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.
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.
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.
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.”
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..
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.
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
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…
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
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…..
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.
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.
And, apologies for re posting, but as we are on the topic of diminishing work rights anyone who is interested in this field will be interested in this new report from the International Labour Rights Forum:
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?
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?
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.
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.
Articulating a direction isnât 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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 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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Iâm an open minded scientist and donât accept anything as fact until the numbers are in.
What a small world you live in
Thereâs 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.
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?
At least itâs 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 âright organisationsâ? 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.
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?
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.
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
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 âfutureâ 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.Â
Do you have a link to these peer reviewed scientific studies, particularly about Lake Shasta? Cloud seeding has been happening for years and is quite different to what people call chemtrails. For a start, it’s done where there are clouds, not in areas of clear sky.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
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!
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.
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. Iâm 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, Iâd be more interested.
Who is Alex Jones, and why is he relevant?
With remote sensing laser spectroscopy you probably donât even need to physically obtain samples. Youâd think that if people were so concerned and so convinced of the clear and present dangers due to these âchemtrailsâ, 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.
Iâll 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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Â
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:
Keeping books, DVDs, music and internet use free of charge at public libraries is the aim of Labour MP Darien Fentonâs Memberâs 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 shouldnât 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.
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.
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)
Not sure which is more interesting, Wolf’s ideas about how sexual harrassment affects women’s physiology, or the Brits’ confusion as to why a white middle class US woman would have trouble with the word cunt (esp in the context of the story Wolf tells).Â
I recommend you read Naomi Wolf’s account of her being hit on during a one to one tutorial by professor Harold Bloom. A comedy classic, all the funnier because Wolf is so darned serious.
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.
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?
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..
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.
[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. ]
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?
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
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.
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.
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….
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 employeesâââmany with more than 25 yearsâ serviceâââwho applied for redundancy. About 40 staffers at the SMH alone are understood to be leaving with more than a full yearâs pay. Those who know the company well say theyâd be shocked if the final redundancy bill isnât more than the $208 million originally anticipated ($109,400 per employee).’
âThere are a lot of non-commercial decisions being made,â said one surprised business journalist. âThere are a lot of people on the verge of retirement who are getting an enormous amount of money to go ⊠Itâs as though they want to get rid of anyone who might question the brave new world.â
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 whoâll go…..Itâs the biggest loss of journalistic heft at the high-selling tabloid since it merged with The Herald in 1990.
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:
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)
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.
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.
It seems clear from the ministerâs 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 doesnât 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 Zealandâs 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.
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. Itâs important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes –Â The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that âthe first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.â When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECDâs second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commissionâs 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the governmentâs official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:Â we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition  NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamarikiâs statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. âThere are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a âfirst strikeâ (that is, a âstage-1 convictionâ under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a âsecond strikeâ. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesnât normally happen in politics. Thatâs refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to âsaveâ the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Governmentâs official website – arrived in Point of Orderâs email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive  Melissa Lee â as may be discerned from the screenshot above â has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Governmentâs focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes –Â Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu â often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the governmentâs readiness to make urgent changes to âthe resource management systemâ through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes donât go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a âmedia summitâ to discuss âthe state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalismâ. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes –Â This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
 Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for âfast trackâ consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill â currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes-Â The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you arenât wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said âSince we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Te PÄti MÄori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veteransâ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veteransâ affairs spokesperson Greg OâConnor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxonâs management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonightâs court decision to overturn the summons of the Childrenâs Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about MÄori without evidence, says Te PÄti MÄori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. âThe judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last yearâs severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labourâs environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our countryâs most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a âget out of jail freeâ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te PÄti MÄori Justice Spokesperson, TÄkuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, MÄori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealandâs good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National governmentâs lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te PÄti MÄori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. âThis act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.â Said Te PÄti MÄori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for TÄmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te PÄti MÄori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mĆ TÄmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with MÄori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Governmentâs democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Governmentâs proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change thatâs great for the planet and great for consumers after her memberâs bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the countryâs books after Teanau Tuionoâs membersâ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his memberâs bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Todayâs advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. âWe know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,â Dr Reti says. âEvery day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikoheâs new $14.7 million sports complex. âThe completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,â Mr Jones says. âThis facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Petersâ engagements in TĂŒrkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges.  âReturning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,â Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen â good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood â a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - Â It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Â Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Â Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. âOur Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealandâs hydrogen future, with the opening of the countryâs first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. âI want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealandâs own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealandâs energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. âThe report shows that New Zealandâs emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,â Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where heâll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Governmentâs work to restore law and order. âAttending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealandâs human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the worldâs largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. âThe reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealandâs wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin  NgÄ mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho  Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today.  I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. âOur Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealandâs overseas missions.  âOur diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealandâs interests around the world,â Mr Peters says.  âI am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. Â âOver 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. âIt is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. âOur coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
âChina remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,â Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says.  Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. âRecently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachersâ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.  âThe Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. âScience, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During todayâs meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. âThe Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in TaupĆ as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the TaupĆ International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. âAnticipation for the ITM TaupĆ Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. âThe coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. âThis project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sectorâs productivity,â Mr Jones says. âThe project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Governmentâs plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. âBenefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Governmentâs commitment to doubling New Zealandâs renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealandâs latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. âOur Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. âNew Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Governmentâs intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. âThe introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Todayâs announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Governmentâs plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. âInflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. Itâs important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our Whatâs Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scoutâs human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird â she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including âterribleâ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking âdo you have what it takes to be a popstar?â 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar â a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldnât stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes â while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. Itâs not often an episode of a childrenâs cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but thatâs exactly what happened this week when ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people ⊠and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minuteâs silence to mark the âblood debtâ owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. âA promise to most people is a promise,â Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an âadministrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the countryâs major TV network of broadcasting âpropagandaâ backing Israelâs genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to menâs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock âChildhoodâ and âdementiaâ are two words we wish we didnât have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The governmentâs Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9â17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Thereâs been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russiaâs war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peaceâs new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a womanâs hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Booksâ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingwayâs Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time â ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australiaâs fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The âWicked Gameâ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didnât stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from âWicked Gameâ, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called đ, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao MÄori and remove many specialist MÄori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, weâve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedinâs India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoaâs drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says itâs hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoffâs morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. Itâs been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you donât believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Iâm going to do it, right now. Iâm going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Itâs not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Muskâs vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandelaâs grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
.
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/
http://openparachute.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/august-12-nz-blogs-sitemeter-ranking/#more-16772
In case anyone’s interested
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.
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.
You’re trusting someone else to keep your stuff secure.
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.
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.
>>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?
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.
Good point!
We should be building our own clouds, even selling them internationally
More than enough skill in NZ
Sort of like dotcom?
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
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.
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
Using virtual machines on a 64bit os, you could do it with one machine
Farm out the VMs as it grows, easy
we can’t supply overseas customers with bandwidth. And we refuse to invest in it. End of line.
New Zealand could help set the standard for cloud computing services in Australia and beyond.
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…
Good to know, thanks đ
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!
Sounds like a resonable approach to me
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.
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
Of course it won’t, the rich can’t get their hands on government funds if the government does stuff itself.
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
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.
Banks cause house price increases not population growth or demand
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/28/why-exactly-are-homes-so-expensive/
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…..
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
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.
They’re trying to force a wokaholics’ work practices onto everyone.
It worked for them, those blighters just need to emulate ME !
“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)
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.
And, apologies for re posting, but as we are on the topic of diminishing work rights anyone who is interested in this field will be interested in this new report from the International Labour Rights Forum:
http://laborrights.org/sites/default/files/publications-and-resources/FAW2012.pdf
My system says that “file is damaged and cannot be repaired”. Does it work at your end?
The ILRF “Democracy and an Economy for all” file opens for me.
Hi Uturn. Works for me. I received this as an email and can send another link if that helps. From there you can click on the file. Maybe that helps.
http://laborrights.org/freedom-at-work/resources/freedom-at-work-2012-democracy-and-an-economy-for-all
Yep, it’s my system. Can’t download the PDF.
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?
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?
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.
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.
Articulating a direction isnât 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.
anyway, Hong Kong implementing “moral and national” education syllabus aligned with China.
(visits to Mao) -WSJ
If anyone thinks that I should work a single minute and not get paid, then they can get fucked. Plain and simple.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
No, there isn’t.
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.
Yes, that really stinks! Rather 19th century…
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
What a small world you live in
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.
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?
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.
Bit of fun đ
Do you even know if a “light year” is the same distance across that entire distance???
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.
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?
Really, Mr Scientist? Do propose your method of investigation.
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.
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
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.
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.Â
Why in the world are they spraying
Do you have a link to these peer reviewed scientific studies, particularly about Lake Shasta? Cloud seeding has been happening for years and is quite different to what people call chemtrails. For a start, it’s done where there are clouds, not in areas of clear sky.
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.
Trails that hang around for hours have been recorded since the earliest days of jet propulsion.
link?
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.
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.
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..
Muzza, how about trying to find out what the plane was? Surely NZ aviation authorities will have records …
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.
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.
How do you know this plane wasn’t transmitting its codes/flight computer details?
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!
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.
Can’t recall saying anything of the sort Murray. I will say that they are NOT condensation trails!
Who is Alex Jones, and why is he relevant?
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Â
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
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.
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)
If you think people should go read these things then providing links and a reason why and a short quote is a good idea.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/sep/02/naomi-wolf-women-orgasm-neural-wiring?commentpage=all#start-of-comments
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/sep/02/vagina-a-new-biography-naomi-wolf?intcmp=239
Not sure which is more interesting, Wolf’s ideas about how sexual harrassment affects women’s physiology, or the Brits’ confusion as to why a white middle class US woman would have trouble with the word cunt (esp in the context of the story Wolf tells).Â
I recommend you read Naomi Wolf’s account of her being hit on during a one to one tutorial by professor Harold Bloom. A comedy classic, all the funnier because Wolf is so darned serious.
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.
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
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..
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! đ
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. ]
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. ]
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
Much of this killing was financed, coordinated and diplomatically supported by the United States and its “allies”—including New Zealand.
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.
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.
….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
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/indonesia/historian-claims-west-backed-post-coup-mass-killings-in-65/312844
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/indonesia/
This too.
http://princeton.academia.edu/BradSimpson
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
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 employeesâââmany with more than 25 yearsâ serviceâââwho applied for redundancy. About 40 staffers at the SMH alone are understood to be leaving with more than a full yearâs pay. Those who know the company well say theyâd be shocked if the final redundancy bill isnât more than the $208 million originally anticipated ($109,400 per employee).’
âThere are a lot of non-commercial decisions being made,â said one surprised business journalist. âThere are a lot of people on the verge of retirement who are getting an enormous amount of money to go ⊠Itâs as though they want to get rid of anyone who might question the brave new world.â
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 whoâll go…..Itâs the biggest loss of journalistic heft at the high-selling tabloid since it merged with The Herald in 1990.
long live the standard.
Jon Stewart, RNC 2012 – The Road to Jeb Bush 2016 – Republican Time Travel
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
10 years old… too sad. NZ/we really have to start taking more care of its/our children.
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.
Â
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.
Yeah, sounds a bout right…. like everyone uses sports stadiums….. not so many people using electricity…..?
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.
So, how close did that Washington Declaration make us with the US?
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.
And a good breakdown of the reasoning behind the RoNS over at Auckland Transport Blog:
Which sums it up pretty well – this government is living in the past and refusing to see both the now and the future.
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?