Just reflecting on the widely held opinion that the next election is a cake walk what with political 'capital' built up in PM Ardern, engagement news and the kerfuffle around the leadership of National party.
Going back two and a half years, there is no way the most strident Labour fan could have envisioned this scenario.
Therefore it is quite possible the same could happen again. After a couple of leadership coups eg Collins, Woodhouse, Adams, Mitchell, a candidate like Upston, Ngaro or Dean, or my pick, someone from outside of politics currently, can come in and sweep all before them.
The coalition needs to look at their statements leading into the election and put them into action.
OMG…. if they have to resort to Dean they may as well give up and go home. Has that MP achieved anything in 4 1/2 terms. Apart from falling for a di-hydrogen monoxide hoax once.
Impressive business career. Finance Minister, maybe, but not really the right sort of charisma for political leader. Is probably on track for international roles after his current one so why would he settle for replacing Bill English or Steven Joyce?
It doesn't matter that Shane Jones is NZ First. Any good he/they achieve can be undone electorally in one brain numbingly dumb speech/spiel.
It's all about the easiest to create negative thing, perception. There is already a 'dishonourable' list with Clare Curran, Twyford, Mahuta, Jackson whose actions, words, for right or wrong, have had the affect of chopping down the tree or at least ring-barking it.
So the option of having sea transport is lessening. Our government has abandoned the domestic economy in order to export and then we can buy all the wonderful things available from the world with our export dollars. That is, those in employment at a living wage. We have stopped making things for ourselves.
But then, because of the reciprocal nature of our trading system we have an open economy, and overseas people who have bigger purses than us, can buy wonderful things here, like houses, desirable land and very desirable water.
Now we have to decide whether we are going to spend our money buying imported goods, which are no longer made here, or go without – mend and save – and try to gather a deposit to buy a shoe-box or a big car to live in as the housing market prices have been pushed up by our wealthier export customers.
Is that a wise way to run a country? Even the relatively well off people are finding that the house they can obtain loan money to buy, drains more than half of their weekly or monthly earnings. And how do we supply necessities and have a thriving economy if we can’t export our produce. We will still be able to export services. But the reciprocal system will be broken. The overseas buyers will still come here and buy us up, we will be at survival mode and be tenants in what was our own land. I think John Key was expressing concern about that at one time while facilitating the process. Was it wise to leave him to play his smirking Prime Minister role for so long?
I saw a bunch of 18 year old redwoods today far bigger than Pinus radiata at 25 years (when they cut).
Too big for today's mills, no market (here) as everything is pine. Then there's the people growing natives, too scared to try large scale in case they're not allowed to realise the crop…
So we can't sell exotic timber except pine locally, we can't grow natives that would sell because we might not be allowed to sell them. Pine pine did someone say pine.
We can grow far better trees but… crops must be clonal for markets. And you got to have a market. Assessing a stand of a couple hundred trees for the tree keepers (good clones) is a couple hundred thousand dollars…
Who's got that laying around.
The market that's supposed to help little guys (trickle trickle) has us locked out. I guess you could grow pine…
F'n travesty. No variety in the market means no resilience to vagaries in the market. A bug, a bacteria, a fungi, an oomycete, an emerging player, a reticent buyer…
I had a look through Lincoln University offerings to see what they had on tree diversity. I couldn't find stuff. Pine.. But what about growing for carbon credits. Money for keeping them in the ground?
And having a range of trees for specialist use, furniture etc, masts; picking them out by helicopter and making big $$ from the few.
Someone would have to live in the area as they would attract thieves. Guns might be appropriate for rangers in this case.
There must be markets for other trees. Reasonably fast growing and not requiring the same treatment as softwood, resinous pines.
Pine tree economy is flawed as the cost to us for the road damage from using trucks is horrendous and driving the country broke and Ports tell us that the port virtually has to give no charge to using every log shipped from their Ports now as there is no money it it.
So we taxpayers pay to maintain n the Ports that have to allow free transport overseas from their Port, and we pay to keep the roads maintained from trucking the logs to the Port.
We are being screwed every day by this mindless false economy we are in now no thanks to national setting this all up for the export potential of a false economy in pine trees.
So the tories get decimated and, instead of being the recipient of a mass of disgruntled voters wrath, labour themselves also take a hammering. Not really the look of a government in waiting.
"Have Labour gained a whole bunch of seats? No. But the media effort to conflate Labour’s minor losses with the complete trouncing the Conservatives have taken is totally dishonest."
The results aren't in dispute, are they? What is, is how labour lost big and didn't benefit from the tory backlash, casting doubt on their ability to form a government after the next general election. It doesn’t seem they are resonating well with the public.
Without a brexit agreement, the longer Farrage's brexit party and the ukip stay in the game seems to be Corbyn's only hope of sneaking in to power at present, by default. Having the lib dems bounce back will take seats off May, but then labour could well lose out in 3 way electorates, and those tactically voting where they are in 3rd place. Not that positive, and certainly not much to shout about against a most unpopular ruling party.
Lucky for labour it's first past the post and not mmp, otherwise they'd be screwed with, on current polling, only scoring in the low 30s.
Yep, shared significant losses. Consider where labour were losing hardest, take in the big picture, add context, and the story behind the numbers makes more sense.
Well I'm definitely not downplaying labours losses, nor what it potentially means for them going forward electorally as a party who can still lose on the night as the most divided tory party in a generation shart it's pants.
So in rejecting the claims of propaganda and biassed media reporting in covering this poll, looking in to the stories behind the numbers (such as why labour shed votes to the lib dems in swings of around 8%), and going deeper behind a banner headline (why the major opposition party didn't pick up conservative protest votes when it needs them in these electorates to become government), I am also happy to leave it to the readers to decide whose spinning and for why.
yes we humans are one of the first to be extinct I fear.
The planet is nearing the end as the Ross Sea ice shelf is about to disappear and our sea levels will rise dramatically.
The oxygen content in the atmosphere is sinking every month now so how long can we survive without oxygen in our air?
We daily see brand new trucks on our roads all hauling freight that used to go by rail, increasing the carbon levels as we speak, so we are a menace to ourselves alright.
Rapid melting of the world’s largest ice shelf linked to solar heat in the ocean
Date:
April 29, 2019
Source:
University of Cambridge
Summary:
An international team of scientists has found part of the world’s largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than the overall ice shelf average, due to solar heating of the surrounding ocean surface.
Not much hope for our children now but to flee to a “survival bunkers” like they are probably building up high on the safety of the te-ureweras up in the hills when the end comes.
This would be the third such environmental catastrophe in the Waihi area. Not only would this toxic* mound of waste cover over 178H of agricultural land rendering it useless and presenting an eyesore for generations to come, there are other considerations to be taken into account as well.
The [already existing] two tailings dams near Waihi are some of the largest structures in the country.
Size of Martha Mine Waihi tailings dam compared to Mount Eden suburbs Auckland
Should either of these dams fail in an earthquake, we could be facing potentially New Zealand’s worst ever environmental disaster, and loss of life and livelihoods on a significant scale.
Therefore it is perfectly reasonable to ask the question – would these structures withstand a large earthquake? The question is even more pertinent because –
the Kaikoura quake unleashed thousands of huge landslides
a new GNS Science report on the nearby Kerepehi fault suggests a 7.4 magnitude earthquake is possible near Waihi, and also estimates that the interval between large quakes is 1000 years rather than 6000-8000 years as previously assumed.
the catastrophic failure of a tailings dam in Brazil in 2015 was due in part to a very small 2.6Mw quake acting as a triggering mechanism for the dam collapse
Coromandel Watchdog have been fighting this crap from the miners for years now. We don't need any more fucking gold. There has been 170,000 of tonnes of the stuff mined and locked up in safes such as Fort Knox, and elsewhere already. So it's already there if ever it is needed for any useful purpose. To get enough gold for a single wedding ring you have to drill though 250 tonnes of rock, pulverize it, then chemically treat it. Such activity now is simply madness.
*Tailings are the major wastes produced from gold extraction and they contain high amounts of heavy metals (HM). These metals leach out in an uncontrolled manner into surrounding environments on exposure to water or through dispersal by wind. The presence of elevated concentrations of HM in the environment is a serious health issue worldwide due to their non-degradative nature which makes them persistent and thereby exert long-term effects on the ecosystem
Fascists peacefully swamped by large crowd, cancel planned march through Liverpool.
When only a small counter protest turn up, the fascists sensing weakness, will not hesitate to use violence to intimidate and smash them over.
What made the difference between a small counter protest and large counter protest was leadership.
A far-right group has abandoned plans to march through Liverpool after members were visibly outnumbered by counter-demonstrators, including the mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson….
….“Peaceful people power chased the fascists off our streets,” Anderson, a Labour politician, said, adding that he wanted to “show these people they are not welcome in this city”….
…..“I want it to be peaceful, but I want people to be out on the streets saying they are not welcome in our city,” Anderson told the Liverpool Echo prior to the march. “Some people on Twitter have said to me: ‘What about free speech?’ Well that comes with a responsibility not to espouse hate.
I think that National’s break-point will be when the Budget gets presented to the House. The Party’s response and its Leader’s delivery will seal their fate for the next Election. Even the opinion pieces of Political Editors are getting boringly predictable in style and substance but they still do their job as click-bait <sigh>.
Here's hoping. Nothing I'd like more than to see the current National Party crop to self-destruct.
Having just watched "The Nation", what worries me is that there's a fair few issues where Labour/the Coalition are not even picking the low hanging fruit (apologies – I'm still pivoting going forward from the other day). Simon Wilson had a point – to do with the interaction between departments (in this case IRD and MSD) and the Ministers responsible – this to do with the case of a rape victim. From what I could see, even under current legislation, this matter could at least be partially resolved even if, as Sepuloni said, there would be no retrospective compensation.
Then there are things such as worker exploitation (BOTH immigrant and citizen) which could be at LEAST improved by Ministerial and Ministry intervention.
Then there are NZTA fuckups, insurance issues, etc, etc., etc. that may start to really piss off an impatient electorate if the Coalition doesn't pick up the pace (especially where some basic resolution doesn't require law changes).
Even IF and THOUGH the gNats are in most part to blame for a lot of it all, it won't stop them from scoring a few hits if some of this 'low hanging fruit' isn't dealt with.
/agreed – even with a heavy workload. And possibly a failure of Ministerial-Department/Ministry Head interaction if and when there are roadblocks – even given all that 'impartiality of officials'.
And then there's a rabid media to contend with, many of whom will still be stirring as much shit as possible in their dying days, but I doubt whether even the likes of JC would be giving a free ride over the example(s) given above.
As we have seen in the past, when the time is right, even a very mildly lefty government can be taken down by outrage over light-bulbs. This is the world we live in – a dominion of lies ruled over by money.
But the light-bulbs are symbolic of other matters that there are doubts about; they just act as a marker, virtue-signalling.*
It could mean there are the Left looking down, fussing over every little thing while the parade passes by.
It could mean there are the Left trying to be the Knight on the White Charger saving people who didn't want that.
It could be there are the Left fulminating over something, and ready to turn our lives upside down as they did when they brought in the Free-Market and No Regulation.
It could mean there are the people who are going to make us take our medicine which they have prescribed and no-one we know considers we are even sick, but they always know best.
It could mean that Labour presses an anti-authority nerve in those who are happy to pursue their own ends and let someone else clean up any messes left. What me clean up. I employ people to do that for me, and anyway others have done it too, why pick on me/us to behave well, make changes that aren't proven 100% worthwhile.
Examples of possible effects of new light bulb changes. In myself I thought of the cost of buying two new light bulbs at possibly $7 each compared to incandescent ones at $1 each. When people are really poor they can't afford to make such forward-moving gestures. Cut out incandescents and it would be back to candles. So I hoped that Labour could cut its crusading zeal down to what was okay for the precariat working and not working classes which used to be their spine.
*Virtue-signalling:
the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or the moral correctness of one’s position on a particular issue.
“it’s noticeable how often virtue signalling consists of saying you hate things”
Regulating energy-efficient lightbulbs and showers was symbolic of the fundamental changes we need to make for the climate – and we have seen in the decade since that how far many people are prepared to go to keep their heads firmly planted in the sand.
If making those small changes was never going to have any effect, you might be able to claim it was 'virtue signalling'. That's just a bad-faith phrase from the dolts of the US right.
It was what it was. As you say it was symbolic of changes we needed to make, and that they would not recognise the difficulties that very low income people faced, because they don't care to apply their minds to da little peeps. Fact – fact.
And don't forget the “Fart Tax” AB when some farmer/Nat MP drove his tractor up parliament steps. Everybody laughed. Such a good joke against the Clark government.
Not laughing now are they, although not nearly enough has been done about it.
Labour should turn all that puerile stuff back on National – and those who fell for it – simply because they deserve it.
Fair comments. I think it would be great if somebody more familiar with it does a (guest) post on the different areas of responsibility of departmental CEOs, for example, for operational matters, and the Ministers. As far as I know, Ministers don’t hire the staff in their Ministries.
If we commenters care about what is happening to people in NZ and the world then we can't walk away from a forum like this that attempts to bring matters to scrutiny. It is good if people don't get nagged at all the time, if they have a point they should be considered. But it may need altering when some of its aspects are challenged. The view as to rightness can be different depending on the perspective. If the challenger does not have a worthy point and is unrelenting there is the choice of ignoring them, or uncovering their perspective and showing it as unreasonable. Also sometimes when you disagree with someone, it is still possible to see their greater good overall.
Those who want to state a case and think that they are totally right, need to stay on and at least hear and have short discussions about other people's POV. Veutoviper is a concerned and informed person and could be expected to stick around not walk away.
But some I think have 20th century perceptions. These have to alter somewhat – we can't think in exactly the same mode as the past, our future is changing and our approach must also – we know that life may become extremely uncomfortable. I worry as I read stories from the holocaust, from past times; we haven't made the great strides in managing our human life, emotions and desires, goals and outcomes, as we should. Therefore we have to think more deeply, nothing is absolutely certain, judgments have to be made., sometimes interim. Kindness and practicality must be hand in hand. For everyone who gives up, there are a thousand who will never understand that particular POV, and vice versa. It is important for the thinking, to assess their own thoughts and try to understand others who haven't experience or imagination.
You might be interested in RNZ's "The House" a week or so back (31/3/2019 i THINK).
Briefly deals with various powers vested in Ministers and Departmental CEO's and down the chain – regulatory authority etc. which allows for a degree of flexibility when conditions change or in unforeseen circumstances.
Things CAN get done quite quickly when necessary – as we have just seen. For example: in the case of the Christchurch terrorist attack, visa changes to allow family members of victims to come to NZ were implemented within a couple of weeks.
And yes re Ministers and hiring of staff (which is as it should be probably), but there are ways and means – Ministers making it clear what expectations are, etc.
And let's not pretend the old nudge nudge wink wink shit hasn't been happening – especially during the gNat's last reign, OR things like abuse of the OIA system, OR the use of Thompson & Clark – clearly unacceptable behaviour for the public service to be involved in. Sanctions are available for that sort of thing BUT for political will and who has been licking who's arse (Sorry to be blunt, but that's what it amounts to).
Deliberate under-resourcing in some areas (for example) of those responsible for monitoring tertiary education, or visa compliance (James Casson aside), or monitoring the state of some of those immigration 'advisors' suited the last gNat junta very well. Priorities CAN be adjusted in many cases to ensure the sort of shit "The Nation" covered, or exploitation doesn't/didn't happen.
Thanks, I might have a look later although I’m keen to write a post (on a different topic). In any case, I don’t feel comfortable to write a meaningful post on departments and ministries, for example.
It is a most peculiar article. She starts off with acomment about the donations to National soaring while Labours were paltry.
Donations in the 12 months to December soared past $700,000, no doubt fuelled by worried business donors gearing up to fight employment law changes and a widely anticipated capital gains tax (even if it ultimately didn't happen). Labour's were a paltry $173,343 by comparison.
It's once the donations dry up that you know a leader's date with the guillotine is near.
Somehow this is meant to be interpreted as National are in trouble? Shouldn't it mean, if her remark about "donations drying up" is correct it is Labour that is in trouble?
Still it is a pretty typical Watkins piece. Bugger the facts. She loves Ardern.
An insightful view on how we used to police bad behaviour on our roads by someone who knows.
Makes me wonder whether our terrible road toll could be reduced if we returned to the old style of traffic policing, by a specialist force of dedicated officers with a passion for road safety and saving lives on the road, as their sole mission.
….More seriously, Kearns laments that the old cop-motorist dynamic was altered by the merger.
“Guys in my era joined the Ministry of Transport because we had a passion for road safety and an ideal of saving injuries and lives. That ethos wasn’t carried over at the time of the merger.”….
…… “Probably just 20% of people who were stopped were given tickets.” The rest were spoken to about what they were doing, encouraged to do better and sent on their way. According to Kearns, the police did not share that attitude, being used to dealing with criminals.
And what say you liked being a traffic cop? You’d joined up to be a traffic cop. If you’d wanted to be a regular cop, you’d have signed up for that instead.
I was told something interesting by a friend who was part of the emergency response to the Tasman forest fire and was talking to a top Tasman cop. He said the previous National government had little interest in road safety, their sole focus was on keeping traffic, and of course commerce in the form of trucking, moving as quickly as possible. He is very pleased to see the coalition government's focus firmly back on policing for safer roads.
Yes, and that is a great example of getting on with change – immediate Budget action, clear announcement by Minister, results on the ground spreading already. Glad to hear those who have to respond to safety failures are noticing improvement.
Ae! And they have this weird idea that double lanes in both directions will naturally allow it all to happen (when the average NuZillner has yet to come to terms with merging like a zip and still drives like it's all a competition, in between checking the latest beep or blip or bell sound that comes across their cell phone).
Hence we have the likes of that absolute white baby elephant fuckup between Papamoa and Paengaroa (incidentally, where some of the worst worker exploitation, immigrants and others involved in bullshit tertiary education and other little scams reside and where Cassons try to justify their race shism), but where the occasional logging truck, gNat and orchid owner roams free
That's a good 'wonder' Jenny H. The cops now seem too centred on vehicle crime, perhaps it gets their figures up to the target set; another idea stop high targets and concentrate on outcomes of projects for improvement.
Also run stats counting all reasonably serious accidents and stop concentrating on the death toll. That stat only indicates a complete failure by traffic police to show care for people and polite interaction on the roads instead a simple end-of-life statistic for the books.
(An idea – have projects like for a period ask people to drive differently coming to roundabouts by slowing by about 10 kms so allowing others to move onto the road space in the few seconds that a slower entry would provide. See if over a six month period, what might be called cautious courtesy driving would lower accidents, and facilitate traffic movement. Too many people drive at full speed into a roundabout which is unwise, and reduces others entry-openings.)
I travel the east coast highway two from Napier to Tauranga often and have seen so many large potholes on these narrow winding single lane roads caused by heavy trucks all the time now and these potholes are so large that if you don't swerve to avoid them you will damage your steering system.
I have had 6 steering repairs in two years all caused by hitting large potholes.
That is one issue. then there are speeding drivers always trying to force slow drivers to speed up, and that is another problem..
The Government cant afford to keep fixing the damages the trucks are causing now so we need to see government increase the use of the roads by those trucks, in a "user Pays" policy.
Clearly the 'heavier longer trucks' HPMV are far too heavy for our light weighted 'soft roads' now.
all those parts for repairs on your car would have quite possibly been transported by truck to your repairer.
Trucks are on the road because of customer demand for goods. If you dont consume anything, then the trucks have nothing to transport, so wont be on the road.
if we eliminate HPMV, these would be replaced by around 20% more trucks.
They’re coming from all over the world Joe, from both sides of the political divide. Nothing to do with Keefe whoever the hell that nobody is .
“Meanwhile, George, an American fighting on the Ukrainian side, described those he fought with as having “the same hatred for Russia or the same kind of sense of nationalism”.
Could be you Joe
“Anti-imperialists, anti-fascists, and those on the far left come to defend the pro-communist separatists and defend the autonomous regions from what they see as global imperialism.”
NZ rugby has dug it's own hole, & cancelled out the aspects of the game that allowed NZ's natural talent to thrive at the game in a way that summed up to the display of a national heritage like no where else in the world. The aspects of the game that gave the All Blacks a long standing distinguished dynanism are thrown away and can't come back, and the hole will avalanche in more and more, as can not be sustained.
Now a diplomatic security risk everytime run on the field for NZ i'm afraid too; an illustration being the prestige to Russia's ( a heavily armed nation) image it's overall diplomatic handling of the recent successful soccer world cup gave it, to the division and acrimony the ABs have associated to NZ on such stages in recent times in relation to the rest of the game.
Black Ferns rugby can be a new story for NZ instead.
New Zealand took the 2011 RWC not because of any "natural talent" but because of the refusal of the "referee" to penalize the home team's blatant cheating throughout that farcical final.
File it under swings and roundabouts Mozza, it balances the ledger for Barnes being overwhelmed on the '07 match were France went unpenalised for a half and scored a try with a forward pass.
File it under swings and roundabouts Mozza, it balances the ledger for Barnes being overwhelmed on the '07 match
Nonsense. On stilts. He made two errors—he missed two forward passes, one leading to a try for the All Blacks, one to a try for the Tricolors. His couple of honest errors are not in the same universe as Craig Joubert’s refusal to even warn, let alone penalize, the flagrant and systematic cheating by the All Blacks in that infamous farce four years later.
France went unpenalised for a half …
They did not infringe. That's why.
…. and scored a try with a forward pass.
So did New Zealand. Luke McAlister's try followed a forward pass. I recommend you watch the match some time.
The All Blacks were imploding due to another episode of poor management of our rugby talents in the deserved French upset, and it would have happened one way or another.
The more recent final against the Wallabies was also poor referring but by then no one was paying attention, & despite the rigged deck, the aussies were only a James O'Connor type player break away from over coming them anyway, which isn't surprising given the Georgia pool game would be the poorest AB team performance in any world cup.
poor management of our rugby talents in the deserved French upset
What do you mean by "poor management"? They simply lost a football match. The French were too good for them.
The more recent final against the Wallabies was also poor referring
???? There was nothing in that final to match the non-performance by Joubert in 2011. The only terrible refereeing in the 2015 tournament was in the Australia-Scotland match. The “referee” was…. Craig Joubert.
If things had gone the Wallabies way in terms of referring in crucial stages in that game, they could have broken the ABs, who they were otherwise clinging onto by their fingernails in staying in the match.
Heh, it's great to be the only one right eh mozza.
Try (see what I did there) this on for size…
"They did not infringe…"
The video had three different angles and featured statistical breakdowns of lineouts, scrums, penalties, tackle counts, territory and possession. On those statistics, the All Blacks dominated. They had an overwhelming 73 per cent territorial advantage, winning 166 rucks to France's 42 and making only 73 tackles compared with France's 331.
They didn't infringe. They defended grimly. It's hard to beat a French team that's really determined. Unless you've got a "referee" like Andre Watson or Craig Joubert.
Ha ha ha ha ha! Good one, M'bird! I think you meant to say "could fit in a Brobdingnabian's thimble."
Of course, a quick sashay through this writer's oeuvre will show you that I've commented on rugby and other sports at an elevated and thoughtful level* for many years now.
And let's face it: even someone who knows as little about the game as, say, a Herald rugby writer or a Radio Sports opinion-vomiter like Martin "Moron" Devlin or Tony "Boot Boy" Veitch knows that the All Blacks were beaten fair and square by the Tricolors in 2007, and that they were allowed to cheat flagrantly throughout that farcical RWC final four years later.
Otago v Waikato is not a local derby. Auckland v. Counties is a local derby.
Interesting to see how readily you resort to derogatory language: dismissing what I say as "braying." Have you considered a career in talk radio perhaps?
No it's not. A derby game is between two teams from the same town, or adjacent towns. Auckland-Counties or Auckland-North Harbour or Otago-Southland are derby games.
Similarly, Manchester United v. Man. City and AstonVilla v. Birmingham, and Arsenal v. Chelsea are derbies, but Liverpool v. Arsenal is not.
Grant Nisbett? He's certainly superior to Ian "Smithy" Smith and Justin Marshall *, but on this he's as slapdash as they are.
I'm happy to use the franchise names, but I'm not going to accept the extirpation of the provincial names. It's the Wellington Hurricanes, and the Auckland Blues, and the Waikato Chiefs.
And it's the Natal Sharks and the Johannesburg Lions, not the "South African Sharks" and "South African Lions."
And yes, you're correct, it's the Canterbury Crusaders. Need to change that vile name, of course, but whatever it is, it'll still be Christchurch's team. BTW, how come the Crusaders never played a game against the famous London team Saracens?
Yes, you're correct about the Hurricanes not being only a Wellington team. Manawatu and Hawkes Bay are important parts of the team, and so was Taranaki. And, no, I haven't forgotten the Wairarapa, Horowhenua, Whanganui, etc. But the major urban area is Wellington, and that's where most of the home games are played.
Similarly, the Boston Red Sox represent not only the Boston urban area but all of the states of New England. Only a mental pygmy such as a New Zealand Rugby boss would be persuaded to dispense with the word "Boston" however.
Opinion – The battles over welfare are in large part a dispute about whether people who find themselves relying on social security are principally in need of punishment or support….
More generally, as the report notes, there is very little evidence that sanctions achieve their claimed effects of getting people back into work. They are just as likely to force people out of the system altogether or into reliance on criminal activities or unsustainable borrowing.
In contrast to the harsh overseer model, the experts' report is an attempt to put a nurturing, caring assistant at the heart of the welfare system. It centres the system on whakamana tāngata – "restoring dignity to people so they can participate meaningfully with their families and communities"…
The experts' report does not, as some hoped, spell out a completely new and coherent plan for a 21st century welfare system. It does not sketch out a fully future-proofed welfare system. It represents big change, not transformational change.
But then, like most of this government's working groups, Cindy Kiro and her team were not given the time and resources to deliver on broader ambitions. What they have produced, though, is still immensely important.
And Jeremy Pie – On the UK State of the nation report.
Social mobility in UK has stalled. In 2010 Cameron set up Social Mobility Commission but it resigned en masse a year after Theresa May had said she would do great stuff in fixing injustices. They said that the Government was too focussed on Brexit to do anything.
Then in the USA, he decided that Trump promised change and now people have got it!
Please at least add quote marks when you use a mix of yours and someone else's words like that – better still, click the ["] button on the editor toolbar so the quoted paragraph becomes indented.
Oh hell. Now I won't pass the adaptive test for understandability. I'm a failure at communication. I'm teetering on the edge of not commenting here and leaving it to the snobs.
Our world is coming to an end but our sentence construction, our syntax is what really catches the eye and the mind.
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality.
Open your eyes,
Look up to the skies and see,
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,
Because I'm easy come, easy go,
Little high, little low,
Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me.
The statue is one of three copies of a marble statue that was made for the Captain Cook Brewery in Newmarket, Auckland in the early 1880s…
He's also not wearing the correct uniform – the blog states he is "not wearing the uniform of a British naval officer, nor does his uniform resemble that of any other European naval uniforms. The uniform has been described as 'Italian' in style."
Oz Rugby has an $8B budget hole this year – (not sure when they get this years World Cup money) and face a payout of $4M on Folau's contract if their termination is seen as a breach.
They have only one option – given Cheika says he will not be selected even if still on contract, refuse to pay him a penny and drag this through the courts if they have to. Even if they still payout – better later than now. But more likely – given he would be unable to play and would have no guarantee of ever receiving any money – he would be forced to seek to leave the contract so he can be paid to play elsewhere.
The IAAF has a rule whereby women competitors must have a testosterone level below "5" (the norm is .2 to 1.5), for events between 400m and the mile, but not shorter distances or field events.
It seems as if their rule applies only to distances which only one specific athlete competes.
Given the said extra testosterone gives athletes an advantage in shorter distances and field events the most (which is why males and females have taken drugs for these events way more often than for the 800m and 1500m) their rule is inexplicable.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University asked a judge Wednesday for permission to publicly share information about a confidential state medical board investigation involving the team doctor accused of decades-old sexual misconduct against more than 150 former students.
I notice the new self appointed elite of NZ journalism has decided to freely name the Christchurch murderer, even going so far as to promote him and his home town in backwater Australia.
What a disgraceful rag that Herald is.
Edit: I looked a bit deeper into the writer of this promotion piece, Caroline Meng-Yee, and it turns out she’s bee in trouble before for dressing as slain Sophie Elliot at a fancy dress birthday party in 2011.
Meng-Yee had fake blood on her arms and Sophie’s name tagged to her top, which had a photograph of Sophie’s killer and ex-boyfriend, Clayton Weatherston, 35, pinned to it.
I wouldn't be surprised if their reasoning is that the inevitable outrage will suck in a bunch of eyeballs. They'll come out with some freedom bullshit and that'll reel in Trotsker and co.
Reading about this Meng-Yee character made me feel sad. There are some verifiable scumbags writing for publications and the banner under which they publish legitimises their horrible nature.
She seems like one of those women who gets turned on by serial murderers. Her promotional piece on the Australian suggests that.
It's a horrible thought but I wonder if the Herald is softening the ground for a full push on trial coverage where they hope to make hundreds of thousands of dollars creating a circus based on the misery of this malevolent event.
(e) Meng-Yee is experienced, yet she dressed up as the slain victim in a case she covered presumably in order to promote herself and her agenda. I think the Herald are quite happy to have this sociopath cover the very worst terror attack in this country since the land wars.
That reporter was trusted with the coverage of the Sophie Elliot murder. A psychopathic murder by a person very similar in character to the Christchurch mass murderer and she dressed up as the victim three short years later?
I guess she'll be happy wearing a bloodied hijab to her next fancy dress ball!
No excuses for that disgusting behaviour no matter how many years ago. From the link above
"Meng-Yee did not respond to Sunday Star-Times inquiries but in 2009 she spoke to Metro about her work. The article said when Meng-Yee arrived at the newspaper she claimed her aim was to "lower the bar".
The story went on to disclose that Meng-Yee did not write many of the articles that appeared under her name, instead working closely with other writers to ready them for publication, and that she worked with TV journalist Genevieve Westcott on 60 Minutes, where the pair were nicknamed the pitbull and the pekingese."
As I have said before: As they try to escape from behind it in an effort to get noticed, the paywall will encourage a race to the bottom by NZ Herald journalists.
And as many here have posited, the Herald will the most likely only allow the most venal, (like Hosking), to be outside the paywall. This will further increase the downward pressure on Herald journalists as they compete to be more like Hosking.
The Herald will no longer be the journal of record. That task will fall to free to air and on line Public Service Broadcaster, RNZ.
In face of the climate crisis, amongst our official leaders. It almost seems, that courageous leadership is a forgotten art.
And when our official leaders shrink back from taking the lead; No matter, that they have no rank, or title, or official position the, leadership will fall to the one who leads
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 17, 2021 through Sat, Jan 23, 2021Editor's Choice12 new books explore fresh approaches to act on climate changeAuthors explore scientific, economic, and political avenues for climate action ...
This discussion is from a Twitter thread by Martin Kulldorff on 20 December 2020. He is a Professor at Harvard Medical School specialising in disease surveillance methods, infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety. His Twitter handle is @MartinKulldorff #1 Public health is about all health outcomes, not just a single ...
The Treasury forecasts suggest the economy is doing better than expected after the Covid Shock. John Kenneth Galbraith was wont to say that economic forecasting was designed to make astrology look good. Unfair, but it raises the question of the purpose of economic forecasts. Certainly the public may treat them ...
Q: Will the COVID-19 vaccines prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and bring about community immunity (aka herd immunity)? A: Jury not in yet but vaccines do not have to be perfect to thwart the spread of infection. While vaccines induce protection against illness, they do not always stop actual ...
Joe Biden seems to be everything that Donald Trump was not – decent, straightforward, considerate of others, mindful of his responsibilities – but none of that means that he has an easy path ahead of him. The pandemic still rages, American standing in the world is grievously low, and the ...
Keana VirmaniFrom healthcare robots to data privacy, to sea level rise and Antarctica under the ice: in the four years since its establishment, the Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund has supported over 30 projects.Rebecca Priestley, receiving the PM Science Communication Prize (Photo by Mark Tantrum) Associate Professor ...
Nothing more from me today - I'm off to Wellington, to participate in the city's annual roleplaying convention (which has also eaten my time for the whole week, limiting blogging despite there being interesting things happening). Normal bloggage will resume Tuesday. ...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weaponscame into force today, making the development, possession, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons illegal in international law. Every nuclear-armed state is now a criminal regime. The corporations and scientists who design, build and maintain their illegal weapons are now ...
"Come The Revolution!" The key objective of Bernard Hickey’s revolutionary solution to the housing crisis is a 50 percent reduction in the price of the average family home. This will be achieved by the introduction of Capital Gains, Land, and Wealth taxes, and by the opening up of currently RMA-protected ...
by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
A recent returnee has tested positive for Covid-19 after testing negative twice during her 14 days in managed isolation, Marc Daalder reports There is little information available about a new community case of Covid-19 identified by testing today - other than she is in Whangarei and used the Covid app ...
by Andi Cockroft Chairman Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of NZ An Otago Daily Times report (23 January) that nearly two-thirds of Dunedin residents think public consultation is lacking at the Dunedin City Council, according to the latest ...
“If today’s probable case of Covid-19 in Northland turns out to be community transmission the Government’s overarching objective must be avoiding another lockdown,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The best news would be that this is a false alarm, ...
E tū Lifewise homecare members have been taking strike and picket action since December 2020 for basic improvements in their working conditions. Members are asking for increased sick and bereavement leave, a collective agreement, and more guaranteed ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 24. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz1.15pm: Suspected community case in NorthlandHealth officials are investigating a suspected community case of Covid-19 in Northland, related to someone who was recently released from managed isolation and quarantine, the NZ Herald is reporting.A spokesperson for Covid-19 response ...
We’re only a few weeks into the year, and already there are two new seasons of Drag Race. Are we in danger of reaching peak Drag Race? In the first month of this year, there’s been more RuPaul’s Drag Race than ever. The 13th season of the flagship US version debuted ...
In her first years of adulthood, Jai Breitnauer found herself living in a bold and hopeful nation. More than two decades on, she laments on how the Britain we know now came to be.Apparently, fish off the coast of the United Kingdom are happier because they’re British. This is what ...
Dunedin writer Victor Billot resumes his weekly odes to New Zealanders in the news. This week: the blogging firm of Michael Bassett, Don Brash and Rodney HideThree Men in a BoatIt sounds like a conveyancing firm in Levin.It sounds like TV funny guys who’ll ...
Under a thick layer of concrete at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacramentin Christchurch is a metal box likely containing hundreds of holy relics – a historical treasure trove set to be uncovered after 50 years of near total obscurity.As the earth shook and buildings crumbled, a statue of ...
Bananas are unequivocally the best fruit in the world, and there’s nothing you can say to change my mind, writes Alice Webb-Liddall.I was about 15 when I realised that halftime banana cake wasn’t a tradition outside of my family. On the day of an All Blacks game a banana cake ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as On the Rag looks at how the world around us has been built by men, for men. First published December 7, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members ...
At an antagonistic hearing yesterday, the internet giant laid out the ‘worst case scenario’. And Facebook is also considering an ‘amputation’. Hal Crawford was watching.Google is poised to hit self-destruct in Australia according to a fractious Senate hearing into an unprecedented law that will force digital giants to pay money ...
It’s great to hear Phil Twyford celebrating a success. Not a personal ministerial success, it’s fair to say, but a success nevertheless related to arms control. The arms on which Twyford is focused, it should be noted, will make quite a mess if they are triggered. They tend to be ...
Duncan Greive and Leonie Hayden were young hip hop heads and music journalists during the era captured in a new documentary about the rise and fall of South Auckland hip hop label Dawn Raid. Here they discuss the film and their memories (what’s left of them) of that time. Warning: contains ...
Houses might be the most popular and inflated purchases in New Zealand, but there are plenty of other products that are seeing soaring demand and prices over the past few months. Here’s a list of what New Zealanders are spending their money on with international travel out of the picture.Used ...
"The young boy leaps, the muscles in his thighs tensing and twisting as he lifts from the handrail": the noble art of bombing, by Pātea writer Airana Ngarewa A beautifully muscled boy is posted on the side of a pool, his feet fixed to the top of a pair of ...
How Waiwera Hot Pools went from New Zealand’s most visited water park to dereliction and decay. Many who grew up in Auckland likely have fond memories of Waiwera Hot Pools. Like me, they remember summer days spent racing down the slides and playing in the naturally hot pools. But how did ...
A government contract for a P rehab programme was canned after half a million dollars of taxpayer money was given out. Aaron Smale investigates. The Ministry of Health spent over half a million dollars on a P Rehab contract before pulling the pin because there were no results or progress reports. ...
Kia Koropp and her husband John Daubeny have been cruising the Pacific, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean over the past decade with their two children onboard their 50ft yacht, Atea. Starting in 2011 from Auckland, New Zealand, they have sailed more than 64,000 kilometres and just completed their longest ...
We are drowning out the natural world with synthetic sounds, and it’s getting worse, writes Michelle Langstone.It used to be quiet once. Remember that? Remember the hush that settled over the cities like the silence that comes down in a snowstorm? It’s less than a year since Aotearoa first locked ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden in the latest episode of On the Rag as they examine the topic of boobs from every possible angle. First published November 16, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Seventy-five years after the US detonated the first nuclear tests in the Pacific, New Zealand pledges its support to Joe Biden's first tentative step towards disarmament. Today, the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons comes into effect, making it illegal for New Zealand and the 50 other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Terry, Professor of Psychology, University of Southern Queensland The challenge of bringing the world’s best tennis players and support staff, about 1,200 people in all, from COVID-ravaged parts of the world to our almost pandemic-free shores was always going to be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoffrey Browne, Research Fellow in International Urban Development, University of Melbourne The Victorian government has committed to removing 75 road/rail level crossings across Melbourne by 2025. That’s the fastest rate of removal in the city’s history. The scale of the investment — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW In an age of hyperpartisan politics, the Biden presidency offers a welcome centrism that might help bridge the divides. But it is also Biden’s economic centrism that offers a chance to cut through what has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Stevens, Lecturer in History, University of Waikato In a year of surprises, one of the more pleasant was the recent runaway viral popularity of 19th century sea shanties on TikTok. A collaborative global response to pandemic isolation, it saw singers and ...
The sudden departure of Graine Moss from her Chief Executive role at Oranga Tamariki is a vital first step in a sequence of changes that must take place at the Ministry according to a group of wahine Māori leaders. Dame Naida Glavish, Dame Tariana Turia, ...
A new poem from Dunedin poet Jenny Powell.Her uncle’s eyeShe introduced us to her uncle’s eye floating in a jar.Lost in an accident, he hadn’t wanted to lose it again. He left it to her in his will.We must have looked shocked. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I turn him to ...
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Just reflecting on the widely held opinion that the next election is a cake walk what with political 'capital' built up in PM Ardern, engagement news and the kerfuffle around the leadership of National party.
Going back two and a half years, there is no way the most strident Labour fan could have envisioned this scenario.
Therefore it is quite possible the same could happen again. After a couple of leadership coups eg Collins, Woodhouse, Adams, Mitchell, a candidate like Upston, Ngaro or Dean, or my pick, someone from outside of politics currently, can come in and sweep all before them.
The coalition needs to look at their statements leading into the election and put them into action.
OMG…. if they have to resort to Dean they may as well give up and go home. Has that MP achieved anything in 4 1/2 terms. Apart from falling for a di-hydrogen monoxide hoax once.
Di-hydrogen monoxide reminds me of when microwaves were a new thing.
Some larrikin sold a microwave cleaner concentrate.
Put in a bowl, run microwave until liquid boils, wipe out oven.
The concentrate?…di-hydrogen monoxide
Chris Liddell might be one to watch. High flying business career overseas, currently serving the Fraud from Fifth Avenue.
Impressive business career. Finance Minister, maybe, but not really the right sort of charisma for political leader. Is probably on track for international roles after his current one so why would he settle for replacing Bill English or Steven Joyce?
That's exactly the kind of comment I would have made about John Key in 2001.
Key was always a self-promoter in a way Liddell does not seem to be. Liddell leans backwards rather than forwards in interviews.
It doesn't matter that Shane Jones is NZ First. Any good he/they achieve can be undone electorally in one brain numbingly dumb speech/spiel.
It's all about the easiest to create negative thing, perception. There is already a 'dishonourable' list with Clare Curran, Twyford, Mahuta, Jackson whose actions, words, for right or wrong, have had the affect of chopping down the tree or at least ring-barking it.
Yeah, nothing is a given.
National might even figure out how to make friends.
The downfall of our ridiculous food system begins. Extreme waves, some > 20m being recorded. Overall wave action increasing.
Soon the shipping will only be seasonal. Then, uninsurable…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/112447503/extreme-waves-are-getting-higher-in-the-antarctic-ocean-study-finds
Off to a tree cropping workshop today. EXCITED!
So the option of having sea transport is lessening. Our government has abandoned the domestic economy in order to export and then we can buy all the wonderful things available from the world with our export dollars. That is, those in employment at a living wage. We have stopped making things for ourselves.
But then, because of the reciprocal nature of our trading system we have an open economy, and overseas people who have bigger purses than us, can buy wonderful things here, like houses, desirable land and very desirable water.
Now we have to decide whether we are going to spend our money buying imported goods, which are no longer made here, or go without – mend and save – and try to gather a deposit to buy a shoe-box or a big car to live in as the housing market prices have been pushed up by our wealthier export customers.
Is that a wise way to run a country? Even the relatively well off people are finding that the house they can obtain loan money to buy, drains more than half of their weekly or monthly earnings. And how do we supply necessities and have a thriving economy if we can’t export our produce. We will still be able to export services. But the reciprocal system will be broken. The overseas buyers will still come here and buy us up, we will be at survival mode and be tenants in what was our own land. I think John Key was expressing concern about that at one time while facilitating the process. Was it wise to leave him to play his smirking Prime Minister role for so long?
Greywarshark
We are being lead down the path to oblivion.
Holy Balls Batman
I saw a bunch of 18 year old redwoods today far bigger than Pinus radiata at 25 years (when they cut).
Too big for today's mills, no market (here) as everything is pine. Then there's the people growing natives, too scared to try large scale in case they're not allowed to realise the crop…
So we can't sell exotic timber except pine locally, we can't grow natives that would sell because we might not be allowed to sell them. Pine pine did someone say pine.
We can grow far better trees but… crops must be clonal for markets. And you got to have a market. Assessing a stand of a couple hundred trees for the tree keepers (good clones) is a couple hundred thousand dollars…
Who's got that laying around.
The market that's supposed to help little guys (trickle trickle) has us locked out. I guess you could grow pine…
F'n travesty. No variety in the market means no resilience to vagaries in the market. A bug, a bacteria, a fungi, an oomycete, an emerging player, a reticent buyer…
NZ forestry has all its eggs in one basket.
I had a look through Lincoln University offerings to see what they had on tree diversity. I couldn't find stuff. Pine.. But what about growing for carbon credits. Money for keeping them in the ground?
And having a range of trees for specialist use, furniture etc, masts; picking them out by helicopter and making big $$ from the few.
Someone would have to live in the area as they would attract thieves. Guns might be appropriate for rangers in this case.
There must be markets for other trees. Reasonably fast growing and not requiring the same treatment as softwood, resinous pines.
Page 6
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/28461-nefd-2017-report-pdf
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/news-and-resources/open-data-and-forecasting/forestry/new-zealands-forests/
"The number of owners with less than 40 hectares is difficult to estimate, but is likely to be over 10,000"
And there's a pie graph. A fucking pie graph. Go NZ Govt.
Yes WTB.
Pine tree economy is flawed as the cost to us for the road damage from using trucks is horrendous and driving the country broke and Ports tell us that the port virtually has to give no charge to using every log shipped from their Ports now as there is no money it it.
So we taxpayers pay to maintain n the Ports that have to allow free transport overseas from their Port, and we pay to keep the roads maintained from trucking the logs to the Port.
We are being screwed every day by this mindless false economy we are in now no thanks to national setting this all up for the export potential of a false economy in pine trees.
The reply function is still very hit and miss . I'm on a samsung xcover4.
Hey wags, I have the same problem on my huawei, however when using Brave rather than Chrome I have no problem.
I thought there was there an election in the UK recently. Cant find any results.
Or was I imaging it?
HA L ocal sections. Found it!!!
https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/ceeqy0e9894t/england-local-elections-2019
Final Councils Conservative 93 Labour 60 | Councillors similar proportions
Note Change on last election: Conservative Councils -44 Councillors -1334
Labour Councils -6 Councillors -82.
Residents Association Councils 2 Greens 0
Councillors RA 119 (+49) Greens 265 (+194)
So Greens are accepted at grass roots level
Lib dems gained 700 councillors – basically doubled their representation.
Ran on an exit the brexit campaign.
I jumped right over the Lib Dems – meant to put them in.
They just about doubled. Seemed to have mopped up Tory disdain. Liberal Democrat:
Councils: Total18 +/-+10
Councillors: Total1350 +/-+703
Thanks BBC for nice clear chart.
Thanks BBC for nice clear chart.
You really are a True Believer.
https://off-guardian.org/2019/05/03/uk-local-election-propaganda-significant-losses-for-both-sides/
So the tories get decimated and, instead of being the recipient of a mass of disgruntled voters wrath, labour themselves also take a hammering. Not really the look of a government in waiting.
And you say true believer lol
For every seat Labour lost, the Tories lost 14.
"Have Labour gained a whole bunch of seats? No. But the media effort to conflate Labour’s minor losses with the complete trouncing the Conservatives have taken is totally dishonest."
The results aren't in dispute, are they? What is, is how labour lost big and didn't benefit from the tory backlash, casting doubt on their ability to form a government after the next general election. It doesn’t seem they are resonating well with the public.
Without a brexit agreement, the longer Farrage's brexit party and the ukip stay in the game seems to be Corbyn's only hope of sneaking in to power at present, by default. Having the lib dems bounce back will take seats off May, but then labour could well lose out in 3 way electorates, and those tactically voting where they are in 3rd place. Not that positive, and certainly not much to shout about against a most unpopular ruling party.
Lucky for labour it's first past the post and not mmp, otherwise they'd be screwed with, on current polling, only scoring in the low 30s.
Agreed, the results are indisputable.
If, as you say, "Labour lost big",
then the Tories lost big big big big big big big big big big big big big big.
Decimated,I wrote.
And if labour have lost councils and councillors during that time, then the reports of shared significant losses are indeed accurate.
If 14-to-1 is your idea of "shared" losses, then bags I get first choice after you've cut the cake.
Carry on spinning.
Yep, shared significant losses. Consider where labour were losing hardest, take in the big picture, add context, and the story behind the numbers makes more sense.
And spinning, for who?
Seems you're talking up Labour losses – that’s your focus, no?
I’m attempting to provide a quantitative representation of (relative) losses which might form the basis for objective analyses.
Labour: Losers
Tories: Losers Losers Losers Losers Losers Losers Losers Losers Losers Losers Losers Losers Losers Losers
Regarding the beneficiaries of 'spin', happy for readers to judge.
libdems: winners winners winners winners winners winners winners
Well I'm definitely not downplaying labours losses, nor what it potentially means for them going forward electorally as a party who can still lose on the night as the most divided tory party in a generation shart it's pants.
So in rejecting the claims of propaganda and biassed media reporting in covering this poll, looking in to the stories behind the numbers (such as why labour shed votes to the lib dems in swings of around 8%), and going deeper behind a banner headline (why the major opposition party didn't pick up conservative protest votes when it needs them in these electorates to become government), I am also happy to leave it to the readers to decide whose spinning and for why.
Great to see Minister Sage push back successfully on the Waihi Oceania Gold tailing dam investment.
That will have taken political hard work within this government.
Given Labour's history in Waihi it would be hard not to support mining in a mining town.
Tough decision for a government, but great standup Minister Sage.
Yes Ad but the big issue is this.
yes we humans are one of the first to be extinct I fear.
The planet is nearing the end as the Ross Sea ice shelf is about to disappear and our sea levels will rise dramatically.
The oxygen content in the atmosphere is sinking every month now so how long can we survive without oxygen in our air?
We daily see brand new trucks on our roads all hauling freight that used to go by rail, increasing the carbon levels as we speak, so we are a menace to ourselves alright.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190429111835.htm
Rapid melting of the world’s largest ice shelf linked to solar heat in the ocean
Date:
April 29, 2019
Source:
University of Cambridge
Summary:
An international team of scientists has found part of the world’s largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than the overall ice shelf average, due to solar heating of the surrounding ocean surface.
Not much hope for our children now but to flee to a “survival bunkers” like they are probably building up high on the safety of the te-ureweras up in the hills when the end comes.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1705/S00487/te-kawa-o-te-ureweras-draft-released.htm
Sounds like it's a problem that's going to solve itself cleany.
This would be the third such environmental catastrophe in the Waihi area. Not only would this toxic* mound of waste cover over 178H of agricultural land rendering it useless and presenting an eyesore for generations to come, there are other considerations to be taken into account as well.
https://teggtalk.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/how-earthquake-safe-are-the-mine-tailings-dams-at-waihi/
Coromandel Watchdog have been fighting this crap from the miners for years now. We don't need any more fucking gold. There has been 170,000 of tonnes of the stuff mined and locked up in safes such as Fort Knox, and elsewhere already. So it's already there if ever it is needed for any useful purpose. To get enough gold for a single wedding ring you have to drill though 250 tonnes of rock, pulverize it, then chemically treat it. Such activity now is simply madness.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5129257/
This is the way to do it.
The key was leadership
Fascists peacefully swamped by large crowd, cancel planned march through Liverpool.
When only a small counter protest turn up, the fascists sensing weakness, will not hesitate to use violence to intimidate and smash them over.
What made the difference between a small counter protest and large counter protest was leadership.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/03/liverpool-runs-far-right-marchers-out-of-town
Ha! I heard, "Bye bye".
Love it! Thank-you Jenny.
I think that National’s break-point will be when the Budget gets presented to the House. The Party’s response and its Leader’s delivery will seal their fate for the next Election. Even the opinion pieces of Political Editors are getting boringly predictable in style and substance but they still do their job as click-bait <sigh>.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/112458922/nationals-sinking-feeling-after-jacinda-ardern-springs-engagement-news
Here's hoping. Nothing I'd like more than to see the current National Party crop to self-destruct.
Having just watched "The Nation", what worries me is that there's a fair few issues where Labour/the Coalition are not even picking the low hanging fruit (apologies – I'm still pivoting going forward from the other day). Simon Wilson had a point – to do with the interaction between departments (in this case IRD and MSD) and the Ministers responsible – this to do with the case of a rape victim. From what I could see, even under current legislation, this matter could at least be partially resolved even if, as Sepuloni said, there would be no retrospective compensation.
Then there are things such as worker exploitation (BOTH immigrant and citizen) which could be at LEAST improved by Ministerial and Ministry intervention.
Then there are NZTA fuckups, insurance issues, etc, etc., etc. that may start to really piss off an impatient electorate if the Coalition doesn't pick up the pace (especially where some basic resolution doesn't require law changes).
Even IF and THOUGH the gNats are in most part to blame for a lot of it all, it won't stop them from scoring a few hits if some of this 'low hanging fruit' isn't dealt with.
It's a failure of cabinet leadership to not make immediate fixes because you are waiting to implement longer-term change.
/agreed – even with a heavy workload. And possibly a failure of Ministerial-Department/Ministry Head interaction if and when there are roadblocks – even given all that 'impartiality of officials'.
And then there's a rabid media to contend with, many of whom will still be stirring as much shit as possible in their dying days, but I doubt whether even the likes of JC would be giving a free ride over the example(s) given above.
They may get beyond Christ-levels of forgiveness, yes. 🙂
As we have seen in the past, when the time is right, even a very mildly lefty government can be taken down by outrage over light-bulbs. This is the world we live in – a dominion of lies ruled over by money.
But the light-bulbs are symbolic of other matters that there are doubts about; they just act as a marker, virtue-signalling.*
It could mean there are the Left looking down, fussing over every little thing while the parade passes by.
It could mean there are the Left trying to be the Knight on the White Charger saving people who didn't want that.
It could be there are the Left fulminating over something, and ready to turn our lives upside down as they did when they brought in the Free-Market and No Regulation.
It could mean there are the people who are going to make us take our medicine which they have prescribed and no-one we know considers we are even sick, but they always know best.
It could mean that Labour presses an anti-authority nerve in those who are happy to pursue their own ends and let someone else clean up any messes left. What me clean up. I employ people to do that for me, and anyway others have done it too, why pick on me/us to behave well, make changes that aren't proven 100% worthwhile.
Examples of possible effects of new light bulb changes. In myself I thought of the cost of buying two new light bulbs at possibly $7 each compared to incandescent ones at $1 each. When people are really poor they can't afford to make such forward-moving gestures. Cut out incandescents and it would be back to candles. So I hoped that Labour could cut its crusading zeal down to what was okay for the precariat working and not working classes which used to be their spine.
*Virtue-signalling:
the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or the moral correctness of one’s position on a particular issue.
“it’s noticeable how often virtue signalling consists of saying you hate things”
Regulating energy-efficient lightbulbs and showers was symbolic of the fundamental changes we need to make for the climate – and we have seen in the decade since that how far many people are prepared to go to keep their heads firmly planted in the sand.
If making those small changes was never going to have any effect, you might be able to claim it was 'virtue signalling'. That's just a bad-faith phrase from the dolts of the US right.
It was what it was. As you say it was symbolic of changes we needed to make, and that they would not recognise the difficulties that very low income people faced, because they don't care to apply their minds to da little peeps. Fact – fact.
And don't forget the “Fart Tax” AB when some farmer/Nat MP drove his tractor up parliament steps. Everybody laughed. Such a good joke against the Clark government.
Not laughing now are they, although not nearly enough has been done about it.
Labour should turn all that puerile stuff back on National – and those who fell for it – simply because they deserve it.
Fair comments. I think it would be great if somebody more familiar with it does a (guest) post on the different areas of responsibility of departmental CEOs, for example, for operational matters, and the Ministers. As far as I know, Ministers don’t hire the staff in their Ministries.
Where’s veutoviper?
She walked Incognito. I don't know why but suspect someone or some people here offended her.
There are a tiny handful of commenters on this site who make a career out of trying to offend regulars.
If we commenters care about what is happening to people in NZ and the world then we can't walk away from a forum like this that attempts to bring matters to scrutiny. It is good if people don't get nagged at all the time, if they have a point they should be considered. But it may need altering when some of its aspects are challenged. The view as to rightness can be different depending on the perspective. If the challenger does not have a worthy point and is unrelenting there is the choice of ignoring them, or uncovering their perspective and showing it as unreasonable. Also sometimes when you disagree with someone, it is still possible to see their greater good overall.
Those who want to state a case and think that they are totally right, need to stay on and at least hear and have short discussions about other people's POV. Veutoviper is a concerned and informed person and could be expected to stick around not walk away.
But some I think have 20th century perceptions. These have to alter somewhat – we can't think in exactly the same mode as the past, our future is changing and our approach must also – we know that life may become extremely uncomfortable. I worry as I read stories from the holocaust, from past times; we haven't made the great strides in managing our human life, emotions and desires, goals and outcomes, as we should. Therefore we have to think more deeply, nothing is absolutely certain, judgments have to be made., sometimes interim. Kindness and practicality must be hand in hand. For everyone who gives up, there are a thousand who will never understand that particular POV, and vice versa. It is important for the thinking, to assess their own thoughts and try to understand others who haven't experience or imagination.
FYI @ Incognito.
You might be interested in RNZ's "The House" a week or so back (31/3/2019 i THINK).
Briefly deals with various powers vested in Ministers and Departmental CEO's and down the chain – regulatory authority etc. which allows for a degree of flexibility when conditions change or in unforeseen circumstances.
Things CAN get done quite quickly when necessary – as we have just seen. For example: in the case of the Christchurch terrorist attack, visa changes to allow family members of victims to come to NZ were implemented within a couple of weeks.
And yes re Ministers and hiring of staff (which is as it should be probably), but there are ways and means – Ministers making it clear what expectations are, etc.
And let's not pretend the old nudge nudge wink wink shit hasn't been happening – especially during the gNat's last reign, OR things like abuse of the OIA system, OR the use of Thompson & Clark – clearly unacceptable behaviour for the public service to be involved in. Sanctions are available for that sort of thing BUT for political will and who has been licking who's arse (Sorry to be blunt, but that's what it amounts to).
Deliberate under-resourcing in some areas (for example) of those responsible for monitoring tertiary education, or visa compliance (James Casson aside), or monitoring the state of some of those immigration 'advisors' suited the last gNat junta very well. Priorities CAN be adjusted in many cases to ensure the sort of shit "The Nation" covered, or exploitation doesn't/didn't happen.
Thanks, I might have a look later although I’m keen to write a post (on a different topic). In any case, I don’t feel comfortable to write a meaningful post on departments and ministries, for example.
That thing by Watkins was a snore-fest. Could have been written a year ago and no-one would know the difference.
Exactly! It still managed to attract 480 comments!? Comments have now been closed on the article, but this is why they keep writing these snore fests.
It is a most peculiar article. She starts off with acomment about the donations to National soaring while Labours were paltry.
Somehow this is meant to be interpreted as National are in trouble? Shouldn't it mean, if her remark about "donations drying up" is correct it is Labour that is in trouble?
Still it is a pretty typical Watkins piece. Bugger the facts. She loves Ardern.
Harp music 🙂
An insightful view on how we used to police bad behaviour on our roads by someone who knows.
Makes me wonder whether our terrible road toll could be reduced if we returned to the old style of traffic policing, by a specialist force of dedicated officers with a passion for road safety and saving lives on the road, as their sole mission.
https://www.noted.co.nz/life/life-in-nz/when-traffic-cops-used-to-rule-new-zealand-roads/
Food for thought at least.
I was told something interesting by a friend who was part of the emergency response to the Tasman forest fire and was talking to a top Tasman cop. He said the previous National government had little interest in road safety, their sole focus was on keeping traffic, and of course commerce in the form of trucking, moving as quickly as possible. He is very pleased to see the coalition government's focus firmly back on policing for safer roads.
Yes, and that is a great example of getting on with change – immediate Budget action, clear announcement by Minister, results on the ground spreading already. Glad to hear those who have to respond to safety failures are noticing improvement.
Ae! And they have this weird idea that double lanes in both directions will naturally allow it all to happen (when the average NuZillner has yet to come to terms with merging like a zip and still drives like it's all a competition, in between checking the latest beep or blip or bell sound that comes across their cell phone).
Hence we have the likes of that absolute white baby elephant fuckup between Papamoa and Paengaroa (incidentally, where some of the worst worker exploitation, immigrants and others involved in bullshit tertiary education and other little scams reside and where Cassons try to justify their race shism), but where the occasional logging truck, gNat and orchid owner roams free
That's a good 'wonder' Jenny H. The cops now seem too centred on vehicle crime, perhaps it gets their figures up to the target set; another idea stop high targets and concentrate on outcomes of projects for improvement.
Also run stats counting all reasonably serious accidents and stop concentrating on the death toll. That stat only indicates a complete failure by traffic police to show care for people and polite interaction on the roads instead a simple end-of-life statistic for the books.
(An idea – have projects like for a period ask people to drive differently coming to roundabouts by slowing by about 10 kms so allowing others to move onto the road space in the few seconds that a slower entry would provide. See if over a six month period, what might be called cautious courtesy driving would lower accidents, and facilitate traffic movement. Too many people drive at full speed into a roundabout which is unwise, and reduces others entry-openings.)
Speed bumps at roundabout entries grazy. That'll slow the funkers down.
Immediately effective – and cheaper than "asking" people.
Fair comment Jenny.
I travel the east coast highway two from Napier to Tauranga often and have seen so many large potholes on these narrow winding single lane roads caused by heavy trucks all the time now and these potholes are so large that if you don't swerve to avoid them you will damage your steering system.
I have had 6 steering repairs in two years all caused by hitting large potholes.
That is one issue. then there are speeding drivers always trying to force slow drivers to speed up, and that is another problem..
The Government cant afford to keep fixing the damages the trucks are causing now so we need to see government increase the use of the roads by those trucks, in a "user Pays" policy.
Clearly the 'heavier longer trucks' HPMV are far too heavy for our light weighted 'soft roads' now.
.
all those parts for repairs on your car would have quite possibly been transported by truck to your repairer.
Trucks are on the road because of customer demand for goods. If you dont consume anything, then the trucks have nothing to transport, so wont be on the road.
if we eliminate HPMV, these would be replaced by around 20% more trucks.
Erik Prince tried to train James O’Keefe’s undercover ninnies, but the instructor threw in the towel because the group wasn’t capable of learning.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/erik-prince-set-up-intel-training-for-project-veritas-james-okeefe-report
Thwarted young men seeking extreme adventure learn the hard way in trouble spots like Ukraine.
They don't want to be bossed round by warlord oligarchs like Prince
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-04/ukraine-foreign-fighters-meger/11054728
Then they come back home…
Thwarted young men my arse. These fuckers are aboard the wingnut welfare train with O'keefe himself reportedly raking in an estimated $300k in 2017.
They’re coming from all over the world Joe, from both sides of the political divide. Nothing to do with Keefe whoever the hell that nobody is .
“Meanwhile, George, an American fighting on the Ukrainian side, described those he fought with as having “the same hatred for Russia or the same kind of sense of nationalism”.
Could be you Joe
“Anti-imperialists, anti-fascists, and those on the far left come to defend the pro-communist separatists and defend the autonomous regions from what they see as global imperialism.”
Then why the fuck did you bother replying to a comment about O’Keefe?
a career opportunity for you.
Put your money where your mouth is
Weak sauce, dope.
Send those chickenhawks Bolton, Pence, and brave, brave Marco Rubio down to Caracas. Let's see how long they last!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/rugby-world-cup/rwc-2019-japan/112452503/revealed-how-the-all-blacks-coaches-deal-with-injury-setbacks-in-world-cup-year
NZ rugby has dug it's own hole, & cancelled out the aspects of the game that allowed NZ's natural talent to thrive at the game in a way that summed up to the display of a national heritage like no where else in the world. The aspects of the game that gave the All Blacks a long standing distinguished dynanism are thrown away and can't come back, and the hole will avalanche in more and more, as can not be sustained.
Now a diplomatic security risk everytime run on the field for NZ i'm afraid too; an illustration being the prestige to Russia's ( a heavily armed nation) image it's overall diplomatic handling of the recent successful soccer world cup gave it, to the division and acrimony the ABs have associated to NZ on such stages in recent times in relation to the rest of the game.
Black Ferns rugby can be a new story for NZ instead.
New Zealand took the 2011 RWC not because of any "natural talent" but because of the refusal of the "referee" to penalize the home team's blatant cheating throughout that farcical final.
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/mark-reason-new-zealand-deserved-to.html
File it under swings and roundabouts Mozza, it balances the ledger for Barnes being overwhelmed on the '07 match were France went unpenalised for a half and scored a try with a forward pass.
File it under swings and roundabouts Mozza, it balances the ledger for Barnes being overwhelmed on the '07 match
Nonsense. On stilts. He made two errors—he missed two forward passes, one leading to a try for the All Blacks, one to a try for the Tricolors. His couple of honest errors are not in the same universe as Craig Joubert’s refusal to even warn, let alone penalize, the flagrant and systematic cheating by the All Blacks in that infamous farce four years later.
France went unpenalised for a half …
They did not infringe. That's why.
…. and scored a try with a forward pass.
So did New Zealand. Luke McAlister's try followed a forward pass. I recommend you watch the match some time.
The All Blacks were imploding due to another episode of poor management of our rugby talents in the deserved French upset, and it would have happened one way or another.
The more recent final against the Wallabies was also poor referring but by then no one was paying attention, & despite the rigged deck, the aussies were only a James O'Connor type player break away from over coming them anyway, which isn't surprising given the Georgia pool game would be the poorest AB team performance in any world cup.
poor management of our rugby talents in the deserved French upset
What do you mean by "poor management"? They simply lost a football match. The French were too good for them.
The more recent final against the Wallabies was also poor referring
???? There was nothing in that final to match the non-performance by Joubert in 2011. The only terrible refereeing in the 2015 tournament was in the Australia-Scotland match. The “referee” was…. Craig Joubert.
Upset…..deserved
If things had gone the Wallabies way in terms of referring in crucial stages in that game, they could have broken the ABs, who they were otherwise clinging onto by their fingernails in staying in the match.
Fair call, my friend. However, the Wallabies were not the victims of orchestrated cheating.
That's the beauty of the game, 2 folk can watch it and see two totally different games.
I see way more ruck penalties when the team from Canterbury plays than my red and black jerseyed friends.
You clearly haven't watched either the 2007 match or the 2011 travesty.
Heh, it's great to be the only one right eh mozza.
Try (see what I did there) this on for size…
"They did not infringe…"
The video had three different angles and featured statistical breakdowns of lineouts, scrums, penalties, tackle counts, territory and possession. On those statistics, the All Blacks dominated. They had an overwhelming 73 per cent territorial advantage, winning 166 rucks to France's 42 and making only 73 tackles compared with France's 331.
….
To clarify, I got that from Wikipedia, wanting to confirm we we're talking about the same game.
They didn't infringe. They defended grimly. It's hard to beat a French team that's really determined. Unless you've got a "referee" like Andre Watson or Craig Joubert.
I imagine what Morrissey knows about rugby you could fit in a Lilliputian's thimble.
Ha ha ha ha ha! Good one, M'bird! I think you meant to say "could fit in a Brobdingnabian's thimble."
Of course, a quick sashay through this writer's oeuvre will show you that I've commented on rugby and other sports at an elevated and thoughtful level* for many years now.
And let's face it: even someone who knows as little about the game as, say, a Herald rugby writer or a Radio Sports opinion-vomiter like Martin "Moron" Devlin or Tony "Boot Boy" Veitch knows that the All Blacks were beaten fair and square by the Tricolors in 2007, and that they were allowed to cheat flagrantly throughout that farcical RWC final four years later.
* At the risk of being immodest.
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/daisycutter-sports-rugby-world-cup.html
You don't know shit from clay on this subject.
That's no argument, my friend. My record speaks for itself. Yours?
Gotta say mozza, I'm with the short tailed shear water on this.
I did watch, let alone live both games.
Currently I am watching the local derby, come half time and find you are still braying.
I reckon it will not stop you having an opinion on this match though.
Otago v Waikato is not a local derby. Auckland v. Counties is a local derby.
Interesting to see how readily you resort to derogatory language: dismissing what I say as "braying." Have you considered a career in talk radio perhaps?
In regards to being derogatory, I acknowledge, withdraw and apologise.
As to blatant cheating, I maintain two people can watch the same game and see two different spectacles. Evidence being this exchange.
In regards to being derogatory, I acknowledge, withdraw and apologise.
Good man, g!
https://media1.tenor.com/images/b54ca60562cd613dfc43bca55a15a3b4/tenor.gif?itemid=7298734
As to blatant cheating, I maintain two people can watch the same game and see two different spectacles. Evidence being this exchange.
You saw the blatant, orchestrated cheating by the All Black forwards in that farcical 2011 RWC Final just as well as everyone else did.
Ha! Were you at kids' sport this morning? Or ever?
What difference does it make?
And now Ben Smith is helped from the field after a sickening collision in a very willing local Derry.
Knee hyper-extended and a chin on shoulder contact…
Otago v Waikato is not a local Derry. Nor is it a local derby. It's a game between two teams separated by several hundred kilometres.
In a competition that spans tens of thousands of kilometeres, chiefs vs highlanders is a local derby.
No it's not. A derby game is between two teams from the same town, or adjacent towns. Auckland-Counties or Auckland-North Harbour or Otago-Southland are derby games.
Similarly, Manchester United v. Man. City and AstonVilla v. Birmingham, and Arsenal v. Chelsea are derbies, but Liverpool v. Arsenal is not.
Yes it is. I will follow the example of Grant Nisbett MNZM and caller of 300 test matches rather than yours.
I note you refuse to use the franchise names. Perhaps a sign of a fondness for a bygone era?
My exception is the team from Canterbury, until they change their name that is what they shall remain.
Grant Nisbett? He's certainly superior to Ian "Smithy" Smith and Justin Marshall *, but on this he's as slapdash as they are.
I'm happy to use the franchise names, but I'm not going to accept the extirpation of the provincial names. It's the Wellington Hurricanes, and the Auckland Blues, and the Waikato Chiefs.
And it's the Natal Sharks and the Johannesburg Lions, not the "South African Sharks" and "South African Lions."
And yes, you're correct, it's the Canterbury Crusaders. Need to change that vile name, of course, but whatever it is, it'll still be Christchurch's team. BTW, how come the Crusaders never played a game against the famous London team Saracens?
* I tangled with that numbskull fifteen years ago….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/bernadine-or-hell-hath-no-fury-aug-29.html
Gotta say for me its the Hurricanes as Wellington isn't the extent of the catchment area.
I am in the Manawatu and struggled to cheer for the Highlanders because of the large number of local players in that team.
Tad churlish perhaps but I am sure I am not the only grumpy one in this discussion.
Yes, you're correct about the Hurricanes not being only a Wellington team. Manawatu and Hawkes Bay are important parts of the team, and so was Taranaki. And, no, I haven't forgotten the Wairarapa, Horowhenua, Whanganui, etc. But the major urban area is Wellington, and that's where most of the home games are played.
Similarly, the Boston Red Sox represent not only the Boston urban area but all of the states of New England. Only a mental pygmy such as a New Zealand Rugby boss would be persuaded to dispense with the word "Boston" however.
Welfare reforms and Max Rashbrooke.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/388468/at-last-welfare-emphasis-will-move-from-punishment-to-support
Opinion – The battles over welfare are in large part a dispute about whether people who find themselves relying on social security are principally in need of punishment or support….
More generally, as the report notes, there is very little evidence that sanctions achieve their claimed effects of getting people back into work. They are just as likely to force people out of the system altogether or into reliance on criminal activities or unsustainable borrowing.
In contrast to the harsh overseer model, the experts' report is an attempt to put a nurturing, caring assistant at the heart of the welfare system. It centres the system on whakamana tāngata – "restoring dignity to people so they can participate meaningfully with their families and communities"…
The experts' report does not, as some hoped, spell out a completely new and coherent plan for a 21st century welfare system. It does not sketch out a fully future-proofed welfare system. It represents big change, not transformational change.
But then, like most of this government's working groups, Cindy Kiro and her team were not given the time and resources to deliver on broader ambitions. What they have produced, though, is still immensely important.
And Jeremy Pie – On the UK State of the nation report.
Social mobility in UK has stalled. In 2010 Cameron set up Social Mobility Commission but it resigned en masse a year after Theresa May had said she would do great stuff in fixing injustices. They said that the Government was too focussed on Brexit to do anything.
Then in the USA, he decided that Trump promised change and now people have got it!
Please at least add quote marks when you use a mix of yours and someone else's words like that – better still, click the ["] button on the editor toolbar so the quoted paragraph becomes indented.
Oh hell. Now I won't pass the adaptive test for understandability. I'm a failure at communication. I'm teetering on the edge of not commenting here and leaving it to the snobs.
Our world is coming to an end but our sentence construction, our syntax is what really catches the eye and the mind.
Passive? Or Aggressive? Passive or aggressive? We just don't know.
Sorry, I have just noticed that the whole thing was a quote, not your words at all.
Good. Let's get the history correct – surely truth is important.
Moderator
Any chance of a confirmation that my contribution and a separate email have been received and if it's okay, middling, passing bad, not okay?
I’ll make an enquiry at the back-end.
Ta.
I haven't seen anything. I'll have a look.
Thanks if I haven't done right, I'll do a printout on what I should do next time so I get in the current.
Oz Rugby has an $8B budget hole this year – (not sure when they get this years World Cup money) and face a payout of $4M on Folau's contract if their termination is seen as a breach.
They have only one option – given Cheika says he will not be selected even if still on contract, refuse to pay him a penny and drag this through the courts if they have to. Even if they still payout – better later than now. But more likely – given he would be unable to play and would have no guarantee of ever receiving any money – he would be forced to seek to leave the contract so he can be paid to play elsewhere.
The IAAF has a rule whereby women competitors must have a testosterone level below "5" (the norm is .2 to 1.5), for events between 400m and the mile, but not shorter distances or field events.
It seems as if their rule applies only to distances which only one specific athlete competes.
Given the said extra testosterone gives athletes an advantage in shorter distances and field events the most (which is why males and females have taken drugs for these events way more often than for the 800m and 1500m) their rule is inexplicable.
Labour's Bill Shorten won 'narrowly in last nights leaders debate in Brisbane.
Gym Jordan's in for a rough ride.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University asked a judge Wednesday for permission to publicly share information about a confidential state medical board investigation involving the team doctor accused of decades-old sexual misconduct against more than 150 former students.
http://www.startribune.com/ohio-state-wants-info-on-96-doc-investigation-made-public/509334551/
I notice the new self appointed elite of NZ journalism has decided to freely name the Christchurch murderer, even going so far as to promote him and his home town in backwater Australia.
What a disgraceful rag that Herald is.
Edit: I looked a bit deeper into the writer of this promotion piece, Caroline Meng-Yee, and it turns out she’s bee in trouble before for dressing as slain Sophie Elliot at a fancy dress birthday party in 2011.
I wouldn't be surprised if their reasoning is that the inevitable outrage will suck in a bunch of eyeballs. They'll come out with some freedom bullshit and that'll reel in Trotsker and co.
Reading about this Meng-Yee character made me feel sad. There are some verifiable scumbags writing for publications and the banner under which they publish legitimises their horrible nature.
She seems like one of those women who gets turned on by serial murderers. Her promotional piece on the Australian suggests that.
sad and sick for me
It's a horrible thought but I wonder if the Herald is softening the ground for a full push on trial coverage where they hope to make hundreds of thousands of dollars creating a circus based on the misery of this malevolent event.
Can't see how that would fit with this: https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/chch-terror/388166/christchurch-mosque-shootings-media-agree-on-trial-coverage-protocols
(e) Meng-Yee is experienced, yet she dressed up as the slain victim in a case she covered presumably in order to promote herself and her agenda. I think the Herald are quite happy to have this sociopath cover the very worst terror attack in this country since the land wars.
It suits them!
That's 8 years ago.
Wow. What an apologist you are. I'm really surprised.
Sense of proportion.
8 years ago..
Are you serious?
Excuse me?
That reporter was trusted with the coverage of the Sophie Elliot murder. A psychopathic murder by a person very similar in character to the Christchurch mass murderer and she dressed up as the victim three short years later?
I guess she'll be happy wearing a bloodied hijab to her next fancy dress ball!
No excuses for that disgusting behaviour no matter how many years ago. From the link above
Makes me give thanks for a paywall.
Hopefully the amount of times that fishwrap (thanks Patricia (I think)), gets quoted.
Awful Auckland centric rag that it is.
As I have said before: As they try to escape from behind it in an effort to get noticed, the paywall will encourage a race to the bottom by NZ Herald journalists.
And as many here have posited, the Herald will the most likely only allow the most venal, (like Hosking), to be outside the paywall. This will further increase the downward pressure on Herald journalists as they compete to be more like Hosking.
The Herald will no longer be the journal of record. That task will fall to free to air and on line Public Service Broadcaster, RNZ.
UK local election results was a case of a plague on both your houses. Looks like Corbyn is not doing as good a job as some might like to paint it.
Nice comment, idiot. Why be such an air-head when you are capable of more?
??????
The fact is that the Conservative Party has been humiliated. Labour, the biggest and most popular party in Europe, has performed far better.
https://off-guardian.org/2019/05/03/uk-local-election-propaganda-significant-losses-for-both-sides/
Looks like Maybot is doing n even shittier job than everyone thought gozzer.
Forty nine years ago.
In face of the climate crisis, amongst our official leaders. It almost seems, that courageous leadership is a forgotten art.
And when our official leaders shrink back from taking the lead; No matter, that they have no rank, or title, or official position the, leadership will fall to the one who leads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRgJ-22S_Rs
Success!
The Democratic Party succeed in finding a candidate worse than Clinton.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/01/biden-sides-trump-bolton-and-pompeo-backing-coup-effort-venezuela?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=Biden%20Sides%20With%20Trump%2C%20Bolton%2C%20and%20Pompeo%20in%20Backing%20Coup%20Effort%20in%20Venezuela&utm_campaign=%27Beautiful%20Trouble%27%20in%20World%20That%20Needs%20It%20Badly%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20in%20Review&utm_content=email&utm_source=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-%27Beautiful%20Trouble%27%20in%20World%20That%20Needs%20It%20Badly%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20in%20Review-_-Biden%20Sides%20With%20Trump%2C%20Bolton%2C%20and%20Pompeo%20in%20Backing%20Coup%20Effort%20in%20Venezuela'>Biden Sides With Trump, Bolton, and Pompeo in Backing Coup Effort in Venezuela
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/05/that-time-joe-biden-lied-about-his-academic-credentials/?utm_source=mj-newsletters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=in-the-mix-2019-05-04Nobody does alternative facts like Donald Trump, except Joe Biden
<a href='https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/30/more-90-democratic-voters-want-2020-candidate-make-climate-action-and-medicare-all?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=More%20Than%2090%2525%20of%20Democratic%20Voters%20Want%202020%20Candidate%20to%20Make%20Climate%20Action%20and%20Medicare%20for%20All%20Top%20Priorities%3A%20Poll&utm_campaign=%27Beautiful%20Trouble%27%20in%20World%20That%20Needs%20It%20Badly%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20in%20Review&utm_content=email&utm_source=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-%27Beautiful%20Trouble%27%20in%20World%20That%20Needs%20It%20Badly%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20in%20Review-_-More%20Than%2090%2525%20of%20Democratic%20Voters%20Want%202020%20Candidate%20to%20Make%20Climate%20Action%20and%20Medicare%20for%20All%20Top%20Priorities%3A%20Poll'>More Than 90% of Democratic Voters Want 2020 Candidate to Make Climate Action and Medicare for All Top Priorities: Poll</a>
<a href='https://www.philly.com/news/joe-biden-2020-campaign-fundraising-democratic-party-20190426.html'>Within hours of announcing his nomination, Joe Biden attends a fund raiser with internet and private health insurer billionaires opposed to 'Net Neutrality, and 'Medicare'</a>
Doesn't the system that puts that long link address under one linked word work any more?
Let me try it out:
<a href=”https://www.elections.org.nz/”>Elections</a>
<a href=’https://www.elections.org.nz/>Elections</a>
<a href=’https://www.elections.org.nz>Elections</a>
Edit: it seems not.
Use the link symbol in the Editor.
Elections