Some interesting input on our recent weather woes. Mainly from a US northern hemisphere perspective but there are interesting graphic bits that show the influence down here.
On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization reported that a 'triple-digit' La Nina weather phenomenon, which caused severe droughts and floods, is finally ending. Nonetheless, the probability of an El Nino occurring is increasing and could affect global weather patterns
La Nina is over, and an El Nino event is forecasted to begin this [northern] Summer. An El Nino event can completely change the weather patterns in the upcoming seasons, especially during the [northern] late Fall and Winter seasons, so this will likely be one of the biggest global events in 2023.
Ocean anomalies and especially their changes can significantly influence seasonal weather patterns. Perhaps even more so in [northern] Winter, when the pressure systems are strongest.
"El Nino and La Nina are naturally occurring climate patterns and humans have no direct ability to influence their onset, intensity or duration," according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Ah. So, no angle..as such ? Just.. that you link with zerohedge, a known climate denial site. Climate Cherry pickers. And of course all the other associated…
I note the final paragraph of your link to Zero Hedge (a right wing libertarian outfit which specialises in denial politics) is as follows:
We would like to remind all the climate warriors on social media: "El Nino and La Nina are naturally occurring climate patterns and humans have no direct ability to influence their onset, intensity or duration," according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
After an interminable exposé of the meteorological outcomes of El Nino and La Nina weather patterns (no doubt extrapolated from reputable scientific sources) the article reveals the real message it wants to convey:
There is no evidence to indicate that humans are responsible for Climate extremes. They are natural phenomena.
Bullshit.
The Southern Oscillation climactic system has been around for countless millions of millenia so how come we have a heightened risk of extreme, life threatening weather events around the world on and ever increasing frequency.
Its due to "Climate Change" caused by excessive amounts of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere – a direct response to human industrial activity over the centuries.
You would do better to access your information from internationally recognised scientific bodies like NIWA:
"However, the CMIP6 models project inconsistent changes in the very extreme precipitation events in the region (Li et al., 2020) and, with regard to projections of intensification of heavy precipitation. This has low confidence in a world 1.5°C warmer compared to the recent past and low confidence compared to a preindustrial world. In a world with global mean surface temperature 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the CMIP6 models again project inconsistent changes in intensification of heavy precipitation in the region (Li et al., 2020), with low confidence compared with the recent past and medium confidence compared with preindustrial conditions."
In your cherry picking of the referenced article above however you seem to have conveniently overlooked this:
12. Evidence of observed changes in extreme weather events and their attribution to human influence (including greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions, and land-use changes) has strengthened since AR5, in particular for extreme precipitation, droughts, tropical cyclones and compound extremes (including dry/hot events and fire weather).
It looks more like you are trying to create a scenario based on your own lack of understanding re – the greenhouse gas effects that have led to the global warming of the planet and which in turn is screwing up the climactic weather patterns.
As Macro has said… you are cherry picking in the same way the 'professional' denialists try to cherry pick peer-reviewed scientific material for their own ends.
So much dogma and discussion, while the total concentration of greenhouse gases in spaceship Earth's atmosphere keeps going up (and up and up, etc.)
If only there was some way of estimating the effects this on-going increase in GHGs might have on average global temperatures and adverse climate events. But it's almost as if we don't want to hear about estimates – easier by far (for most of us) to keep our heads firmly planted in the sand, at least for now.
Nudging Behavior Toward Climate Solutions
with Elke Weber [14 June 2022]
“A lot of the uncertainty in the existing forecast methods has to do with the climate system—how sensitive the climate system is to certain kinds of actions like increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. But it turns out that the uncertainty we have about final results, like in terms of global warming down the road, is just as much related to our uncertainty about the human response as it is to uncertainty about the climate system response.”
Dogmatic discussion coupled with climate change induced panic?
If your comforts are atop a cliff, in a valley or on a flood plain, and it's hosing down, then panic is as understandable as it is unhelpful. Discuss.
Humanity may even have put off the next glacial for a bit – until the excess CO2 is leached from the atmosphere?
And if you expect “the next glacial” to intervene on our behalf, then imho your sense of time is off. The Anthropocene is noted for its rate of change.
Meanwhile we need every bit of our Farming exports to pay for the fuel, machinery and supplies required for any sort of rebuild/repairs to our shattered infrastructure. Perhaps we can cut back a bit after the restoration?
COPs have been taking place for more than a quarter of a century. Is the glass half full or half empty?
It’s both — and it’s a dual reality that we have to understand. When you get to a COP, needs are high: people are dying; weather events are destroying communities and economies; expectations for change are enormous. At the same time, the multilateral and multinational institutions we have are imperfect. The COP is a consensus-based process in which all the countries in the world, including Syria, North Korea, and Russia, must decide in a consensual manner to move one step further. It’s like we are in a race, all on a 196-person bicycle, and if just one rider stops pedalling, you can’t move forward.
Faux calculus no less! … very scientific
Very nasty – if you're on the receiving end of that 'faux calculus'.
And, “after the restoration” – BAU tweaked? Good luck with that
Less is so much more [30 Sept 2022]
“I think there is going to be a lot of disruption and change in what is considered to be acceptable and what’s not. Your competitors are going to be working on it. Do not become obsolete. Now is the time to change.”
Or not. Doesn't matter personally – I won't be facing hard choices.
Driving ambition for the new economy [24 Nov 2022]
The circular economy, a sustainable model of production and consumption, is a pillar of climate action. But we’re not taking it nearly seriously enough.
“The question is timing. We have to do more, and we have to do it faster,” she says. “But it’s not easy to change a way of doing things when you [have done it] since the Industrial Revolution and you have this mindset. To change that, and in a really short time… I don’t know if it’s possible, but we try!”
After the flood – four ways to think about the future of growing food [9 Feb 2023]
Managing change is nothing new, says Clothier, but it’s perhaps the scale of the change that feels so daunting. “It’s a real challenge for growers and farmers to think about climate change because they live in the weather. So they’re very, very astute in terms of their knowledge of weather. But climate is longer. It’s longer than memories. People say ‘it’s the worst storm I can remember’ but that’s not very long.”
“But I’m an optimist. It will be difficult but there are solutions.”
Conservative men in Conservative Dresses – some interesting history and insights.
"At least when they were calling themselves cross-dressers, these men weren’t claiming to literally be women and clamoring for access to women’s washrooms, changing rooms, rape shelters, prisons, and sports. Even if they wouldn’t admit it was a fetish, at least they would admit that dressing up in women’s clothing was a leisure activity and not a “gender identity” that had to be protected by law."
Thanks for the link, which is an informative read based on Amy Bloom's 2002 article of the same name. It clearly states what many choose to ignore.
Consider, as well, how accurately the following sentences describe what today’s trans-identified men ask of their wives and even from the rest of society:
Cross-dressing is a compulsion, but we must not see it as a sickness. A good wife should tolerate it because the man has no choice, but it isn't too hard to tolerate because it's a gift. It is about fun and pleasure–and it's a necessity.
The reason that what Bloom observed of cross-dressers in 2002 maps so neatly onto what we are seeing of “trans women” in 2023 is that these men are usually autogynephiles: they are aroused at the idea of themselves as a woman. As their claim to femaleness is based on male sexual arousal, it bears absolutely no resemblance to the experience of actually being a woman.
Or you can skip it and hear Righteous Luxon preach his gospel to the unbelievers. For His is the True Way, Repent Sinners (but don't go to church, I'm talking here!).
No, he's not the messiah, he's just a very boring boy.
Shaw isn't in the recovery team with Robertson and Roche, isn't being asked for advice on managed retreat decisions that need to occur within weeks, but still puts on a professional face to front to Jame Tame.
TBH its pretty shitty of Labour not to get him to work on this stuff.
Surly it’s only a coincidence that luxon announce a proposed funding boost for childcare, the same day its pointed how big a slice, for profit childcare providers ate taking.
Its nothing to do with childcare profits. Its about the accusation, Luxon just wants it to turn into your saying no to childcare because your over paying consultants.
This is one of the worst policies I've ever seen. They claim it will benefit 130,000 families. It's only for those with kids enrolled in private ECE as far as I can tell. Inference is National sees stay at home mums as lazy and they should go get a job.
It also targets quite a narrow band, people with kids under five. And the full amount is available to families earning $140k or less! Hardly progressive, is it?
And why does that clown never wear a tie? He looks like a half-dressed pimp.
Because he's pushing the "I speak for hard-working kiwis because I'm one of them" line.
Look at me, I've taken my tie off and unbuttoned my shirt so I'm ready to do the hard yakker, like all you other working men. I'm the hard-mahi man, the suited warrior, I'm just like you, really.
hi Muttonbird, this probably connects with some of it..
The Wright (right !?) family….
The crown jewel though, was childcare. A service every parent needs, a rare part of our education system which is largely privatised – but one the state heavily subsidises. They owned a huge chunk of that system through companies like ABC and Best Start.
And… is he taking the piss? No sense of Irony? Other?
The Wright family became involved with Plunket last year. “We thought that New Zealand could benefit from a non-biased, open broadcast media, but didn’t know how to do it,” Wayne Wright Jr told BusinessDesk. “Coincidentally, Sean knocked on our door, and asked us if we’d be interested in partially funding his idea. We listened and decided to fund the whole operation.”
The Platform also feels like it’s radicalising in realtime, with the past week alone seeing it host the militant Kelvyn Alp, head of Counterspin Media; co-leader of anti-vaccine group Voices for Freedom Alia Bland; and anti-vaccine influencer Chantelle Baker, who was offered a weekly show by Plunket during a recent interview. The Platform has largely been ignored or derided by other media, yet has a chance to bottle the anti-establishment energy of the parliament occupation and become something new and deeply challenging to the established order. And it’s all happening because the Wright family said yes.
While I have no truck with 'baby farmers' (a good mate prefers the term baby gaol), what term do you have for those who clamour to keep the 'farm' stocked?
Not any difference between this corporate subsidy and the accommodation supplement.
Meanwhile the MoE is strangling not-for-profit Playcentres with unachievably onerous licensing and training requirements. [The expectation is that volunteer parents will undertake an undergraduate ECE degree; and, if they don't, funding is cut to the bone]
While it's been happening under the Labour Government, I don't (personally) think this is driven by the government, but rather by the idealogues at MoE – who purely hate the concept of parents as teachers, and want 'professionalisation' of all ECE services.
The baby farms technically have the qualified ECE staff – but are run for pure profit, not for the benefit of the children enrolled. There is no way that I would have sent my kid to one of them – though this was pushed as the default option by WINZ in order to make mothers 'work ready'.
Early Childhood Council CEO Simon Laube loves the idea. Of course he would, he and his child farming industry like The Platform owners, the Wright family, and National Party member, Tony Stuart, will be mainlining another $240m a year from the taxpayer.
In fact, one suspects the policy was written by Simon Laube himself…
Meanwhile, the Early Childhood Council applauded National's move, saying this policy offers more children the education and social benefits of ECE and will be a "welcome relief" for parents struggling to pay rising fees.
"More investment in early learning is fantastic for our tamariki and their families, even more so for children from disadvantaged backgrounds," said CEO Simon Laube.
"This initiative would offer Auckland centres struggling after lockdowns and the summer's weather events an urgently needed boost at re-engaging early learners in particular."
He added that for parents, National's announcement would be "much more significant" than last year's childcare subsidy threshold changes and it avoids stigma about accessing social welfare support.
"The policy recognises that more children in ECE means more parents able to work, and more children getting their education off to a great start to build the capability of our future workforce."
Well, primary, secondary, and tertiary education are publicly owned or overseen in NZ.
If our diseased, profit-driven society demands every ounce of flesh from every human being such that children have to be watched by private babysitters 9 hours a day from 18 months, why not bring ECE into the same model?
No wonder Luxon chose a small believer audience! Stilted. Wooden audience. Clap on signal. But not with warmth. They tried to artificially create a strong leadership image. They failed!
Content? Hodge Podge of usual criticism of Government a few detail-less policies. Really?
If National don't believe in using bureaucrats (which is National's term for administrative staff) then who will do the organisational donkey work for them?
National use just as many consultants as Labour, its just that they are better at hiding them under the euphemistic term "project managers".
Latest from Seymour Hersh (on the far-right disinformation Youtube channel "Breakthough News" – part of the Epoch media ecosystem) and no, I am not linking go find it yourself if you must.
1/ Russia hasn't committed it main army to the Ukraine
2/ The attack on Kyiv was a feint
3/ Ukraine has lost the war
4/ It is just a matter of waiting for Zelenskyy to make enough money.
So, Hersh has gone from peddling an implausible conspiracy theory where his "secret source" was probably Scott Ritter to pushing the same talking points as a Twitter account called "Z18276534322" created in January 2023.
I remember the rightwing's attacks on the Green Party 'magical money tree' – the National Party has its equivalent – its the 'magical efficency tree' where the National Party can pay less but get more – the latest instalment of this fairy tale is
Planting indigenous (and some suitable newcomers) managed erosion, restricting logging to areas with either no "downside" risk or a management regime (removal and or processing) and sheep/trails/tourism.
MPI erosion-protection programme, including case studies where regional councils and others have repurposed slip-prone areas with government support, including 1 billion trees funding.
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This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
The lead witness in Ngāi Tahu’s freshwater claim says the case raises an “existentialist question” for his people.“My greatest fear is that we will have our connection with our land and waterways extinguished,” Te Maire Tau (Ngāi Tahu/Ngāi Tūāhuriri) said in the Christchurch High Court, before Justice Melanie Harland. The university history ...
New Zealand employers are well-used to the constant evolution of employment and workplace health and safety law – but we think the scope of changes in this area may still surprise in 2025. In our view, the number of changes under active consideration and the potential practical impact of those ...
As New Zealand woke to Waitangi Day, 1600 athletes and their support crew began to descend on the sleepy west coast town of Greymouth, ready to take on the iconic multisport race, the Coast to Coast.Among the cars laden with kayaks, bikes and enough race food to feed a small ...
I collect sailing books, especially solo sailing adventures. I sail a lot and when in meetings, I think about sailing rather than focus on the dry PowerPoint presentations of earnest landlubbers. Just quietly, I also offer dead sailors drinks and occasionally good books over the side when I am at ...
Over the past few weeks, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has had public tiffs with the leaders of both the Cook Islands and Kiribati.The issues: first Peters put foreign aid to Kiribati under review after President Taneti Maamau cancelled a meeting with him. Then this week, Peters accused the PM of ...
Proposed changes to the Fisheries Act 1996 could see on-board cameras, introduced to protect endangered marine and seabird species, shut off from public view. Lyric Waiwiri-Smith explains.Minister for oceans and fisheries Shane Jones was in his element on Wellington’s waterfront on Wednesday morning. While waves crashed onto the rocks ...
The prime minister has had a bad week, and it’s barely Thursday. This week’s Luxon low points, ranked.8. Bad poll, part oneA Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll released on Monday showed that Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori could form a government. Christopher Luxon is down 3.8 points at ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Appiah Takyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Street vending is a major economic activity in most of Ghana’s urban areas. The vendors bring everyday goods to residents and commuters at affordable prices in ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – The United States shares the pathologies of all dying empires with their mixture of buffoonery, rampant corruption, military fiascos, economic collapse and savage state repression.ANALYSIS: By Chris Hedges The billionaires, Christian fascists, grifters, psychopaths, imbeciles, narcissists and deviants who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government has secured bipartisan support for a major new regime covering political donations and spending, after making significant concessions. The government agreed to increase the proposed threshold above which donations must be disclosed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With the election only months away, the Labor government finds itself suddenly battling with the Trump administration for an exemption from new US tariffs on steel and aluminium. The opposition has supported the effort, but ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julee McDonagh, Senior Research Fellow of Frailty Research, University of Wollongong PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Ageing is a normal part of the life course. It doesn’t matter how many green smoothies you drink, or how many “anti-ageing” skin care products you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Critical Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University The Conversation, CC BY-SAAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. Colonial commemorations ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Masarik/Shutterstock In some overseas countries, pets can travel with their owners in a plane’s cabin, in a carrier under a seat. In Australia, pets must travel in the ...
A raft of proposed legislation changes to the media and screen industry have been announced this morning – we read through it all all so you don’t have to. What’s all this then? This morning the Ministry for Culture and Heritage released its draft proposed changes to media and screen ...
David Seymour's recent off-road parliamentary excursion led to a reprimand from the Speaker, who also said the rules didn't apply to this instance. What are the rules? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Morgenbesser, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Griffith University Many Americans have watched in horror as Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has been permitted to tear through various offices of the United States government in recent ...
By Patrick Decloitre,RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls has announced he will travel to New Caledonia later this month to pursue talks on the French territory’s political future. These discussions on February 22 follow preliminary talks held last week in Paris in “bilateral” mode ...
As Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to resume war, Hamas outlines widespread Israeli ceasefire violations in document sent to the mediators.By Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of Dropsite News Hamas officials submitted a two-page report to mediators yesterday listing a wide range of Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire since ...
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Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Claire Baylis, author of Dice and guest at the forthcoming HamLit programme at the Hamilton Arts Festival. The book I wish I’d writtenMy mind seems surprisingly unwilling ...
The courts should deal with illegal fishing, not the "court of public opinion", Shane Jones says, as he announces proposed changes to the Quota Management System. ...
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Could iwi and hapū be the unexpected solution to the government’s asset dilemma? David Seymour pressured the prime minister into an unwelcome conversation, and in the couple of weeks since the Act leader raised the issue in his state of the nation speech, privatisation has shifted from absent in the ...
Human rights advocates must uphold human dignity, rights and justice, while rejecting the discriminatory tactics we oppose, writes Taimor Hazou.Two weeks ago the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) launched a campaign inviting New Zealanders to call a hotline if they suspected an Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldier that had ...
Immigration New Zealand figures shows more people have been looking at the ETA and visitor visa pages on the website, however fewer people have applied to come or to extend their stay. ...
Some interesting input on our recent weather woes. Mainly from a US northern hemisphere perspective but there are interesting graphic bits that show the influence down here.
On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization reported that a 'triple-digit' La Nina weather phenomenon, which caused severe droughts and floods, is finally ending. Nonetheless, the probability of an El Nino occurring is increasing and could affect global weather patterns
La Nina is over, and an El Nino event is forecasted to begin this [northern] Summer. An El Nino event can completely change the weather patterns in the upcoming seasons, especially during the [northern] late Fall and Winter seasons, so this will likely be one of the biggest global events in 2023.
Ocean anomalies and especially their changes can significantly influence seasonal weather patterns. Perhaps even more so in [northern] Winter, when the pressure systems are strongest.
"El Nino and La Nina are naturally occurring climate patterns and humans have no direct ability to influence their onset, intensity or duration," according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/triple-digit-la-nina-ending-el-nino-may-strike-soon
…..Whats your angle here?
reporting the change from La Nina to El Nino that is mentioned about to happen bringing further weather events.
Ah. So, no angle..as such ? Just.. that you link with zerohedge, a known climate denial site. Climate Cherry pickers. And of course all the other associated…
I note the final paragraph of your link to Zero Hedge (a right wing libertarian outfit which specialises in denial politics) is as follows:
After an interminable exposé of the meteorological outcomes of El Nino and La Nina weather patterns (no doubt extrapolated from reputable scientific sources) the article reveals the real message it wants to convey:
There is no evidence to indicate that humans are responsible for Climate extremes. They are natural phenomena.
Bullshit.
The Southern Oscillation climactic system has been around for countless millions of millenia so how come we have a heightened risk of extreme, life threatening weather events around the world on and ever increasing frequency.
Its due to "Climate Change" caused by excessive amounts of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere – a direct response to human industrial activity over the centuries.
You would do better to access your information from internationally recognised scientific bodies like NIWA:
https://niwa.co.nz/climate/information-and-resources/elnino/elnino-impacts-on-newzealand
"You would do better to access your information from internationally recognised scientific bodies like NIWA"
Like this?
https://environment.govt.nz/assets/publications/Climate-Change-Projections-Guidance-FINAL.pdf
"However, the CMIP6 models project inconsistent changes in the very extreme precipitation events in the region (Li et al., 2020) and, with regard to projections of intensification of heavy precipitation. This has low confidence in a world 1.5°C warmer compared to the recent past and low confidence compared to a preindustrial world. In a world with global mean surface temperature 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the CMIP6 models again project inconsistent changes in intensification of heavy precipitation in the region (Li et al., 2020), with low confidence compared with the recent past and medium confidence compared with preindustrial conditions."
All seems to be a bit 'wooly' and imprecise?
In your cherry picking of the referenced article above however you seem to have conveniently overlooked this:
My Bold
It looks more like you are trying to create a scenario based on your own lack of understanding re – the greenhouse gas effects that have led to the global warming of the planet and which in turn is screwing up the climactic weather patterns.
As Macro has said… you are cherry picking in the same way the 'professional' denialists try to cherry pick peer-reviewed scientific material for their own ends.
Cherries or plums? Dogma or discussion?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/carbon-emissions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_chemistry_observational_databases
So much dogma and discussion, while the total concentration of greenhouse gases in spaceship Earth's atmosphere keeps going up (and up and up, etc.)
If only there was some way of estimating the effects this on-going increase in GHGs might have on average global temperatures and adverse climate events. But it's almost as if we don't want to hear about estimates – easier by far (for most of us) to keep our heads firmly planted in the sand, at least for now.
But we need need more flood protection – what to do, what to do…
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/funding-rural-support/environment-and-natural-resources/climate-change-primary-industries/
https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/how-many-new-trees-would-we-need-offset-our-carbon-emissions
Cherry trees or plum trees? Dogma or discussion?
Dogmatic discussion coupled with climate change induced panic?
Or structural uncertainty compensated for by group certainty ….
Humanity may even have put off the next glacial for a bit – until the excess CO2 is leached from the atmosphere?
If your comforts are atop a cliff, in a valley or on a flood plain, and it's hosing down, then panic is as understandable as it is unhelpful. Discuss.
And if you expect “the next glacial” to intervene on our behalf, then imho your sense of time is off. The Anthropocene is noted for its rate of change.
Spaceship Earth's big, but its capacity to buffer the effects of civilisation's wastes has limits. This comment (source unknown) 'tickled' me:
Faux calculus no less! … very scientific
Meanwhile we need every bit of our Farming exports to pay for the fuel, machinery and supplies required for any sort of rebuild/repairs to our shattered infrastructure. Perhaps we can cut back a bit after the restoration?
Weather events will be more disruptive, then a lot more disruptive.
https://www.aon.com/weather-climate-catastrophe/index.aspx
Very nasty – if you're on the receiving end of that 'faux calculus'.
And, “after the restoration” – BAU tweaked? Good luck with that
Or not. Doesn't matter personally – I won't be facing hard choices.
Then along came Gabrielle. The times they are a-changin’.
Conservative men in Conservative Dresses – some interesting history and insights.
"At least when they were calling themselves cross-dressers, these men weren’t claiming to literally be women and clamoring for access to women’s washrooms, changing rooms, rape shelters, prisons, and sports. Even if they wouldn’t admit it was a fetish, at least they would admit that dressing up in women’s clothing was a leisure activity and not a “gender identity” that had to be protected by law."
https://www.thedistancemag.com/p/conservative-men-in-conservative?r=jvqcz&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post&fbclid=IwAR2i5WJYtBz5hfIBpAAuj_qdRRLUORcg4qu_fWAUE8Zpjq1AcKlC1N118N0
Thanks for the link, which is an informative read based on Amy Bloom's 2002 article of the same name. It clearly states what many choose to ignore.
It also links to a Children of Transitioners support group, which has the original 2002 article:
Conservative men in Conservative Dresses
Sunday morning, 11 am. Time for church.
Or you can skip it and hear Righteous Luxon preach his gospel to the unbelievers. For His is the True Way, Repent Sinners (but don't go to church, I'm talking here!).
No, he's not the messiah, he's just a very boring boy.
https://twitter.com/NZQandA/status/1632114471933206529
https://twitter.com/NZQandA/status/1632144786206457863
Shaw isn't in the recovery team with Robertson and Roche, isn't being asked for advice on managed retreat decisions that need to occur within weeks, but still puts on a professional face to front to Jame Tame.
TBH its pretty shitty of Labour not to get him to work on this stuff.
As he says, the work is too important to give up in the face of that.
But I agreed it's disheartening to see such an approach from Labour, but sadly it is only the latest instance of diminishment of the Greens.
More Green MPs would still mean a Labour led government but one where the Greens can't be sidelined like Shaw has been. Party vote Green.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/education/300814789/the-jugglenaut-how-childcare-became-a-forprofit-game
Surly it’s only a coincidence that luxon announce a proposed funding boost for childcare, the same day its pointed how big a slice, for profit childcare providers ate taking.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/131407675/christopher-luxon-promises-childcare-rebates-for-any-family-earning-less-than-180000
Of course it's a coincidence. He's rewarding the party faithful…
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/wanganui-man-outed-in-hagers-book/VZWAHDM3WDZ4WQ5I25WPOXR4DA/
You are correct, Joe90.
Its nothing to do with childcare profits. Its about the accusation, Luxon just wants it to turn into your saying no to childcare because your over paying consultants.
They win both ways ,
funded child care=more profit for child care
Funded childcare =more 2 income houses to strip profits from in other ways,
Incredibly poor timing for Luxon yet again. $2.3b not enough for corporate child farmers? Chrome-dome says, "here's another $240m!"
This is one of the worst policies I've ever seen. They claim it will benefit 130,000 families. It's only for those with kids enrolled in private ECE as far as I can tell. Inference is National sees stay at home mums as lazy and they should go get a job.
It also targets quite a narrow band, people with kids under five. And the full amount is available to families earning $140k or less! Hardly progressive, is it?
And why does that clown never wear a tie? He looks like a half-dressed pimp.
Because he's pushing the "I speak for hard-working kiwis because I'm one of them" line.
Look at me, I've taken my tie off and unbuttoned my shirt so I'm ready to do the hard yakker, like all you other working men. I'm the hard-mahi man, the suited warrior, I'm just like you, really.
Yeah, right.
The Barak Obama tie-less cool.
Here's Barack Obama giving his State of the Union address. Note the tie! He knows how to do 'formal'!
https://www.obamalibrary.gov/timeline/first-state-union-address
hi Muttonbird, this probably connects with some of it..
The Wright (right !?) family….
And… is he taking the piss? No sense of Irony? Other?
Just…wtf. But good reporting. And sometimes just good…letting them talk about… their aims
https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/20-08-2022/two-hours-with-the-secretive-rich-lister-bankrolling-sean-plunkets-the-platform
The irony in the TDB post below is that it might be the same (or same sort) money behind the Platform funding another online radio station.
And the extra profits coming to Wright (higher fees from his pre schools) from any Luxon victory one reason for him to invest in it …
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/03/05/mediawatch-feral-nz-antivaxer-online-radio-station-launches-is-taxpayers-union-damaged-by-association/
Plus, the first thing the child farming industry will do is put up their rates by $74/week. That is corporate subsidy and inflationary.
Unless the Nats also put a price freeze on ECE…
While I have no truck with 'baby farmers' (a good mate prefers the term baby gaol), what term do you have for those who clamour to keep the 'farm' stocked?
Not any difference between this corporate subsidy and the accommodation supplement.
Meanwhile the MoE is strangling not-for-profit Playcentres with unachievably onerous licensing and training requirements. [The expectation is that volunteer parents will undertake an undergraduate ECE degree; and, if they don't, funding is cut to the bone]
While it's been happening under the Labour Government, I don't (personally) think this is driven by the government, but rather by the idealogues at MoE – who purely hate the concept of parents as teachers, and want 'professionalisation' of all ECE services.
The baby farms technically have the qualified ECE staff – but are run for pure profit, not for the benefit of the children enrolled. There is no way that I would have sent my kid to one of them – though this was pushed as the default option by WINZ in order to make mothers 'work ready'.
We're destroying the family unit, in so many ways ,but this is probably the main one, getting all parents into work if possible.
Early Childhood Council CEO Simon Laube loves the idea. Of course he would, he and his child farming industry like The Platform owners, the Wright family, and National Party member, Tony Stuart, will be mainlining another $240m a year from the taxpayer.
In fact, one suspects the policy was written by Simon Laube himself…
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/03/labour-lambasts-national-s-not-very-well-thought-through-childcare-tax-rebate-policy.html
What's to stop a Labour Govt nationalising the whole childcare industry and bringing it ubder the auspicious of the MoE?
Well, primary, secondary, and tertiary education are publicly owned or overseen in NZ.
If our diseased, profit-driven society demands every ounce of flesh from every human being such that children have to be watched by private babysitters 9 hours a day from 18 months, why not bring ECE into the same model?
No wonder Luxon chose a small believer audience! Stilted. Wooden audience. Clap on signal. But not with warmth. They tried to artificially create a strong leadership image. They failed!
Content? Hodge Podge of usual criticism of Government a few detail-less policies. Really?
If National don't believe in using bureaucrats (which is National's term for administrative staff) then who will do the organisational donkey work for them?
National use just as many consultants as Labour, its just that they are better at hiding them under the euphemistic term "project managers".
Latest from Seymour Hersh (on the far-right disinformation Youtube channel "Breakthough News" – part of the Epoch media ecosystem) and no, I am not linking go find it yourself if you must.
1/ Russia hasn't committed it main army to the Ukraine
2/ The attack on Kyiv was a feint
3/ Ukraine has lost the war
4/ It is just a matter of waiting for Zelenskyy to make enough money.
So, Hersh has gone from peddling an implausible conspiracy theory where his "secret source" was probably Scott Ritter to pushing the same talking points as a Twitter account called "Z18276534322" created in January 2023.
Sad to see senility getting a platform.
I remember the rightwing's attacks on the Green Party 'magical money tree' – the National Party has its equivalent – its the 'magical efficency tree' where the National Party can pay less but get more – the latest instalment of this fairy tale is
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/131407675/christopher-luxon-promises-childcare-rebates-for-any-family-earning-less-than-180000
It' a cult and Poots is Jim Jones.
https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1631924284485521409
They were told after cyclone Bola that planting pine would stop the floods. But the slash backs up the water and then the bridges/roads fail.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/03/05/john-campbell-slash/
Which goes to show that sure-fire quick fixes and unintended consequences bedevil any response especially in uncertain times!
Planting indigenous (and some suitable newcomers) managed erosion, restricting logging to areas with either no "downside" risk or a management regime (removal and or processing) and sheep/trails/tourism.
nothing wrong with planting pine. dont demonise a tree species because of lack of cleanup .
MPI erosion-protection programme, including case studies where regional councils and others have repurposed slip-prone areas with government support, including 1 billion trees funding.
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/forestry/funding-tree-planting-research/hill-country-erosion-programme
Cool commentary by Big Hairy News on ACT's denounciation of Creative NZ funding for The Savage Coloniser show based on Tusiata Avia book.
#BHN ACT thinks a poem is the same as the Mosque massacre