Obama and Romney come to an agreement on Climate Change.
They both agree not to talk about it.
However despite Obama and Romney’s gentlmen’s agreement to keep silent on climate change. An opposite and more forthright agreement to openly discuss climate change is developing among lower ranked US political leaders.
After ‘Sandy’ the possibility of an East Coast, if not nation wide bipartisan political consensus to tackle climate change is beginning to emerge.
“There has been a series of extreme weather incidents. That is not a political statement. That is a factual statement,”
” Anyone who says there’s not a dramatic change in weather patterns, I think, is denying reality.”
“I think part of learning from this is realizing that climate change is a reality.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo press briefing Tuesday (Oct. 30)
“All up and down the East Coast, there are mayors … being told, ‘You’ve got to move these houses back away from the ocean. You’ve got to lift them up. Climate change is going to raise the water levels on a permanent basis. If you want your town insured, you have to do this.”
Former President Bill Clinton before a crowd Tuesday (Oct. 30)
Obama is the better candidate to deal with climate change, which may have contributed to the superstorm.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Thursday (Nov. 1)
High-profile figures like Bloomberg, Cuomo and Clinton speaking candidly and practically about climate change suggests a change of pace among public officials. But will the dialogue on extreme weather and climate that has emerged in Sandy’s wake alter the national conversation (or lack thereof) on climate change? Or will that discussion recede with Sandy’s floodwaters and the week’s news cycle?
If they choose to pick it up, Whichever candidate emerges victorious they will have the makings of this bipartisan consensus lying at hand all around them.
Whichever candidate wins the US presidential elections, the first order of business, must be to immediately order an assessment of the best strategy to combat climate change, seeking the best advice of the world’s best scientists and climate experts. The fate of civilisation, possibly even the fate of humanity depend on it.
Of the two candidates, Obama, in my opinion, would be best placed to do this, being less close to vested business interest linked to the oil and coal lobby. But all the evidence is, that he is failing the test.
Agreed. They also cannot say how much of “Sandy” is attributable to solar flares, warm water, ocean gods, or some guy mooning the latter from the beach.
Your statement is meaningless because everything is statistically based and an absolute level of confidience is something that science leaves for matters of religous faith.
Imagine that the actuarial tables on mortality state that a man of your age has a say 1 in 50 probability of dying this year. Does this ‘reliably’ inform us whether you will be alive at the end of the year or not?
Of course not.
The only sense in which such tables are meaningful are when you examine (or sample) a whole lot of men of your age. If for example you sampled say 1000 men, then you could be fairly sure that 20 of them might not make it to the end of the year. But it tells you nothing about each individual man.
In the same way science can reliably predict that increased ocean temperatures and more water vapour in the atmosphere will increase the probability of more frequent severe storms, and increase their peak intensity. It doesn’t reliably tell you anything much about an individual storm. Instead you have to wait until you’ve had many dozens of storms like Sandy before we can confirm the statistical prediction reliably.
Of course the insurance industry might well spit the dummy at funding such an extended and expensive experiment. The death toll might prove a bit of an irritation too.
There is a fair amount of data available regarding the recent storm in the US all one can say is only that some of its components may have been due to climate change.
The late-season formation may have been influenced by a shifting climate, but its meet-up with an early North American winter storm had no climate change connection.
A high-pressure blocking event, which may have been climate change-related, steered the storm toward the East Coast rather than out to sea.
Unusually high tides amplified the storm surge and flooding, but the tides had nothing to do with climate change. And the fact that those four events happened simultaneously was just a very unfortunate coincidence.
Warmer temperatures, which allowed the storm to carry more moisture, and higher sea level are likely to have amplified its effects. The higher sea level — a foot higher than when the city’s protective sea walls were built a century ago can almost certainly be attributed to climate change.
So if I read what you are saying, then you agree that man-made climate change is real and is fast becoming a significant component of severe and adverse weather events?
And going back to your first point; that the barrier to doing anything about it is political … and always has been.
In other words, climate change affects existing weather and how it intersects with other phenomena like geography, tides and time. Isn’t that a given already?
Hs: Your second and third paragraph are in direct contradiction with each other.
The reason this particular storm came onshore at that latitude rather than doing the usual wander into the Atlantic was because it was blocked by a northern jetstream coming lower in latitude than usual.
If you look at the historic tracks for hurricanes at that latitude you will see that it is almost unknown for them to turn inland. If you look at the historic tracks of the jetstreams you will see that they seldom come down far enough to block which provides the room for hurricanes driven by the otherwise minor effect of the earths rotation to move east .
The physics of arctic warming when modeled indicate that the jetstreams will have a higher amplitude, and over the last decade that is exactly what has been seen. So it becomes a higher probability that there will be offshore blocking events driving hurricanes into the upper eastern seaboard of the US. That also increases the probability of hitting cold fronts being spun out of the arctic by those same jetstreams and following that same rotational spin towards the east (frontal systems have quite predictable tracks as well when they don’t get blocked).
It isn’t coincidental. It will probably become more and more obvious through the rest of this current weather cycle for the next few years, then it will reduce in probability as the rate of the deicing of the arctic wanes and the atmosphere shifts to a new equilibrium. It will then resume in the 2020’s.
What the SA was saying was that the degree of the impact of climate change on that storm wasn’t proveable yet (although highly likely) because it takes a number of events to get a statistical sample sufficient to establish confidience. By the time that there is the required confidience, the east coast will have developed good hurricane systems anyway – they will have had received quite a few – probably 10 or more to get to a 90% confidience level that there has been a shift in the high latitude hurricane tracks.
Reductionism of the type you were repeating has it’s place in science, but in weather and climate systems you really have to look at the whole because the effects work on each other in a much more complex set of interactions.
Thanks 1prent. Most people view the weather as a surface event only but it is not. What goes on in the upper atmosphere plays a major role in how things turn out at the surface. In recent decades the polar jets (both North and South) have been tracking further into lower latitudes than has hitherto been the case. When this happens and cold air from those upper level jet streams feed into warmer surface cyclonic weather systems then you can expect further cyclonic generation to occur. It is certainly due to global warming, and as a consequence… expect to see deeper and more frequent tropical cyclonic events occurring in the Southern Pacific region too.
It is their article I was quoting but perhaps you should send them a letter what with your earth sciences BSc I’m sure you’re far more erudite than any of their contributors and with your computer skills you’d be able to model weather events with far greater reliability than anyone else has to date.
What can be denied is the youtube video you have linked to with alarmist comments suggests a warming of 6 or more degrees C in the next few decades.
You’ve not been keeping up. The video was quoting the IEA:
LONDON, April 27 (UPI) — Global greenhouse gas emissions will nearly double by 2050 under current policies unless urgent action is taken, the International Energy Agency has warned.
Issuing a stark assessment this week at a London environmental conference, the energy policy advisory group said failure to develop fossil fuel alternatives quickly will put the world on an irreversible course to a catastrophic long-term temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius.
“Under current policies, we estimate that energy use and (carbon dioxide) emissions would increase by a third by 2020, and almost double by 2050,” said IEA Deputy Executive Director Richard Jones.
“This would likely send global temperatures at least 6 degrees higher. Such an outcome would confront future generations with significant economic, environmental and energy security hardships,” he added.
The grim forecast was delivered at the third annual Clean Energy Ministerial, which brought together ministers from 23 governments for discussions on clean energy progress and opportunities.
While it’s true that some years ago, 6 degrees was considered a fringe ‘worst-case’ scenario, as with so many other things around climate science, it’s rapidly become a lot more main-stream.
Coming as it is just a week before Election Day, Sandy makes the fact that climate change has been entirely ignored during this campaign seem all the more grotesque. In a year of record-breaking temperatures across the U.S., record drought conditions in the country’s corn belt, and now a record storm affecting the nation’s most populous cities, neither candidate found the issue to be worthy of discussion. Pressed about this finally the other day on MTV, President Obama called climate change a “critical issue” that he was “surprised” hadn’t come up during any of the debates, a response that was at once completely accurate and totally disingenuous. (As one commentator pointed out, he might have brought up this “critical” issue on his own since “he is the friggin’ POTUS.”)
Definition: The CCDs argue that climate change is not real and is not happening. CCDS explain the controversy is a result of global conspiracy deliberately concocted by scientists politicians and media, unfortunately they have not been able to give any rational explanation of the reasons for this conspiracy.
Current Status: The CCDs are Pretty much at the fringes of the current debate on climate change
Title: Climate Change Apologists
Definition: CCAs admit that climate change is happening, but say that jobs, profits, the economy and growth, and a myriad other issues are far more important than taking steps to address climate change. The apologists are also adept at blaming or scapegoating others, usually groups that they have taken a dislike to anyway. This group are quite comfortable with the idea of millions if not billions of human deaths, as well as the destruction of entire eco systems and the resulting animal and plant extinctions. Their previously listed preoccupations are considered far more important.
Current status: The most sinister, cynical and dangerous of the different Climate Change factions. Currently the CCAs are the main spear carriers for doing nothing about climate change
And now a third category has arisen:
Title: Climate Change Ignorers
Definition: Political leaders and parties who refuse to even mention Climate Change, if they can avoid it. Usually for sectarian political advantage, ie not scare the horses, not look too radical in the eyes of the voters, not offend vested interest etc etc.
Rather than alert the electorate and the wider population to the danger, the CCIs put getting bums on seats for their particular sectarian grouping more important than even alerting their political rivals who could steal a policy march on them.
The whole topic of Climate Change is a ‘no go area’ for these politicians. They will rarely if ever mention the subject of Climate Change unless it is pushed right up under their noses, and often not even then. If forced to mention Climate Change CCIs say that one day when they are in complete control of the presidency and the congress, or have the most seats in the house of parliament then they will call for action on Climate Change. CCIs neither deny, or apologise for climate change, they just simply ignore it.
Current Status: The most ridiculous and laughable faction of all, I don’t expect it to last long.
Being connected to the internal network is definitely a security breach waiting to happen, but I find it hard to believe that such an obvious problem went unnoticed for 13 years, yet within 1 year of the new kiosks being set up it was discovered on at least 2 separate occasions (that we know of).
Therefore, I suggest, that although the old computers may have been connected to the internal network, they did not exhibit the same basic security breach (that is, navigating with an ‘open file’ dialog in Word would give you access to the entire network) probably through some configuration option that stopped it, which should also have been configured on the kiosks but wasn’t.
This means that the security was still incredibly lax and just waiting for someone malicious to exploit it, but this would have required a specific intent to do so by someone with the required skills, rather than any moderately-knowledgeable office worker with Microsoft Office skills being able to find it.
In short, no, the evidence would suggest that National is worse than Labour.
That depends. I’d like to see the report. But on the face of it, MSD under National were told, at least twice, that there was a serious problem and to fix it, and that advice was ignored. What happened under Labour? I don’t think we know yet.
Says so much about his myopic view of our society and how he thinks he’ll ‘add value’.
Talk about give a bigot RWNJ, with established psych issues, an even bigger soapbox to indoctrinate the frogs with, last roll of the dice for the truth IMO.
if they can’t boost the circulation appealing with dog whistles they are history like so may publications are already.
It’d only sell at union sites (well maybe they need to be a bit more careful with the money…) but it might put a stop to the rampant jealousy of whaleoil…
Rortney Hide on the financial transparency war path! Has Rortney come clean on his girlfriend’s parliamentary travel perks yet? Or his flash international hotel stays?
Yeah Draco. Bluddy right wing nobs. They say that they are: ” Legatum Institute (LI) is an independent non-partisan public policy organisation whose research, publications, and programmes advance ideas and policies in support of free and prosperous societies around the world.”
Must be a trick in there somewhere. I expect Parata will now quote the claim that NZ is “first in the World Education” as being the product and vision of her leadership. Yeah Right!
Their credibility? In their own words, “…we have a vision of a more prosperous world based on greater economic and political liberty balanced with personal and institutional responsibility.”
So, free markets and personal responsibility and political liberty that is probably measured in terms of consumer choice and institutional responsibility measured in terms of protecting a market ‘free for all’ and keeping pesky citizens who want more political freedom than mere consumer choice firmly in line.
Chalupabot, your count is getting too high. 18.4% of all comments on this site in the last 48 hours have been made using your handle. As you know, the limit to avoid unwanted attention is 9.7%
Please return to an acceptable ratio or use some of your other handles.
Interesting boots on the ground report of the chaos that is Sandy. Disturbingly there are still Americans full of the belief that someone will rescue them, so they don’t need to prep.
Give it a week and that attitude will be wiped out – at least in affected areas. We would do well to heed their experience.
DB Breweries has been slammed for abusing Kim Dotcom’s wife on a Tui billboard. Seventeen billboards around the country say “She clearly married Dotcom for his body. Yeah right”.
Dotcom, in a statement to the Herald on Sunday, described the campaign as “hurtful and insulting. It’s not only offensive to me and my wife but to everyone who is overweight and their partners”, he said.
He said his wife Mona had been through hell in the past nine months.
Tui marketing manager Jarrod Bear said the billboards were an irreverent spin on topical issues that would appeal to “everyday Kiwis”.
One person, (not Dotcom) has laid a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority.
Fuckin’ A, weka. Tui can sometimes be actually funny but the rest of the time it’s just embarrassing the way their marketing team’s rampant insecurities are put out their for the world to see …
+1 Only a complete moron would drink that ferrets piss anyway. I guess with such despicable advertising that only a moron could like, DB Breweries is trying to appeal to their consumer base. An irreverent spin on topical issues… Yeah right! It’s defamatory rubbish that many New Zealanders will be offended at.
Yep. One Tui billboard in ten might actually be funny. Unless Jarrod Bear is willing to put a photo of him/herself and partner on a billboard, he/she should just shut up.
Yes Fran O Cyclops has really lost the plot, or that article was intended to be a job application to join the (non) Truth. ( I see production problems looming with frequent web-breaks* due to slaters being keen to feast on rotting paper)
*web-breaks is printers jargon for the reel of paper snapping when press is running
And under Fran O’Sullivan’s embrassing brain-blurt, is the perfec place to copy the email I sent to my son today, after doing some reading:
“This was said on the IMDB boards about a Romney supporter, arrested
for voting twice:
“I understand why you and the government would hate such a women.
She’s a hero, one of the very few Americans actually trying to rid us
of the corrupt regime currently hogging power.
“Lock her up” You said, well so did all the dictators.”
Hilarious, and yet very disturbing…”
I’m sorry I clicked that. But I guess it was time for my annual reminder of how pathetic “evidence” has to be for WO to treat it as hard-hitting gospel.
(For those who don’t wish to click: Hamish Keith tweets “why no Labour MPs at Fabians”, Cunliffe tweets “sorry, I had a cold”, Cactus responds “you didn’t look sick when I saw you in town today!” It’s fucking riveting journalism, Keith Ng should take note of how it’s really done.)
Maybe he was sick enough that he couldn’t attend a major function and put on his future-labour leader face….but he was well enough to get up for a meal.
A few weeks back I wasn’t feeling well enough to get over the other side of town for a meeting, but I could get down to the supermarket.
You need to stop letting whaleoil think for you chalupa batman, you can probably do better with your own brain
Exactly. There’s no reason anyone has to be deliberately lying, it’s just bullshit for Cactus/WO to act like one non-medical professional’s opinion of how a person looks has any bearing on their actual state of health.
I’m sure the Fabians would approach Cunliffe if they had a reason.
Everyone’s working toward the same goal etc.
When it comes down to doing something concrete is when we’ll see them talking.
One should always take with a great deal of cynicism anything that Slater says about Cunliffe. I am interested in his obsession with DC, obviously he thinks that Cunliffe is a threat to the right and needs to be attacked at every opportunity.
The reality is that David is crook. He pulled out of some no asset sales petition campaigning that was arranged for this morning and this afternoon he is missing an important party fundraiser. I have spoken to him a couple of times and he sounds sick as.
Oh yes, it’s been amusing – Richard Long begging Shearer not to reshuffle, Hooters saying that really, David Shearer needs more support and Cunliffe should be sacked while Farrar, knowing that Shearer’s a lost cause, suggests the next waste of space, Robertson.
All of them presenting themselves as sensible voices of reason – just like Pete George, come to think of it.
Alas, the Right and their shills know what they want and make it clear…
Now I was under the impression that, that vindictive old bat lived in Hong Kong. So HOW could she see Cunliffe in town? Also when I had the flu, I still had to go out, and people probably from looking at me didn’t realise I was screwing up their lives for the 3 weeks it takes to get over the flu. And anyway, anything Whaleshit says, needs to be checked, rechecked, verified, with at least 10 other neutral people. And I still WILL NOT believe a word he vomits.
There’s been a lot of disinformation being promoted by the right wing at the moment concerning Unions. In fact if you didn’t know the real reasons behind what propagandists like David Farrar, Cameron Slater and Rodney Hide were saying, you might believe that Unions are an evil blight on society…
Do you mean the Unions should follow the rules or the NBR should adhere to publication laws Chalupa Batman? The Unions have followed the rules. The NBR hasn’t because it’s publishing inaccuracies based on Hides speculation. There has been no finding of wrongdoing on the part of the Unions. Clearly the NBR has again breached publication laws by promoting defamatory and inaccurate speculation.
Good article Jackal, I’d like to see these dropkicks getting their asses sued for defamation by the Unions concerned.
Hide should find a rock and invite those other creeps to join him in entombment.
Thanks fender. You’re clearly talking about Act’s standard retirement package… Slithering under a rock is the best place for the likes of the unlawful David Garrett, John Banks and the rest of the deluded Actoids. What a bunch of worms!
How about this then, we wait for Neville Harris to decide whats what and if in the unlikely event theres nothing I’ll apoligise. Of course once something dodgy has been uncovered we’ll expect an apology from you?
Apologize for saying that there’s been no finding of any wrongdoing? Get off the grass Chalupa. Just like Affco’s complaint to the Serious Fraud Office, the Companies Office won’t find anything unlawful either. That’s because Rodney Hide is full of shit, and always has been.
You want me to say I’ll apologize about a what if? How retarded!
The claims by Hide and Slater that the Maritime and Meatworkers Union’s are hiding and misspending millions of dollars of their members money are in the present tense false. There is no evidence, I repeat no evidence of this. They’re speculating and then trying to say their assumptions are facts.
I think QoT summed it up nicely today when she wrote:
I’m sorry I clicked that. But I guess it was time for my annual reminder of how pathetic “evidence” has to be for WO to treat it as hard-hitting gospel.
In my opinion, the same can be said about the deplorable Rodney Hide as well.
Hunter S. Thompson was onto that trick long ago, relating an anecdote about Lyndon Johnson wanting stories about his opponent fucking pigs to be promulgated. When his advisors were shocked (this was a more innocent time), saying that there was no evidence, Johnson retorted, “I want him up there denying that he fucks pigs!”
Hide’s article’s aren’t about if something is found, he’s saying they’re already guilty even though there’s no evidence of this. My article is about Hide and Slater’s baseless propaganda, which is a fact. Therefore I won’t be apologizing to you Chalupa Batman.
Oh for gods sake CB will you just get over it, your tiny mind has obviously been overloaded with this discussion, other wise you would be writing something of substance and value instead of repeating Whaleshit’s propaganda, and wanting an apology to a non existent wet dream you once had?
I heard the recognisable thud thud thud of a helicopter’s rotor blades. I looked up to see one of our birds coming in, guns blazing!
“We’re saved!” I yelled, leaping to my feet, waving my arms so as to be seen.
The chopper came in on its run, and I knew it would leave a trail of destruction. The gunner let loose and the world all around us turned to fire. Roy and Douglas went down in a bloody mist, but Johnny somehow escaped being eviscerated by the chopper’s 30-mm chain gun. I dived to the ground.
“You’re shooting at the wrong target!” I screamed into the radio.
“Sorry about that,” came the reply. I knew the voice all too well. “But frankly, er, you’re lucky we even came. Stand by for pick-up. Gunner Perigo, er, have you got a fix on the enemy?”
If Cameron Slater is ‘no holds barred’ in holding politicians ‘feet to the fire’ – what has he done to hold John Bank’s (and Don Brash’s) ‘feet to the fire’ over the ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ (that they both support) – not yet applying to them over Huljich?
(John Banks and Don Brash were both former Directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd, and both signed Huljich Kiwisaver Registered Prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 which contained untrue statements – a ‘strict liability’ offence under s.58(3) of the Securities Act.)
I formally requested the Finance Markets Authority (FMA), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and the NZ Police apply ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ to the former and current ACT Party Leaders.
When each of the above-mentioned put it in writing that they would do nothing, I petitioned Parliament for an urgent investigation. However – the national party dominated Commerce Select Committee also chose to do nothing.
At least I tried!
What has Cameron Slater done on this issue?)
Why has Cameron Slater banned me for commenting on his ‘Whaleoil’ blog – is he purports to support ‘freedom of expression’?
If staff at the ‘TRUTH’ are covered by employment law – how long is Cameron Slater going to last, as ‘TRUTH’ Editor?
(Kind regards Cameron – I’d be making this comment to you directly – on YOUR blog – if you hadn’t ‘banned’ me? 🙂
Why has Cameron Slater banned me for commenting on his ‘Whaleoil’ blog – is he purports to support ‘freedom of expression’?
– Probably because you posted long-winded, boring diatribes that basically had nothing to do with the thread, wouldn’t reply when challenged and ignored the warnings given
Good because National/Key (there’s no difference) continue to fade. Plan A is finished, only Plan B will save them. There won’t be a “National plus electorate Righties” majority at the next election. Key’s been found out, and the voters are looking for alternatives.
Which brings us to National’s Plan B … a third term thanks to Labour fucking up. That’s their best hope now.
So again, a good poll because the (few) remaining Labour ostriches can’t keep those heads in the sand. As National’s support declines, voters will turn to the opposition that is not Labour. Like Winston, in this poll.
Unless Labour decide (finally) to do something about that.
Polls like this – and the last Roy Morgan one – make it more likely that they will. Good.
Taken in concert with the most recent roymorgan, beginning to be a bit concerning. The issue for labour is to get out of the low30s in CB polls and at the moment it seems pretty steady.
During the time this poll was taken the following was going on:
-MSD privacy scandal
– The Government messing up on asset sales and Maori water rights
– Christchurch school screw ups
– Sweet talking its way through “No manufacturing crisis”
– Key being absolutely unbelievable and brain faded in the Dotcom/GCSB affair.
I never watch TV these days but clicked through to get a taste of everything that’s not changed. Front of vid is a still picture of JK raising a glass (in the vid it coincides with him saying ‘cheers’). JK in a factory that’s still open! And (the only potentially dodgy one) in operating garb to a voice over about ‘the good health’ of the Nats. Shearer edited to be heard apparently taking advice from a fucking wizard. Shearer standing looking at derelict sites and (twice?) framed alongside a ‘No Public Access’ sign.
And less than 50% of those polled thinking the economy will improve is spun in a positive light!
Anyway. If a Shearer led Labour Party that does nothing but shoot itself in the foot and offer gift horses to the Nats is still over 30%, just imagine what a Labour Party could do.
And then the scare mongering begins about the prospect of a dysfunctional NZ1/Green/Labour coalition. Because we’re meant to believe that NZ1 wouldn’t go with the Nats!?
Funny how TV1 says National can govern alone on 44%.
They ignore NZF because they are only on 4.9%.
Yet they count The Maori Party, Act, the Conservative Party and Mana who are all struggling to register.
So if you put Labour 32%, Greens 12%, NZF 4.9% = 48.9%.
This for the sake of discussion trumps National on the poll, doesn’t it?
Not all that good for Labour but not that bad either 2 years out from an election.
You’d think by now we would have a user-friendly web app for calculating various results. And that the MSM would be putting polls in those contexts.
Old fashioned I know, but I think the media’s job here is to report on the range of things that might happen (you know, actually inform people), rather than promoting one in particular. Would love to know how that editorial decision was made.
Ian, the reason they are counting MP, ACT, UF and Mana is because they’re all in parliament due to safe-ish electoral seats (except maybe UF). NZF is completely dependent on crossing the 5%.
Well actually there is a calculator for working out the allocated seats depending on vote percentages. It’s called the MMP seat allocation calculator. Of course the MSM can’t be bothered using it because it would mean they couldn’t peddle their propaganda.
You would increase or decrease the likelihood of certain MPs winning electoral seats on the previous election results in comparison to the percentage of current polling. Just assuming that the current incumbent MPs would retain their seats even though their party support has declined and then claiming the right wing would be able to form the next government is obviously wrong!
In fact it’s astounding just how arrogant the media is with its manipulations. They treat the public like fools!
Yes I know about that calculator, it’s just not very user friendly.
I’m not sure that there is such a direct correlation re the seats and previous/current polls, esp re the Maori Party/Mana seats. Have you done that calculation?
Right on, mac. It’s a Brolmar, and NACT’s desperate for good news. Take 10% off NAT, add 5% to Lab, have a good chortle at “add ACT and MP” and the ignoring of Winnie, and relax.
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Last month I wrote my blog on covid-19 pointing out the in our pre Alert Level 4 days that a subject no one had heard here months ago was now dominating the media. An amazing feature of this crisis is how quickly it has swept every other issue aside worldwide. ...
Nick Wilson,1 Ayesha Verrall,1,2 Len Cook,3 Alistair Gray,3 Amanda Kvalsvig,1 Michael Baker,1 (1epidemiologists, 2infectious disease physician, 3statisticians)In this blog, we raise ideas for how New Zealand might optimise testing to both identify cases in the community as part of the COVID-19 elimination strategy, and to confirm when the virus ...
Maybe you’ve seen the graph that says those countries where everyone wears a mask are the ones that have managed to keep Covid-19 under control? The first thing to say about that claim is that those countries also did lots of other things, too – they acted fast, with intense ...
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... North Atlantic's capacity to absorb CO2 overestimated, study suggestsResearch into ocean’s plankton likely to lead to ...
The Treaty on Open Skies is one of the most effective mechanisms for preventing war curently in force. By letting countries make surveillance flights over each others' territory, it eliminates fears that they are secretly preparing for war. So naturally, the US is planning to withdraw from it: The Trump ...
. . April 5: Day eleven of living in lock-down… My one day of rest for the week, and an opportunity to mow my lawns – which I’d been delaying for about three weeks. (On the plus side, the damp micro-climate in my back yard yielded three lovely fresh mushrooms ...
As far as anyone can say, New Zeaand still has a general election scheduled for September 19 this year. The election will be accompanied by two referenda, one of which will ask voters:Do you support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill?The official campaign period for the cannabis referendum begins ...
The vast majority of tributes to the Listener hearken back to its glory days, with little reflection on the magazine as it was at its end.I wrote for it, for half the Listener’s life; I have known personally all the editors except the first (mythical) three. From 1978 to 2014 ...
As the world economy slides rapidly towards deep recession there are growing calls for a Universal Benefit coming from some leftists and rightists. Now Finance Minister Grant Robertson is saying it is on the table. This article by a French party Workers Struggle provides analysis of various forms of universal ...
This is the advice from the very top of the anti-fluoride movement – Paul Connett, director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). Don’t worry about reading up on all the scientific information “You only have ...
. . April 4: Day 10 of living in lock-down… I wake up to a fine Saturday morning which normally would be like an early Christmas. But it’s Day 10 of Level 4 Lock Down. What will my fellow New Zealanders be doing on a day like this – staying ...
Some time during the night we went over the 850,000 views mark. We might have had our millionth view by the end of this year – certainly by early next year. Most of the people involved in Redline spent years and years producing various small left-wing papers and selling them ...
Comfortably, in the very first round, with an impressive 56% of the votes.I wonder, did members of the Shadow Cabinet start tweeting their resignations during Starmer's victory speech, or is that only a trick the right pull?It is odd how all the talk of how the next leader "needs to ...
One of the key voices in this extraordinary time in which we live is that of University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker. Philip Matthews did an an excellent job this weekend of capturing the way he became the man for this moment in a profile for The Press.But one ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addressed the nation today about the decline in daylight New Zealand has been experiencing over the previous few months. She said “As many of you will notice, our attempts to stem the dwindling of the daylight over the last few months have been completely ...
Redline received this article from the KOE a Marxist party in Greece Our friends in the KOE describe here the mounting crisis in Greece and tensions on the Turkish border. As desperate people flee from their homelands which have been ruined after decades of imperialist wars and interventions the people ...
As the first week of Level Four lockdown unfolded, mounting questions grew as to just what was (and was not) allowed under its “rules”. Partly these were driven by some apparently contradictory messagesfrom different authority figures and explanations carried in the media. Partly they reflected a somewhat sketchy legal basis ...
. . April 3: Day 9 of living in lock-down… Another late-start to my work day. Everything is temporarily upended as clients are shuffled around so we can minimise our “bubble” by reducing the number of people we help. One of my colleagues has been removed from his clients; his ...
In order to meet our 2050 carbon target and do our bit to avoid making the Earth uninhabitable, New Zealand needs to decarbonise our economy, replacing fossil fuels with electricity in the energy, industrial and transport sectors. The good news is that it will mean cheaper power for all of ...
For those folk who find my other Lock-Down Diary versions too “negative” or otherwise unpalatable… Here’s a photo of a pretty flower, . . Better? Tomorrow’s Sanitised Version: a cute animal video. . . . =fs= ...
. . April 2: Day eight of living in lock-down… Today, my work day starts late. Our rosters and clients have been dramatically changed, lessening (theoretically) the number of people in our work “bubble”. If just one of us catches covid19 the impact could be considerable as Grey Base Hospital ...
As Aotearoa enters week two of lockdown, it’s clear we’re all still working out what our “bubbles” look like and how to stay in them to stop the spread of Covid-19. New to the government’s Covid-19 website is some good guidance for people living in apartment blocks. Recent decades have ...
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” Lenin Don’t we all know that feeling now.
Prospect Magazine alerted me to this particularly apt quote. It is a much more evocative quote than Hemingway’s “gradually then suddenly” which is also doing ...
Yesterday was the day the consequences of the lockdown suddenly got very real for many. Firms have been closing and laying people off since the outset of the quarantine but this has mostly been happening out of the public eye. The mass closure of a number of iconic New Zealand ...
Brian Williamson1, Prof Nick Wilson2 (1Economic consultant, UK; 2University of Otago Wellington)In this blog, we outline how a win-win social contract could be forged to address the major dimensions of response to the COVID-19 pandemic when using a mitigation strategy: the particular need to protect older people from high ...
Resuming Normal Service: The Republican Party's nominee for in 1920, Warren Harding, promised the American people: “not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration”. If she wishes to remain our prime minister, then Jacinda Ardern will offer New Zealanders the same.HOW EDUCATED AMERICA snickered when the ...
No Free Society Without A Free And Functioning News Media: If we are to surrender our civil rights to the broader cause of defeating Covid-19, then foreign corporations must, likewise, surrender their right to inflict immense economic and cultural harm on New Zealanders simply because it improves their bottom line.I’M ...
by Daphna Whitmore A third of the world is under lockdown and a clear assessment of this measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 is urgently needed. With any high-stakes decisions it has to be asked what are we dealing with here? Are the measures warranted? Will they achieve their ...
I haven’t done a huge amount in the last few days. I’m reading The Poppy War and I’ve sort of poked at a couple of games – I started SOMA but I’m a wimp and I quit while in the first room after the brain scan. I might try it ...
The swan politicians may be gliding on the water, occasionally snapping at one another. Meanwhile, as the Covid19 crisis illustrates, the officials are desperately paddling below providing the real locomotion. One of the most fatuous recent grandstanding comments (of about a week ago), adding to the public’s anxieties, was ...
Much has been written about the importance of discretion in an emergency situation, and the concerns raised by the potential for it to be exercised arbitrarily. Given the quality of the discussion, there seemed little point in adding to it at any length. In particular, I point to the evidence ...
Today has felt surreal. I was all set to touch base online with my science communication students when a colleague shared the news that Bauer Media would be shutting down its publications immediately. The first link I saw implied it was Woman’s Weekly affected, and even that shocked me. But ...
Bogeymen, Real And Imagined: Is the number of psychopathic and sociopathic individuals in any given society truly as vanishingly small as we like to tell ourselves? Isn’t it more likely that the mass-shooters and serial-killers filling the headlines represent only the tip of a much, much larger iceberg of frightfulness? ...
Outgoing Police Commissioner Mike Bush appeared before the Epidemic Response Committee today, who asked him for the rules police are using to enforce the lockdown. He refused:Police Commissioner Mike Bush has admitted the advice given to Kiwis about what they're able to do during the lockdown hasn't been clear enough. ...
For those folk who find my other Lock-Down Diary versions too “negative” or otherwise unpalatable… Here’s a photo of my cat, . . Better? Tomorrow’s Sanitised Version: a pretty flower. . . . =fs= ...
. . April 1: Day seven of living in lock-down… This morning I had a brief chat with one of my neighbours, “D” (social distance between us, a good three or four metres). I learned he had resigned from his previous job and had been hired by another company – ...
Funnily enough, my thought as I start this post is whether it will be well written enough. Or should that be well enough written? Because so much of what I know about good writing came from my two stints at The Listener, which this morning was shut down due to ...
With normal democratic procedures in abeyance, there were two ways to go. First, it was open for the government to dissolve itself and invite the National Party to join a ministry of national salvation. That would have lessened the democratic deficit of the times by having a team of rivals without ...
Dr Kirsty Ross Children and young people can respond differently in times of distress. This also varies by age and developmental stage, with younger children having more magical and imaginative thinking, and older children having more awareness and knowledge of the issues our communities are facing (which brings up ...
Hungary has been a virtual dictatorship for a decade now, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has gradually eroded its democracy. But now, its official, with the passage of an indefinite emergency law allowing rule by decree:Hungary’s parliament has passed a new set of coronavirus measures that includes jail terms for ...
While the economy is on pause under lockdown, the government is beginning to plan how to cope with the post-lockdown, post-tourism, post-export education world we will eventually find ourselves in. They're planning a lot of infrastructure spending as economic stimulus, and have asked for proposals which can start the moment ...
It's my distraction, setting up tiny scenes to photograph. I've got stuck on the Babushka dolls for now. Something about their bubble shape. Something about their never changing, smiling features, suggesting persistent equanimity. Can we get through everything that is being thrown at us and keep at least a tiny ...
. . March 31: Day six of living in lock-down… This time I managed to sleep a little longer and the alarm woke me at the pre-set time: 6.55am. Then remembered I was working a later shift and could’ve slept in. Oh well, there are things to do at home. ...
Image credit:Diamond Harbour School Blogs I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or ...
Yesterday's Horizon poll showing support for a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum sliding into the majority for the first time in a year looked like good news for reformers – and it probably is. But the result warrants some scrutiny.The poll is the fifth in a series commissioned ...
For almost a week now, every one of us who isn’t an essential worker has been confined to their bubble. We are allowed to go shopping for groceries, to visit the doctor, and to get a bit of exercise if we stay local. The reason we are doing this is ...
The Covid-19 saga will no doubt produce many twists and turns for us before it is finally brought to an end. But one thing it has shown us – and what comfort it should bring us – is that our country’s government is in good hands. I am not thinking ...
In the absence of a vaccine or a cure for a deadly disease, staying home in your bubble is what you do, the concept is not new. To the best of my knowledge last time we did this in NZ was for polio, in the years before a vaccine came ...
The following statement was released on March 28 by the National Network on Cuba, a coalition of 40 groups, based in the United States. In recent weeks, Cuba has deployed hundreds of medical providers to over a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, as well as to their neighbors in Latin ...
This has been a terrible summer for Hector’s dolphins. The first indication was very low numbers of dolphin sightings during late spring and early summer. The Otago University Marine Mammal Research Team has carried out routine dolphin surveys at Banks Peninsula for more than 30 years. In all that time, ...
On March 17, Finance Minister Grant Robertson was quick out of the blocks with an economic rescue package to help businesses through the inevitable recession resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Robertson had pulled together a scheme in short order that so far seems to have saved many jobs. In his ...
The purpose of the lockdown is to save lives, by reducing the spread of covid-19. We won't know if its really working for another week, but given the devastation that will result if it doesn't - 14,000 dead is the optimistic scenario - its definitely worth trying. But pausing the ...
. . March 30: Day five of living in lock-down… Woke up still in darkness. Alarm hadn’t gone off. Turn to radio clock; it’s a few minutes after 6am… I lie there in the dark, waiting to drift off to sleep… but it ain’t happening. Clock ticks over to 6.55 ...
The story of Les Gray, the public sector psychologist who told the truth about his use of cannabis and set off a storm, has a special place in the lore of cannabis reform in New Zealand.When Paul Shannon interviewed Gray for the 'Dope and Hope' issue of Planet magazine in ...
by Phil Duncan For Marxists, a key concern about social trends is their context – not just their causes, but why they happen when they do. Events and phenomena have causes, but they also are time or period-specific. While much of the left have capitulated recently to postmodernism, most notably ...
Since the lockdown began, we've all suddenly been reminded who the actually essential workers in our society are: not the people at the top who pay themselves the big bucks and rort the perks, but the people at the bottom they screw over and squeeze: cleaners, warehouse staff, truck drivers ...
Kia ora! As I've watched nearly all my remaining work vanish over the past couple of days, it has occured to me that one good way to keep me away from arguing with fools on Twitter all the time (in the knowledge that all we're really doing is processing our ...
Aotearoa New Zealand has committed to trying to extirpate the virus that causes COVID-19 from its shores. To do that, as a society we’ve moved to “Level 4”. That means adapting to unprecedented restrictions on our personal freedoms, particularly to our rights to move freely and associate with friends and ...
When the Prime Minister declared a state of emergency last week, she handed the police powers to enforce it. And almost immediately, we started hearing about heavy-handed, arbitrary "enforcement" by police who (at best) cared more about order than law, or (more likely) had no idea what the rules were ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that New Zealand will enter into transit arrangements with a range of countries to make it easier for each other’s citizens to get home. “There are millions of people around the world stranded ...
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Government has striven to provide calm, clear and consistent communication, including daily press conference updates from the Prime Minister. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says getting New Zealanders back home and other travellers out of the country is "a nightmare for our embassies, consuls, and staff around the world".Speaking to NewstalkZB's Mike Hosking, the Foreign Minister said that he gave a clear message to people travelling overseas that they ...
The domestic travel ban has been lifted for stranded foreign tourists trying to get to international airports to fly home, after the Coalition Government announced a plan to help the tens of thousands of foreigners stranded here. Foreign Minister Rt. Hon. Winston Peters spoke with RNZ's Susie Ferguson said foreign ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters believes the country is rediscovering its resilience and self-reliance through its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.He says he is heartened that the mass majority of New Zealanders are following lockdown rules and that the government looking at the future, including paying to keep much ...
New Zealand can emulate the success of the US after the Great Depression by exploiting our own resources to turn the economy around quickly, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says. Mr. Peters told Magic Talk that New Zealand has an opportunity to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic a "superior, ...
All 45 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel are either on their way back to New Zealand, or already in the country, according to Defence Minister Ron Mark."Twenty-eight personnel arrived back in New Zealand last week and are in isolation at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in ...
The COVID-19 situation in New Zealand is moving fast - and to avoid what we've seen overseas - the Government's response must be to move fast too. We're committed to keeping New Zealanders safe and well-informed every step of the way. ...
We know people are feeling anxious about COVID-19. While the situation is serious, New Zealand has a world-class health system and we’re well-prepared to keep New Zealanders safe. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging New Zealanders overseas to stay where they are amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are reaching a point where the best option for most New Zealanders offshore is to shelter in place, by preparing to safely stay where they are.” "This includes following the instructions ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging the tens of thousands of New Zealanders travelling overseas to consider sheltering in place, in light of COVID-19. “Since 18 March, we have been warning New Zealanders offshore that the window for flying ...
Communities stepping up to help New Zealanders stay at home to break the transmission of COVID-19 and save lives have received Government support, said Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “Delivering groceries for the elderly who can’t shop online, providing data packs for low income families to keep them connected, and being ...
Across New Zealand 120 sites are taking samples to be tested for COVID-19. 68 community based assessment centres (CBACs) have been established to take samples from people with COVID-19 symptoms. Alongside this, 52 other centres including designated general practices, swabbing centres, and mobile clinics are now testing people for ...
The Ministry of Education is working with partners to develop a package of options so that students can learn at home when Term 2 begins on 15 April, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. Supports are also being prepared for households with children under five, to help parents and whānau ...
Māori Television to begin educational te reo programmes Ki te Ao Mārama – a new online learning space Thousands of hard copy learning packs ready for distribution Helpdesk and advice service for kōhanga, kura and wharekura Television, the internet and hard copy learning packs are some of the ways whānau ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced an initial package of support to help the people and the Government of Vanuatu respond to the impact of Tropical Cyclone Harold. “Our Pacific neighbours have been hit by a Category 5 Cyclone at the same time as dealing with the economic impacts ...
Tourism New Zealand to lead work reimagining the way tourism operates in post-COVID-19 world. Ministers to review International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy investment plan. The Government, industry and business are working together to develop a plan for how tourism will operate in a post-COVID-19 world, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis ...
More New Zealanders are taking up the chance to work in horticulture as the sector keeps New Zealanders fed and in jobs during the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our ...
The Provincial Development Unit is working through applications and projects to see where Provincial Growth Fund money can be repurposed for initiatives deemed more critical to fighting the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “We need to be throwing everything we have at ...
The Government’s wage subsidy to protect jobs and keep workers and businesses connected during the lockdown has now supported over a million New Zealanders, with $6.6 billion already paid out. “We’re supporting businesses to pay wages, and stay connected with their workers so that we are all in a better ...
The Government is stepping up efforts to help protect New Zealand’s Pacific communities in the fight against COVID-19. Cabinet has agreed that $17 million will be allocated to support a COVID-19 Pacific Response Package, which will: Support Pacific health and disability services facing increased demand; Ramp up public health messaging ...
“Yesterday evening the Health Minister advised me of his trip to a beach during the lockdown and offered his resignation,” Jacinda Ardern said. “Under normal conditions I would sack the Minister of Health. What he did was wrong, and there are no excuses. “But right now, my priority is our ...
Last night as part of my preparation for the Epidemic Response Committee, I provided the Prime Minister with a complete picture of my activity outside my home during Alert Level 4. That included the fact that on the first weekend of the Alert Level 4 lockdown I drove my family ...
A range of support is being rolled out across New Zealand to help people look after their mental health during COVID-19 Health Minister David Clark said this morning. “COVID-19 has brought a lot of uncertainty into our lives and many of us will be feeling some level of distress or ...
The New Zealand Government has made arrangements to charter a flight for New Zealanders stranded in Peru to depart the country, following agreement with the Chilean government to allow the necessary transit through Chile, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. “Like many travellers around the world at the moment, ...
Hospital preparations for COVID-19 are well advanced says Health Minister David Clark. “Hospitals across New Zealand are repurposing buildings and training staff to get ready for COVID-19 patients. This gives me confidence that we are well prepared for any potential increase in COVID-19 patients needing hospital level care,” said David ...
The Government will be introducing legislation to make changes to the Companies Act to help companies facing insolvency due to COVID-19 to remain viable and keep New Zealanders in jobs. The temporary changes include: Giving directors of companies facing significant liquidity problems because of COVID-19 a ‘safe harbour’ from insolvency ...
The Government’s plan to cushion the blow of COVID-19 by supporting incomes, jobs and businesses, and position the economy to recover has been backed by another international report. International credit rating agency Moody’s today reaffirmed its highest Aaa credit rating on New Zealand, saying the economy is expected to remain ...
National sports organisations have been given certainty of funding to ensure they can remain viable through the COVID-19 pandemic, Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “The global spread of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on sport and recreation in New Zealand, including the cancellation or postponement of ...
Changes have been made to allow butchers to process pork, only for supply to supermarkets or other processors or retailers that are open, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “We carefully weighed the risk of allowing butchers to open their shops for retail customers, but the risk of spreading COVID-19 ...
Essential workers who take leave from work to comply with public health guidance are being supported with a leave scheme to ensure they will continue to receive income, say the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Iain Lees-Galloway and Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni. A number of essential businesses ...
A Government WhatsApp channel has been launched to help make information more easily accessible and shareable in the fight against COVID-19. Govt.NZ, which is free to use on any mobile device, will carry information and news for the public, businesses, healthcare providers, not for profits and local government. It can ...
The Government has announced a plan to enable the safe, orderly exit of tens of thousands of stranded foreign nationals from New Zealand during the current COVID-19 Alert Level 4 restrictions, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters has said. “When we moved into lockdown a week ago, the ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says the Government is delivering on its commitment to support general practice doctors and nurses, and pharmacies on the front-line of our fight against COVID-19. "For us to overcome COVID-19, we need community health services such as general practice and community pharmacy to step up ...
Justice Susan Thomas has been appointed Chief High Court Judge, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. She replaces Justice Geoffrey Venning who has resigned from the position. David Parker paid tribute to Justice Venning, who he said had stewarded the High Court very capably over the last five years. “On behalf ...
Businesses can start applying to their banks for loans under the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme set up to support the New Zealand economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re moving quickly to protect New Zealand businesses, jobs and the economy during this unprecedented global economic shock,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. ...
Work is underway looking at measures to speed up consents for development and infrastructure projects during the recovery from COVID 19, to provide jobs and stimulate our economy. Environment Minister David Parker said the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global crisis that will have a wide ranging and lasting impact ...
Advance payments will be made to transport construction industry contractors to retain the workforce and ensure it is ready to quickly gear up to build projects which will be vital to New Zealand’s COVID-19 economic recovery, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. He said keeping the workforce required to build ...
The Government has tasked a group of industry leaders to seek out infrastructure projects that are ready to start as soon as the construction industry returns to normal to reduce the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones say. The Infrastructure ...
Work to scale up the health system in preparation for COVID-19 was today outlined by Health Minister David Clark, as he reported back to the new Epidemic Response Committee. “We are well placed to contain the spread of COVID-19. We have taken early and decisive action at our borders, and ...
The Government is refining its COVID-19 essential business guidance to include the distribution of news publications for communities which are hard to reach. The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, Kris Faafoi, said the move was in recognition of the importance for New Zealanders who might be harder to ...
The Government is ensuring supermarkets can open on Easter Sunday so we can buy groceries, but stay closed on Good Friday allowing workers to take a break. This provides a balanced approach and ensures we avoid large queues that two days closure may cause. “Supermarkets will be able to open ...
Following the successful conclusion of the Building Partner Capacity (BPC) mission at Taji, New Zealand defence personnel are returning to New Zealand from Iraq, in accordance with the Cabinet decision made in June 2019, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “New Zealand is very ...
The State of National Emergency to help stop the spread of COVID-19 has been extended for a further seven days, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare said. The initial declaration on March 25 lasted seven days and can be extended as many times as necessary. “Since we went into isolation ...
New Zealand’s ability to go hard and go early in the fight against COVID-19 has been underpinned by strong Government finances and the growing economy heading into this global pandemic, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown financial statements for the eight months to the end ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says 36 new intensive care beds at Christchurch Hospital’s new Hagley building are being fast tracked so they are available for treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Ministry of Health is working with contractor CPB and Canterbury DHB to enable access to the hospital’s ICU, ...
The Government has fast-tracked up to $1 million to help Air New Zealand move urgent freight to and from New Zealand, with the first flight to Shanghai leaving tonight, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says it’s crucial that trade in vital goods such as medical supplies and ...
New Zealand will temporarily remove tariffs on all medical and hygiene imports needed for the COVID-19 response. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said today that the New Zealand Customs Service will apply tariff concessions to all diagnostic reagents and testing ...
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson has clarified that the changes to the wage subsidy scheme announced yesterday mean that employers should be passing on the full subsidy to workers, except in the case where the person’s normal income is less than the level of the subsidy. “We still want employers ...
Medical face masks from the national reserve supply are now being distributed to District Health Boards, while at the same time local production is being ramped up. Yesterday more than 640,000 masks were sent to DHBS – that is an immediate two week supply, with more to follow in coming ...
The Government has made modifications to the wage subsidy scheme to ensure people don’t lose their jobs during the national lockdown. These changes will soften the impact of COVID-19 on workers, families and businesses, and position them to exit the lockdown and look to recovery, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. ...
By RNZ News Social media misinformation about Covid-19 is putting Pacific communities in New Zealand at particular risk, government advisers say. The government announced a $17 million package toward building an awareness campaign in Pacific languages, as well as support for health providers. Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa identified ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marilyn McMahon, Deputy Dean, School of Law, Deakin University A distinctive feature of the prosecution of Cardinal George Pell is that the former choirboy who accused him of sexual abuse (known in the High Court as Complainant “A”) was regarded as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Palmer, Associate professor, Deakin University The law on what we can and can’t do during the coronavirus outbreak is changing on an almost hourly basis. Some of what is written now might be overtaken by the shifts in the pandemic powers ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassandra Mudgway, Senior Lecturer in Law, Auckland University of Technology As millions of people are moving work and social interactions online to protect themselves from COVID-19, existing online safety measures may not be enough to deal with a surge in harassment and ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says the primary sector will play a critical role in NZ’s economic recovery once the country emerges from the Covid-19 lockdown. It is the first time (at least within Point of Order’s close surveillance of the issue) that a coalition minister has acknowledged how the pandemic ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Doughney, Emeritus professor, Victoria University The loss of international students due to COVID-19 restrictions, and predicted second semester declines, will see universities lose between A$3 and 4.5 billion, according to Universities Australia. The higher education sector was dealt another blow this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brian Oliver, Research Leader in Respiratory cellular and molecular biology at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Professor, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney Harry Potter author JK Rowling says a breathing technique has helped her coronavirus-like respiratory symptoms, a ...
8 April 2020 This media release summarises changes to the operation of the courts entering week of COVID-19 alert level 4. It also looks ahead to how the courts will operate in the short and medium term under alert restrictions. Courts to function ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Glasziou, Professor of Medicine, Bond University Should members of the public be wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic? It’s a controversial question, with different countries and authorities giving different advice. We have reviewed the results of more than a dozen ...
The Government is moving to safeguard businesses from insolvency with 'safe harbour' legislation for directors’ liabilities and a business debt hibernation regime. Practically, the business debt hibernation regime will see company directors seeking ...
This Passover, we won’t be attending synagogue, we won’t be participating in large raucous dinners and sharing our food with our extended family and friends, we won’t be welcoming strangers into our homes, as Jewish people are instructed to do, writes Juliet Moses.Tonight, on what is hopefully the halfway point ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brad Elphinstone, Lecturer in psychology., Swinburne University of Technology The same week social distancing measures were announced in Australia (March 16 – March 22), sales of game consoles leaped 285.6%. Prior to this, sales were declining month on month. We’ve also seen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Harris, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, UNSW As part of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all elective surgeries across Australia have been temporarily cancelled. Elective surgery is non-urgent surgery people choose (elect) to have: things like cataract surgery, joint replacement, ...
Infratil and Wellington Council are preparing to lend Wellington Airport funds to help it cope with a traffic collapse because of Covid-19 restrictions, DIleepa Fonseka reports from Infratil's update to investors Wellington City Council and listed investment firm Infratil are preparing a loan to support Wellington Airport, which has seen ...
The latest in our new series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall.This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff MembersThese posts collate the most recent statistics and present them as charts and maps. The Ministry of Health typically publishes data updates in the early ...
After two weeks of lockdown, police are no longer taking "I didn't know the rules" as a valid excuse, Marc Daalder reports Two weeks into the nationwide lockdown, the police are starting to take non-compliance seriously. The number of prosecutions nearly tripled in 24 hours and 76 new breaches of ...
As the Ministry of Social Development struggles to cope with unprecedented inquiries due to Covid-19, Child Poverty Action Group is calling for the Government to fix our broken welfare system and redesign it so all New Zealanders, but particularly ...
Fijian authorities are scrambling to ensure Cyclone Harold doesn’t make the country’s Covid-19 crisis worse, Teuila Fuatai reports. As Cyclone Harold hits Fiji, authorities have issued physical distancing and sanitation guidelines for evacuation centres. Lashing rain and strong winds caused widespread flooding, power outages and damage to homes and buildings ...
The Government has announced a $88 million package to help students adjust to the new normal of learning from home Thousands of modems and internet-ready devices are being sent to households around the country, in a bid to bridge the digital divide before children resume their studies at home next ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Jenkins, Professor, Respiratory Medicine, UNSW Sydney and Clinical Professor at the University of Sydney, George Institute for Global Health The new respiratory coronavirus COVID-19 is particularly worrying for the 2.7 million Australians who already suffer from asthma. That’s roughly one in ...
By Maggie Boyle of FBC News Fiji disaster authorities have put the whole of Viti Levu island on restricted movement due to TC Harold. Director for National Disaster Management Vasiti Soko confirmed the step had been taken as a precautionary measure. Soko said everyone except emergency services were to ...
By Wansolwarastaff Fiji now has 15 coronavirus cases after a single new case has been confirmed by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. The new case was one of 25 samples that were tested at the molecular lab and is the husband of an existing patient from Lautoka – the Zumba ...
Māori will likely make up the worst unemployment figures in the forthcoming economic recession. Things can’t go back to the way they were, writes Joshua Hitchcock.Our world has changed. While it is too early to know with any certainty what the full impact of this crisis will be on Māori, ...
‘New Zealand leads world in public perception of Covid-19 response,’ says pollster Colmar Brunton.Public support for the official New Zealand response to the Covid-19 outbreak remains high, and well ahead of the world’s richest coutries, new polling suggests.The numbers show New Zealanders’ backing for measures “far outstrips the response in ...
People waiting a week or longer for the results of their Covid-19 tests say the delays are making them anxious, even as the Government says they're nothing to worry about, Marc Daalder reports Anand Rama says the worst part wasn't the waiting, it was that he had no idea how ...
In any crisis, large or small, people usually rally round those in control so long as they convey a sense of knowing what they are doing. If those in charge lose that sense, start to waver, or are otherwise deflected, then their authority quickly starts to erode, warns Peter Dunne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa O’Donnell, Senior Research Fellow, University of Western Australia Tackling a health crisis such as COVID-19, with society in lockdown can’t help but place families under strain. It’s been reported family violence notifications to police nearly tripled in some areas of China’s ...
A new study released today by Colmar Brunton shows the public’s response to Government measures to tackle COVID-19 far outstrips the response in any of the G7 nations. The Colmar Brunton COVID Times is a study of over 600 New Zealanders surveyed from ...
Launching a new series, 60 Seconds with Siouxsie, the inimitable Dr Wiles has a few sharp words for anyone thinking they might catch up with neighbours for a drink or a chat, even at a couple of metres apart.In our first video, made possible by the support of Spinoff members, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bekessy, Professor in Sustainability and Urban Planning, Leader, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group (ICON Science), RMIT University Intriguing things sometimes happen in places deserted by people. Plants creep back, animals return, and slowly, birdsong fills the air. The coronavirus pandemic means ...
What’s an Ōamaru sweet maker doing giving away a product remarkably similar to the late, lamented Snifter? Amanda Thompson searches for the truth behind a minty mystery.I’m not in this for laughs, people. I’m not playing. At the time of writing, things are bad, they don’t seem to be getting ...
The Tūpuna Maunga Authority is calling for a total ban on the private sale of fireworks following the latest fire at Maungarei / Mt Wellington on Tuesday 7 April. Fire and Emergency crew in attendance advised Authority management they received reports of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geetanjali Saluja, Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney Governments everywhere face the challenge of getting people to stay home so they can limit the spread of coronavirus. In order to make their messages more effective, governments must ensure these appeals resonate with the ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government has no plans to end New Zealand’s four-week lockdown ahead of schedule, despite acknowledging there are signs the country is “starting to turn a corner” in its fight against coronavirus. Ardern’s comments came as Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield reported there had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Blakely, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Melbourne Australia is on track to flatten the curve of coronavirus cases, which will allow our health system to cope with increasing demand for intensive care unit (ICU) beds, recently released modelling confirms. The modelling, ...
Today, dozens of peace groups, academics and human rights campaigners are calling on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to withdraw from RIMPAC, the world’s largest, US-led military exercise due to begin in June. The text of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meredith Rossner, Professor of Criminology, Australian National University In the past, the courts were ideal breeding grounds for spreading disease. In what became known as the “Black Assize”, a deadly fever that swept through prisons and courts in England in 1586, 11 ...
Returning nutrients to the soil was once part of every culture, and now, more than ever, it’s time we restore its valuable role in everyday life.Like keep cups, organic cotton tote bags and eco-friendly cleaning products, composting can at times seem like a new trend latched on to by sustainability-obsessed ...
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening.The following charts are based on numbers shared at the daily press conference. These may vary from the full day's numbers released in the Ministry of Health's spreadsheet ...
The Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Juliet Gerrard says the next few days will be key to determining when the country can come out of lockdown at the end of four weeks. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Trauer, Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Australia is effectively in lockdown. Public gatherings of more than two people are banned and people are only permitted to leave home for a limited set of reasons. The recent tough measures appear to be ...
She’s not a teacher or a fluent speaker – she just wants to practise with you. Join Leonie Hayden as she works through the first four weeks of Scotty Morrison’s Māori Made Easy.Today we’re asking and answering: how many?E hia te roa o te rāhui e toe ana? How long have ...
Jacinda Ardern has pushed back on calls to lift New Zealand out of lockdown early - but businesses say we need a roadmap for how and when we come out the other side Business leaders have urged the Government to provide greater clarity about how New Zealand will move out ...
It looks like troughers should go back to the drawing board before submitting – or re-submitting – their claim to a serving from the Provincial Growth Fund. Shane Jones, the Minister of Munificence, has announced that the Provincial Development Unit is working through applications and projects ” … to see ...
E tū members at Fletcher Building Ltd are opening up about how they expect their pay cut to affect them and their families. The company has announced that most workers are in line for a wage cut of up to 70%, while the top executives on millions of ...
A simple, long overdue change in New Zealand’s policy for blood donations would benefit everyone, writes Dr. Oliver Armstrong-Scott. The New Zealand Blood Service recently pleaded for Kiwis to continue donating blood during the Covid-19 lockdown to ensure supplies do not run out. As a medical doctor, I have seen ...
Tonight New Zealand marks the halfway point of alert level four. Assuming, that is, it ends on schedule. What will determine the decision to lift the strictest restrictions, and what comes next? Kate Newton of RNZ asks the experts.Covid-19 researchers in New Zealand are optimistic that the level four restrictions ...
If crisis point was met, there is little doubt that the Bay of Plenty regions District Health Boards and hospitals could not cope with a severe outbreak of COVID-19. Medical staff would be stretched to their limits, resulting in deaths, and iwi and hapu in ...
The creators of a commercial property clause that may exempt tenants from paying all or some of their rent say it is working as intended. Clause 27 of the Auckland District Law Society (ADLS) Deed of Lease includes a "no access in emergency clause", which the Property Councilwarned could lead ...
As New Zealand enters day 14 of a scheduled four-week lockdown, director general of health Ashley Bloomfield says New Zealand can be ‘increasingly confident’ . ...
The On the Rag team meet one more time to talk about how the Covid-19 crisis affects women and what you can do to cope. It’s our last podcast for a little while so crack open a bottle of something fizzy and join us as we undergo what is basically a ...
Former Chief Justice Sir Arnold Amet … emergency powers up to controller alone. Video: EMTV NewsBy Martha Louis in Madang Papua New Guinea’s former Chief Justice Sir Arnold Amet says the state of emergency (SoE) in the country means that no other authority has any ability or powers ...
By Florencio Miranda Ximenes and Antónia Gusmão in Dili Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak has explained the decision to dismiss the vice-health minister, saying he lost trust in her to do the job. The President dismissed Élia António de Araújo dos Reis Amaral from her post on Friday, following ...
Farrowing crates, which confine mother pigs kept on factory farms, violate the Animal Welfare Act 1999, and for the first time in New Zealand history the Act will be tested in court. SAFE and the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) filed court proceedings ...
‘Yes, it’s endearing that the PM said that the Easter Bunny is an essential service but I wondered how many kids had a hope in hell of seeing three good meals a day let alone a chocolate egg.’Read more Lockdown Letters here.Bob Dylan’s latest, Murder Most Foul, is an interesting ...
Covid 19 coronavirus: Expert professor says no blanket quarantine at border risks a longer lockdown; and Covid-19: 387 Air NZ pilots look set to lose jobs. ...
Amid COVID-19, New Zealanders disregard privacy concerns for convenience – 1.2m affected by cybercrime, 600k by identity theft Over a third of New Zealanders estimated to have experienced cyber crime in the past 12 months Highlights: More than half ...
The National Party leader intends to continue commuting between Tauranga and Wellington so he can do his job effectively in an unprecedented situation. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand. Today’s contentPublic health strategy, exiting lockdown Thomas Manch (Stuff): A path out of lockdown is being charted, but experts say ...
US death toll catching Italy's fast; Johnson on oxygen in ICU, but not intubated; US threatens India, Canada over mask and drugs; Germany accuses America of 'piracy' as China, Russia send supplies to New YorkUS cases spiral: The United States leads the world in total cases, but not yet ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meead Saberi, Senior lecturer, UNSW Traffic jams may have disappeared from our roads as people stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we can be confident they will be back. Scientists have studied traffic and congestion for decades. We know a lot ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Lindsey, Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, University of Melbourne Almost no one thinks Indonesia is handling the COVID-19 pandemic well. Until early March, the government claimed it had no ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rod Lamberts, Deputy Director, Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University Good news: COVID-19 is not the only thing going on right now! Bad news: while we’ve all been deep in the corona-hole, the climate crisis has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Waters-Lynch, Lecturer Entrepreneurship and Innovation, RMIT University If you’re working from home for the first time, you might be asking yourself why you didn’t get to do this years ago. The benefits of remote work have been discussed for nearly half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roslyn Petelin, Course coordinator, The University of Queensland When a literary luminary such as Thomas Kenneally declares so early in 2020 that he is certain a “more original” novel “will not be published this year”, the reviewer faces a challenge. The book ...
Open mike 04/11/2012 
We are seeing what has been termed “a greater challenge than the crash of 2008” by a growing number of economists and more rational, sane commentators, because whilst that was a shocking exposure of the levels to which hubris had sunk, right down to the blank cheque given those who ...1 hour ago
I am a Kiwi living in Jersey City, New Jersey. Jersey City is the second-largest city in the state and is located directly across the Hudson River from downtown Manhattan. Locals call it New York’s sixth borough. More than 350,000 New Jersey citizens, including myself, commute to New York daily ...4 hours ago
It’s a beautiful autumn afternoon, we need to get out of the house, and so our bubble sets off on a bike ride around our local neighbourhood, Cambridge Park. The bikes come out of the garage, and, being really certain we have a front door key, close the garage door ...5 hours ago
. . April 7: Day 13 of living in lock-down… and unlucky for those who are superstitious. A day when there was a ray of sunshine from an otherwise bleak day of worrying signs. Today, as RNZ reported; Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield reported 54 new confirmed and probable cases ...8 hours ago
So far, universal basic income policies, which see people given a regular income without any conditions, have been trailed only on a small scale. But now, Spain is introducing one nationwide as a response to the pandemic: Spain is to roll out a universal basic income (UBI) “as soon as ...9 hours ago
Paul Connet, head of the anti-fluoride propaganda group, Fluoride Action Network, claims that the IQ of children bottle-fed in fluoridated areas drops by 9 points. But he misrepresented the research. There is no observable effect. For earlier articles in this series see: Part 1: Anti-fluoridation propaganda now relies on only ...12 hours ago
The Queen’s coronavirus broadcast, with its overtones of Winston Churchill and Vera Lynn, prompted me to reflect on the tribulations my parents’ generation suffered during the Second World War – and I imagine that those parallels, given her own wartime experience, were very much in the Queen’s mind as she ...13 hours ago
Imagination By-Pass: Had the Communications Minister, Kris Faafoi (above) taken a firm stand with Bauer, reminding them of their obligations to both their staff and the wider New Zealand public, then a much more favourable outcome may well have ensued. He should have made it clear to the Bauer board ...1 day ago
We all know that Simon Bridges has, at the best of times, an intermittent relationship with the truth. However you would think that during a pandemic and economic crisis the current opposition leader would pull his head in and start to do the right thing.Obviously leading by example should be ...1 day ago
Connett promotes Riddell et al (2019) as one of the only four studies one needs to read about fluoridation. But he misunderstands and misrepresents the findings of this study. Image credit: Fluoride Action ... 1 day ago
Last month I wrote my blog on covid-19 pointing out the in our pre Alert Level 4 days that a subject no one had heard here months ago was now dominating the media. An amazing feature of this crisis is how quickly it has swept every other issue aside worldwide. ...2 days ago
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... North Atlantic's capacity to absorb CO2 overestimated, study suggests Research into ocean’s plankton likely to lead to ...2 days ago
As the world economy slides rapidly towards deep recession there are growing calls for a Universal Benefit coming from some leftists and rightists. Now Finance Minister Grant Robertson is saying it is on the table. This article by a French party Workers Struggle provides analysis of various forms of universal ...3 days ago
This is the advice from the very top of the anti-fluoride movement – Paul Connett, director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). Don’t worry about reading up on all the scientific information “You only have ... 3 days ago
Comfortably, in the very first round, with an impressive 56% of the votes.I wonder, did members of the Shadow Cabinet start tweeting their resignations during Starmer's victory speech, or is that only a trick the right pull?It is odd how all the talk of how the next leader "needs to ...3 days ago
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addressed the nation today about the decline in daylight New Zealand has been experiencing over the previous few months. She said “As many of you will notice, our attempts to stem the dwindling of the daylight over the last few months have been completely ...4 days ago
We must root out the traitors among us! ...5 days ago
I haven’t done a huge amount in the last few days. I’m reading The Poppy War and I’ve sort of poked at a couple of games – I started SOMA but I’m a wimp and I quit while in the first room after the brain scan. I might try it ...6 days ago
Image credit: Diamond Harbour School Blogs I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or ... 1 week ago
The following statement was released on March 28 by the National Network on Cuba, a coalition of 40 groups, based in the United States. In recent weeks, Cuba has deployed hundreds of medical providers to over a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, as well as to their neighbors in Latin ...1 week ago
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that New Zealand will enter into transit arrangements with a range of countries to make it easier for each other’s citizens to get home. “There are millions of people around the world stranded ...1 day ago
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Government has striven to provide calm, clear and consistent communication, including daily press conference updates from the Prime Minister. ...3 days ago
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The scale of what we face right now is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Overcoming it is our common purpose. ...2 weeks ago
Communities stepping up to help New Zealanders stay at home to break the transmission of COVID-19 and save lives have received Government support, said Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “Delivering groceries for the elderly who can’t shop online, providing data packs for low income families to keep them connected, and being ...5 hours ago
By RNZ News Social media misinformation about Covid-19 is putting Pacific communities in New Zealand at particular risk, government advisers say. The government announced a $17 million package toward building an awareness campaign in Pacific languages, as well as support for health providers. Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa identified ...32 mins ago
Business leaders are scrutinising the government's decision to only let essential businesses and those with essential goods operate. ...57 mins ago
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says the primary sector will play a critical role in NZ’s economic recovery once the country emerges from the Covid-19 lockdown. It is the first time (at least within Point of Order’s close surveillance of the issue) that a coalition minister has acknowledged how the pandemic ...2 hours ago
8 April 2020 This media release summarises changes to the operation of the courts entering week of COVID-19 alert level 4. It also looks ahead to how the courts will operate in the short and medium term under alert restrictions. Courts to function ...3 hours ago
This Passover, we won’t be attending synagogue, we won’t be participating in large raucous dinners and sharing our food with our extended family and friends, we won’t be welcoming strangers into our homes, as Jewish people are instructed to do, writes Juliet Moses.Tonight, on what is hopefully the halfway point ...4 hours ago
Infratil and Wellington Council are preparing to lend Wellington Airport funds to help it cope with a traffic collapse because of Covid-19 restrictions, DIleepa Fonseka reports from Infratil's update to investors Wellington City Council and listed investment firm Infratil are preparing a loan to support Wellington Airport, which has seen ...4 hours ago
After two weeks of lockdown, police are no longer taking "I didn't know the rules" as a valid excuse, Marc Daalder reports Two weeks into the nationwide lockdown, the police are starting to take non-compliance seriously. The number of prosecutions nearly tripled in 24 hours and 76 new breaches of ...5 hours ago
Fijian authorities are scrambling to ensure Cyclone Harold doesn’t make the country’s Covid-19 crisis worse, Teuila Fuatai reports. As Cyclone Harold hits Fiji, authorities have issued physical distancing and sanitation guidelines for evacuation centres. Lashing rain and strong winds caused widespread flooding, power outages and damage to homes and buildings ...5 hours ago
The Government has announced a $88 million package to help students adjust to the new normal of learning from home Thousands of modems and internet-ready devices are being sent to households around the country, in a bid to bridge the digital divide before children resume their studies at home next ...5 hours ago
People waiting a week or longer for the results of their Covid-19 tests say the delays are making them anxious, even as the Government says they're nothing to worry about, Marc Daalder reports Anand Rama says the worst part wasn't the waiting, it was that he had no idea how ...6 hours ago
In any crisis, large or small, people usually rally round those in control so long as they convey a sense of knowing what they are doing. If those in charge lose that sense, start to waver, or are otherwise deflected, then their authority quickly starts to erode, warns Peter Dunne ...6 hours ago
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government has no plans to end New Zealand’s four-week lockdown ahead of schedule, despite acknowledging there are signs the country is “starting to turn a corner” in its fight against coronavirus. Ardern’s comments came as Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield reported there had been ...7 hours ago
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening. The following charts are based on numbers shared at the daily press conference. These may vary from the full day's numbers released in the Ministry of Health's spreadsheet ...8 hours ago
The Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Juliet Gerrard says the next few days will be key to determining when the country can come out of lockdown at the end of four weeks. ...8 hours ago
Jacinda Ardern has pushed back on calls to lift New Zealand out of lockdown early - but businesses say we need a roadmap for how and when we come out the other side Business leaders have urged the Government to provide greater clarity about how New Zealand will move out ...8 hours ago
In which we gaily rip-off the fun quarantine-house thing on the internet and adapt it to NZ authors ...9 hours ago
It looks like troughers should go back to the drawing board before submitting – or re-submitting – their claim to a serving from the Provincial Growth Fund. Shane Jones, the Minister of Munificence, has announced that the Provincial Development Unit is working through applications and projects ” … to see ...9 hours ago
The creators of a commercial property clause that may exempt tenants from paying all or some of their rent say it is working as intended. Clause 27 of the Auckland District Law Society (ADLS) Deed of Lease includes a "no access in emergency clause", which the Property Councilwarned could lead ...10 hours ago
As New Zealand enters day 14 of a scheduled four-week lockdown, director general of health Ashley Bloomfield says New Zealand can be ‘increasingly confident’ . ...10 hours ago
Covid 19 coronavirus: Expert professor says no blanket quarantine at border risks a longer lockdown; and Covid-19: 387 Air NZ pilots look set to lose jobs. ...11 hours ago
US death toll catching Italy's fast; Johnson on oxygen in ICU, but not intubated; US threatens India, Canada over mask and drugs; Germany accuses America of 'piracy' as China, Russia send supplies to New York US cases spiral: The United States leads the world in total cases, but not yet ...13 hours ago
“Don’t talk about the war”
Obama and Romney come to an agreement on Climate Change.
They both agree not to talk about it.
However despite Obama and Romney’s gentlmen’s agreement to keep silent on climate change. An opposite and more forthright agreement to openly discuss climate change is developing among lower ranked US political leaders.
After ‘Sandy’ the possibility of an East Coast, if not nation wide bipartisan political consensus to tackle climate change is beginning to emerge.
Actually no one can reliably say how much of ‘Sandy’ is attributable to climate change man made or otherwise.
Regardless the POTUS will do whatever their lobbyists and pollsters tell them to do.
As will all the primary and Presidential candidates. ‘Leadership’ is DEAD.
Agreed. They also cannot say how much of “Sandy” is attributable to solar flares, warm water, ocean gods, or some guy mooning the latter from the beach.
Your statement is meaningless because everything is statistically based and an absolute level of confidience is something that science leaves for matters of religous faith.
Are you trying to make some point ?
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell with one who is so erudite. Remember not all of us have the vast repository of knowledge that you have.
I understood his point.
Have to say, the bickering is getting boring.
As lprent stated … it is a matter of probability.
Imagine that the actuarial tables on mortality state that a man of your age has a say 1 in 50 probability of dying this year. Does this ‘reliably’ inform us whether you will be alive at the end of the year or not?
Of course not.
The only sense in which such tables are meaningful are when you examine (or sample) a whole lot of men of your age. If for example you sampled say 1000 men, then you could be fairly sure that 20 of them might not make it to the end of the year. But it tells you nothing about each individual man.
In the same way science can reliably predict that increased ocean temperatures and more water vapour in the atmosphere will increase the probability of more frequent severe storms, and increase their peak intensity. It doesn’t reliably tell you anything much about an individual storm. Instead you have to wait until you’ve had many dozens of storms like Sandy before we can confirm the statistical prediction reliably.
Of course the insurance industry might well spit the dummy at funding such an extended and expensive experiment. The death toll might prove a bit of an irritation too.
There is a fair amount of data available regarding the recent storm in the US all one can say is only that some of its components may have been due to climate change.
The late-season formation may have been influenced by a shifting climate, but its meet-up with an early North American winter storm had no climate change connection.
A high-pressure blocking event, which may have been climate change-related, steered the storm toward the East Coast rather than out to sea.
Unusually high tides amplified the storm surge and flooding, but the tides had nothing to do with climate change. And the fact that those four events happened simultaneously was just a very unfortunate coincidence.
Warmer temperatures, which allowed the storm to carry more moisture, and higher sea level are likely to have amplified its effects. The higher sea level — a foot higher than when the city’s protective sea walls were built a century ago can almost certainly be attributed to climate change.
hs…a solid assessment.
It’s not mine it’s Scientific American’s.
So if I read what you are saying, then you agree that man-made climate change is real and is fast becoming a significant component of severe and adverse weather events?
And going back to your first point; that the barrier to doing anything about it is political … and always has been.
Update:
Just in case someone hasn’t got it yet :
No.
That was your opportunity to explain what you did mean. Wanna try again?
Only this time without the unattributed cut and paste please.
In other words, climate change affects existing weather and how it intersects with other phenomena like geography, tides and time. Isn’t that a given already?
I would have thought so.
Hs: Your second and third paragraph are in direct contradiction with each other.
The reason this particular storm came onshore at that latitude rather than doing the usual wander into the Atlantic was because it was blocked by a northern jetstream coming lower in latitude than usual.
If you look at the historic tracks for hurricanes at that latitude you will see that it is almost unknown for them to turn inland. If you look at the historic tracks of the jetstreams you will see that they seldom come down far enough to block which provides the room for hurricanes driven by the otherwise minor effect of the earths rotation to move east .
The physics of arctic warming when modeled indicate that the jetstreams will have a higher amplitude, and over the last decade that is exactly what has been seen. So it becomes a higher probability that there will be offshore blocking events driving hurricanes into the upper eastern seaboard of the US. That also increases the probability of hitting cold fronts being spun out of the arctic by those same jetstreams and following that same rotational spin towards the east (frontal systems have quite predictable tracks as well when they don’t get blocked).
It isn’t coincidental. It will probably become more and more obvious through the rest of this current weather cycle for the next few years, then it will reduce in probability as the rate of the deicing of the arctic wanes and the atmosphere shifts to a new equilibrium. It will then resume in the 2020’s.
What the SA was saying was that the degree of the impact of climate change on that storm wasn’t proveable yet (although highly likely) because it takes a number of events to get a statistical sample sufficient to establish confidience. By the time that there is the required confidience, the east coast will have developed good hurricane systems anyway – they will have had received quite a few – probably 10 or more to get to a 90% confidience level that there has been a shift in the high latitude hurricane tracks.
Reductionism of the type you were repeating has it’s place in science, but in weather and climate systems you really have to look at the whole because the effects work on each other in a much more complex set of interactions.
Thanks 1prent. Most people view the weather as a surface event only but it is not. What goes on in the upper atmosphere plays a major role in how things turn out at the surface. In recent decades the polar jets (both North and South) have been tracking further into lower latitudes than has hitherto been the case. When this happens and cold air from those upper level jet streams feed into warmer surface cyclonic weather systems then you can expect further cyclonic generation to occur. It is certainly due to global warming, and as a consequence… expect to see deeper and more frequent tropical cyclonic events occurring in the Southern Pacific region too.
Tell it Scientific American.
It is their article I was quoting but perhaps you should send them a letter what with your earth sciences BSc I’m sure you’re far more erudite than any of their contributors and with your computer skills you’d be able to model weather events with far greater reliability than anyone else has to date.
Can we have a link please? I tried a random cut and paste of your post in google and go no hits.
It’s in the very first comment of the thread.
Read your own reference hs;
Warmer temperatures, which allowed the storm to carry more moisture, and higher sea level are likely to have amplified its effects.
which is pretty much congruent with what we are saying.
Yes, there’s no denying that.
What can be denied is the youtube video you have linked to with alarmist comments suggests a warming of 6 or more degrees C in the next few decades.
What can be denied is the youtube video you have linked to with alarmist comments suggests a warming of 6 or more degrees C in the next few decades.
You’ve not been keeping up. The video was quoting the IEA:
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/04/27/IEA-warns-of-doubled-CO2-emissions/UPI-62511335522600/#ixzz2BEWQKE7U
While it’s true that some years ago, 6 degrees was considered a fringe ‘worst-case’ scenario, as with so many other things around climate science, it’s rapidly become a lot more main-stream.
Title: Climate Change Deniers
Definition: The CCDs argue that climate change is not real and is not happening. CCDS explain the controversy is a result of global conspiracy deliberately concocted by scientists politicians and media, unfortunately they have not been able to give any rational explanation of the reasons for this conspiracy.
Current Status: The CCDs are Pretty much at the fringes of the current debate on climate change
Title: Climate Change Apologists
Definition: CCAs admit that climate change is happening, but say that jobs, profits, the economy and growth, and a myriad other issues are far more important than taking steps to address climate change. The apologists are also adept at blaming or scapegoating others, usually groups that they have taken a dislike to anyway. This group are quite comfortable with the idea of millions if not billions of human deaths, as well as the destruction of entire eco systems and the resulting animal and plant extinctions. Their previously listed preoccupations are considered far more important.
Current status: The most sinister, cynical and dangerous of the different Climate Change factions. Currently the CCAs are the main spear carriers for doing nothing about climate change
And now a third category has arisen:
Title: Climate Change Ignorers
Definition: Political leaders and parties who refuse to even mention Climate Change, if they can avoid it. Usually for sectarian political advantage, ie not scare the horses, not look too radical in the eyes of the voters, not offend vested interest etc etc.
Rather than alert the electorate and the wider population to the danger, the CCIs put getting bums on seats for their particular sectarian grouping more important than even alerting their political rivals who could steal a policy march on them.
The whole topic of Climate Change is a ‘no go area’ for these politicians. They will rarely if ever mention the subject of Climate Change unless it is pushed right up under their noses, and often not even then. If forced to mention Climate Change CCIs say that one day when they are in complete control of the presidency and the congress, or have the most seats in the house of parliament then they will call for action on Climate Change. CCIs neither deny, or apologise for climate change, they just simply ignore it.
Current Status: The most ridiculous and laughable faction of all, I don’t expect it to last long.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10844736
So Nationals as bad as Labour?
Being connected to the internal network is definitely a security breach waiting to happen, but I find it hard to believe that such an obvious problem went unnoticed for 13 years, yet within 1 year of the new kiosks being set up it was discovered on at least 2 separate occasions (that we know of).
Therefore, I suggest, that although the old computers may have been connected to the internal network, they did not exhibit the same basic security breach (that is, navigating with an ‘open file’ dialog in Word would give you access to the entire network) probably through some configuration option that stopped it, which should also have been configured on the kiosks but wasn’t.
This means that the security was still incredibly lax and just waiting for someone malicious to exploit it, but this would have required a specific intent to do so by someone with the required skills, rather than any moderately-knowledgeable office worker with Microsoft Office skills being able to find it.
In short, no, the evidence would suggest that National is worse than Labour.
So in a race to the bottom Nationals leading?
ACT already won it
Not sure in what way that would be surprising.
That depends. I’d like to see the report. But on the face of it, MSD under National were told, at least twice, that there was a serious problem and to fix it, and that advice was ignored. What happened under Labour? I don’t think we know yet.
Oh look a Slater repeater …
AAAHHHHH I’M blind…………. Slater on TV before morning coffee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Just think how much more influential hes going to become…most popular blog, newspaper editor, tv columnist
Muwahahahahaha!
You’re channeling WO’s inner fantasys now…break the link before it’s TOO LATE!!!
What a comedy Whaleoil trying to justify his editorial prowess. Oh well at least the Greengrocers will have something to wrap the lettuces in.
hmmm… so WO has just said on TV3 that his new rag is for the average NZ “bloke”. So revolutionary!
Considering the herald and dom post it actually is
Says so much about his myopic view of our society and how he thinks he’ll ‘add value’.
Talk about give a bigot RWNJ, with established psych issues, an even bigger soapbox to indoctrinate the frogs with, last roll of the dice for the truth IMO.
if they can’t boost the circulation appealing with dog whistles they are history like so may publications are already.
Hey left-wing types are more than welcome to start up/take over a newspaper to get their views out there
Well in fact that is what needs to be done, newspapers and other news media channels.
so do it
OK mate, but only because you said so!!! We could do with a $5K donation from you.
Yeah right, who’d want to read that
You were all for the idea a moment ago!
It’d only sell at union sites (well maybe they need to be a bit more careful with the money…) but it might put a stop to the rampant jealousy of whaleoil…
Why would it only sell at union sites?
400,000 union members, potential for more than 20x the circulation of Truth, Not bad eh.
“You were all for the idea a moment ago!”
No they weren’t.
Well, I know that and you know that 🙂
Sunday morning tr*lls, what can you do?
So with a readership of what 25000 ? There’s not many “Average NZ blokes” out there, that want to waste their money on that rag.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/maritime-union-asked-explain-accounts-lf-131705
Interesting…
Rortney Hide on the financial transparency war path! Has Rortney come clean on his girlfriend’s parliamentary travel perks yet? Or his flash international hotel stays?
Yep thats sorted it, good plan
Well, when Rodney Hide advocates that all business financial dealings become public (which I believe should happen anyway) then he’ll have a point.
Funny this. Wonder about their credibility?
The annual Legatum Prosperity Index has ranked New Zealand as the fifth most prosperous country in the world overall, and first in the education category.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10845034
Just another RWNJ think-tank by the looks of things.
Yeah Draco. Bluddy right wing nobs. They say that they are: ” Legatum Institute (LI) is an independent non-partisan public policy organisation whose research, publications, and programmes advance ideas and policies in support of free and prosperous societies around the world.”
Must be a trick in there somewhere. I expect Parata will now quote the claim that NZ is “first in the World Education” as being the product and vision of her leadership. Yeah Right!
Their credibility? In their own words, “…we have a vision of a more prosperous world based on greater economic and political liberty balanced with personal and institutional responsibility.”
So, free markets and personal responsibility and political liberty that is probably measured in terms of consumer choice and institutional responsibility measured in terms of protecting a market ‘free for all’ and keeping pesky citizens who want more political freedom than mere consumer choice firmly in line.
Chalupabot, your count is getting too high. 18.4% of all comments on this site in the last 48 hours have been made using your handle. As you know, the limit to avoid unwanted attention is 9.7%
Please return to an acceptable ratio or use some of your other handles.
Wow, where can you go to see those stats, felix?
I pulled them out of Chalupa’s arse.
I changed to Chalupa Batman because of the league, you really should watch it
CHRISTOPHER!
The league commissioners ruling is final!
Heh, yeah great show.
http://www.silvergoldsilver.com/entry/qe-sandy
Quote:
“One sentence post: Is the next QE bailout masked to be a Sandy bailout for the insurers?”
Good question SGS. Probably.
Interesting boots on the ground report of the chaos that is Sandy. Disturbingly there are still Americans full of the belief that someone will rescue them, so they don’t need to prep.
Give it a week and that attitude will be wiped out – at least in affected areas. We would do well to heed their experience.
http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/blog/4293/guest-post-ground-nyc-green-lantern
New York City authorities have been doing an amazing job of getting things going again. It reminds me of what a great hard working nation America was.
As for the “preppers” anyone who is serious about that would not be living in NYC or New Jersey.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10844971
Fuck Tui and their fatphobic, culture-manipulative, body-hating excuse of an ad agency.
+1 to your last sentence!
Fuckin’ A, weka. Tui can sometimes be actually funny but the rest of the time it’s just embarrassing the way their marketing team’s rampant insecurities are put out their for the world to see …
Tui? Bad taste all round.
+1 Only a complete moron would drink that ferrets piss anyway. I guess with such despicable advertising that only a moron could like, DB Breweries is trying to appeal to their consumer base. An irreverent spin on topical issues… Yeah right! It’s defamatory rubbish that many New Zealanders will be offended at.
Absolutely agreed. That billboard is vicious.
Yep. One Tui billboard in ten might actually be funny. Unless Jarrod Bear is willing to put a photo of him/herself and partner on a billboard, he/she should just shut up.
Tui can still be proud of producing such an awesome beer though. Yeah right.
It’s no surprise that Fran O Sullivan is a detestable old right wing battleaxe, but this shallow article endorsing Romney really had me flabbergasted http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10844776
I find it an embarrassment that our supposed premiere newspaper prints this rubbish *facepalms*
Yes Fran O Cyclops has really lost the plot, or that article was intended to be a job application to join the (non) Truth. ( I see production problems looming with frequent web-breaks* due to slaters being keen to feast on rotting paper)
*web-breaks is printers jargon for the reel of paper snapping when press is running
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2012/11/cunliffe-learning-to-lie-already/
Do we believe Cactus or Cunliffe? Though to be fair to Cunliffe it did sound really boring.
I’m sorry I clicked that. But I guess it was time for my annual reminder of how pathetic “evidence” has to be for WO to treat it as hard-hitting gospel.
(For those who don’t wish to click: Hamish Keith tweets “why no Labour MPs at Fabians”, Cunliffe tweets “sorry, I had a cold”, Cactus responds “you didn’t look sick when I saw you in town today!” It’s fucking riveting journalism, Keith Ng should take note of how it’s really done.)
Editorial standards at Truth are going up already. Up in smoke.
Well someones lying, who do you think it is?
Maybe he was sick enough that he couldn’t attend a major function and put on his future-labour leader face….but he was well enough to get up for a meal.
A few weeks back I wasn’t feeling well enough to get over the other side of town for a meeting, but I could get down to the supermarket.
You need to stop letting whaleoil think for you chalupa batman, you can probably do better with your own brain
Exactly. There’s no reason anyone has to be deliberately lying, it’s just bullshit for Cactus/WO to act like one non-medical professional’s opinion of how a person looks has any bearing on their actual state of health.
Could’ve been worse – he might have been seen fixing his roof.
Yep. It’s not like Cunliffe was painting his roof.
Edit: DoS beats me to the punchline!
That’s some desperate stuff. Even for those wretches.
Is Cactus Kate a qualified medical doctor as well as a lawyer?
I’m sure the Fabians would approach Cunliffe if they had a reason.
Everyone’s working toward the same goal etc.
When it comes down to doing something concrete is when we’ll see them talking.
Probably as well qualified as LPRENT I guess…
classic whaloil…jeeze, the tories really are scared of cunliffe
One should always take with a great deal of cynicism anything that Slater says about Cunliffe. I am interested in his obsession with DC, obviously he thinks that Cunliffe is a threat to the right and needs to be attacked at every opportunity.
The reality is that David is crook. He pulled out of some no asset sales petition campaigning that was arranged for this morning and this afternoon he is missing an important party fundraiser. I have spoken to him a couple of times and he sounds sick as.
Oh yes, it’s been amusing – Richard Long begging Shearer not to reshuffle, Hooters saying that really, David Shearer needs more support and Cunliffe should be sacked while Farrar, knowing that Shearer’s a lost cause, suggests the next waste of space, Robertson.
All of them presenting themselves as sensible voices of reason – just like Pete George, come to think of it.
Alas, the Right and their shills know what they want and make it clear…
Did you hear Hoots on the wireless slagging Cunliffe off this week? Really vicious, nasty stuff.
They’re all terrified. As they should be.
Now I was under the impression that, that vindictive old bat lived in Hong Kong. So HOW could she see Cunliffe in town? Also when I had the flu, I still had to go out, and people probably from looking at me didn’t realise I was screwing up their lives for the 3 weeks it takes to get over the flu. And anyway, anything Whaleshit says, needs to be checked, rechecked, verified, with at least 10 other neutral people. And I still WILL NOT believe a word he vomits.
Do I believe Cactus is a demented stalker? Yeah, I do.
Are you tired of the US election yet? Abby sure is! I hope her mom votes for Bronco Bamma anyway 😉
Rodney Hide’s Union bashing fetish
There’s been a lot of disinformation being promoted by the right wing at the moment concerning Unions. In fact if you didn’t know the real reasons behind what propagandists like David Farrar, Cameron Slater and Rodney Hide were saying, you might believe that Unions are an evil blight on society…
Or they could just follow the rules…
Do you mean the Unions should follow the rules or the NBR should adhere to publication laws Chalupa Batman? The Unions have followed the rules. The NBR hasn’t because it’s publishing inaccuracies based on Hides speculation. There has been no finding of wrongdoing on the part of the Unions. Clearly the NBR has again breached publication laws by promoting defamatory and inaccurate speculation.
More time & money wasted because someone has an axe to grind ….. no other reason.
Good article Jackal, I’d like to see these dropkicks getting their asses sued for defamation by the Unions concerned.
Hide should find a rock and invite those other creeps to join him in entombment.
Thanks fender. You’re clearly talking about Act’s standard retirement package… Slithering under a rock is the best place for the likes of the unlawful David Garrett, John Banks and the rest of the deluded Actoids. What a bunch of worms!
How about this then, we wait for Neville Harris to decide whats what and if in the unlikely event theres nothing I’ll apoligise. Of course once something dodgy has been uncovered we’ll expect an apology from you?
Apologize for saying that there’s been no finding of any wrongdoing? Get off the grass Chalupa. Just like Affco’s complaint to the Serious Fraud Office, the Companies Office won’t find anything unlawful either. That’s because Rodney Hide is full of shit, and always has been.
I’ve said I’ll apoligise if theres nothing found, will you apoligise if something is found?
You want me to say I’ll apologize about a what if? How retarded!
The claims by Hide and Slater that the Maritime and Meatworkers Union’s are hiding and misspending millions of dollars of their members money are in the present tense false. There is no evidence, I repeat no evidence of this. They’re speculating and then trying to say their assumptions are facts.
I think QoT summed it up nicely today when she wrote:
In my opinion, the same can be said about the deplorable Rodney Hide as well.
Hunter S. Thompson was onto that trick long ago, relating an anecdote about Lyndon Johnson wanting stories about his opponent fucking pigs to be promulgated. When his advisors were shocked (this was a more innocent time), saying that there was no evidence, Johnson retorted, “I want him up there denying that he fucks pigs!”
😀
So thats a no, not even willing to put up an apology if something is found (which you strenuously deny any possibility of)
Hide’s article’s aren’t about if something is found, he’s saying they’re already guilty even though there’s no evidence of this. My article is about Hide and Slater’s baseless propaganda, which is a fact. Therefore I won’t be apologizing to you Chalupa Batman.
Oh for gods sake CB will you just get over it, your tiny mind has obviously been overloaded with this discussion, other wise you would be writing something of substance and value instead of repeating Whaleshit’s propaganda, and wanting an apology to a non existent wet dream you once had?
CB is is full of BS and is thick as bat shit
strenuously
Hey, congrats on getting that ticked off your Big Word of the Day checklist!
Thank you, one tries to improve ones vocabulary
Perhaps the next word you want to learn about is Sarcasm Chalupa Batman.
One might also work on one’s punctuation :p
The dodgy has already been uncovered – it’s Hide and WO.
Not really, but then again I believe that David Farrar, Cameron Slater, and Rodney Hide, are all an evil blight on our society
A Day In The Life Of Rodney Hide
Great work Jackal. Because for us all that would be left otherwise with just the slur. Will watch developments.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/video-whaleoil-goes-mainstream-ck-131794#
MY COMMENT – YET TO BE PUBLISHED:
If Cameron Slater is ‘no holds barred’ in holding politicians ‘feet to the fire’ – what has he done to hold John Bank’s (and Don Brash’s) ‘feet to the fire’ over the ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ (that they both support) – not yet applying to them over Huljich?
(John Banks and Don Brash were both former Directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd, and both signed Huljich Kiwisaver Registered Prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 which contained untrue statements – a ‘strict liability’ offence under s.58(3) of the Securities Act.)
I formally requested the Finance Markets Authority (FMA), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and the NZ Police apply ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ to the former and current ACT Party Leaders.
When each of the above-mentioned put it in writing that they would do nothing, I petitioned Parliament for an urgent investigation. However – the national party dominated Commerce Select Committee also chose to do nothing.
At least I tried!
What has Cameron Slater done on this issue?)
Why has Cameron Slater banned me for commenting on his ‘Whaleoil’ blog – is he purports to support ‘freedom of expression’?
If staff at the ‘TRUTH’ are covered by employment law – how long is Cameron Slater going to last, as ‘TRUTH’ Editor?
(Kind regards Cameron – I’d be making this comment to you directly – on YOUR blog – if you hadn’t ‘banned’ me? 🙂
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz
Why has Cameron Slater banned me for commenting on his ‘Whaleoil’ blog – is he purports to support ‘freedom of expression’?
– Probably because you posted long-winded, boring diatribes that basically had nothing to do with the thread, wouldn’t reply when challenged and ignored the warnings given
Good luck Penny in that.
Oh dear, Never mind.
Brothel vs Church
H/T Trevor Mallard through twitter
Bugger another rouge Poll?
No, another good poll.
Good because National/Key (there’s no difference) continue to fade. Plan A is finished, only Plan B will save them. There won’t be a “National plus electorate Righties” majority at the next election. Key’s been found out, and the voters are looking for alternatives.
Which brings us to National’s Plan B … a third term thanks to Labour fucking up. That’s their best hope now.
So again, a good poll because the (few) remaining Labour ostriches can’t keep those heads in the sand. As National’s support declines, voters will turn to the opposition that is not Labour. Like Winston, in this poll.
Unless Labour decide (finally) to do something about that.
Polls like this – and the last Roy Morgan one – make it more likely that they will. Good.
This one?
Taken in concert with the most recent roymorgan, beginning to be a bit concerning. The issue for labour is to get out of the low30s in CB polls and at the moment it seems pretty steady.
Link?
TV One
Labour dropped from 34% 6 weeks ago to 32% now.
During the time this poll was taken the following was going on:
-MSD privacy scandal
– The Government messing up on asset sales and Maori water rights
– Christchurch school screw ups
– Sweet talking its way through “No manufacturing crisis”
– Key being absolutely unbelievable and brain faded in the Dotcom/GCSB affair.
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/national-support-holds-labour-slips-in-poll-5194717
I never watch TV these days but clicked through to get a taste of everything that’s not changed. Front of vid is a still picture of JK raising a glass (in the vid it coincides with him saying ‘cheers’). JK in a factory that’s still open! And (the only potentially dodgy one) in operating garb to a voice over about ‘the good health’ of the Nats. Shearer edited to be heard apparently taking advice from a fucking wizard. Shearer standing looking at derelict sites and (twice?) framed alongside a ‘No Public Access’ sign.
And less than 50% of those polled thinking the economy will improve is spun in a positive light!
Anyway. If a Shearer led Labour Party that does nothing but shoot itself in the foot and offer gift horses to the Nats is still over 30%, just imagine what a Labour Party could do.
And then the scare mongering begins about the prospect of a dysfunctional NZ1/Green/Labour coalition. Because we’re meant to believe that NZ1 wouldn’t go with the Nats!?
TV is staying in the ‘bad stuff’ cupboard.
Funny how TV1 says National can govern alone on 44%.
They ignore NZF because they are only on 4.9%.
Yet they count The Maori Party, Act, the Conservative Party and Mana who are all struggling to register.
So if you put Labour 32%, Greens 12%, NZF 4.9% = 48.9%.
This for the sake of discussion trumps National on the poll, doesn’t it?
Not all that good for Labour but not that bad either 2 years out from an election.
You’d think by now we would have a user-friendly web app for calculating various results. And that the MSM would be putting polls in those contexts.
Old fashioned I know, but I think the media’s job here is to report on the range of things that might happen (you know, actually inform people), rather than promoting one in particular. Would love to know how that editorial decision was made.
Ian, the reason they are counting MP, ACT, UF and Mana is because they’re all in parliament due to safe-ish electoral seats (except maybe UF). NZF is completely dependent on crossing the 5%.
Well actually there is a calculator for working out the allocated seats depending on vote percentages. It’s called the MMP seat allocation calculator. Of course the MSM can’t be bothered using it because it would mean they couldn’t peddle their propaganda.
You would increase or decrease the likelihood of certain MPs winning electoral seats on the previous election results in comparison to the percentage of current polling. Just assuming that the current incumbent MPs would retain their seats even though their party support has declined and then claiming the right wing would be able to form the next government is obviously wrong!
In fact it’s astounding just how arrogant the media is with its manipulations. They treat the public like fools!
Yes I know about that calculator, it’s just not very user friendly.
I’m not sure that there is such a direct correlation re the seats and previous/current polls, esp re the Maori Party/Mana seats. Have you done that calculation?
Right on, mac. It’s a Brolmar, and NACT’s desperate for good news. Take 10% off NAT, add 5% to Lab, have a good chortle at “add ACT and MP” and the ignoring of Winnie, and relax.