemtrails is most likely a load of rubbish, but I’m prepared to do what I can to check it out as far as I can. I won’t even bother checking the lizard people stuff.

                    • muzza …
                      4 September 2012 at 3:30 pm

                      Murray that all sounds sensible, and if you could keep any details from those you know who do have the knowledge & skills, that would be great.

                      VTO – Yes the default position when dealing with “authority”, should always be suspicion, which is terrible, but the people have allowed it to become that way, by “trusting & wishing” etc…

                      Its a long way back from here, that is for certain.

                  • vto …
                    4 September 2012 at 2:41 pm

                    My 2c says that authority has blown its credibility. It is not to be trusted.

                    So when something odd pops up like these strange trails the default position must therefore be to disbelieve what the authorities say, and to most certainly disbelieve anybody who dismisses every theory as “just another conspiracy” – they are the most unreliable and generally the most ignorant of all.

                    The default position must be suspicion. Anybody who trusts authority is a fool.

        • travellerev 8.1.2.2
          4 September 2012 at 6:47 pm

          Muzza,
          I paid the whole Chem trail issue not a lot of attention until I saw four parallel trails and a plane dumping another one right while I was watching totally parallel to the other four. I tried to make a photo but my camera wasn’t high res enough. Recently I bought a camera at 14 mega pic and now I can make photo’s of what seems to have become a regular feature in my back yard.
           

  9. Carol 9
    3 September 2012 at 10:39 am

    This is about social inclusion, and access to the educational, social, liesure and communicative resources that enable full participation in society, regardless of wealth/income:

    http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/bill-shelves-library-charges-fenton/5/133279

    Thursday, 30 August, 2012 – 15:23

    Keeping books, DVDs, music and internet use free of charge at public libraries is the aim of Labour MP Darien Fenton’s Member’s Bill drawn from the ballot today.

    “Making sure our public libraries are as accessible as possible is a really important principle,” Darien Fenton said. “Libraries are an essential public service.

    “At the moment local authorities are only obliged to ensure people can join their library free of charge. But over time we have seen a growth of user charges for best sellers, DVDs and multimedia resources.

    “Libraries shouldn’t be used to raise council revenue,” Darien Fenton said.

    “If we want an economy based on knowledge and innovation we need to break down barriers wherever we see them.

    “The Local Government (Public Libraries) Amendment Bill is in line with UNESCO Guidelines on Libraries and responds to calls from groups such as the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) to have such free public library services enshrined in law.

    • millsy 9.1
      4 September 2012 at 8:41 am

      I have no issue with paying a small charge for things like CD’s and DVD’s from the library (though I think DVD content should be largely documentaries and educational, not Jennifer Anniston rom-coms and Bruce Willis action movies), but books must remain free.

      There should be central government fund for these sorts of amenites so councils cannot be tempted to cut these sorts of services and blame it on hard times.

  10. fnjckg 10
    3 September 2012 at 10:48 am

    Vagina: A Biography by Naomi Wolf. (wow!) -The Guardian
    and
    Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini slams Catholic Church from the grave.-news.sky.com
    (the grave did not hold him)

  11. captain hook 11
    3 September 2012 at 11:03 am

    thjey are spraying because they are infantilised and they think that they are omnipotent because their spray lasts forever.
    and their little weenies are just the same size as everyone elses.
    and if they cant control the world then they will poison it for everyone else.

  12. Penny Bright 12
    3 September 2012 at 11:31 am

    Tony Molloy needs some support here from decent New Zealanders who do believe in the basic principles of ‘natural justice’ and the ‘rule of law’?

    http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/outraged-finlayson-says-judge-critic-tony-molloy-should-quit-qc-rank#comment-550074

    In my considered opinion it is the ‘fitness for duty’ of the Attorney-General, Chris Finlayson, that should be questioned?

    What a disgraceful personal attack on Tony Molloy QC!

    How is this disgraceful personal attack on Tony Molloy QC, not an absolute abuse of power by the ‘highest acting lawyer in the land’?

    No doubt this outspokeness by a man of Tony Molloy’s callibre, ‘blowing the whistle’ against NZ judicial structural incompetence, would be arguably most ‘vexatious’ for an Attorney-General who is attempting to ‘defend the indefensible’ – but it doesn’t mean that what is being said is not the TRUTH and HONEST OPINION?

    New Zealand – ‘perceived’ to be the ‘least corrupt country in the world’ – with our ‘out-of-control’ judiciary – where our NZ Judges have no enforceable ‘Code of Conduct’; no Register of Percuniary Interests and where court proceedings are regularly not recorded?

    Heaven help us.

    Good on you Tony Molloy!

    Keep up the GREAT work.

    Penny Bright
    ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’

    http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com

  13. David H 13
    3 September 2012 at 11:37 am

    Just as an aside I am sitting waiting for WINZ to answer the phone, waiting, waiting. I am sure they are taking way longer than they used to. And I refuse to use their ‘online system’ as I don’t trust the security of their systems. Damn they answered after on 33.42 mins.

    They are way slower and is it just me or is it across all departments..

  14. Penny Bright 14
    3 September 2012 at 12:13 pm

    OPPOSED TO ASSET SALES AND THE PRIVATISATION OF OUR STATE-OWNED ELECTRICITY COMPANIES?

    SWITCH OFF MERCURY ENERGY PROTEST TODAY:

    Monday 3 September 2012

    Outside Mercury Energy Office
    602 Great South Rd, Greenlane

    4 – 5.30pm

    WE WANT 100,000 MERCURY ENERGY CUSTOMERS TO SWITCH OFF MERCURY ENERGY

    (100% owned by Mighty River Power), in order to throw a HUGE spanner into this National/ACT Government’s privatisation agenda!

    We call on all those who have marched down the street and signed the petition against asset sales to now take the action which CANNOT be ignored – thousands of Mercury Energy customers leaving in droves, which will cause the profits of parent company Mighty River Power (MRP) to fall – thus making Mighty River Power a most unattractive investment.

    There is a precedent for this.

    In 2008, in a time of financial downturn, (already privatised) Contact Energy doubled their directors’ fees and increased their prices 12%.

    In six months, 40,000 customers left Contact Energy, whose profits were halved.

    IT’S PEOPLE POWER TIME!

    To whom do you ‘switch’?

    Meredian Energy Ph: 0800 496 496 http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz

    Genesis Energy Ph: 0800 496 496 http://www.genesisenergy.co.nz

    Powershop Ph: 0800 496 496 http://www.powershop.co.nz

    Energy On Line Ph: 0800 496 496 http://www.energyonline.co.nz

    (Contact Energy, Empower and Trustpower are already privatised – so – if you’re opposed to privatisation, don’t switch to them! 🙂

    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=422693697782504&set=a.422424394476101.133409.415130425205498&type=1&theater

    ________________________________________________________________________

    Penny Bright

    ‘Anti-privatisation / Anti-corruption campaigner’

    http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com

    [lprent: a bit less of the shouting capitals please. I have toned it down quite a bit for everyone else’s viewing pleasure.

    I also can’t see how the comment was in the post that you put it in. Moved it to OpenMike. As you are aware, I don’t do such generous efforts too often before I get bored with it and remove the need to do it. ]

  15. Penny Bright 15
    3 September 2012 at 12:24 pm

    http://www.3news.co.nz/Mighty-Rivers-profit-slumps-by-59m/tabid/1607/articleID/267082/Default.aspx

    Is SHONKY John Key going to allow the sale of our precious electricity assets to his investor mates at bargain-basement prices?

    How FISCALLY responsible is THAT?

    Whose interests is this former Wall St banker / former Head of (dodgy) Derivatives for Merrill Lynch /current shareholder in the Bank of America / NZ Prime Minister John Key serving?

    NZ ‘mums and dads’?

    Yeah right.

    If the Government wants to save money – rather than selling off essential public service assets – how about CUTTING OUT THE CONSULTANTS and PRIVATE CONTRACTORS?

    How many BILLION$ could be saved by returning back to ‘in-house’ provision all these services that were privatised under the ‘Rogernomic$’ reforms?

    Serving whose interests?

    Penny Bright

    ‘Anti-privatisation / Anti-corruption campaigner’

    http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com

    http://www.stopthesupercity.org.nz

    [lprent: Moved another one for being off-topic. Getting irritated. ]

  16. joe90 16
    3 September 2012 at 12:45 pm

    A movie about the winners: The Act of Killing.

    Wikipedia synopsis

    When the government of Indonesia was overthrown by the military in 1965, Anwar and his friends were promoted from small-time gangsters who sold movie theatre tickets on the black market to death squad leaders. They helped the army kill more than one million alleged communists, ethnic Chinese, and intellectuals in less than a year. As the executioner for the most notorious death squad in his city, Anwar himself killed hundreds of people with his own hands.

    Today, Anwar is revered as a founding father of a right-wing paramilitary organization that grew out of the death squads. The organization is so powerful that its leaders include government ministers, and they are happy to boast about everything from corruption and election rigging to acts of genocide

    • Morrissey 16.1
      3 September 2012 at 1:02 pm

      Much of this killing was financed, coordinated and diplomatically supported by the United States and its “allies”—including New Zealand.

      • Murray Olsen 16.1.1
        3 September 2012 at 4:47 pm

        True, Morrissey, and when the killing in East Timor was at its height, Helen Clark was less than interested. Maree Leadbeater and others brought it up any number of times. Labour turned against it at the same time Clinton did. I believe we were training the death squad military most of the way through the occupation. Australia continues to plunder Timorese oil and gas reserves, using a very strange maritime boundary drawn up with the agreement of the Indonesian murderers.

        • Carol 16.1.1.1
          3 September 2012 at 5:01 pm

          Was Clark PM at that time? It must have been just after she was elected? I was in Aussie when the militias in East Timor went on the rampage. There was a student in one of my classes who was devastated because, for a month or two after the start of the escalation of violence he thought all his family had been killed – he had lost contact with them. Most did eventually turn up in Jakarta.

          But I remember the student was very angry at the lack of/slow and inadequate response from the Aussie government. I think, as I recall, the UN also were slow to react.

          • Morrissey 16.1.1.1.1
            4 September 2012 at 12:21 pm

            ….as I recall, the UN also were slow to react.

            That was because the United States was still acting as guarantor for Indonesia, no matter what it did. At the United Nations, the U.S.A. weighed in with full diplomatic support for Suharto’s regime. It did the same thing for apartheid South Africa, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Egypt, Israel, the Marcos regime in the Philippines, and Pinochet’s Chile.

            And then there is the matter of their support for the Khmer Rouge, long after that regime’s horrific crimes had been exposed to the world. Our own government fell obediently into line on that, as well….

            http://www.nzjh.auckland.ac.nz/docs/1999/NZJH_33_2_05.pdf

  17. Dave Kennedy (bsprout) 17
    3 September 2012 at 12:46 pm

    The lack of resourcing for rural roads is having a negative impact on our economy. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/rons-wreck-rural-roads.html

  18. tc 18
    3 September 2012 at 1:18 pm

    Across the ditch Fairfax is continuing it’s hollowing out…from Crikey.com.au, sorry but it’s a subscriber service so a link wouldn’t work.

    ‘Fairfax bean counters have been stunned by the number of long-term employees — many with more than 25 years’ service — who applied for redundancy. About 40 staffers at the SMH alone are understood to be leaving with more than a full year’s pay. Those who know the company well say they’d be shocked if the final redundancy bill isn’t more than the $208 million originally anticipated ($109,400 per employee).’

    “There are a lot of non-commercial decisions being made,” said one surprised business journalist. “There are a lot of people on the verge of retirement who are getting an enormous amount of money to go … It’s as though they want to get rid of anyone who might question the brave new world.”

    That’s sydney, here’s melbourne :
    ‘The Hun redundos have so far attracted little attention because the head honchos there have refused to put a final figure on the amount who’ll go…..It’s the biggest loss of journalistic heft at the high-selling tabloid since it merged with The Herald in 1990.

    long live the standard.

  20. Carol 20
    3 September 2012 at 4:50 pm

    NZ’s suicide rates remain steady, and continue to be amongst the worst internationally. Of significance is the fact that young men (teenagers), Maori and the unemployed are over-represented in the suicide stats, and suicide from those in these groups have increased:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7603221/Boy-aged-under-ten-committed-suicide-stats-reveal

    Chief coroner Judge Neil MacLean released the annual suicide statistics today, which cover the period from July 2011 to June 2012

    10 years old… too sad. NZ/we really have to start taking more care of its/our children.

  21. Logie97 21
    3 September 2012 at 5:35 pm

    NACT education policy made by surfing the NET.

    http://uk.news.yahoo.com/more-free-schools-waste-public-money-020010506.html
    – makes you wonder if they have any original ideas of their own.

  22. Vicky32 22
    3 September 2012 at 7:08 pm

    Damn they answered after on 33.42 mins.

    Yes, it is much longer than it used to be (however when I phoned last week to ‘declare earnings’ they were quicker! I suppose I called at the right time (4.30 pm)

     

  23. gobsmacked 23
    3 September 2012 at 7:21 pm

    Somebody at TVNZ’s Close-Up has a sense of humour.

    First item – Gerry Brownlee saying we should pour public money into building public assets, regardless of any economic cost/benefits.

    Second item – John Key saying we should sell public assets.

    But the first one is a sports stadium, so that’s OK.

    • Carol 23.1
      3 September 2012 at 7:23 pm

      Yeah, sounds a bout right…. like everyone uses sports stadiums….. not so many people using electricity…..?

  24. North 24
    3 September 2012 at 9:15 pm

    Wonderful to see Sharples publicly confirming his membership of the National Party…….and signing up for first Maori High Commissioner in London or ambassador in Washington. Choice……stay at the table, you irrelevant man.

  25. Draco T Bastard 25
    3 September 2012 at 10:44 pm

    So, how close did that Washington Declaration make us with the US?

    Secretary Clinton and I discussed the broad range of issues in the Asia Pacific region as we look towards the APEC summit in Russia in around 10 days time. New Zealand warmly supports the United States rebalancing towards the Asia Pacific, and we welcome the opportunity to cooperate with the U.S. in the next conflicts.

    Apparently a hell of a lot closer than we were told. Our PM is already promising our soldiers in the next round of US wars.

  26. Draco T Bastard 26
    3 September 2012 at 11:47 pm

    And a good breakdown of the reasoning behind the RoNS over at Auckland Transport Blog:

    It seems clear from the minister’s mention of the Harbour Bridge that the whole theoretical underpinning of this programme rests on a series of assumptions that are misplaced and dated. The RoNS look like a classic case of the general fighting the previous battle, assuming all conditions from that last campaign still hold, but being doomed to fail because he doesn’t see how the world has moved on. In this case it is necessary to believe that road is always the best mode, that sprawl will continue for ever, and that investing aggressively in both will always provide economic growth. The facts on the ground say otherwise.

    And there is another way that the Minister is mistaken about this precedent; the success of the AHB was in fact all about the city. That land had been there along, what the bridge did was make it instantly accessible to the city. The city is the true transformation enabler. This government and its supporters remain wilfully in denial about the economic force that are cities in general and New Zealand’s only city of scale in particular. Their insistence that wealth only comes from heavy lifting, preferably by a truck, and never from innovation and social interaction makes them dangerously reckless with our taxes.

    Which sums it up pretty well – this government is living in the past and refusing to see both the now and the future.

  27. captain hook 27
    4 September 2012 at 12:27 pm

    nearly fell off the floor.
    dompost this am.
    key gets to press the flesh with Vlad the Impaler but no hi fives with Barack Obama.
    aint life strange?

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Labour super exploitation
    This is the second in the lecture series by Andy Higginbottom on superexploitation. Here he looks at Marini’s theory of labour super-exploitation and Capital ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    2 hours ago

  • Small asteroid to make near-miss of Earth in NZ skies tonight
    Sorry for the late notice on this one, but I only just heard myself, in common with most of the human race. A small asteroid, somewhere between the size of a truck and the size of a house in dimensions, will hurtle past the Earth tonight, dipping closer to ...
    SciBlogsBy Duncan Steel
    9 hours ago

  • This is not what accountability looks like
    When someone commits trespass, assault with a weapon, and kidnapping, you'd expect them to be prosecuted, right? But apparently the rules are different if you wear a blue uniform: A police investigation has found officers in Northland trespassed on a man's property, then unlawfully pepper sprayed him and arrested ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    11 hours ago

  • Cycling: head injuries ignored because of entrenched macho culture
    Howard Hurst, University of Central Lancashire and Jack Hardwicke, University of Winchester Competitive road cycling is a demanding and unique sport. One where crashing is inevitable – especially at the professional level. While the risk of head injury is relatively low in cycling – approximately 5-13% – compared to contact ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    11 hours ago

  • The coming US shitshow
    Today President Trump once again refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the US election. Coincidentally, The Atlantic has a long article on exactly what that means, from voter suppression by armed thugs in the name of "ballot security", to refusing to allow the vote ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    12 hours ago

  • A moral void
    That's the only way to describe the SIS, who - like their British counterparts - decided to look the other way on child abuse: The SIS knew a young woman was being sexually abused by her father but failed to lodge a complaint with the police, effectively allowing the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    12 hours ago

  • When will Goldsmith resign?
    The National Party’s campaign has gone from bad to worse with a further two large miscalculations being uncovered in their alternative fiscal plan. Firstly, National’s economic spokesperson and list MP, Paul Goldsmith, used May's Budget figures instead of last week's PREFU numbers, and came up with a whopping $4.3 billion ...
    The Jackal
    13 hours ago

  • The Adventures of Annalax: Part IX
    The initial session was a struggle. Annalax and Magni tried sorting out the details with the Isaac twins (the people pursuing the mountain trip). Annalax happened to mention his devotion to Lolth… whom the Isaacs, being ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    14 hours ago

  • This is bullshit
    On March 13, three plainclothes police officers kicked in Breonna Taylor's door under a no-knock warrant targeting another person. When a person inside reasonably assumed they were home invaders and (this being America) started shooting, they shot up the place and everyone around them - killing Taylor. Today, one of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    15 hours ago

  • Arctic sea ice is being increasingly melted from below by warming Atlantic water
    Tom Rippeth, Bangor University Arctic sea ice today (white) is covering a much smaller area than in 1980-2010 (orange line). National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CC BY-SA Each September, scientists like me look out for the point when the Arctic’s meagre summer fizzles out and ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    17 hours ago

  • The long-term health burden of COVID-19: further justification for NZ’s elimination strategy
    Prof John D. Potter* This blog briefly surveys the emerging scientific evidence on the longer-term burden of symptoms and disease in survivors of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these symptoms point to damage in the brain and heart. These long-term harms add to the wide range of other reasons for ...
    SciBlogsBy Public Health Expert
    18 hours ago

  • Going High, Going Low: An Assessment Of The First Leaders’ Debate.
    Uncrushed: Jacinda Ardern knew exactly what was expected of her in the first Leaders' Debate. Labour’s dominant position, three weeks out from the general election, is constructed out of the admiration and gratitude of hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who, more often than not, vote National.  Nothing she said ...
    Bowalley Road
    19 hours ago

  • The smokefree policies of political parties: Do they care about people who smoke?
    George Thomson*, Nick Wilson, Janet Hoek, Andrew Waa, Richard Edwards In this time of Covid-19, helping people who smoke to quit their addiction has an even greater importance. Smokers are more vulnerable to many harmful health effects, including severe effects from the virus. Policies that support people who smoke to ...
    SciBlogsBy Public Health Expert
    19 hours ago

  • The Fog Of Economic Policy Is Starting To Clear…
    Bryan Bruce, https://www.facebook.com/www.redsky.tv, 19 September 2020 National’s economic policy of temporary tax cuts yesterday proved, if proof be needed, that they are unapologetic neoliberals. While their claim that with more money in their pockets people will spend more might sound attractive, the reality is that tax cuts always benefit the ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    1 day ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #38, 2020
    Highlighted article: Carbon pricing and planetary boundaries  Engström et al take what might be called a systems approach to evaluating carbon pricing, taking into a account various economic sectors affected by and affecting paying for emissions. The conclusions are overall a rare pleasant surprise— a feature predicated on cooperation.  Abstract: ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Humans ignite almost every wildfire that threatens homes
    Nathan Mietkiewicz, National Ecological Observatory Network and Jennifer Balch, University of Colorado Boulder CC BY-ND Summer and fall are wildfire season across the western U.S. In recent years, wildfires have destroyed thousands of homes, forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate and exposed tens of millions to harmful ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 day ago

  • Climate Change: China steps up
    China has increased its climate change ambition, and set a target to be carbon-neutral by 2060: China will reach carbon neutrality before 2060 and ensure its greenhouse gas emissions peak in the next decade, Xi Jinping has told the UN general assembly. “China will scale up its intended nationally ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Humans have dealt with plenty of climate variability
    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.nz How much climate variability have humans dealt with since we ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    2 days ago

  • Indigenous perspectives on unrestricted access to genomic data
    By Genomics Aotearoa researcher Maui Hudson, University of Waikato It is vital that genomics research respects genomic data and genetic heritage from indigenous communities. Genomics research is a rapidly growing field of study, and there is a strong push to make the huge amount of data being produced open ...
    SciBlogsBy Genomics Aotearoa
    2 days ago

  • Terrible luck: lockdowns on learning and youth job prospects
    What is bad luck? Bad luck is spilling spaghetti sauce down your shirt right before an important meeting. When the person in front of you gets the last seat on the bus, that’s bad luck. Bad luck is when it’s sunny outside, so you leave the house without a coat, ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    2 days ago

  • Ian Powell: Does private healthcare threaten public healthcare in New Zealand?
    Is the private health system impacting negatively on the public health system? Health commentator Ian Powell evaluates a recent NZ Herald article by Natalie Akoorie (“Public v private healthcare: Moonlighting, skimming, duplication – should NZ do better”), and looks at how the dual system works, and concludes that the answer ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • A rabbit-hole election debate: So do you want more avocado orchards?
    We live in strange and unusual times. It’s been a century since we’ve endured a global pandemic like this, more than half a century since we’ve had economic woes like this. So maybe we got an opening election debate for the times - because that was a strange and unusual ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    2 days ago

  • LIVE: Jacinda Ardern vs. Judith Collins, First Debate
    Tonight, The Civilian will be live-blogging the first of too many debates between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and National Party leader Judith Collins, and also the last fifteen minutes of the news. Be sure to tune in from 6:45pm for regular updates, which can be accessed by refreshing this page ...
    The CivilianBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Hundreds of Aucklanders arrested after illegal mass gathering on Harbour Bridge
    An enormous drive-in party, shown here, was held this morning on Auckland’s Harbour Bridge, where police were forced to intervene. Hundreds of Aucklanders were arrested this morning on public health grounds, after an apparent illegal mass gathering on the city’s Harbour Bridge. Police say hundreds of Aucklanders gathered in their ...
    The CivilianBy admin
    2 days ago

  • The Looming Fight.
    Social Distancing Be Damned - It's Jacinda! Shortly after ascending to Labour’s leadership, Jacinda described herself as a “pragmatic idealist”. It was an inspired oxymoron – packing into just two words the essence of the social-democrat’s dilemma. It was good to know that she knew what lay ahead of her. ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Moving faster
    Back in 2017, the UK announced that it would ban the sale of new fossil fuel vehicles by 2040. Its a basic climate change measure, aimed at reducing emissions by shifting the vehicle fleet to cleaner technologies. Now, in the wake of the pandemic, they're planning to bring it forward ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • The Australian courts have had enough of refugee detention
    For the past decade, Australia has had a racist, anti-refugee policy. Those claiming refugee status are imprisoned without trial and left to rot in the hope they would "voluntarily" return to be tortured and murdered. When the courts have granted them visas, the government has immediately revoked them on racial ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Friction and the Anti-lock Braking System
    Yesterday afternoon I had to call on my car’s anti-lock braking system (ABS). For reasons best known to its driver, a car pulled out of a side road right in front of me while I was driving home after work, and I needed to stop in a hurry. I rather ...
    SciBlogsBy Marcus Wilson
    3 days ago

  • The Inside Word: New Zealand Quarantine
    There are a fair few misconceptions about conditions within New Zealand’s Quarantine Hotels. Madeline Grant’s misplaced accusations being one prominent example, though she is not alone. Today, I thought I’d share the inside word, so to speak. A friend of mine has recently returned to New Zealand from overseas, and ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • Hard News: ASA: Let’s not talk about this
    Last week, major newspapers carried a full-page ad as part of the campaign for a "No" vote to the referendum question about supporting the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill. The ad was authorised by the SAM NZ Coalition, which takes its name from a controversial American anti-cannabis group and includes ...
    Public Address
    3 days ago

  • This is not kind
    New Zealand has a serious homelessness problem, due to skyrocketing rents and a lack of state houses. One of the ways we stick a band-aid on it is to put people up in motels. Previously, they were charged full commercial rates, saddled with odious debt due to the government's failure ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Wokies are the establishment
    by Ani O’Brien In the absence of a better word with which to refer to the rabid activists who claim progressivism while demanding adherence to an increasingly prescriptive set of political beliefs, I call them “woke”. With its roots in Black American slang, the term originally denoted a person or ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    3 days ago

  • How to strengthen the post-isolation Covid rules
    Over the weekend, the Ministry of Health reported a case of Covid-19 in Auckland that is not related to the current Auckland cluster. Before we start to panic, here’s how I think the case happened and how we can strengthen our current border controls. The new Covid-19 case is someone ...
    SciBlogsBy Siouxsie Wiles
    3 days ago

  • Neuralink and You: A Human-AI Symbiosis
    Becky Casale Elon Musk reckons his Neuralink brain implant is much more than a medical device–that one day it will drive a symbiosis between humans and artificial intelligence. “Good morning! I’m Dr Benedict Egg and I’ll be supervising your Neuralink insertion today. Do you have any questions?” “Yes, Doc. ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    3 days ago

  • Liam Hehir: Our obsession with American politics
    Many New Zealanders take a strong interest in US politics, with the death of Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg being the latest example. Liam Hehir wonders if it very wise for New Zealanders to get so worked about it.   Many politically engaged New Zealanders are now furiously ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • COVID: Back to Level 1
    After stamping the Coronavirus out via strict lockdown between March and May, New Zealand went through a good three months without any community cases. Then a local outbreak in Auckland rather buggered things up last month. Auckland’s been in level 3 and level 2.5 for the past six weeks. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Climate injustice
    Who's causing our skyrocketing emissions? As with most of our other problems, It's the rich: The wealthiest 1% of the world’s population were responsible for the emission of more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the poorer half of the world from 1990 to 2015, according to new ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Good riddance
    The border closure and resulting lack of foreign slave-workers is driving the fishing industry out of business: One fishing company is effectively out of business while others are bracing for large financial hits as the deepwater New Zealand industry, unable to get skilled foreign workers into the country, have ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #38
    Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... The tipping points at the heart of the climate crisis Many parts of the Earth’s climate system have been destabilised by ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Anyone for Collins?
    In the absence of national public opinion polls, we have had to make do in recent weeks with other guides to voter intentions. Those guides, such as the Auckland Central poll, the incidence of google enquiries and the responses to Vote Compass questions, have suggested, not unexpectedly, that Labour is ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    4 days ago

  • Crusher’s fiscal malfunction
    Crusher Collins - National Party leaderWe all know that the National Party is desperate to gain some traction during this election campaign and have been throwing pretty much everything at the Labour Party in order to try and undermine Jacinda Ardern and what the Coalition Government has achieved. But unfortunately ...
    The Jackal
    4 days ago

  • Much of the commentariat’s reporting of the most recent GDP figure was misleading and unhelpful. The prize for the stupidest remark about the GDP figure for second quarter 2020 (2020Q2) released on Thursday (17 Sept) goes to Judith Collins, whose response to Grant Robertson’s comments indicated she did not ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago

  • Love and Hate as Complementary Revolutionary Acts
    by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh goloing@gmail.com (19/09/2020) Che Guevara said that a true revolutionary is motivated by love i.e. love of the oppressed, the poor, the children dying from preventable illnesses. This phrase of his is true but has been used by reformists and their more hippy wing have taken advantage ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    5 days ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
    A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 13, 2020 through Sat, Sep 19, 2020 Editor's Choice Get to Net-Zero by Mid-Century? Even Some Global Oil and Gas Giants Think it Can Be Done A report by a ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Tax cuts for all!!! (except you, you, and you)
    With the National Party this week announcing a new policy of tax cuts to spice up the election campagin. MyThinks went along to the launch and afterwards we spoke to the party’s finance spokesperson Paul “Golden Touch” Goldsmith. MT: Thanks for speaking to us Mr Goldsmith. PG: No. Thank you. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    6 days ago

  • Great Waves Washing Over New Zealand
    Always to islanders danger Is what comes over the seas ‘Landfall in Unknown Seas’ (Allen Curnow)Six economic issues external to New Zealand, which will greatly impact upon us. 1.         The Diminishing Global Dominance of the US. Since 1941 America has dominated the world economically and politically. Probably it could ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • New Zealand has role to play in resolving crisis on ‘geopolitical fault line’, Helen Clark says
    By Geoffrey Miller New Zealand should continue to champion human rights in Belarus amidst an ongoing crackdown on protests by the country’s regime, former Prime Minister Helen Clark says. Protests in the country often referred to as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’ erupted after the country’s disputed presidential elections on August 9 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    6 days ago

  • Euthanasia referendum: How to cut through the emotions
    Jacqui Maguire, registered clinical psychologist This podcast episode highlights how difficult it is to have effective conversations about euthanasia due to how polarised people’s views are. I’m a clinical psychologist, with a passion for science communication. In early 2020 I founded the podcast Mind Brew, with an aim to make psychological ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    7 days ago

  • Why we need cameras on boats
    In case anyone needed further convincing, there's another example today of why we need cameras on fishing boats: reported seabird bycatch doubled during a camera trial: Commercial fishers operating off Auckland's coast around vulnerable seabirds are twice as likely to report accidentally capturing them when cameras are on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Graham Adams: The religious right’s campaign to spike the euthanasia referendum
    In the leadup to the euthanasia referendum, an array of conservative Christian political organisations is running an expensive campaign to sow doubt about the safety of assisted dying. Graham Adams argues that these religious forces know that Christian arguments aren’t convincing the public, but that it is in the public ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 days ago

  • Opportunistic looting
    The National Party has spent the last six months acting horrified at the cost of supporting people through the pandemic and banging on about how the debt must be repaid. So what was their economic policy released today? Massive tax-cuts for the rich, of course! National has walked back ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Uncomfortable Choices.
    Dangerous Times: This will be the choice confronting those coming of age in the 2020s. Embrace Neoliberalism’s belief in racial and sexual equality; adopt its secular and scientific world view; and cultivate the technocratic, multicultural, global outlook required of those who keep the machinery of hyper-capitalism humming. Or, throw your ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • Tony Burton: Covid and benefit payments
    It would be a great time to reform the benefit system, according to former Deputy Chief Economic Advisor at the Treasury, Tony Burton. He argues the complexity of benefit system means that it’s failing to achieve its difficult three core objectives, which form an “iron triangle”.   New Zealand’s benefit ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 days ago

  • Talking tax: How to win support for taxing wealth
    Tax Justice UK, September 2020 Serious tax reform is on the political agenda for the first time in decades due to the coronavirus crisis. As this debate hots up it is important to understand what people think about public spending, wealth and tax. Tax Justice UK, along with Survation and ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    7 days ago

  • Getting Tough.
    Not Mucking Around: With upwards of 800 dead from the virus’s resurgence in the Australian state of Victoria, leniency is not on Premier Daniel Andrews’ agenda. The Victorian Police are cracking down hard on the protesters the Australian press has labelled "Covidiots".IMAGES OF POLICE, some in riot gear, others on ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • Media Link: Nuclear strategy, then and now.
    Although I had the fortune of being a graduate student of some of the foremost US nuclear strategists of the day (1970s) and later rubbed shoulders with Air Force and Naval officers who were entrusted with parts of the US nuclear arsenal, I seldom get to write or speak about ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago

  • The Chinese List.
    News that Zhenhua Data, an arm of China Zhenhua Electronics Group, a subsidiary of the military-connected China Electronic Information Industry Group (CETC), maintains a list of 800 New Zealanders on a “Overseas Key Information Database” that contains personal information on more than 2.4 million foreign individuals, has caused some consternation ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago

  • Things that grow fast, and things that surprise us
    Marie Becdelievre January 2020. The number of news article mentioning coronavirus exploded and anxious voices whispered about a global pandemic. Whisper? To me, it was only a whisper. I tend to learn about the world through non-fiction books, conferences, and academic research rather than news and social media, so ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37, 2020
    2,082,476,000,000,000 Viability of greenhouse gas removal via the artificial addition of volcanic ash to the ocean  (not open access, unfortunately) walks us through the numbers on a particular means of CO2 removal, addition of volcanic tephra to the ocean. The mechanism is straight chemistry and the cost is fully an order of ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Barbados to become a republic
    Barbados is planning to remove the queen as head of state and become a republic in time for the 55th anniversary of its independence in 2021: Barbados has announced its intention to remove the Queen as its head of state and become a republic by November 2021. [...] Reading ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Party Like It’s 1989: Bait and Switch is a Bad Look, Mr Hipkins
    At the 2017 election, the New Zealand Labour Party promised a Fees Free Policy for tertiary students. Basically, it would make the first year of university education free in 2018, with a second year in 2021, and a third in 2024. It also promised to restore Post-Graduate access to the ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago

  • Will the tropics eventually become uninhabitable?
    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.nz What is the impact of temperature increases in the tropics? ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • A first-hand look: What it’s like to live in a 2020 California wildfire evacuation zone
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons It felt like 100 degrees in my in-laws’ Grass Valley, California, kitchen, but at least the lights were on and for the moment we were safely “distanced” from the Jones Fire. We’d just finished dessert, after pizza and a movie ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • COVID-19 is not the only infectious disease New Zealand wants to eliminate, and genome sequencing is...
    Nigel French, Massey University Genome sequencing — the mapping of the genetic sequences of an organism — has helped track the spread of COVID-19 cases in Auckland, but it also plays an important role in the control of other infectious diseases in New Zealand. One example is Mycoplasma bovis, a ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • A flaw in our electoral transparency regime
    A key part of our electoral funding regime is a requirement for some transparency around donations, on the basis that if we can find out who has bought our politicians (typically after we have voted for them) then everything is alright. There are a lot of problems with that regime ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Don’t Steal This Book
    On “In Defense of Looting” Matt Taibibi takes an entertaining look at this generation of woke activists and how they compare with Abbie Hoffman the iconic anti-Vietnam war counter-culture figure of the 1960s On Thursday, August 27th, the same day Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination, National Public Radio ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Carbon prices must rise
    When Parliament introduced the Emissions Trading Scheme, it was worried that carbon prices might get too high. So it introduced a "fixed price option", allowing polluters to pay the government $25 in the place of surrendering credits. The result was predictable: after we were thrown out of international carbon markets ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Disclosure
    The government will finally be requiring large New Zealand companies to disclose their climate change risks: New Zealand finance companies will be made to report on climate change risk, Climate Change Minister James Shaw has announced. The policy will force around 200 large financial organisations in New Zealand to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Tackling the hard issues – trust and relationships
    By Claire Grant, Genomics Aotearoa Communications Manager Community consultation is becoming an increasingly important aspect of research programmes in New Zealand, and with that comes the art of relationship building. Engagement between scientists and user-groups is certainly nothing new. But as stakeholder involvement becomes more of a requirement for science, ...
    SciBlogsBy Genomics Aotearoa
    1 week ago

  • Equality Network – September Newsletter
    Read the Equality Network newsletter here ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    1 week ago

  • The Left’s Lost Allies.
    Rebels In A Wrong Cause: The truly frightening thing about Jami-Lee Ross’s and Billy Te Kahika’s success in persuading thousands of New Zealanders that Covid-19 is just another trick, just another way of stealing away their power, is realising just how many of them once marched at the Left’s side. ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • Legal Beagle: Low-Hanging Fruit
    In a couple of months, the 53rd Parliament will meet in Wellington, and approximately 120 MPs will be sworn in, many of them for the first time.They will all have political goals, some aligning with their party platforms, some not, some complex, and some simple, but they will gain one ...
    Public Address
    1 week ago

  • Closing the Gap thinks that Labour’s proposal to raise the top tax rate is great but………
    Media Statement For Immediate Release 10th September 2020 The income and wealth inequality lobby group, “Closing the Gap” thinks the Labour proposal a great start says Peter Malcolm, a spokesperson for the group. But they need to be aware of what many of the rich do and of what do ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: No nonsense
    ACT is pushing a "no-nonsense climate change plan". What does it involve? Repealing the Zero Carbon Act and Emissions Trading Scheme, reversing the fossil-fuel exploration ban, and allowing mining on conservation land. In other words, repealing any policy which might actually reduce emissions. Which is the very definition of nonsensical. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • My Climate Story: Coming full Circle
    This blog post is a follow up to my recap of Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Training I recently participated in. One of the exercises we were asked to complete was to write about our respective "Climate Story". This is a slightly updated version to the one I had submitted during ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

Older posts

  • Primary sector exports and jobs up again
    Primary sector exports and jobs are up again, demonstrating the sector’s underlying strength amid the COVID-19 global pandemic and US-China trade war, and supporting New Zealand’s economic recovery. Stats NZ today reported New Zealand’s merchandise exports in August were up 8.6% on a year ago, driven by an increase in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago

  • Clean energy future for more schools
    Schools across Aotearoa New Zealand will be supported by the Government to upgrade to run on clean energy, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. The Minister has allocated $50 million from the Clean Powered Public Service Fund to replace, or convert, coal boilers in schools with clean ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Building business strength with digital tools
    New training and tools for digital commerce will give small businesses, especially in the tourism sector, the support they need to adapt and innovate in a COVID world. Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash have announced details of how $20 million digital capability funding set aside ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • New pest lures to protect nature
    The Department of Conservation (DOC) is investing $1.4 million to develop new predator lures that would be game-changers for trapping and surveillance towards a predator-free Aotearoa, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage, announced in Christchurch today. The proposal is to develop long-life lures attractive to a range of predators—rats, mustelids ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Support for innovative Pacific education responses to COVID-19 needs
    Supporting new and creative Pacific education practices as part of our COVID-19 response and recovery is the focus of a new $28.5 million Pacific Education Innovation Fund announced today by Associate Minister of Education Jenny Salesa.  “There is already an incredible amount of innovative and creative work going on in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Eligibility expanded for COVID-19 leave support
    The expanded scheme will cover: People who have COVID-19 like symptoms and meet the Ministry of Health’s criteria, and need to self-isolate while awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test. People who are directed to self-isolate by a Medical Officer of Health or their delegate or on advice of their ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Seasonal work visa available to more people
    The Government is putting in place a range of immigration policy changes to help fill labour shortages in key industries while ensuring New Zealanders, who have lost jobs due to COVID-19, have the chance to find new employment. “Two key sectors we are moving to help are horticulture and wine ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • More border exceptions for critical roles
    The Government has established class exceptions for border entry for a limited number of veterinarians, deep sea fishing crew, as well as agricultural and horticultural machinery operators. “Tight border restrictions remain the backbone of the Government’s border strategy to protect New Zealand against COVID-19 and ensure New Zealand citizens and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Crown will not appeal Dodds v Southern Response decision
    The Crown will not appeal the Court of Appeal decision in the Dodds v Southern Response case, Grant Robertson announced today. “Southern Response will be paying the damages awarded by the Court to Mr and Mrs Dodds shortly. The Crown was already meeting their legal costs for this appeal. “The ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Crucial PGF investments for Northland
    The Provincial Growth Fund is investing nearly $30 million in a diverse range of projects that will create immediate and long-term jobs and lift economic and social outcomes for Northland and its people. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones made the announcement today in ...
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    3 days ago

  • $27million investment in global vaccine facility
    The Coalition Government has committed to invest $27 million in COVID-19 vaccine development through the global COVAX Facility, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced today. “The COVAX Facility is a key part of our COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy to obtain safe and effective vaccines. It allows us to invest in a high-quality, ...
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    4 days ago

  • Government backing Māori landowners
    The Government will provide up to $1.69 million through the One Billion Trees programme to Māori landowners to make their whenua more productive through the planting of forests, both native and exotic, and improve economic and environmental outcomes, Forestry Minister Shane Jones has announced. “Around 1.5 million ha of land ...
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    6 days ago

  • New tools to make nature more accessible
    People planning to head outdoors now have a resource that lets them know how accessible an area is for people with varying levels of mobility, Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. The Halberg Foundation, Sensibel, and the Department of Conservation (DOC) have launched Accessibel, a new tool which helps ...
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    6 days ago

  • PGF makes Māori history more accessible
    One of the most significant battle sites of the 1860s Land Wars will receive $2.96 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to improve the site and help tell the New Zealand story to visitors, Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. Nanaia Mahuta ...
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    7 days ago

  • Making it official: The journey of te reo Māori | Kia whakapĹŤmautia: Ngā piki me ngā heke o te r...
    The journey towards recognising Māori as an official language and taonga has been captured as a web series and launched today during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, announced Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni. “Te reo Māori is a living language, and understanding its significance, and pathways to ...
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    1 week ago

  • Better-than-forecast GDP reflects decision to protect New Zealand
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    1 week ago

  • Boost for COVID-19 related Pacific education needs
    The Government is investing $39.7 Million over four years to support the educational needs of Pacific learners and families in the regions hardest hit by COVID-19, with Auckland getting an immediate boost, Associate Minister of Education Jenny Salesa says.   “Like all New Zealanders Pacific families want learners to do well ...
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    1 week ago

  • More resources for kiwi conservation
    New Zealand’s goal of 100,000 kiwi by 2030 is being helped by an extra $19.7 million in funding to accelerate iwi and community efforts to protect kiwi, Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced. “$19.7 million of Jobs for Nature funding is being invested in kiwi conservation activities including increased predator ...
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    1 week ago

  • Improving access to affordable electricity
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    1 week ago

  • Government achieves 50 percent women on state boards
    Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter announced today that the Government has reached its target of 50 percent on women on state sector board and committees – setting a new record level of women on state sector boards. “This Government is committed to having more women in leadership roles - ...
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    1 week ago

  • Record transport investment to help economic recovery and save lives
    Transport Minister Phil Twyford released today the final Government Policy Statement on land transport (GPS) 2021 which outlines the planned $48 billion investment in services and infrastructure over the next decade. “The final GPS supports our Government’s five-point plan for economic recovery by confirming our record investments in transport infrastructure ...
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    1 week ago

  • Advancing clean energy technology
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    1 week ago

  • Major milestone reached in Pike River Re-entry
    The critical area for forensic examination known as Pit Bottom in Stone has been reached in what is a major milestone for the Pike River re-entry project, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little announced. “The infrastructure located in Pit Bottom in Stone is of very significant interest in ...
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    1 week ago

  • Economic recovery guides Govt response to retirement income policy review
    The Government is working on how New Zealand’s retirement income policies and settings can best support Kiwis in light of the COVID-19 economic recovery, with the help of the Retirement Commissioner’s latest review, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said. “The Retirement Commissioner’s three-yearly review into New Zealand’s retirement ...
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    1 week ago

  • Iwi community hub opens in Murupara
    A new digital hub and development centre in Murupara will be instrumental in growing the region’s productivity, said Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau at the official opening of two community initiatives today. “I’m pleased to be here celebrating a significant milestone for two projects set to make a ...
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    1 week ago

  • PREFU shows economy doing better than forecast
    PREFU shows economy doing better than forecast Unemployment to peak at 7.8%, down from 9.8% forecast in the Budget Year-to-June accounts show tax revenue, debt and OBEGAL better than forecast Global forecast downgraded as COVID-19 second waves and uncertainty grows Balanced plan to support critical public services, manage debt and ...
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    1 week ago

  • Spruce-up for Ōtaki community facilities
    The Kāpiti Coast town of Ōtaki will receive $1.4 million in Government funding for two projects providing scores of jobs for locals while improving community facilities, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Māoriland Charitable Trust will receive a $900,000 Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) grant to upgrade the ...
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    1 week ago

  • PGF funding for Jobs for Nature programme
    The Provincial Growth Fund will provide $11.88 million to fund fencing and waterway projects nationwide that will improve the environment and create jobs in their communities, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. “These projects will create more than 100 jobs nationwide with work starting within the next couple ...
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    1 week ago

  • Procurement to promote jobs, Māori and Pasifika businesses and sustainability
    As part of the COVID-19 recovery, the Government has strengthened its procurement rules to ensure its annual $42 billion spend creates more jobs, uses more sustainable construction practices and results in better outcomes for Māori and Pasifika, Government Ministers announced today.   Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says the $42 ...
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    1 week ago

  • Timaru’s Theatre Royal to be upgraded and new heritage facility built
    The Government is supporting a major upgrade of Timaru’s iconic Theatre Royal and the construction of a new connected Heritage Facility museum and exhibition space with $11.6 million from the Government’s Infrastructure Fund, Jacinda Ardern announced today. “We heard the call from the community and the council. The Theatre Royal ...
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    1 week ago

  • District Court judge appointed
    Chrissy Montague (formerly Armstrong), barrister of Auckland has been appointed as a District Court Judge with Family Court jurisdiction to be based in Wellington, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. Ms Montague commenced practice in Auckland in 1987 and went into general practice dealing with Wills, Estates, Trusts, Conveyancing, Relationship Property ...
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    1 week ago

  • Approval given to Commercial Film and Video Production Proposal
      A Proposal to provide for the development and operation of commercial film and video production facilities in areas of Christchurch has been given the go ahead. Hon Poto Williams, Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, has approved the Proposal, which was prepared and submitted by Regenerate Christchurch. Minister Williams ...
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    1 week ago

  • Supporting a thriving wānanga sector to benefit Māori learners
    As part of the Government’s focus on building closer partnerships with Māori and enhancing the quality of, and access to, Māori medium education, a payment of $8 million will be made to Te Wānanga o Raukawa in partial recognition of its Waitangi Tribunal claim (WAI 2698), Associate Education Minister Kelvin ...
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    1 week ago

  • Jobs for Nature boosts efforts to restore Kaimai-Mamaku
    The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage has announced a $19 million investment over four years in an important forest restoration project involving a partnership between the Department of Conservation, iwi/hapĹŤ, the Bay of Plenty and Waikato Regional Councils, community conservation groups and organisations such as Forest and Bird across the ...
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    1 week ago

  • New Zealand first in the world to require climate risk reporting
    New Zealand will be the first country in the world to require the financial sector to report on climate risks, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. The changes build on the huge progress this Government has made to tackle the climate crisis. “Today is another step on ...
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    1 week ago

  • Economic data highlights impact of Auckland moving out of Level 3
    Economic activity across the Auckland region and the country bounced back to levels experienced under Alert Level 1 following Auckland’s move out of Alert Level 3, analysis in the Treasury’s latest Weekly Economic Update shows. The analysis of economic data since Auckland’s move out of Level 3 shows: Auckland card ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • PM statement on Cabinet COVID-19 Alert Level review
    Takiri mai te ata, ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea, tihei mauriora! Tātou katoa ngā iwi o Aotearoa, tēnā koutou! Tēnā tātou e whakanuia ana i te wiki nei, te wiki o te reo Māori Greeting to you all from Otepoti, Dunedin.  This week is the Māori Language week and ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • More mental wellbeing services for young people in regions
    More mental health and addiction services are available for young New Zealanders in Rotorua and Taupō, Wairarapa, South Canterbury, Dunedin and Southland from next month, Health Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter say. “The Government is serious about making sure New Zealanders struggling with mental health ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government joins forces with Central Otago communities to clean up waterways
    The Manuherekia catchment in Central Otago is the third exemplar catchment to be targeted as part of the Government’s plan to clean up waterways by supporting community-led programmes.   Environment Minister David Parker said the Manuherekia catchment is vitally important to the people of Central Otago.  “The Manuherekia rises in the ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government confirms new Dunedin Hospital design
    The Government has agreed on a preferred design for the new Dunedin Hospital featuring two separate buildings, and has provided funding for the next stages of work.   Minister of Health Chris Hipkins says Cabinet has approved in principle the detailed business case for the new hospital, giving people in ...
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    2 weeks ago

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