Open mike 04/07/2019
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7:00 am, July 4th, 2019 - 154 comments
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- International statement – End-to-end encryption and public safetyWe, the undersigned, support strong encryption, which plays a crucial role in protecting personal data, privacy, intellectual property, trade secrets and cyber security. It also serves a vital purpose in repressive states to protect journalists, human rights defenders and other vulnerable people, as stated in the 2017 resolution of the ...1 week ago
- Ministry of Defence Biodefence Assessment releasedThe Ministry of Defence has today released a Defence Assessment examining Defence’s role across the spectrum of biological hazards and threats facing New Zealand. Biodefence: Preparing for a New Era of Biological Hazards and Threats looks at how the NZDF supports other agencies’ biodefence activities, and considers the context of ...1 week ago
- New Approaches to Economic Challenges: Confronting Planetary Emergencies: OECD 9 October 2020New Approaches to Economic Challenges: Confronting Planetary Emergencies: OECD 9 October 2020 Hon David Parker’s response following Thomas Piketty and Esther Duflo. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, wherever in the world you might be. I first acknowledge the excellent thought provoking speeches of Thomas Piketty and Esther ...2 weeks ago
- Kaipara Moana restoration takes next stepA Memorandum of Understanding has been signed today at Waihāua Marae between the Crown, local iwi and councils to protect, restore and enhance the mauri of Kaipara Moana in Northland. Environment Minister David Parker signed the document on behalf of the Crown along with representatives from Ngā Maunga Whakahī, Ngāti ...2 weeks ago
- New Zealand and Uruguay unite on reducing livestock production emissionsAgriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Uruguayan Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries Carlos María Uriarte have welcomed the launch of a three-year project that will underpin sustainable livestock production in Uruguay, Argentina, and Costa Rica. The project called ‘Innovation for pasture management’ is led by Uruguay’s National Institute of Agricultural ...2 weeks ago
- 3100 jobs created through marae upgradesHundreds of marae throughout the country will be upgraded through investments from the Provincial Growth Fund’s refocused post COVID-19 funding to create jobs and put money into the pockets of local tradespeople and businesses, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta have announced. “A total ...2 weeks ago
- Health volunteers recognised in annual awardsHealth Minister Chris Hipkins has announced 9 teams and 14 individuals are the recipients of this year’s Minister of Health Volunteer Awards. “The health volunteer awards celebrate and recognise the thousands of dedicated health sector volunteers who give many hours of their time to help other New Zealanders,” Mr Hipkins ...2 weeks ago
- Community COVID-19 Fund supports Pacific recoveryThe Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio says a total of 264 groups and individuals have successfully applied for the Pacific Aotearoa Community COVID-19 Recovery Fund, that will support Pacific communities drive their own COVID-19 recovery strategies, initiatives, and actions. “I am keen to see this Fund support Pacific ...2 weeks ago
- Community benefits from Māori apprenticeshipsUp to 50 Māori apprentices in Wellington will receive paid training to build houses for their local communities, thanks to a $2.75 million investment from the Māori Trades and Training Fund, announced Employment Minister Willie Jackson today. “This funding will enable Ngāti Toa Rangatira Incorporated to provide its Ngā Kaimahi ...2 weeks ago
- Training fund supports Māori jobseekersRapidly growing sectors will benefit from a $990,000 Māori Trades and Training Fund investment which will see Wellington jobseekers supported into work, announced Employment Minister Willie Jackson today. “This funding will enable Sapphire Consultants Ltd. to help up to 45 Māori jobseekers into paid training initiatives over two years through ...2 weeks ago
- Ruakura Inland Port development vital infrastructure for WaikatoThe Government is investing $40 million to develop an inland port at Ruakura which will become a freight super-hub and a future business, research and residential development for the Waikato, Urban Development and Transport Minister Phil Twyford, and Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The funding has been has ...2 weeks ago
- Appointments made to Defence Expert Review GroupDefence Minister Ron Mark announced today the establishment of an Expert Review Group to review a number of aspects of the New Zealand Defence Force’s (NZDF) structure, information management and record-keeping processes. The Expert Review Group’s work arises out of the first recommendation from the Report of the Government’s Inquiry ...2 weeks ago
- No active community cases of COVID-19There are no active community cases of COVID-19 remaining in the country after the last people from the recent outbreak have recovered from the virus, Health Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “This is a big milestone. New Zealanders have once again through their collective actions squashed the virus. The systems ...2 weeks ago
- Clean energy upgrade for more public buildingsMore public buildings will be supported by the Government to upgrade to run on clean energy, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. Minister Shaw announced that Lincoln and Auckland universities will receive support through the Clean-Powered Public Service Fund to replace fossil fuel boilers. Southern, Taranaki, and ...2 weeks ago
- Schools back donations scheme for the second yearMore schools have opted in to the donations scheme for 2021, compared to 2020 when the scheme was introduced. “The families of more than 447,000 students will be better off next year, with 94% of eligible schools and kura opting into the scheme,” Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “This is ...2 weeks ago
- Ruapehu cycle trails gets PGF boostThe spectacular Mountains to Sea cycle trail in Ruapehu District will receive $4.6 million in funding from the Provincial Growth Fund for two additional trails, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This is an exciting development for the local community, and one that will provide significant economic opportunities ...2 weeks ago
- Update to air border order strengthens crew requirementsAdditional measures coming into effect on Monday will boost our defence against COVID-19 entering New Zealand through the air border, Health Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “As part of our precautionary approach and strategy of constant review, we’re tightening the requirements around international aircrew,” Chris Hipkins said. The COVID-19 Public ...3 weeks ago
- A true picture of Māori business activityA better picture of the contribution Māori businesses make to the economy will be possible with changes to the way information is collected about companies and trading enterprises. Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash have announced a new option for Māori enterprises who are part ...3 weeks ago
- PGF funding for Taranaki projectsThe South Taranaki museum, a New Plymouth distillery and a Pasifika building firm will benefit from a Government investment totalling more than $1 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. The $1.05m in grants and loans from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will help the recipients expand and create ...3 weeks ago
- Fijian Language Week 2020 inspires courage and strength during COVID-19 pandemicThe Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio says the theme for the 2020 Fijian Language Week reflects the strong belief by Fijians that their language and culture inspires courage and strength that is strongly needed in times of emergencies, or through a significant challenge like the global COVID-19 pandemic ...3 weeks ago
- Trades training builds on iwi aspirationsAn investment of $2.025 million from the Māori Trades and Training Fund will support Māori to learn new skills while making a positive difference for their communities, announced Employment Minister Willie Jackson today. “K3 Development Limited Partnership will receive $2,025,000 for its Takitimu Tuanui apprenticeship programme, which will support the ...3 weeks ago
- Conservation Minister plants two millionth tree in Raglan restorationA long-term conservation project led by the Whaingaroa Harbour Care group in the western Waikato reaches a significant milestone this week, with the planting of the two millionth tree by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “Planting the two millionth tree crowns 25 years of commitment and partnership involving Whaingaroa ...3 weeks ago
- Seniors – our parents and grandparentsInternational Older Persons Day is a chance to think about the individual older New Zealanders we know and to confront ageism, Seniors Minister Tracey Martin said today. “What happened around COVID-19 is a reminder that our over-65s are a very large and diverse group of people and we need to ...3 weeks ago
- The 2020 NZ election saw record vote volatility — what does that mean for the next Labour governme...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Vowles, Professor of Political Science, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington As the dust begins to settle after the 2020 election, a new electoral landscape becomes visible. It is remarkably different from the one before. One way to put ...2 hours ago - Melburnians will soon be able to have 2 visitors per day. It’s far riskier than an exclusive bubbl...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary-Louise McLaws, Professor of Epidemiology Healthcare Infection and Infectious Diseases Control, UNSW Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Sunday a further easing of coronavirus restrictions, as Victoria’s 14-day average of new daily cases continues to trend downwards. Among the changes, Melburnians were ...3 hours ago
- Tears, goodbyes and silver trays for departing National MPs
It was haere rā to a massive chunk of National's caucus on Monday, after the blue bloodbath at the weekend. ...4 hours ago - What happens if electorate candidates are tied after the electionIt's never happened before, but if an electorate ends up with the candidates tied, the Electoral Commission "must determine by lot which of those candidates is to be elected". ...4 hours ago
- Another building-site death adds to demands for industrial manslaughter lawsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bobbie Oliver, Honorary Research Fellow, Humanities, University of Western Australia The death of 23-year-old apprentice Jonnie Hartshorn on a Perth university building site is the 23rd workplace fatality among construction workers in Australia in 2020. Hartshorn was killed on October 13 after ...4 hours ago
- Voting for first time at 37 years old: 'I felt really good after it'Inspired by the work Labour has done in Bay of Plenty, 37-year-old Chris Graham cast a vote for the first time on Saturday. ...5 hours ago
- New Zealand's new LGBTQ MPs make Parliament most rainbow in worldEleven LGBTQ people won seats in the weekend's election - that's 9.16 percent of the 120 MPs. ...5 hours ago
- View from The Hill: Morrison says he wants to run full term, and there are good reasons to believe h...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra We don’t have to credit Scott Morrison’s claim at Tuesday’s Coalition joint party room meeting that an election is the furthest thing from his mind, but we can take at face value his indication he ...5 hours ago
- Parliament still packed with lawyers – but is that a bad thing?Analysis - The new Parliament might be the most diverse in history, but some things remain the same, including the high number of lawyers who have just been elected, Craig Stephen writes. ...6 hours ago
- Māori Party's Rawiri Waititi arrives at Parliament in styleThe Māori Party's Rawiri Waititi - donning a white cowboy hat - touched down at Parliament today for the first time since winning the Waiariki electorate. ...6 hours ago
- My best worst film: dubbed a crass Adam Sandler comedy, Click is a deep meditation on relationshipsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jo Li Tay, Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University In a new series, our writers explore their best worst film. They’ll tell you what the critics got wrong – and why it’s time to give these movies another ...6 hours ago
- Defending state abuse: Follow the money
The cost to the Crown of fighting claims by victims of abuse in state care is finally revealed before a Royal Commission. Aaron Smale calculates where most of the money went As Deep Throat would say, follow the money. There were likely to be a few people gagging as they ...7 hours ago - As the Queensland campaign passes the halfway mark, the election is still Labor’s to loseSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Williams, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities, Griffith University We’re at the mid-point of the Queensland election campaign. Pre-polling opened on Monday, with about two million Queenslanders expected to vote before election day on October 31. But with just 12 days to ...7 hours ago
- Tofiga isn’t sorry about it
Tofiga Fepulea’i is back on stage with some comedic relief in a truly dismal year. Tofiga Fepulea’i cracks up as we discuss some of the trends he’s clicked onto.First, there’s the fitness buzz. Anyone who follows the Laughing Sāmoans comedian online will have seen the videos he posts of he ...8 hours ago - Two High Court of Australia judges will be named soon – unlike Amy Coney Barrett, we know nothing ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joe McIntyre, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of South Australia Many Americans were riveted last week by the at times absurd confirmation hearing for US Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. The death in mid-September of Ruth Bader Ginsburg thrust the ...8 hours ago
- Covid-19 has changed New Zealand forever. The experts explain howSome of the smartest people in the country examine the effects of the pandemic on Aotearoa’s future in 400 words or fewer. There are few corners of society that Covid-19 has not touched. From healthcare to the economy, education to professional sport, the pandemic has changed the way we interact with ...8 hours ago
- Anti-poverty Groups To Labour: Election Results Mean No More Excuses
Child Poverty Action Group, ActionStation and Auckland Action Against Poverty are calling on the new government to follow through quickly on their plan of raising income support so people receiving benefits are no longer locked into poverty. "Labour ...9 hours ago - ‘I wrote The Pōrangi Boy for kids like me’: Shilo Kino on her debut novelThe Marae TV journalist tells the origin story of her debut novel, a young adult book releasing this week.Patricia Grace wrote a story called “It used to be green once” and every year my Pākehā teacher would pull it out in English class and everyone would laugh at the poor ...9 hours ago
- Election night 2020: All the misery, all the tumescent joyA long election campaign finally ended in one five-hour period on Saturday, October 17. José Barbosa was there. This is what he saw.I forgot how covering an election is a lot of fun. My last working election was well over a decade ago, and there’s always this breathlessness that accompanies ...9 hours ago
- Ousted National MP Jo Hayes takes on role with Wairarapa iwiJo Hayes failed to win the seat of Mana and missed out on getting back as a list MP because of her party's big election defeat. ...9 hours ago
- When and how should the Victoria-NSW border reopen? Is fishing allowed in Victoria? When can I trave...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, La Trobe University Victoria recorded one new case of COVID-19 on Monday, another fantastic result that suggests the coronavirus outbreak there is now being well controlled. Premier Daniel Andrews said on Tuesday the state was “well placed this ...10 hours ago
- Hard to spot, but worth looking out for: 8 surprising tawny frogmouth factsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Les Christidis, Professor, Southern Cross University The tawny frogmouth is one of Australia’s most-loved birds. In fact, it was first runner-up in the Guardian/BirdLife Australia bird of the year poll (behind the endangered black-throated finch). Tawny frogmouths are found throughout Australia, including ...10 hours ago
- Finance Minister’s Commitment To WEAG Recommendations WelcomeWelfare advocate and former Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) member Kay Brereton says she is pleased to hear Finance Minister Grant Robertson describe the WEAG report as the “blueprint” for their welfare policy. “The comments made by Grant on ...10 hours ago
- The budget promises jobs, but does little for workers in the gig economySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nat Kassel, PhD Candidate, Griffith University Treasurer Josh Frydenberg promised a federal budget focused on “jobs, jobs, jobs”. In one sense he didn’t disappoint. His budget speech mentioned jobs 37 times – an average of about once a minute. “This budget is ...10 hours ago
- Judith Collins speaks after National Party caucus meeting: 'Onwards and upwards'Judith Collins is giving a media briefing after the National Party's first caucus meeting since the election, which returned their worst result in years. Watch live here. ...10 hours ago
- What this election means for PasifikaNational’s Pacific MPs are gone, the Greens have their first, and Labour’s Pasifika caucus is now its biggest ever. But will any of this make any real difference to our communities? Do you reckon Moses could have parted the red sea on Saturday night? Because even the bluest, most conservative seats in ...10 hours ago
- Judith Collins speaks after National Party caucus meetingJudith Collins is giving a media briefing after the National Party's first caucus meeting since the election, which returned their worst result in years. Watch live here. ...10 hours ago
- You’ve probably heard of the Green New Deal in the US — is it time for one in Australia?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Crowley, Associate Professor, Public and Environmental Policy, University of Tasmania After the 2008 global financial crisis, Green New Deals were proposed in various countries as a way to pick up the pieces of the economy. The general idea is to create ...11 hours ago
- On the Rag: What is imposter syndrome and how do we destroy it?Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and a lineup of incredibly successful New Zealand women as they confront their imposter syndrome once and for all. For some it appears as a constant whisper, for others it’s a screeching megaphone in the face at the most inopportune of moments. Many of ...12 hours ago
- Peters and Mark remind us they still have ministerial work to do as governmental caretakers
Hey – look whose names appeared on the only press statement to be posted on The Beehive website yesterday, two days after Election Day and the first statement to be posted on the site since October 15. The names are those of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister ...12 hours ago - Allbirds is launching a new T-shirt – and it’s partly made from crab shellsAfter years of specialising in low-carbon footwear, Allbirds has introduced a new line of sustainable apparel made from an unconventional yet innovative source.In April, when Allbirds announced it would be the first fashion label to introduce a sticker that measured the carbon footprint of each one of its products, it ...12 hours ago
- Government Must Lead Uncomfortable Conversations About SuicideInformation gained in the Key to Life Charitable Trust’s 1,000 Letters Report must be a part of the Government’s preventative measures to tackle suicide prevention in New Zealand – people’s lives depend upon it. “Our hope is that with the ...13 hours ago
- PETA Sends Duncan Garner Vegan GoodiesAs Auckland-based radio host Duncan Garner prepares to begin his new life as a vegan, making good on his promise to go vegan for a year if Labour won the 2020 election, animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ...13 hours ago
- Injecting real change in NZ – Greens must not shy away from mandateANALYSIS: By Selwyn Manning, editor of EveningReport.nz There is a mood circulating among some New Zealand circles that it would end badly for the Green Party in 2023 should it negotiate a part within a now-powerful Labour-led government. The argument goes: that should the Greens negotiate roles within the new ...13 hours ago
- US law officials brace for the contingency of Trump refusing to accept election defeatUS law enforcement agencies from the FBI down are preparing contingency plans in case of violence after the November 3 presidential elections. These have been triggered by President Donald Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful exit from office, arguing the election results will be “rigged” because of his opposition ...13 hours ago
- With clear mandate, Labour must decide what it really stands forOpinion - A pandemic can change a society's foundations. But if this happens in New Zealand over the next three years, it will be for reasons beyond the control of the sixth Labour government. ...13 hours ago
- Biofouling Measures Approved For Naval VesselsNew measures to prevent biofouling will reduce the risk of Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) vessels introducing marine pests and diseases to New Zealand without creating any undue restrictions on naval operations. Biosecurity New Zealand and the RNZN ...13 hours ago
- 'Fighting every step of the way' – New Green MPNew Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez March is ready to "fight tooth and nail" for his communities including rainbow and migrant groups. ...14 hours ago
- COVID-19 Outbreak On A Live Export ShipWhile New Zealand is gearing up to lift a temporary ban on live exports, 25 crew have tested positive for COVID-19 on the livestock carrier Al Messilah, which is docked at Fremantle Port in Western Australia. The ship, which was due to be loading ...14 hours ago
- A world beyond our feet: Rethinking our relationship with where we grow our kaiThe health of our soil is intrinsically linked to the health of our people, and a new book aims to centre matauranga Māori in the quest to stop treating our soil like, well, dirt.We hardly ever think about it, even though it’s literally under our feet. But in the coming ...14 hours ago
- Papua’s Asmat shut off following eight confirmed covid-19 casesPacific Media Centre Newsdesk Asmat regency in Papua has decided to limit access to and from the area for 28 days, starting last Sunday, after eight people in the regency’s capital Agats tested positive for covid-19 on Saturday, reports The Jakarta Post. Acting Asmat regent Triwarno Purnomo said the administration ...14 hours ago
- Election Delivers High Expectations For Working PeopleE tū congratulates the Labour Party and the Green Party for their respective victories after the preliminary results of General Election 2020. While the official count is yet to come, Labour have won enough votes to govern alone, and the Greens are ...15 hours ago
- Week in memes: Tōfā soifua to 19 National MPsToo much news? Here’s the only political round-up you need.I spent Saturday evening reporting from the Act Party election event and witnessed a crowd of Act supporters mumble halfheartedly through Sweet Caroline despite the DJ’s increasingly desperate words of encouragement. I tell you this only to give an indication of ...15 hours ago
- Duncan Garner Will Be Vegan For A YearThe AM Show's Duncan Garner said in July that if Labour won the election, he would go vegan. The Vegan Society is delighted to see a Labour government and we feel confident that after a year of being vegan, reaping the health benefits such as having more ...15 hours ago
- Op-Ed: Enhanced social protection an opportunity Asia Pacific must graspOpinion by By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana and Chihoko Asada Miyakawa Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). In the fight against COVID-19, success has so far been defined by responses in Asia and the Pacific. ...15 hours ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – October 20 2020Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Coalition negotiations, shape of government Gordon Campbell: On why the Greens shouldn’t join the government Andrew Geddis (Pundit): What Sort Of Relationship Might Labour And The Greens Agree ...15 hours ago
- Labour’s Small Business Plan A Contradictory Mess“Labour’s plan for small businesses is a contradictory mess”, says ACT’s small business spokesperson and Nelson employer Chris Baillie. “Labour is piling new costs and red tape on SMEs with one hand and giving handouts with the other. ...16 hours ago
- Trump took a sledgehammer to US-China relations. This won’t be an easy fix, even if Biden winsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hui Feng, ARC Future Fellow and Senior Research Fellow, Griffith University Few would have thought a US-China relationship marked by relative stability for half a century would be upended in just four years. But US President Donald Trump’s privileged tour of the ...16 hours ago
- If we have the guts to give older people a fair go, this is how we fix aged care in AustraliaSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joseph Ibrahim, Professor, Health Law and Ageing Research Unit, Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University This article is part of our series on the future of aged care. In the face of the harrowing findings of the Royal Commission into Aged ...16 hours ago
- WHO reform: a call for an early-warning protocol for infectious diseasesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Gluckman, Director of Koi Tū, the Centre for Informed Futures; former Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, University of Auckland The World Health Organization (WHO) has come in for its share of criticism for its handling of ...16 hours ago
- Fewer flights and a pesticide-free pitch? Here’s how Australia’s football codes can cut their ca...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hutchins, Professor of Media and Communications Studies, Monash University Australian sport’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been remarkable. Major leagues reorganised with impressive speed to keep games going. Schedules dissolved, seasons were compressed and players relocated. And the once unthinkable ...16 hours ago
- This is how universities can lead climate actionSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabi Mocatta, Lecturer in Communication, Deakin University, and Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication, Climate Futures Programme, University of Tasmania Universities are vital hubs of research and teaching on climate change. As large organisations, they also have significant emissions, which contribute to ...16 hours ago
- Beyond the police state to COVID-safe: life after lockdown will need a novel approachSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meg Elkins, Senior Lecturer with School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University As second-wave outbreaks of COVID-19 around the world demonstrate, it’s a tricky transition from hard lockdowns to more relaxed, but still effective, measures. The responses of different nations (Sweden ...16 hours ago
- Five things to know about the AntichristSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip C. Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland In the history of the West over the last 2000 years, there has never been a time when someone hasn’t been predicting the end of the world. ...16 hours ago
- National MPs say goodbye as caucus dissects what went wrongNational's caucus will today begin the task of trying to pick up the pieces, at its first meeting following the weekend's crushing defeat. ...17 hours ago
- Live Updates, October 20: Remaining National MPs head to Wellington after election defeatWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for October 20. All the latest New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz7.40am: Election 2020 – what’s next?Election day might be over, but there’s still a lot of developments still to come.The newly re-elected prime minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday held ...17 hours ago
- The Bulletin: System springs into action on Port Covid caseGood morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: System springs into action on Port Covid case, Labour opens up initial talks with Greens, and New Zealand travellers creating headaches for Aussie states.A clarification on the new case of Covid-19 announced on Sunday – it was not in fact ...17 hours ago
- Business & Investing: Demand high for medical cannabis
Shares in 'green' company highly sought after, green light for Metlifecare takeover ...18 hours ago - Why voters rejected conspiracy theorists
Political hopefuls peddling conspiracy theories have been rejected by New Zealand voters. ...18 hours ago - MediaRoom: TVNZ wins election ratings, NBR wins in court
TVNZ wins election night ratings TVNZ cruised to a comfortable ratings win over Three but, Mark Jennings reports, advances in streaming are creating opportunities for other media. Both TV networks reached over a million viewers with their election night coverage but their days of dominance are starting to dwindle. Stuff’s ...18 hours ago - Simon Sweetman vs Stuff
Simon Sweetman on the death of a critic (himself) I wasn’t there for the start of music journalism in New Zealand – but I was there for the death of it. Some would say I was part of the reason. But you should never read the comments. All I ...18 hours ago - What is Turkey’s President Erdogan up to in Armenia?
The recent flare-up of fighting in the south Caucasus is nasty. After the break up of the Soviet Union, Armenians and Azerbaijanis fought an unpleasant war over the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh with casualties of around 100,000 and one million displaced. Armenia prevailed then. Now Azerbaijan, with the help ...18 hours ago - The roots of National's fall
The National Party is still alive despite a crushing loss, but is it in a state to regrow? ...19 hours ago - Ex-UN climate chief praises PM, urges greater action
The world is running out of time, but in the nick of time, on climate change, Christiana Figueres tells David Williams In December 2015, US President Barack Obama hailed the Paris climate agreement, hammered out between almost 200 countries, as a potential turning point for the world. “The targets we’ve ...19 hours ago - A political fairytale gone wrong
The coming months will be crucial for Boris Johnson, the EU, the British economy – and for the future unity of the United Kingdom. ...19 hours ago - Progress report: NZ's 3 World Cups in 3 years
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: New Zealand will host three World Cups over the next three years, kicking off with rugby in 2021, followed on by cricket in 2022 and topped off with football in 2023. All three major events are at different stages of planning and delivery, but all are progressing on ...19 hours ago - Peters' fight and court bills will go on
Outgoing deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has yet to overturn a $317,000 award against him for legal costs and has another outstanding case to fund. Tim Murphy reports Winston Peters is about to lose his $334,000 salary and staff - but still has unfinished business and bills for two court actions he ...19 hours ago - Labour could out-green the Greens
With Covid we've taken the approach, go hard or go home. We need to go hard on transformative environmental change too – there’ll be no home to go to. ...19 hours ago - A consistent and worrying failure
Despite links to mental ill health and suicide, the government* has failed to progress a recommendation from its own mental health and addiction inquiry to take a stricter regulatory approach to alcohol. Experts have described the lack of action as a missed opportunity. Oliver Lewis reports. Doug Sellman is exasperated. ...19 hours ago - RBNZ to protect notes and coins for the vulnerable
As banks take the opportunity to close down branches and ATMs in the Covid-19 lockdowns, the RBNZ moves to stop cash disappearing entirely. ...19 hours ago - Will Labour swipe right on the Greens to govern?With the government set to take shape in the next few weeks, Labour and the Greens will have to decide on the nature of their relationship for the next three years. Andrew Geddis takes us through the options at hand. Without even knowing the final election result (there are about 500,000 ...19 hours ago
- Jacinda Ardern and transforming the would-be transformerThe self-proclaimed governors of transformation have not so far infused the ‘wellbeing’ idea they trumpeted into everyday speech. Do they dare do so now, asks Colin James.Jacinda Ardern claimed a “mandate” on election night to “accelerate our response [to Covid] and our recovery”. Does that portend the “government of transformation” ...19 hours ago
- Siouxsie Wiles: Don’t fall for the Covid contrariansA small but vocal movement calling for the end of lockdown restrictions is gaining steam globally. Dr Siouxsie Wiles explains why such an approach would be a bad idea.As life in Aotearoa gets back to some kind of normal after our latest Covid-19 outbreak, cases in the northern hemisphere are ...19 hours ago
- The Swedish strategy
Are Swedes really conquering Covid with their out-of-the-box thinking on dealing with the pandemic? Another deadly wave of coronavirus is sweeping through Europe, leading to strict lockdowns and states of emergency. But Sweden is sticking to its no-lockdown strategy of voluntary social distancing. Today The Detail looks why millions ...19 hours ago - From ‘beacon of hope’ to ‘incompetent’: world media on Jacinda Ardern’s big election winThe common theme in international media is the Labour leader as antithesis to Donald Trump – but not everyone is bowled over.A landslide win for the New Zealand Labour Party saw the acclamation flow abroad for Jacinda Ardern. Similar plaudits were forthcoming for Jacinta Ardern, Jacinda Adern and Jacinta Adern.I ...1 day ago
When crazy weather goes on and on, we worry “Is this the way it’s going to be now?” Canadian climate scientist Paul Beckwith says there is no new normal. We should expect extremes, swings, and surprises as the world warms.
Paul Beckwith climate change interview—There Is No New Normal—Radio Ecoshock 2019-06-12
Abrupt Climate Change = A Climate in exponential transition to a new thermal equilibrium. Its signs are extreme climate events happening, heat waves, flooding, wildfires, freezing cold snaps, drought etc..Looking at the paleo record scientists speculate we’re heading for a Pliocene or Eocene climate.
June 2019 hottest ever recorded on Earth – “Temperature records haven’t just been broken. They have been obliterated.”
https://desdemonadespair.net/2019/07/june-2019-hottest-ever-recorded-on-earth-temperature-records-havent-just-been-broken-they-have-been-obliterated.html
Kevin and Guy were joined by Rory Varrato, a founding member of Extinction Rebellion NYC and adjunct professor of philosophy at Fordham University. Rory invited Guy to testify to the New York City Council’s Committee on Environment a day before New York City declared a climate emergency. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nature-bats-last-07-03-19/id907162688?i=1000443546834
Joe Neubarth
18 hrs ·
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The simple fact of the matter is that we can NOT stop temperature rise at 2 degrees Celsius, because the Greenhouse Gases already in the atmosphere will drive Global Average Surface Temperature (GAST) far higher than 2 degrees.
The CO2 that is already in the atmosphere will continue to raise temperature for the next 3 or 4 centuries. The Nitrous Oxide that is already in the atmosphere will continue to raise temperature for the next 3 centuries. The most powerful Greenhouse Gas of all is water vapor and it is increasing in the atmosphere approximately 7% for each degree of temperature rise. There is variance between the multitude of scientists out there as to the average heating caused by Water Vapor in the atmosphere. I have seen numbers from a low of 60% of Global Heating to 70% of Global Heating. That is impressive by itself, but a 7% rise in water vapor for each degree of temperature rise can kill us rather quickly. More Water Vapor means MORE HEAT retained in the atmosphere.
It is all headed towards a tremendous heating climax and the uneducated Republican Idiots out there will say to each other, "Why didn't they tell us this would happen?"
Not that long ago that the mere mention of Guy McPherson's name was enough to get you kicked off a CC post on The Standard. Times most certainly have changed.
Can you back that up with a link?
Search not working at the moment so hard to find without trawling. This is one example.
Thanks.
Authors are free to moderate their own posts as they see fit. That is not the same as site moderation.
Has anybody ever been banned because of “the mere mention of Guy McPherson's name” without warnings and out of context?
For example, using the name of the alleged Christchurch Mosque shooter will trigger Auto-Moderation but not impose an outright ban.
There seems to be much mis- and possibly dis-information on moderation and I’d like to clear up any confusion if I can.
I didn't say banned. I said kicked off the post. My argument was that as long as the comment was reasoned and backed up with links, why would you eliminate, what is now pretty much accepted, as climate fact from discussion?
Fair enough, that’s indeed what you said, and I agree with you but some may have different views on this and McPherson in particular. It remains the Author’s prerogative; OM is different.
BTW, the Moderator note asked not to link [to] McPherson, which is not quite the same as “the mere mention of Guy McPherson's name”. Nitpicking, I know …
Thats was the first one I could find Incognito as search isn't working very well. There were a couple of others. Thanks for the reply though.
search: Whenever I get a weekend free….
https://www.quora.com/How-accurate-is-Paul-Beckwith-climate-scientist-when-it-comes-to-Climate-Change
Not many supporters for this guy. Unless you like DOOM with your cornflakes.
"other climate scientists more senior than him have made similar alarmist predictions that have turned out wrong. People like Beckwith are great recruiters for climate scepticism."
Exponential abrupt climate change is DOOM, we simply refuse to understand or accept that this can happen to us! Beckwith is a respected climate scientist in the Northern Hemisphere. he doesn't make statements unless he's certain. Reality is the new alarmism. And of course we're in the 6th mass extinction too of this planet.
His youtube vids have a very large comments section.
It'd be a dull world if we all thought the same! 🙂 lol In the end what we think doesn't matter it's what the Planet is doing that does matter.
"I wouldn't lend him too much credibility on this subject. All of his scientifically published and peer-reviewed papers are on aspects of lasers, his actual area of academic expertise."
"Paul Beckwith is a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa and declared the Arctic would be ice-free in 2013.”
“We must declare a global climate emergency. Please consider a donation to support my work..” – Paul Beckwith.
yep amazing how these doomers love making money as the shit goes down
Who has credibility? Certainly not the IPCC. Arctic sea ice has surprised everyone that it has hung on so long but it is going. Our own "climate scientists' are too timid and just reiterate the latest news and observations on their desks.They refuse to stick out their necks and tell where it's all going.
The reality: Climate Change is now exponential take glacier melt rates in the Antarctic:
doomer tours could rake in some dosh for the end times there john plus you'd be telling a lot more people your story – could be a winner mate
Correct.
Three decades of increasing ice obliterated in a couple of years.
Part time professor ?
In reality hes been a PhD student there since 2011, and we would consider him as 'student-tutor'
Yep, lol, oopth!
Came from his own CV
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yk8zyLASnhGGl_NgIy9i2g59gD2AsBZNg_mz6bT3XxU/edit
Search of the UoO staff directory doesnt come up with his name. And that includes technical and admin staff.
Scientists in climate change and their feelings and how they carry on and communicate.
Abrupt exponential climate change continues its havoc:
Entire cities in Japan ordered to evacuate as record rainfall lashes south-western region
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japans-kagoshima-city-orders-600000-residents-to-evacuate-after-days-of-heavy-rain?fbclid=IwAR2V–pShBmML6G_nWEJY4AnMOC8ExjwlG6nZmwy_NhrSoEePq5wfQcDTNI
TOKYO – About 1.12 million people in southwestern Japan were ordered to flee to safety on Wednesday (July 3), as heavy rain continued to lash the region bringing floods to widespread areas and threatening deadly landslides.
The evacuation orders, as at 9pm local time Wednesday night (8pm in Singapore), remained in effect for vast areas of Kagoshima, Miyazaki and Kumamoto prefectures.
The deluge, which began last Friday (June 28), is forecast to continue until at least Thursday (July 4) before storm clouds move east.
Many areas have seen more rain in a single day than in a typical month of July, the weatherman said, as residents in entire cities, like Kagoshima City, Kirishima and Aira, were told to seek shelter.
Some 869,000 people were advised to evacuate their homes, while 1.32 million others have been told to prepare to evacuate, based on a new five-tier heavy rain disaster warning system launched this year in the wake of deadly rains last July that left 225 dead.
You couldnt really call him a climate scientist
"He has earned a Masters in Science (M.Sc.) in Laser Optics/Physics. He also earned his undergraduate, with a Bachelors of Engineering (B.Eng.) in Engineering Physics."
Has he even published in Climate Journals. seems to have been in a PhD program in climatology for 8-9 yrs. You would think by this stage he would have moved onto Post Doc research , but doesnt appear to have any published reasearch even on his earlier speciality
Hes seems more of a chancer…..
"He is involved in the very early stages of developing an entrepreneurial startup venture based out of Northern Europe, using the latest in innovative climate change thinking .."
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture now under political attack by “women’s advocacy group”
Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, concluded that Assange has been tortured. He is now under political attack by a “women’s advocacy group” claiming they are protecting women & victim’s rights. Sexual assault survivors are striking back.
@Suzi3D https://contraspin.co.nz/not-in-my-name-academics-publicly-attacking-un-torture-rapporteur/ …" https://twitter.com/helena_jennie/status/1146078394565550081 https://contraspin.co.nz/not-in-my-name-academics-publicly-attacking-un-torture-rapporteur/
Way things are going a man and a woman will have to sign a legal consent form witnessed by a lawyer before you know what, to avoid future repercussions. 🙁
This isn't about rape, and it never was. It's about government-led smearing and defamation and (so they fervently hope) the destruction of a radical journalist. And similar treatment for those foolish enough to speak out in defence of that journalist. Even U.N. officials are considered fair game for the treatment.
oh poor john – just listen when your partner/guest/friend/acquaintance/workmate/ stranger and so on says no – not too hard there eh john is it.
Or you could go with dealing with your fellow humans as though they were your fellow humans and had autonomy over their own bodies. That seems to work a treat.
Apologies if already posted on The Standard.
Pouty, potty, throw your toys out of the cotty time. From yesterday's The Spinoff, a fine piece of well-deserved piss-taking written by Toby Manhire.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/03-07-2019/everybody-stop-being-so-mean-to-anz-immediately/?
A beautiful last line. "We live in your world"! ANZ's advertising slogan. ROFPML.
Toby is quite right of course Mac. We should have great sympathy because as the ads always show, Banks are keen to take care of us all like a god beneficent. Ha!
Pete Singer on 12 String guitar singing "The Banks are Made of Marble" a song I once sang in the Sixties with Prof Jim Flynn at a pary. He might not remember, but I do.
Great song!
Minor point but it is Pete Seeger and he is playing a Banjo.
It is a great song though.
Alwyn, that is a twelve string guitar on the Banks of Marble, Believe me, I know. I own and play a Fender twelve string from the early Seventies. Pete Seeger also played banjo.I have his book. I did own and play a banjo once in a double thumbing style so I know what they too sound like.
Pete Seeger on 12 String guitar. If you like it, listen to his version of the Bells of Rhymney. The bells of Merthyr really do ask a topical question!
He’s playing a 12 string even though the picture is a a six string guitar.
Great clip Mac1. I think Pete Seeger represents goodness in the US. I like this Dylan song he recorded with a bunch of kids a few years before he died in 2014. There is beauty in it's simplicity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezyd40kJFq0
I'll take your word for the guitar. I really thought it was a banjo. I guess the way he is playing it is confusing me.
Rather like the person who was asked whether he had ever confused a Bordeaux and a Burgundy. Reply was not for ages. Not since lunchtime in fact.
I had a great line once in a Roger Hall play, as I savoured the light shining through a wine glass, "You can always tell a good pinot, you know." All the time knowing I was about to roll around in delight a mouthful of rather sweet raspberry cordial. That was great acting!
Alwyn, beg pardon but did not see the spelling error. It's a common thing and one reason why anything I write as a newsletter editor is always vetted by someone else. One's own mistakes are often harder to see.
I was taught as a grocer's son when adding money figures to always double check by adding the figures in the opposite direction.
So, we agree then? Pete Seeger on the 12 string….. sounds like a game of Cluedo……. in the studio!
I was struck by the choice of image to head Toby Manhire's piece. It bears a strange resemblance, both physically and behaviorally, to the current leader of the national party
I see what you mean, Graeme. Strange? No. Entitleitis is a disease that strikes both baby and adult alike. It is a deficiency disease, self-diagnosed but never self-medicated. The symptoms can be severe, but are mostly psychological. The purported cause always is attributed to others from whom the treatment is also demanded. Often called colloquially, "S'mine fever" as the more articulate sufferer often avers, "Gimme. S'mine."
You're not alone I suggested that on another NZ "chat" site yesterday, one that has become a lot more fractured than this one TBF.
Big versus Little: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/04-07-2019/little-pledges-action-against-google-over-grace-millane-suppression-breach/
"The New Zealand government is considering a range of options in response, says Little, including legal recourse, on which it has sought advice. He has also asked the Ministry of Justice to “review how it notifies media about suppression orders as part of its work to implement the new contempt laws”."
Watch this space, then. Global media giants conforming to law in individual nations is the thing. Global media law doesn't exist – international law exists to some extent, but lacks a method of enforcement…
Andy will do such things— What they are, yet I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the earth.
Hipkins: "we need to modernise the New Zealand Public Service." Announcing the coalition's plan to do so a week ago, he outlined key points.
"These include moving from outputs to outcomes, even though outcomes are harder to measure and harder to control." Who knew? Rocket scientists in Labour? Most people think outputs and outcomes are both results. Those educated would even use the word simile. Perhaps he's informing us of an in-crowd terminology employed by consultants to differentiate different kinds of decision-making processes.
He also declared that "citizens don’t live their lives in in neat compartments." This is sad but true. Some are downright messy.
"We’ve also removed performance pay for chief executives, introduced a Public Service Day and removed the cap on the number of public servants." Everyone will be tense with anticipation, waiting to see what will happen on Public Service Day. Will they line up in throngs to see public service actually being done?
Anyway, "we need to come out of our siloes and take collective responsibility when getting traction on some of our most challenging issues and opportunities requires us to work cooperatively across the Public Service and beyond. That is increasingly the case in a world that over the last 30 years has become more complex. Issues such as climate change, security and inequality are global, and the pace of technology development means rapid change is a constant. The Public Service needs to change with it if we are to keep up." Damn right it does. They get it!
So the coalition is "changing the Public Service – how it works, what it prioritises, who joins it and who leads it. A public service that is more fleet-footed and can shift its focus to where it will make the most difference."
Bureaucrats efficient, tactically agile, on the ball? Old dogs doing new tricks? Cool, that's gonna be powerful magic.
He said reform will shift "agencies from working as single departments to working as one, unified Public Service, able to quickly mobilise and tackle specific issues. The reforms will mean leaders in the Public Service will take joint responsibility for the whole of the Public Service, rather than just individual agencies, to tackle the country’s big challenges."
Applied holism. Best not tell the bureaucrats that though (likely to cause mental indigestion). Clever move from the coalition! It'll produce an entirely new ethos: collaboration culture. But only if/when those involved enter into the spirit of the shift, and incorporate the praxis required for success.
"Cherished public service principles like ‘spirit of service’ to the community, political neutrality, free and frank advice and merit-based appointments will be embedded in the new Act. These principles are important. They help safeguard the constitutional conventions governing the public service, promote ethical conduct, and enable cross-agency collaboration on services and outcomes for New Zealanders."
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1906/S00231/announcement-of-public-service-reforms.htm
Most people think outputs and outcomes are both results.
Most people aren't running organisations or managing people in those organisations. To those who do, there's a big difference between those things.
Outputs is a number, a Key Performance Indicator – when you set those, your staff and your organisation (quite understandably) set to work to maximise the number they've been given as a measurement of their performance, and issues of whether they're doing the right thing by the organisation's customers, the environment, or whatever the hell else all take a back seat.
Outcomes is how well you're achieving the actual purpose of the organisation's existence, which is a lot harder to measure than outputs and is why most organisations tend to go with measuring outputs instead.
If the government can find a way to get public sector organisations to focus on outcomes rather than work to a number, that would be a great achievement and would improve the performance of those organisations a lot. Won't be an easy job, though.
Oh I see. Yeah, numbers matter more to neoliberals, so the historical shift makes sense. Measurable results. Voters prefer their quality of life to be enhanced, and better governance is a key part of what they want…
NZ govts have been working on that shift for over 15 years: https://treasury.govt.nz/publications/wp/managing-outcomes-new-zealand-public-management-system-wp-04-15-html
Well, the Labour ones, at least. The previous Nat government seemed very keen on targets and KPIs.
It's very hard to shift people's thinking about that, when everyone's gotten used to thinking of numbers as measures of their performance. Even the organisation's actual purpose may not be understood – I remember a systems thinking trainer telling me that he did a session for public service managers in which several of the managers thought that their department's customer is the minister.
The trouble with the way government agencies have been distorted over the last few decades is that they *do* behave as if their only responsibility is upwards to the sacred cheeks of the current minister. And are rewarded for that.
What a farce and good riddance.
The poor dears will be consoled with salary rises of course.
Being part optimist, this is most excellent in the direction it points.
Between good intentions (outputs) and a job well done (outcomes) is the abyss.
Is 'Performance pay for public service chief executives' an oxymoron?
happy fourth of july
https://imgur.com/n8psbx1
That is wonderful, Sabine! LOL
I really cannot comprehend/accept the farce that Trump is about to turn the day into in Washington DC from the media reports to date – but that about sums it up!
Bread and Circuses.
Oh wait, cancel the bread.
Panem et circenses – minus panem. You nailed it.
Gordon Campbell has an excellent exposition on what was missing from Hipkins' announcement of public sector reform: whistle-blower legislation improvement.
"Late last year, the results of a long and comprehensive study by Griffiths University in Australia showed that 30 per cent of New Zealand public agencies had no system in place for recording and tracking concerns, and 23 per cent had no support strategy for staff who raised concerns. According to the Ombudsman, people don’t even know that any legal protection for whistle blowers even exists:
Research released by the Ombudsman last month found only 9 percent of respondents had even heard of the Protected Disclosures Act – “an alarmingly low number given the importance of the act for all New Zealanders,” Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said. Worse, “21 percent said they have witnessed serious wrongdoing at their workplace or previous workplaces”.
Only 40 percent of employees believed their jobs would be safe if they reported the wrongdoing, and 34 percent thought they would lose their job. Lower paid workers were particularly worried about job security."
Gordon adds this: "Reportedly, the wording of the existing law is even vague as to what kind of wrong-doings might be covered in which settings. In New Zealand workplace conditions, the legislation’s focus on theft and corruption – rather than say, on bullying or intimidation – is also arguably misplaced."
"In sum, that’s quite an array of problems. After all, there will always be a risk involved in bringing the wrong-doing by one’s superiors to the attention of senior management. Given the imbalance of power in the workplace, whistle blowers will always be at risk of retribution for not being team players, or for raising issues that cast the failures of their bosses in a bad light – even when those concerns are still being handled in-house, and (supposedly) in a confidential fashion."
"It gets even riskier if the internal process fails, and the media enter the equation. Currently, it does not look as if New Zealand is feeling inclined to follow Australia’s example and offer legal protections to those staff who alert the media to wrong-doing. Obviously, effective whistle-blower protections are not simply a public service concern. Yet since the lines between the public and private sectors are being expected to increasingly blur in future, such protections need to be treated as a central element of any major reforms, and integrated within them."
Right on! Let's hope the minister takes note and acts accordingly in his directives to his ministry and amendments to legislation.
http://werewolf.co.nz/2019/06/gordon-campbell-on-the-ways-the-public-is-being-left-unprotected-by-the-public-service-reforms/
Bet the anti-immigration heavy breathers on this site will stay quiet on this – oh they may blame the parents or the countries these kids are from or this or that.
Of course it's horrific. Now precisely what do you propose doing about it?
That's what get's me, every time I read an article loudly denouncing this debacle, I also read a deafening silence on exactly what the USA should do that they would be happy with.
Save your tears – deleted – personal
There are lots of alternatives put up by lots of people so please don't start your attacking me bullshit.
deleted – true but it doesn’t matter
Asking you what you think the solutions might is not attacking you. The article you linked to doesn't outline any, so it's reasonable to ask.
try google lazy bones
Google will give me a very wide range of opinions. What is yours?
Do you want to compare mm's ideas to your own RL? What are you thinking should be done about it. Could you reiterate them to refresh our memories?
ffs – deleted because words in anger and all that shit
I've outlined some responses below to Sabine.
The demand for migration to the developed world is potentially unlimited and likely to become more urgent as climate change destabilises more countries near the tropics or close to sea level.
This is a massive globalised problem with no easy local solutions. The UN's recent compact on migration looked to be a step in the right direction, but as became quickly obvious, most people are still not ready to see the problem from a universal perspective. Most people are still at some level locked into a tribal mindset and will resist national sovereignty being imposed on by a global body such as the UN.
What is happening on the USA/Mexican border only highlights one element of a story that is much larger than the clown Trump and the circus Washington he is presiding over.
Well, I guess we'd better help develop the developing world then. And promote peace rather than bomb them. That'll stop your hordes of migrants.
But unfortunately, the nation best placed to stop wars and promote international development is the nation currently arguing in court that its concentration camp guards don't need to provide toothpaste and soap to the children it stole from their parents.
Well, I guess we'd better help develop the developing world then.
Yes please, although the developing world has to leapfrog the West. We cannot afford the environmental impact of them simply copying us. We need the next 7 billion people who enter the middle classes to be better than us.
That's a challenge I think they are entirely capable of rising to if only we'd had the humility to ask them respectfully.
As for the Trump debacle, I'm underwhelmed by people who simply repeat over and again why it's all so awful. We knew that four years back the moment he declared as a candidate. It's unhelpful just to keep saying so.
I still contend the Dems lost that damned election, and did so specifically when Sanders was eliminated. I've since spoken with dozens of US citizens at various work sites who all agree with me on this. In general terms understanding why the left made this mistake, and taking ownership of it remains the crucial call. And encouragingly I'm seeing fresh candidates like Yang and Gabbard doing just this.
I think that we do need to keep reminding ourselves that this is awful, this is worse than it was before, that this sort of shit is not normal. And that the next election is the one that we should focus on.
The US is not only being more inhuman than in previous administrations, it's detaining people who cross the border for longer.
And this year dolt45 gets his military parade. The one that a couple of years ago people laughed at the thought of.
Remembering that things are bad, that they are not normal, reminds people why the next election is important.
what could the us do?
stop sanctions on Venezuela/Iran for a start.
stop propping up dicktators to foster their own goals at home
stop that war on drugs which in essence is simply a war on everyone else and their poor relatives to enrich a few (banks, military,etc)
stop building anymore prison for profits (i know that will give you a sad, but then you would have to get a new job if we would stop locking up people on pretenses rather then actual crimes)
start treating asylum seekers as humans rather then bodies that occupy a bit of concrete floor for 775$ a night cell but then profit must be made and people like you need a job
start actually working on reforming imigration rather then stopping any meaningful legislation from coming forward – something not done since the late 80s and reagans 'amnesty' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Reform_and_Control_Act_of_1986
start keeping families togethere – Obama was sued for this shit and complied and the orange shitshow can do the same
stop pretending that two year olds can a. care for themselves, b. can defend themselves in a court of law
send children that have legal family in the US to their relatives
but then you are not asking for ideas, right? You just want to say loudly that there is nothing, nothing that could/should/be done, and besides if a jailors wages depends on keeping people locked up then people need to be locked up.
Also somewhere in the New Testament – the one that old testament cultist refuse to actually look at, the one that involves that hippy do gooder Jesus Christ – is says….
The King James Version of Matthew's gospel relates that:
good grief dude, even for you this is a piss poor comment.
stop sanctions on Venezuela/Iran for a start.
Most of these immediate refugees are not coming from these two countries, so it's hard to see what immediate effect this might have.
stop propping up dicktators to foster their own goals at home
All the big powers have history propping up unpleasant dictators of one sort or another. I'm firmly on record as opposing empire of any sort, so you can assume I'm more or less on board with this one.
stop that war on drugs which in essence is simply a war on everyone else and their poor relatives to enrich a few
Personally I loath drug dealers; if I had my way I'd just execute the fuckers on the spot. But I realise this isn't realistic. Experience tells us that in some matters that legal prohibition is the wrong instrument to deal with a problem and causes more problems that it solves. (Much the same as the hate speech debate.)
On the other we cannot ignore the harm drugs do. With that in mind yes ending the 'war on drugs', which was ill-conceived and hugely damaging, is long overdue. But selling that idea to the American people needs some thought and intelligence.
stop building anymore prison for profits
Private prisons are an abomination. Bad assumption to think I support them.
people like you need a job
I've never worked in a prison, but I have socially known people who do. They are awful places full of broken, damaged and dangerous people. Working in these places is hell and I've nothing but respect for those people who do.
start actually working on reforming imigration rather then stopping any meaningful legislation from coming forward
Yes. I totally agree on this. The demand to migrate to the developed world is potentially unlimited and managing it is massively difficult. No policy will ever make everyone happy, but the utterly dysfunctional gridlock in Washington ensures nothing useful gets done. This is direct consequence of political polarisation.
start keeping families together
There is every good reason for this. It's my understanding however there is US law that is preventing children from being imprisoned with their parents. The argument was that it effectively punishes them for something their parents did. In principle it sounds like a good idea, but at this scale and in this context it's an abysmal failure.
This law needs changing …
send children that have legal family in the US to their relatives
Seems reasonable. But then again if the children are admitted to the USA and their parents are permanently deported that creates another issue down the road.
stop pretending that two year olds can a. care for themselves, b. can defend themselves in a court of law
Of course they cannot. Why would you think I'm pretending this? Clearly the numbers have exceeded the authorities ability to manage this situation decently or efficiently.
The USA does not want an open border with Mexico. No-one here seems to advocate for this; so when families arrive undocumented there is a very hard problem. And like most many hard problems, they're made worse when we pretend they have easy solutions.
You just want to say loudly that there is nothing, nothing that could/should/be done, and besides if a jailors wages depends on keeping people locked up then people need to be locked up.
Was that where I said this was a 'horrific debacle'?
' Personally I loath drug dealers; if I had my way I'd just execute the fuckers on the spot. But I realise this isn't realistic. '
I wouldn't go so far but at least they could stop giving them knighthoods.
Fair enough. Just don't put me in charge of enforcing drug policy ….
The AAP has an autism epidemic and is asleep at the wheel. Complicit would be more accurate.
The child numbers involved with the autism epidemic (and the families impacted) are orders of magnitude greater than AAP are signalling concern for here.
Will you be posting on the autism epidemic in USA anytime, Marty?
give me a link that I can look into and I very well may post on it – but please no idiot conspiracy sites or voice
Will you One Two take the problem of the autism in USA further here? I don't think that marty mars should be piled on because of being concerned about one thing and expressing it here – freedom of thought and expression in mind. You are good at seeing further than others on everything One Two and surely you would like to sure on this.
There is no epidemic. Only a sound byte from media.
But I have conflicts of interest.
This is a personal affliction. Also spent two years post grad as part of the 'minds for minds' network.
As a child they didn't even know what they were looking at. As diagnostic tools have improved the actual prevalence of the disease is beginning to surface. We've still not got the full picture as misdiagnosis of females appears to be common.
It used to be these people were 'demon possessed'. Handy diagnosis if you want to burn some lippy women at the stake.
Possibly genetic predisposition plus environmental factors plus make up of gut microbiome may all contribute: helping to explain the wide variety of severity and symptomatic presentation of ASD; and the difficulty in identifying cause and effect.
Not a subject your average moron journo could grasp.
Greeks go to the polls in three days time, and there's an excellent analysis of the current political situation there online: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/how-syriza-lost-the-left-upcoming-greek-elections
"Meanwhile, what is left of the left in Greece dreads the possibility of a Syriza victory. The best thing for the country, they say, would be Syriza’s total dissolution and disappearance from the political scene. People in the KKE (Communist Party) and Antarsya (the acronym, spelling “rebellion,” for a conglomeration of Marxists, anarchists, and left-wing populists) are looking for a resounding defeat of Syriza on July 7. Many are convinced that the Coalition of the Radical Left will soon pass into the dustbin of history, where it belongs for being socialist in words but capitalist in deeds. Let this be a warning, they say, to anti-establishment movements around the world that have faith in people like Jeremy Corbyn in Britain, Pablo Iglesias in in Spain, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the United States".
Yanis Varoufakis and David Broder of Jacobin discuss Greece's political options.
https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/2019/06/11/mera25-greek-progressives-chance-to-take-the-fight-against-austerity-back-into-parliament-jacobin/
"What these millions wanted a break from was not even true neoliberalism, but what I would call bankruptocracy — a new regime in which the greatest power was wielded by the most bankrupt bankers. Tsipras’s surrender in July 2015 closed that window of opportunity. And there’s no sugaring the bitter pill — the European elections were a complete catastrophe for progressives."
So it was a mistake for the radical left to betray the people? Gosh, why am I not surprised Yanis failed to say so.
“I have the privilege of speaking to a lot of bankers — for some reason, they like talking to me. They completely accept that socialism for bankers and austerity for the population brought about a major defeat for European capitalism. Social democrats on the ground admit that it has been terrible, as do some conservatives, as well as the Greens and the Left. But the disconnect lies in the lack of an organized political plan to shift us out of this.”
Well, that does prove he is capable of getting to the point sometimes, eh?
" DiEM25 put forward the plan for a Green New Deal. The Greens themselves are so conservative, so ordoliberal, and so scared that conservatives will accuse them of being fiscally irresponsible, that they end up recycling ordoliberalism."
That's what democracy does. It cows people. Greens are mainstream nowadays. Show them a radical edge that requires progress, they'll get spooked. Okay, perhaps an overstatement. Not always.
Perhaps Varoufakis has recognised the wrong behaviour of the past which has killed off a reasonable way forward for the Greek people. He now seems to be trying to enliven good ideas of the past, and that confuses people to the extent that it verges on necromancy. No-one who is involved with politics and finance thinks that it is a rose garden.
Yes Corbyn is so appealing to voters Labour has slipped to FOURTH place in the polls in the UK.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/labour-slips-to-fourth-place-in-opinion-poll-as-pressure-builds-on-jeremy-corbyn-over-brexit-stance-a4181991.html
The ball bearings seem to be coming out of the British system abit
They had a local body election and their more pro-european vote came out for that one, for their EU election the more independent vote came out as the new Brexit party cleaned up.
A recent by-election had controversies.
The wires seemed crossed. At some point the wrong one might come loose to a fuel tank or something.
Takes courage to admit this – takes courage to be the person that others can talk to, takes courage to talk. Be courageous people.
Na hes wrong . Sure I’ve had periods in my life were I needed a shoulder. But I've also so had many periods of years were I was all good thankyou.
That doesn’t make me part of the problem!
Hes like the alcoholic that thinks any one who has a bender is also an alcoholic. Just plain wrong.
he's wrong? ffs waggy you are a legend – lol classic gold humour
I'll repeat something I've posted recently.
The beauty of being human is that we're not all mad on the same day. On a bad day my mates can support me, and on their bad days, I support them. In this manner we get through hard times together.
It takes a village to raise a village.
Very true. Or as another person put it "humans tend to outsource their mental health".
Or as Boris puts it…Miserable being must find more miserable being. Then, he's happy.
(Or Gorky)
You and Mike may need to have regular deep and meaningfuls but some of us dont. It is that simple.
Maybe by coming here those who need deep and meaningfuls find in someone's thinking that touch of the other that is human relationship. And it lessens whatever stress is going on.
Interesting feed back except for mm and wtb . Your just a dicks
Mike King is an extrovert who probably thrives on lots of interactions.
Introverts tend to have small circles and are comfortable in their walled up worlds.
What, you asked for help and received it but as you are now 'all good thank you'
Then sod everyone else.
How mighty right of you. Takes but does not give.
Lending the impression you are not a participant in society, but a parasite.
yeah sure waggy – fact is farmers kill themselves a fucken lot. They hurt their animals and families as their stresses increase and their options for support diminish and now their semi autos are going. You look after yourself mate. And me and the New Zealander of the Year will carry on trying to support your neighbours.
You may feel that way, but some of your friends may not.
If you voice to your friends that you feel that way, they may be too scared to talk to you about their own feelings for a misplaced fear of appearing weak. And so the cycle continues and more people take their own lives.
If your friends have never had a heart to heart with you than could you be part of the problem?
Everyone has heart to hearts with me, apparently am easy to talk to and that's just fine as it makes me happy that people feel so comfortable they can open up. The keeper of secrets and supporter of feelings.
Many men commit suicide in this country, perhaps if they would be helped by having deep & meaningfuls instead of the pathetic real men wear black bullshit that a lot of us men grew up with. I'm glad things have changed since I was a kid in the 70s. Thanks cinny, bleeple, marty and grey for your deeper thinking and dose of reality.
Placing molecules between the surface and the sun is going to raise temperatures. Continuing to do so, by digging yet more up, will go on continuing to speedup the heating. Even if you believe it's not yet enough to worry about, it's inevitably will be. Since historically before that trapped carbon was trapped the climate was very much warmer. But wait its worse. Our star is millions of years older, hydrogen fuel has been converted over time to iron, a hotter star now shines down on us. So digging up all carbon and burning it will create a world much hotter than experienced by the dinosaurs. But hey what's it matter I don't have kids, so jokes on the over populating types, who believe as long as their faith hold gawk won't hurt them, or if he does they have a time share in heaven waiting. Problem for them, since any Gawd ain't so compliant, history says as much. And really look at what passes for thinking amongst Christians, the sin of vanity where a believer thinks he is different and doesn't have to live up to his rugby contract. Or the Christian MP peddling the tried old Christians have a monopoly on morality, that is the sin of dishonesty, since fair dealing means admitting the civic order was not just created by those following Jesus. Worse, history is replete with where Christian dogmatists have crushed and killed nonchristians. e.g Spanish inquisition on Jews and Muslims.
Stupid exists, thats why we need to expose it often and soon.
Pakeha kill just as many children as Maori do, despite Maori being the "face of abuse" in the media, according to a researcher.
Merchant found physical child abuse was largely related to poverty, poor housing, inter-generational abuse, poor parenting and drugs and alcohol abuse.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/5331753/Pakeha-child-abuse-ignored-researcher?fbclid=IwAR1AnQblCfKzSLIeEdUUT0MJfEM_y8bW5xAxoEpH9udgiJZt9en23OqoptQ
Meanwhile, Oranga Tamariki is shifting away from child uplifts to intensive interventions, basically having a social worker moving in with the family for up to several years.
Listen to the clip in the link below for more details.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018702078/new-obligations-for-oranga-tamariki
If you listened to much of the commentariat here, Gabbard doesn't have a snowball's chance in becoming the Democratic candidate… However, she was the most googled candidate after the first debate lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeiDiSoWA1I
Her podcast with Joe Rogan was really worth the time to listen to. Personally if I could have Andrew Yang and Tulsi in one single candidate I'd be in political heaven. And this from someone who still has a big soft spot for Bernie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIb2lmHgd5s
Observer Tokoroa 26
4 July 2019 at 7:33 am
Going Backwards
It would have to be said sooner or later, that
Parents on drugs, Parents on Booze, Parents on Bashing their wives up, Parents who have put themselves in Jail, Parents who have not taught their children anything … The Parents who are merely wastrel Gang Mugs. Parents on Marijuana. Killing each other on the Road.
The spoon feeding has to stop. No amount of tattoos or money is going to fix anything. We have had a couple of centuries trying out that.
The sadness is, that the Population of New Zealand is less and less Maori. More and More English, More Asian and South American. European .Populations that do well.
Do we want Maori to Die off Like Kauri ? The answer to that is, make sure Parents live a decent Life.
The spoon feeding has to stop.
Many years back I worked for a period for a Maori, originally from Tokoroa, who eventually rose considerably in the senior ranks of our industry. I have to say we clashed horribly as personalities, but I still had immense respect for his personal diligence, fair-mindedness and hard work … and for how he had taken full responsibility for lifting himself out of his very ordinary family origins.
The same here in Australia, I keep meeting Maori who are doing very well for themselves out from under the burden of low expectations back home.
There is no question that everywhere around the world, where existing peoples became minorities in the lands they formerly had dominion over, where the scientific and industrial dominance of the West dealt a heavy blow to the confidence and self-image of other populations, where wrong-headed Darwinian ideas about race and eugenics became fashionable … have all been systematically detrimental to the morale and spiritual energy of indigenous peoples everywhere.
My contention is simple; the individual and the society they live in are mutually interdependent. If you want to argue for personal responsibility, to stop the 'spoon feeding', then we must accept that while some will soar, others will fall and that collectively we have an obligation to catch them before they break.
This is a conversation we struggle to have, how do we live so that each of us has the opportunity and space to strive and struggle to be the best we each can be; finding freedom within a disciplined collective society, clear in it's values, resolute in it's goals?
Do we want Maori to Die off Like Kauri ?
Emphatically no. As with all indigenous peoples they have knowledge and insight into a world a highly materialistic West is blind to. There was one night on a marae in the King Country when I was privileged to see a small glimpse of how these two different views of the world might be forged into something far greater any of us had arrived with.
lol
Well I'm glad that cheered you up.
Well said, Red.
How did you lift yourself out of your very very ordinary family origins rodlog?
My father was born in a tent to a single mother. When my parents married they had less than 10 quid between them.
My mother's father was a butcher on the mutton chain at Westfield and was killed crossing the road on his way to work the day before I was born,
Mum and Dad met at Teachers Training College and both worked multiple jobs most of their lives. I put myself through University with a cleaning job. At one stage I was intimate with at least 1/3rd of all the toilets in downtown Auckland.
Yet undeniable I had a sheltered middle class upbringing. A season shearing in Otago cured me of a lot of unnecessary innocence, and this has come in handy the rest of my life. Much of the rest of it I put down to a reasonable IQ, endeavouring to justify the salary I was paid and turning up on time.
Did being 'white' help. Yes and no. In some settings it does, and in others it was utterly irrelevant. It's hardly surprising that the majority ethnic group and culture will organise things locally to best suit themselves. Being a minority in any setting is a inevitably a disadvantage to some extent, but in my experience if you prove reliable and competent it’s readily overcome. A quick look around the modern world categorically shows that being European/Caucasian is absolutely not the sole pre-requisite to being wealthy and successful … however you want to define it. The last big engineering project team I was part of, I was literally the only white male face in a team of eight. The notion of 'white male privilege' may have had some currency a generation ago, but it's a very weak one now.
lol
Double happy I see. See how I only want the best for you?
lol you are such a spinner – you've been defending all and sundry white males for ages – do you think it is a secret lol
Your little self serving narratives are funny – they show the real you in so many ways and all invisible to you because of your white male privilege – it is very amusing so thanks for that.
Logically in any society the dominant ethnic group will organise things to suit themselves, and to others this will appear an unearned privilege. So there is no point in denying it. And some individuals will extend this to be racist and irrationally bigoted about it. It happens everywhere; try living in China if you want a dose of ethnic privilege in your face on a daily basis.
At one time I would have largely agree with you; some differences between Pakeha and Maori seem indefensible unless you invoke racism as the sole explanation.
But travelling and working in many different countries this past decade or so has rather altered my perspective on this. Besides this NZ is no longer the place it was in the 80's when these questions really hit the public domain. You rightly ask for instance why Maori represent 53% of the prison muster when they are 15% of the population and put this down to white supremacist racism. Yet at the same time Asians are 12% of the population, yet barely 2% of the prison muster.
I'm willing to accept that racism is part of this toxic mix that sees so many talented, capable young Maori men waste their lives away in prison. I've seen it up close and it disturbs me as much as it does you. Yet if pure bigotry was the sole explanation at work, if fails to explain those Maori who do escape the trap and achieve often remarkably well.
your opinion is quaint but the facts don't back it up.
For example health –
these are fact not your opinon OR mine FACTS and I could pull up examples across every sector but of course you don't see any racism – that is because you are part of it. Your diminishing of racism and trying to mansplain everything into some middle of the road mush are prime examples of it. You cannot front up – never have and never will I think and that's okay – you are a caricature in some ways for me on this stuff and that is helpful when trying to explain concepts so all good.
Yet like you the WT is long on whining about how unfairly Maori have been treated, yet short on explaining exactly why Maori have different biologies to everyone else, and how their medical treatments should be different.
Unless of course they are not, and all that Maori really want is a separate system. Which quite precisely makes Brash's lie come true.
You cannot front up
Absolute bullshit. I've been upfront and candid with you all the way; that you cannot see this speaks to your willful inability to hear anything I say.
Maybe these guys have the right skin tone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C8pl0TJyK8&t=776s
nice bigotry there rl – as usual when backed into a corner of your own making your pigmentation rules your brain, you sad twerp.
It explains it perfectly adequately. Those individuals do "remarkably well", but not as often as pakeha do "remarkably well". And not usually as "remarkably well" as pakeha with otherwise similar socioeconomic backgrounds.
Institutional and individual biases simply stack the deck of cards in order to produce outcomes that reinforce those biases. We actually see this when machine learning is used to replicate and supplement decision-making that was previously the domain of supposedly rational, impartial and experienced humans. When computers use previous decisions in order to learn what they should be doing, they come out racist. And because we can itemise and set up tests in order to blatantly expose the decision bias without the AI getting embarrassed and changing its behaviour, we know exactly what those biases are.
The classic example was a parole application assessment tool that was predisposed to releasing white americans but not african americans who had the same past histories, and we saw it here with the immigration nz algorithm.
These biases don't rule every person out or in, it's just that white dudes get more positive credit for being white and male. Which makes equivalent people more likely to get interviews or leniency if they happen to be male and pale. We are perceived as more trustworthy and more competent, even if only subconsciously. And that feeds back into us. For a mind-bender, try reversing the implicit assumptions in society and figure out what we'd get fed back then.
As for your bollocks with MM, people don't necessarily need different medicine, but any health system needs to be accessible to the patients in its catchment area. That doesn't mean two systems, it can mean one system that can deliver its services in different ways to suit the people it is supposed to serve.
Institutional and individual biases simply stack the deck of cards in order to produce outcomes that reinforce those biases.
That's precisely what I was saying, that the dominant culture will organise matters to best suit itself. It would be incredibly surprising if it didn't. And aligns precisely with the argument I made earlier, that our most ancient, hardwired system of social cooperation is the one that humans share with all the other primates we co-evolved with … genetic affiliation. We will always preference our own family members over others, those of our extended social network, those we share an ethnic culture with, our nationality, our religion, our locality.
But note carefully, as we extend these horizons of social co-operation the basis of them changes in a way that is uniquely human, we start to cooperate on the basis of reciprocity, game theory, duty and generosity. These are more complex layers of cooperation built on top of our more primitive genetic impulses.
When we measure 'subconcious bias' it is these ineradicable old instincts we are testing for. The testing is deliberately done at a sub-second level in order to suppress any higher order thinking.
But any reasonable response to something hardwired and by definition 'not in our concious control' cannot be to demand we eradicate our deep instinctive programming. It makes no more sense than to 'convert' homosexual's because their instinctive sexual orientation is deemed unacceptable.
Nor does it make any sense to promote the differences between groups of people, to provoke power dramas between them and insist on engaging on the old victim/oppressor/rescuer game. All of these alarm our ancient scripts, they push people into their default genetic affiliations and trigger the primitive violence responses our history is so replete with.
What makes us human is our ability to consciously override our subconscious scripts. For instance we effectively moderate our sexual instincts with complex, high order social norms of mutual respect and modesty. At the same time experience tells us that attempting the same control with suppression, shame and guilt always backfire.
Similarly I would argue the most effective way to manage our default instinct to genetic affiliation is to consciously educate towards notions of our common human heritage and our universal equality in the sight of the divine.
"Genetic affiliation"? How does that work with institutional racism when genetically there's no such thing as "race"?
And on the one hand you're arguing that subconscious impulses can't be changed, and on the other you want to turn athiests into believers of divinity so they can recognise our common humanity. Not to mention that you refer to some pretty odd impulses.
Maybe, rather than being the result of "genetic affiliation" or a sex drive we have to overcome in order to preserve "social norms", maybe the vast majority of social ills are learned behaviours. Maybe the "social norms" are hypocritical. Maybe the justice system's inclination to give poor people heavier sentences than rich people for stealing the same amount of money (ha) from the government isn't "deep instinctive programming", maybe it's simply a social norm that can indeed be changed.
I appreciate your look back, except you seem not to have answered the question. Nature, nurture, or both? I suspect innate qualities of character powered the overcoming of handicaps (did for me) but the father provides guys with the role model for socialisation (in principle, not denying the inadequacy of many) so where did you get that from?
Prisoner rehab seems not to measure up to expectation. I'm wondering if lack of suitable role models used is the problem with that.
both
I agree with pat, it's definitely both. IQ for instance is a critical component of professional success, but it's more of a constraining factor than a predictor. For instance in order to be a good medical specialist you probably need an IQ north of 130, but this does not mean everyone with that level of IQ could achieve at the level necessary for that profession. There are other multiple dimensions around temperament and nurture that are more predictive.
But in terms of nurture all the evidence now conclusively points to having both biological parents in a stable home is a very real advantage for the children. That the role of men, and fathers in particular, has been consistently diminished and depracted for some 4 – 5 decades now, has done no-one any favours whatsoever.
So did you have a suitable male role model to instill the parental father within? Perhaps you've never thought about that. I often reflect on the many & various male role models I learnt from (most from books rather than real life) which probably explains the many sides to the character I eventually developed. From my dad I learnt what a father ought not to be like.
In that respect I count myself as very fortunate to have a decent father to whom I very grateful for his efforts. He's not perfect and like you there are aspects of who he is that I've been careful not to replicate; but then again I think it's a mistake to think of your parents as 'role models'.
My view is that they are there to act as boundary setters and creators of expectation. It's their role to ensure you are acceptably socialised and to then encourage you to deal with life good and bad.
And in my adolescence I was again fortunate to have the father of a very close friend around a lot. He was a lot more political than my own father and was very open to educating me about the world.
Thanks for the info, fortunate indeed. You may not be familiar with the Jungian theory of archetypes, but the idea is that the parents embed in the subconscious during childhood, and thus activate the parental archetype provided by nature (which may or may not then result in them functioning as role models).
Amazing to see this 15 year old take out seasoned tennis veterans at Wimbledon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeXHzG8WyK0
Poll: Should the Government declare a climate emergency?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/should-the-government-declare-a-climate-emergency.html
“The National Party’s climate change spokesperson isn’t sure what that would achieve.”
“National’s Todd Muller said on Wednesday a declaration is currently just a “feel good statement” with no action behind it.” – Muller should know.
Thoughts?
Todd Munter never met an idea he didn't misunderstand.
Well, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that Muller had thoughts. If so, no doubt he kept them to himself prudently, due to the omnipresent danger that colleagues would view such tendencies as subversive.
Being 'more left than most', you'll strongly agree the government should declare a climate emergency, yes?
Of course I do, The Al1en.
Although, support in the poll linked isn't looking too good.
So no more arguing against the 'look to the PM' or the 'the polls aren't good enough', or 'damage being done to the PM's popularity' from you, then. Good to know.
Poll-driven policies are such fraught affairs for pollies – witness Key's flag 'push'.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/113667687/sir-john-key-says-hed-still-change-the-nz-flag
Key wanted to be Prime Minister when he was 11 years old ["I was aways fascinated by the role."] – too bad for NZ that it took him 43 years to grow out of it.
Now if only the Chairman of ANZ Bank New Zealand could recall his stance on the 1981 Springbok tour – after all, a good memory would be a prerequisite for being The Chairman, surely?
Well it's looking better than the Poll earlier this week that asked if Arden is doing a good job/should stay on as PM. That had the nays at about 95% before vanishing "poof" in to the ether, to be replaced by a "page not found" placeholder.
Expect to see any real polls agin' Jacinda to disappear the same way…
Which Poll was this Swizzle? Who organized the Poll? Where was it published? If it isn't a legitimate Poll on a credible Medium I can only assume it is your credibility going "poof"
AM Show Newshub polls aren't scientific, they are for entertainment purposes. People can vote more than once, if the smartphone or computer cache is cleared. You would have to be an idiot to take them seriously.
Someone in Chris Bishop's office voted 2000 times in one poll. 😁
"Someone in Chris Bishop's office voted 2000 times in one poll"?
That's the sort of determination, stamina and motive needed to do serious work. Like checking the Treasury website for Budget details.
if you know anything about statistics you would understand those clickbait polls are absolutely worthless
For all those Leftists here who have been bigging up Jeremy Corbyn perhaps you can try and explain why they have slipped to fourth place in the polls.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/labour-slips-to-fourth-place-in-opinion-poll-as-pressure-builds-on-jeremy-corbyn-over-brexit-stance-a4181991.html
"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man."
Just to rejig the memory on nats:
'Heck of a job Brownlee
WrittenBy: EDDIE – Date published:1:22 am, April 30th, 2011
The government has spent $1 million so far on 350 campervans for Christchurch. One person stayed in them. For that money, better to put them up at Premier House and commute them by Iroquois. There is a massive housing need in Christchurch – apparently thousands have registered interest in temporary houses – but the campervans were so shitty and expensive people preferred overcrowded or damaged houses, or just left town.
Meanwhile, actual temporary houses will start going up some time next month and hopefully be finished some time in winter. The Japanese will have 30,000 temporary houses finished in a month’s time. we’ll be lucky to have one.
Can anyone tell me why we made a guy who can’t even organise some temporary houses in 3 months our dictator?'
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/100466/if-megan-woods-really-left-wing-housing-minister-then-pushing-left-wing-shift-housing
You’ll be the acid test. If she passes she’ll be “more left than most”.
Well played! LOLOL
(And well received, The Chairman).
Kia ora The Am Show.
A 6.4 Earthquake in Southern California America let hope there is not to much damage.
Amanda I see the guys point on The big game of rugby but loyalty is cool .
It's wet wet wet we're I'ma at the minute.
I say that the sale of West coast milk company to Yealy a Chinese company is good deal for the farmers the West coast needs this.
I think it's not very wise the council talking about banning people from parking on the road side burms especially with the housing shortage and over crowding
With the cancer issue there is only so much one can do ma te wa in good time our government will sort it out the big picture with cancer drugs is the big companies charge way to much for there product putting huge profits before humanity and that's WRONG in Eco Maori book
Ka kite and
Kia ora my viewing device are down.
I have been in Hawskbay for a few days on a farm one thing I noticed was the lack of native birds in the place were I'm staying . I say that Hawskbay could do with it own bird sanctuary also there is not many native trees all the farmers need to plant flax and other native fauna as Aotearoa native birds cannot feed on pine trees or Willow trees or popular we need to plant Manuka trees in the slip prone places not Willow or popular ka kite ano
Stuff
Kia ora The Hui.
I think not enough reshearch is done in Maori and Pacific health.
I have said you have to have aoha for the people you treat to treat correctly in the health if a doctor love there patient they will do all they can to find a better out come for the patient .
I also say we need Maori to be there in the lead in all aspects of government service.
Gout is a genetic problem Eco Maori Had gout . The system is changing for the better of Maori.
I know European doctor don't treat Maori as good as a Maori doctor would.
Ka kite and