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.
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 ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of MÄori Land) Amendment Bill (HĹŤhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing MÄori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
 Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion âinvestmentâ in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes –Â Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and appliedâŚÂ Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliamentâs Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECDâs chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changesâintroducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, Â “Oranga Tamarikiâs governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealandâs foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealandâs foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech:Â AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This weekâs announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House â but itâs not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand:Â The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasuryâs forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when â during an interview on RNZâs Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? âIt's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their âfutureâ amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected â and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers â as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP â critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori âstrenuouslyâ objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to âtheirâ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – âAn SEP,â he said, âis something that we canât see, or donât see, or our brain doesnât let us see, because we think that itâs somebody elseâs problem. Thatâs what SEP means. Somebody Elseâs Problem. The brain just edits it out, itâs like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper â released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today ….  Buzz from the Beehive There we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Petersâ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard âboilerplateâ Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of âbenignâ becoming âmalignâ and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review â The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didnât make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalemâs statement â âImplementation of âCass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – ITâS A COMMONPLACEÂ of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: âWeâll govern for all New Zealanders.â On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
 Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-rightâs plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Green Party MP HĹŤhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of MÄori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of MÄori land. ...
A senior, highly respected Kingâs Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga MÄori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealandâs growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesnât know or care about the frontline cuts sheâs making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. Â ...
Todayâs Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and itâs only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. âThis is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. âThe government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicineâ, said Ayesha Verrall âThis is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoonâs interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour childrenâs spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
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. ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealandersâ security and wellbeing. âCongratulations to this yearâs recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealandâs defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealandâs digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. Â âThe immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Governmentâs school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealandâs next Ambassador to the United States of America.  âOur relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,â Mr Peters says.  âNew Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. âNew Zealand was built on gold, itâs in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is âan Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhereâ and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. âThis is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASAâs Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. âOur Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECDâs latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its membersâ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli.  ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Councilâs Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today.  "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Councilâs Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today.  Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. âThese reforms are long overdue. New Zealandâs insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. âThree years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. âBeing able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canadaâs refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ânext moveâ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Childrenâs Commissioner. âThe Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.    âThe coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. âOur Governmentâs thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening â  Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealandâs foreign policy, weâd like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âCreating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northlandâs marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. âThis is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the countryâs total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. âThe beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ĺ-RÄkau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mĹ Ĺ-RÄkau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ĺ-RÄkau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Governmentâs plan to supercharge New Zealandâs EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four â and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Governmentâs plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. âI have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People â Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Governmentâs plan to restore law and order. âSpeaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealandâs human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). âNew Zealandâs goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. âIâm putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure âone stop shopâ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. âThe NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
WhÄnau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. âGiving these whÄnau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Governmentâs goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave OâSullivan (OBE). âOur sympathies are with the OâSullivan family with the sad news of Dave OâSullivanâs recent passing,â Mr Peters says. âHis contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year â and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. Thatâs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University The Victorian budget offered more of the same on Tuesday, with the only change being how the budget papers were packaged. The usual shrink wrap was gone, hinting at savings in the pages ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition is demanding extensive amendments to the governmentâs legislation targeting non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with their removal. In a dissenting report to the senate inquiry into the legislation, the Coalition says it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Ground Picture/Shutterstock The anti-cancer drug abemaciclib (also known as Vernezio) has this month been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to treat certain ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Robbie Porter, OzFish Unlimited Around Australia, hundreds of people are coming together to help a once-prized, but decimated and largely forgotten marine ecosystem. Theyâre busy restoring Australiaâs native oyster and mussel reefs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? âAsher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, letâs embark on a meteor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last yearâs election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period duringwhichwewaited, andwaited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
International audiences are starting to discover what New Zealand already knew about After the Party.When After the Party aired in New Zealand last year, the response was fast and furious. In his preview for Rec Room, Duncan Greive said it was a âgritty, wrenching and highly confrontingâ series. By ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iranâs leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from SinĂŠad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events.When Irish writer SinĂŠad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courierâs front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as âsensationalisedâ and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use âother avenues to gain its independenceâ should the PNG government âcontinue ...
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game.Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was âa bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister thatâs ever been out there.âSome think thatâs ...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoaâs 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old whoâs studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: PÄkehÄ/MÄori Role: Student, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Resources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered âbondsâ as compensation if drilling rights offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Gleeson, Associate Professor of Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock The Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yen Ying Lim, Associate Professor, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio Dementia is often described as âthe long goodbyeâ. Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock I met with a friend for a walk beside Merri Creek, in inner Melbourne. She had lived in the area for a few years, and as we walked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Throsby, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University Arts companies and individual artists in Australia are supported by government arts agencies, philanthropists, industry bodies, private donors and patrons. However, it is frequently overlooked that a major source of support for the arts ...
Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, a new incorporated society dedicated to ending harmful drug policies, officially launched today, seeks a new fit-for-purpose drug law for Aotearoa New Zealand, rooted in science, experience and evidence. ...
The Corrections Minister admits he "muddied the water" after he and the Prime Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about a $1.9 billion prison spend-up. ...
It took a post-post-cabinet statement to confirm that 810 new beds will be built at Waikeria, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. Sheâd been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Aucklandâs Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
The beloved local grocers lost a legal challenge to stop a new cycleway outside their store. Joel MacManus reports. In the annals of New Zealand legal history, there are a few brave people who have dared to stand up to the powers that be, no matter how bleak the odds ...
How what we produce and what we eat connects us to the world beyond our shores, visualised. Walking around a supermarket or vege shop, it might be obvious that everything on the shelves came from somewhere. But you might ...
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The following interview with auto electrician and former caver Stu Berendt, 68, of Charleston on the West Coast, came about because he was part of the caving team that found the rare and amazing fossil remains of the giant Haast eagle, the subject of one of the year’s best books, ...
A $1.8b funding boost for Pharmac still won’t enable it to buy more drugs, raising questions about the Government’s approach to the agency The post Can Pharmac do more with the same pot of money? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
Thirty years on from Rwandaâs genocide, is guilt over the atrocities is blinding the world to the true nature of its current leadership? The post The repressive underside of Rwanda’s regime appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event â the Universal Periodic Review â is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza â H5N1, or bird flu â has been flying around the world since the late 1990s. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands are so far free of it, but now it’s been discovered in mainland Antarctica and scientists say it’s only a matter of time ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Stokan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. ...
Wansolwara The news mediaâs crucial role in climate change and environment journalism was the focus of The University of the South Pacificâs Journalism Programme 2024 World Press Freedom Day celebrations. The European Union Ambassador to the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert, and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna were the chief ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Adams, Professor of Corporate Law & Academic Director of UNE Sydney campus, University of New England Last August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal proceedings against Qantas. The consumer watchdog accused the airline of selling thousands of tickets ...
This episode of A View From Afar was recorded LIVE on May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, May 5, 2024 at 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled âA moment of frictionâ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Taylor, Assistant Professor, Bond University Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures At the crux of the critical response to Luca Guadagninoâs new movie Challengers is one word: âsexyâ. The film charts a love triangle between three up-and-coming tennis players: Tashi (Zendaya), ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Stewart, Professor of Public Policy, ADFA Canberra, UNSW Sydney For years, First Nations people have been telling governments they want to be listened to. In particular, they want more ownership of the programs and services that are supposed to help them. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Why do trees have bark? Julien, age 6, Melbourne. This is a great question, Julien. We are so familiar with bark on trees, that most of us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Nasser, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important ligament in the knee. It runs from the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) and helps stabilise ...
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 I covered the May 2 United Kingdom local government elections for The Poll Bludger. The Blackpool South parliamentary byelection was also held, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna Grant-Smith, Professor of Management, University of the Sunshine Coast The federal government has announced a âCommonwealth Prac Paymentâ to support selected groups of students doing mandatory work placements. Those who are studying to be a teacher, nurse, midwife or social ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you love a dark comedy: Bodkin (Netflix, May 9)An English podcaster, an Irish podcaster and American podcaster walk into a pub andâŚmake a TV show? ...
By Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A Pacific regionalism academic has called out New Zealandâs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS and says the security deal âraises serious questions for the Pacific regionâ. Auckland University of Technology academic Dr Marco de Jong ...
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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?