Al Gore says "The more deeply I search for the roots of the global environmental crisis, the more I am convinced that it is an outer manifestation of an inner crisis that is, for lack of a better word, spiritual… what other word describes the collection of values and assumptions that determine our basic understanding of how we fit into the universe?”
“The ancient covenant is in pieces; man knows at last that he is alone in the universe's unfeeling immensity, out of which he emerged only by chance. His destiny is nowhere spelled out, nor is his duty. The kingdom above or the darkness below: it is for him to choose.”
Is there a gym and makeover company called 'Chance'? I have been wondering who or what is responsible for a very clever change in Paula which speaks of a clever cotourier and life and body shape coach getting a lot of money from this woman to whom apparently, image is primary.
Melzer, who by his own admission began his investigation as someone who had “been affected by the same misguided smear campaign as everybody else” regarding Assange, speaks of Assange’s plight with the fresh-eyed ferocity of a man who has not been immersed in a soul-corroding career in establishment politics or mass media. A man has not been indoctrinated into accepting as normal the relentless, malicious character assassinations of the western political/media class against a publisher of inconvenient facts about the powerful. A man who, when looking deeply and objectively into the facts with uncorrupted vision, was able to see clearly just how unforgivably abusive Assange’s treatment has been.
Julian Assange is being slowly murdered by “Her Majesty’s Prison Service” at Belmarsh prison in the south-east of London. The prison is notorious for holding people who have never been charged with a crime indefinitely. It is also called the British version of Guantanamo, and, typically used to detain so-called terrorists, thus called by the British police and secret service and aped by the British MSM and establishment. Terrorists that become terrorists by continuous and repeated accusations, by media propaganda, but not necessarily by fact.
Julian Assange has been condemned to a ‘temporary’ prison sentence of 50 weeks for jumping bail, when he sought and was granted refuge in 2012 in the Ecuadorian Embassy. And why did he jump bail? Because he was about to be extradited to neofascist Sweden, who acting in the name of Washington, accused him with phony rape and sexual misconduct charges, from where he would have most likely been extradited to the US – where he might have faced a kangaroo court and a fake trial with possible death sentence, or indefinite incarceration at Guantanamo.
A late response last night – in my experience there is nothing so past as a past post. So in justification to myself, after WeTheBleeple called into question my ability to comment –
"If you were to never mention these subjects, how is you you know ALL your students were profoundly ignorant on said subjects.
“ESP?
“Your description of the average Han reminds me of Trump supporters. National supporters, Hosking readers…"
Such a prohibition only spurred the foreign teachers to venture, tentatively, on the forbidden subjects. (Though not often – probably about less than ten times in 3 and a half years) Invariably, in the case of Tianamen Square, nothing – the event had been erased from their knowledge of their own history. Tibet and Taiwan, when mentioned casually, occasioned a full blown propaganda response.
I taught senior high school kids and young adults about the age of mid twenties on the whole. With very few exceptions none could place NZ on a world map. For God's sake, I even encountered one student who couldn't even find China without a search!
Urumqi is the furtherest city from the sea in the world – 2250 kms in any direction. Perhaps that explains the depth of ignorance.
I also taught a smattering of older students who had lived through the Cultural Revolution. Their stories, retailed in meetings outside the classroom, were quite harrowing. They confirmed the censorship that prevails in China about Tianamen.
I might be spouting Chinaphobic drivel, but it is drivel derived from observation on the ground (albeit in a remote part of China).
At university some of the favorite students were the Chinese. One couple, Woody & Sue, who'd anglicised their names for our convenience, were learning english at the same time they sat (and passed) post-grad biology including metabolomics, genetics and biochemistry.
Incredible.
But tell me more about how stupid they are.
Vitriol so offensive right, but casual racism’s ok when versed politely.
PS I'm not calling you racist – just the whole thread in the context it was presented. The separation of Chinese people from the Chinese state is required before it has any merit at all.
In the next apartment where I lived, a nine year old Chinese girl used to practise the piano until about midnight. To succeed in China you have to compete, and I mean really compete. When I told my high school students I had an after school job at 12, they looked at me incredulously. They had no 'after school!'
Most the students I encountered in Urumqi were learning English with the hope of, usually, getting a job with a foreign company (better pay and conditions) and/or moving east to where the real money was to be made.
Yet many of these students in their final years at high school (and many from No.1 Middle School, the best in the city) had, and I repeat, a profound ignorance of both geography and history.
I also taught in a language school in NZ. One day I entered my classroom to see a Chinese student on his knees, stabbing a compass point into a map, which he had removed from the wall. When I asked him what he thought he was doing, he replied, 'Taipei is not the capital of a country.'
I don't doubt for one moment the ability of Chinese student to work hard and shine, and I personally have found them good students to teach, and pleasant people to be around, both in China and NZ.
But let's not lose sight of the fact that their view of the world is a carefully manufactured and controlled one.
Yes but my point is so is ours (world view manufactured). We hid our history and banned Maori language… We might have improved now… leading me to believe we could encourage, rather than denigrate, those in similar situations.
Just go have a drink in the pub in Gore to get some stunning displays of ignorance.
Fair point – I've been in rural pubs and been appalled by the narrow-mindedness expressed by many.
But our ignorance is, to a large extent. 'willing' ignorance. We could, if we wished, expand our view of the world. That many of us don't is not to our credit.
In the school I taught at in China, wikipedia was banned. Why? Because it contained articles critical of China. I remember trying to access an article on another site sourced in the US – I'd read about three lines and then the rest of the article disappeared.
Chinese 'ignorance' is largely unwilling. Their access to differing points of view is strictly limited. For this they are to be 'pitied' rather than criticised and my comments shouldn't really be taken as criticism, merely observations of what I encountered.
Whatever the cause or reason, it still came across to me as a deep and profound ignorance.
Yeah wilful ignorance is certainly a problem. Mostly a defense mechanism of the right (planets burning but it's inconvenient as I've shares in Statoil…).
As a coping mechanism, it kinda works. The humor around being wilfully ignorant can be top notch, and helps one laugh at their station. The promotion of it via politicians, to me, is simply unforgiveable.
Edit
I think people using ‘vitriol’ and other highly-flavoured negative descriptions, is a bad way of indicating too strongly one's own opinion. Though it makes one feel self satisfied (put you in your place you nasty, big-mouthed loon). And I have done it myself, but you have to keep learning and moving away promptly from ineffective thinking and behaviour these days.
Perhaps following the advice of 'good communication' teachers and social work facilitators and expressing the thought using the I word, (which I find can be overdone and self-centred if overused), but is useful ie 'Hearing that word makes me feel unhappy with the way the discussion is trending'. So that's a mild objection to tone down 'vitriol' and it should then be followed up with a 'Why – do you feel so strongly that you use choose that term? What is the background for your very negative response?'
I think society has to watch the way that controversial discussions are managed, to keep down the extreme emotions otherwise we will get caught up in disagreements about terms and language instead of discussing the issue. The more important it is, the more emotive the language until cool and wise thinking is impossible. Ways to run meetings with someone adjudicating and timing speakers will be a necessary part of learnings about leadership, there are techniques which are not regularly used.
We are constantly being stressed by the breakdown of our people and planet systems, and the lack of morality and respect in treatment of each other. (One instance is companies not replying to all applicants for a job – it is neglecting the sensible and fair rules of behaviour. I like examples to illustrate my reasoning.)
And venting hate at hateful people is a useless though instantly satisfying behaviour. It clears the stress, but then what is the next step for moving that person out of their position? Spiking their guns etc. The 'don't get mad, get even' saying is the one to keep in mind. Trump is a good example, and he stands in for all Clown Princes and Princesses. There needs to be an assiduous group working to impeach him, and there probably is. But they will be self-controlled, keep their emotions in check, keep schtum and plan for unobtrusiveness, and won't flap their tongues to the media.
Sadly, it is your ignorance that is showing here. Maybe a tinge of racism too.
Not a single comment in that thread yesterday was even close to denigrating the Chinese people, although the older Chinese invariably are very closed mind to outsiders – the product of all those decades of isolation. Tony Veitch [etc] and myself are commenting from direct immersion in China. In my case, that immersion continues with our business, my partner (Chinese), frequent business visits to China. It also included lecturing Chinese students at Lincoln University in Accounting.
All the book reading in the world or chatting to a few Chinese students in NZ is no substitute for direct experience.
Nothing I or anyone says will open your eyes no doubt. Rapid racism and ideology is blind.
Kevin: no, you are 100% correct. My comments were directed at WTB and his comments on the thread above regarding the Tiananmen massacre. I guess I was not clear in that. Sorry for confusion.
No Bleep – that is not helpful – if there was a word to describe it, it might be <i>ruralism</i>, as an equivalent of racism.
Rural communities suffer greatly from institutional and personal ruralism, and you are merely continuing a stereotypical bias with another subset of people.
People everywhere are broadly diverse and it is not helpful or accurate to apply any form of personality / character judgement based upon a so-called group trait.
I come from a village. A village of racist wife beaters. I can call it as I see it too. I'm not saying all country folk are as described, but I'm not holding a torch for them either.
My village was close to Te Aroha, a town in the news cycle right now concerning a LBGT group starting there to try and counter homophobia (by lending support to LGBT).
Last time I was there I heard tales of the local dope growers tried to kill their mate in the patch to keep all the weed but he lived and came out of the bush and had them charged.
WtB You are getting too worked up. Time to slow it please. Look carefully at the dart board to see if it is a real one before you aim for the bullseye. Is that unfair to bulls – I never thought of that before? You are raising my sensitivity WtB. Suggestion – have a go at me, if you are irritated and leave some people for others if they deserve a bollocking.
Thanks Tony Veitch most interesting. About not reading maps well, showing ignorance, I think that street research about general knowledge in the USA has revealed similar levels of ignorance about the world, and their own country. Big countries successfully limiting information and narrowing education – is it actually general practice?
Wikileaks has a searchable cache of situation reports from the US Embassy in Beijing , concerning the Tianamen Square showdown .I had no idea it went on for 6 weeks and that some soldiers were taken hostage .And the Chinese govt was not a monolith, there were hardliners and more liberal elements.
So much of what we think we know we know from a selective view provided to us by the media.
Where would we be without Wikileaks?
Save Assange!
Now I know that some commenters shy like frightened horses at the mention of MoonofAlabama, think of MOA as a conduit to a primary source in this case and glide over the rest.
Remember the iconic photo of Tankman ?Bravely halting the tanks?
"According to the man who took the photo, AP photographer Jeff Widener, the photo dates from June 5 the day after the Tiananmen Square incident. The tanks were headed away from, and not towards, the Square. They were blocked not by a student but by a man with a shopping bag crossing the street who had chosen to play chicken with the departing tanks. The lead tank had gone out its way to avoid causing him injury."
A great book is 'Tiananmen Moon'. It was written by a BBC journalist present in Tiananamen Square during the protests, one of the few western journos allowed in.
Without any doubt whatsoever, the vast majority of those present in Beijing (and the almost 100 other cities where similar protests were taking place at that time, were sincere in wanting liberalisation, political and economic. As invariably happens, the 'revolution' was in its latter days hijacked by a very small minority hell bent on slef interest.
That in no way whatsoever lessens the evil of what happened.
Emergent properties; a water molecule is not wet; it's only when you have millions of them together that the quality of "wetness" emerges; what emergent qualities might we see as present conditions evolve? They can't be predicted; they are unexpected and novel.
What the Sam Hill ?- water isnt wet , its only when our bodily senses that are made up of billions of atoms and thus molecules perceive it to be wet. Whats far more interesting is the empty spaces between atoms and thus molecules.
For there and not far away , is where we will find true science and the interdimensional nature of this universe. And put away childlike Einstien and limited physics and embrace Tessla and Quantum physics instead. I wonder if the slow learner Big Al has realized that yet?
Nuuuuuuuuuuuuu !- its all in your interpretation ! Water definitely ISN'T WET !
You have been led astray by cunning manipulatory minds and bodily lies!
Stop relying on your molecular structure to dictate your sensory perception on what is , in actual fact , a holographic unreality posing as a reality !
I'm surprised and disappointed in you , Robert , you should know better than that ! Water is dry ! Repeat after me !
I'm disappointed in me too, WK: how could I have made such a fundamental error about so called, "wetness". If only I'd thought outside of my bubble; everyone's heard of a dry wine; I missed that clue entirely.
When you add energy to a biological system DNA micro-mutations can be more frequent and severe. This bodes badly for individuals, but given enough time, might enhance (or bottleneck and kill off) the species.
Auckland is already emerging as the place to grow loads of stuff, but it's full of buildings… We can grow temperate, mediterranean and subtropical here now…
But the current models would have the entire bioregion under monoculture (we grow pot bellied pigs in Ponsonby and they'd like to take over everything else).
The mix of sub-tropical plants with temperate soil microbiota might show some interesting end results but prediction, as you say, is very difficult. There may be some devastating pathogens, but so long as we increase biodiversity we could get through relatively unscathed – except the human pathogens.
We will change as people. We will value and respect water finally (or perish), and biodiversity (or perish). There will be a re-emergence of eco-centric societies. This much preferable to the ego-centric fractions and factions of today.
And I predict people (maybe not today's America) will go right off corporate entities and home grown business will emerge alongside alternate trading systems and even currencies.
Carpentry, mechanics, sewing, cooking, crop husbandry will re-emerge as useful skills.
We've passed the 11th hour. There's no reversing anything with our tepid leadership and the bankers grip on the planet (and their silly growth model).
There will be disasters, war, famine, disease…
So Nike can increase its shares.
There will emerge an uprising, a horde of billions, but far too late.
I call it as I see it, a year ago I'd have given us a chance, then I paid attention and saw how spineless and toothless the world's governments really are.
Jostling for position, the one closest to the sun gets to die first.
Take the bankers down before they take the planet down. That is my emergent thought.
In another thread a day or so ago, The Peoples Budget was linked to by The Chairman. A Bryan Bruce chaired town hall meeting in Otahuhu.
A comment from the floor got to the core of things.
Instead of the government spending $6B on interest annually, to private sector banks, it could issue it's own currency. (Sure treasury would have to clear out the Mr Magoos it currently employs.)
Apparently there are a few hundred billion dollars of debt that would have to be managed.
Can someone here explain to me, as if to an 8 yr old, how this transition could take place?
The most obvious way would be to vote Social Credit and rid parliament of these neo liberal thinking junkies.
It's a very good question. There is nothing inherently wrong with the idea of a credit based currency (99% of all currency circulating is pure credit, not cash) … but why we allowed private banks an effective monopoly on it's creation was always a preposterous nonsense.
"but why we allowed private banks an effective monopoly on it's creation was always a preposterous nonsense."
Plus one on that!
I email RNZ regularly and quiry their insistence on having bank economists as their main go to economists to talk about our economy, they are not neutral players.
We will change as people. We will value and respect water finally (or perish), and biodiversity (or perish). There will be a re-emergence of eco-centric societies. This much preferable to the ego-centric fractions and factions of today.
That is true and incontrovertible. Somewhere in many of us is an unreconstructed hippie from the 70's who still fondly remembers The Whole Earth Catalog. It was a vision with merit and a rustic coherence that appealed to that part of us which mourns what we have sacrificed on the alter of the modern world’s overwheening materialism.
Yet ultimately I think it was insufficient; it was at some level a retreat from reality, an abdication of responsibility, a withdrawing into a self-centred hope to survive when billions around us don't. The unspoken implication was always, me and my mates will be right Jack … the rest can go to hell in whatever burning handbasket you stumble across.
Unless our vision is universal, unless it is capable of encompassing the whole of humanity, unless all Nine Billion Names of God are called and accounted for, then we fail morally.
This is the point on which so many human schemes falter, we have an idea that we think will solve all our material problems, an idea so wonderful that it is worth any moral sacrifice to achieve. It's why Stalin thought it a good idea to starve Ukraine in order to have collectivisation. He thought it the most reasonable, the most efficient and certain means to achieve his goal … yet history judges him a failure and a monster.
This is why I ask the question, does our eco-centric vision pass this test? Let me emphasis that I understand and support the ideal here. Yet if implicitly it means that the clean water and reliable electricity fail, the police no longer turn up, the doctors disappear and there are no vaccines, no antibiotics, no dentists, no safe food to eat, no schools, no communications … none of the things that make life possible for most of 9 billion people … then we will fail just as Stalin did.
If you think I argue for the status quo you are wrong. What I argue for is even more radical than you imagine … that all of us must emerge 'a new race of men' … or none at all. And that the path to get there is far more challenging than we think; so challenging that only if we act as if we were one human race do we stand a chance.
I agree absolutely. I can't build a food forest in the face of encroaching desert and hope she'll be right, as it wont.
But collectively, we can repel deserts, as was shown with work on the Loess Plateau.
But imo
The momentum required will arrive too late. There are delays to the effects of all the damage we're doing, by the time life is getting untenable we're probably well past the point of no return.
I hope I'm wrong, i see no evidence we're getting anywhere, last year resulted in record CO2 emissions
RECORD emissions, with full knowledge that it is destroying us.
Like watching an alcoholic who is told they'll die if they finish the wine barrel. Red lips, flushed face, gulp gulp gulp.
All this I cannot quibble with; yet I still demand that the only response to utter catastrophe is total defiance.
Right now I've some choices to make that are keeping me awake at night. At the lowest moments of highest anxiety I have to consciously tell myself that even if the odds are stacked against a good outcome, giving up is the path to certain failure. Eventually I fall asleep and in the morning I get up and keep plugging at it. This is my best bet, even if it isn't a very good one.
Each of us on our own will feel hopeless, as hopeless as the one food forest holding back an encroaching desert. This is why connection between individuals is crucial, why we are never really alone when we set aside our ego and allow the differences and diversity of others to seep over our borders. It's this balance, this selective permeability that simultaneously allows 'other' in, while maintaining the integrity of the 'self' that we struggle with.
It's not like-minded people we need to connect with, so much as people who we do not naturally agree with, who contend with us and cause us irritation who are the ones we need most. Because from this interaction something new is capable of arising.
Thank you Poission. The hydrology of Lake Eyre is fascinating. Can we have another river moment? Man's attempts to control water flow is sometimes destined to be a losing battle. Two articles about the Atchafalaya: The Future Mississippi River. Short version here Longer read here
It was probably either the Ukranians or the workers in the cities; but it was the latter who were building the factories and infrastructure that made Russia great.
Incidentally I thought was Lenin, though I could be wrong.
It seems to me that the 'Plain Living' movement must coalesce and form a community who are in touch and share skills and knowledge.' There is no other way to ensure that a good number of people can flourish and be happy.
The settled power structures and their control over peoples minds do not want to change their thinking and practices which lead to technological control over the world with no owners, but corporate people bowing to a cult of whatever. And that cult does not care about individuals though it talks about invidualism, which is to edge people out of societal thinking into personal gratification and materialism. The use of alghorithms is growing, the entities using them think that they are being clever and efficient while they use the machine ideas to define behaviour in their area of work and responsibility. They are doing us all out of working with each other which makes our society right now. Eventually the machines will do the administrators out of a job. 'First they came for… then they came for… then they came for you.'
But humans want to live, and stroke their animals, and work and finish a job they have done alone or with others, and take part in the world. There has to be a two-tier layer of society with the top layer being under, at present, reluctant control imposed by cautionary minds, of its expansion into technology etc – but I think it is unstoppable. The Plain Living people (or whatever name they adopt) will have to create a united group with quirky differences but practical and trustworthy and kind and helping others to adapt to new-old ways. This is already happening but is still not seen as a main and forward-looking way of managing life, just an interesting alternative or experiment.
And be aware that the machine-minds will not be happy, the authoritarians will not be happy. Plain Living people are likely to be harassed. See how the RW states of America with the least amount of morality in their background have brought in swingeing anti-abortion laws, and Planned Parenthood as well apparently. They have decided to look moral and righteous and chosen women and sexuality as their featured cover which masks all the other amoral things they do.
I am interested in what people do, as well as what they say. We have achieved the vision of the WW2 generation, that's nice for us children of that time. But it's a different future requiring different thoughts which must hold on to practical human values. We must accept hard facts, and try to manage things humanely and fairly, with the best of our religious beliefs but not allowing them to be the total authority on everything. We want to respect life, and death, but will have to control babies, so have willingness to allow abortions because we are very fertile animals. We must be prepared to be working parts of the community even as aged people, not being carried by others and provided for like children.
If all Plain Living people form groups, with common agreements as to rules and controls, there will be different styles with different main interests but people should be able to have a life and putting clever heads together, should not descend to peasant level just scraping a living. The other tier of society will always watch and try to take advantage, because that is the approach that moneyed people take, if not adopting shonky practices themselves, they will overlook them in others if it is necessary to maintain their lifestyle. Hence the present division between rich and poor in the midst of affluence.
(Lots of editing has gone on here. I have tried to make it coherent but there will be lots of holes to pick which will be enjoyable for some. If you can find a better hole, go to it, as they used to say in WW1.)
Emergent property's?- aint gonna happen. DNA floats in what Robert calls 'water ', which he maintains is 'wet'. And all biological lifeforms are therefore supposedly 'wet'. Tell that to viruses and their RNA packages , I suppose…Yet despite that ? , – the only 'emergent property's' found in old bones is just that – old bones. So no cigar. They cant even make a dinosaur out of a chicken. Which is sad really , because Brontosaurus steaks could feed millions.
A single molecule floating in the air isn't defined as wet, but when it touches another and starts to condense, it is. Therefore a puddle, glass or pool of water is most definitely wet.
To answer this question, we need to define the term "wet." If we define "wet" as the condition of a liquid sticking to a solid surface, such as water wetting our skin, then we cannot say that water is wet by itself, because it takes a liquid AND a solid to define the term "wet."
If we define "wet" as a sensation that we get when a liquid comes in contact with us, then yes, water is wet to us.
If we define "wet" as "made of liquid or moisture", then water is definitely wet because it is made of liquid, and in this sense, all liquids are wet because they are all made of liquids. I think that this is a case of a word being useful only in appropriate contexts.
Yes but its still subjective if you try to define anything , isnt it. Or at worst , general consensus , because that's all it is ,- consensus. And as for something being a 'liquid ' its still just a bunch of atoms and molecules with gaps so big you could drive a truck through them. Attracted by weak dipole charges, – so whats the difference between a lump of wood, and 'liquid' lava?
Because as sure as day follows night theres no way if you come onto contact with that 'liquid' lava , your going to describe that as being 'wet'. You will say 'ouch!' very loudly and forget very quickly about whats wet and whats not. You will then say its bloody hot instead. And still miss the point that in between those molecules and atoms there are large gaps.
Therefore it is simply a matter of scale and what you in your subjective opinion would then go on to describe only. Yet what really matters is what lies in between the spaces of neutrons and protons.
Yes , but even your opinion of the opinion of a so called 'renowned ' scientist is still subjective. There was a time when scientists said smoking was good for your health and the earth was flat. They're always getting it wrong. Despite generous government grants.
As for molten rock that is lava, – what would you describe it as ? A solid ? How come it runs and drips in inconvenient places everywhere?
The quota link gives a very good explanation as to why lava isn't a liquid, again, from a chemist.
Worth repeating, take it up with the renowned scientist if you think he's as wrong as an olde worlde flat earther or in the pay of governments. At the same time you could email De Grasse Tyson and tell him he's an idiot because the moon really is made of cheese lol
Well how do you know the moon isnt made of cheese? – have you been there smarty pants?
And wasn't the main break through's in history's discovery's made by amateurs and not the so called 'professionals?'. So why should we trust the opinions of someone whose gone through the sausage factory and gets to plonk a few silly nonsensical letters behind their name?
Really, you're going with have I been to the moon, prove it? :sigh:
Yeah, you seem eminently qualified to make sound scientific judgements in contradiction to those qualified dopes, one a professor of chemistry at usc in Berkeley, the other a chemist and engineer.
Well that's exactly the point, – how can you or I even begin to trust those so called 'qualified dopes '?
They didn't do too well with the Titanic , did they ? They couldn't even think ahead to put enough life boats on the stupid thing.
And what happened to the Challenger in 1986 ? – it explodes on lift off barely into the stratosphere and you want us to put our faith in what the eggheads have to say?
I'll bet it wouldn't have exploded if they were on board, would it have.
So why shouldn't we reckon the moons made out of cheese?
Going on your hero's past track records we can hardly even believe they made a moon / cheese landing in the 1960's . How do we / you know it wasn't just another petty political race to sell more rubber grommets to the Russians for their rockets?
Which all just goes to prove how not only are those idiots absolutely frikking clueless in predicting , – and then preventing , – even the most basic of accidents and planning ahead for potential health and safety issues , – but totally and monumentally gormless at forming a theory let alone discovering what really consists of the gaps between protons and neutrons .
All we ever get is some cockamamie bullshit about 'cosmic glue' or some other inane cop out. And governments pay them for this stuff!!
Well that's exactly the point, – how can you or I even begin to trust those so called 'qualified dopes '?
They didn't do too well with the Titanic , did they ? They couldn't even think ahead to put enough life boats on the stupid thing.
And what happened to the Challenger in 1986 ? – it explodes on lift off barely into the stratosphere and you want us to put our faith in what the eggheads have to say?
I'll bet it wouldn't have exploded if they were on board, would it have.
So why shouldn't we reckon the moons made out of cheese?
Going on your hero's past track records we can hardly even believe they made a moon / cheese landing in the 1960's . How do we / you know it wasn't just another petty political race to sell more rubber grommets to the Russians for their rockets?
Which all just goes to prove how not only are those idiots absolutely frikking clueless in predicting , – and then preventing , – even the most basic of accidents and planning ahead for potential health and safety issues , – but totally and monumentally gormless at forming a theory let alone discovering what really consists of the gaps between protons and neutrons .
All we ever get is some cockamamie bullshit about 'cosmic glue' or some other inane cop out. Or some subjective caveman dark age supposition about what lies in the empty space between the atomic matrix !
And governments pay them for this stuff!! And we pay governments our taxes !
A five year old could tell us what lies beyond matter !
Apparently it somewhat acts like a liquid in a molten state, but not exactly. I'm on a tablet and can't easily cut and paste to here, though the quora link is still available up thread if you want to save me the effort when I get home.
“Lava doesn’t fit neatly into any of the common state categories. It has many properties that are similar to those of a liquid, but also has some properties of a bingham plastic Bingham plastic – Wikipedia. It also behaves a bit like certain plastic gels in that while it will fill voids it isn’t always self leveling.
One of the things that distinguishes lava from what we normally think of as liquids is that it isn’t a pure substance and it isn’t a true solution. Part of the result is that it doesn’t have a distinct melting point. Rather, as the rock is heated, it goes through a glassy phase with a viscosity that varies dramatically with temperature. At some point it become liquid-like, but there is still no distinct melting point or transition”
Jerald Cole, B.S., S.M. Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, SJSU, MIT
It seems “The higher the lava’s silica content, the higher its viscosity.”
Which makes sense. So I guess liquidity isn’t a defined state, in that the matter could be at a temperature that makes it not quite liquid, nor entirely solid.
I don’t know as much physics as I’d like to.
Any clever physicists in the house to explain this?
I don't want to look like I'm claiming to be a clever physicist, but I do work with material properties on a regular basis …
Even in the range of temperatures and stresses experienced everyday by most people, the division between solid and liquid can be quite fuzzy.
As a simple working definition a liquid cannot resist a sustained shear stress and will eventually self-level in a container. If a liquid is separated (say, poured into separate containers) then brought back together (say, poured back into the same container), then the separated portions will mingle and become indistinguishable from a sample that was never separated. On a micro scale, the molecules in a liquid are continually moving around.
Whereas a solid holds its shape. Once separated into pieces, (broken or cut), a solid won't somehow self-heal. On a micro scale, the molecules and atoms of a solid are fixed in place – if you can identify a specific atoms (say it's a very rare isotope) in a specific location in a solid, you can be confident of coming back later and finding that same atom in the same place in that solid object.
Some materials appear to neatly fit those simple definitions, and transition between solid and liquid at specific temperatures. Water transitions to ice and back again as the temperature goes past 0 degrees C. Candle wax melts when heated, then solidifies when cooled. It's very hard to get water into a state that's neither very obviously liquid or very obviously solid.
Other materials blur the boundaries. Mayonnaise (classic example of a Bingham plastic) behaves a bit like a solid (scoop a bit out and what's left in a jar doesn't self-level), but it flows readily through a pipe and self-heals. It's like a solid at low stresses and short timescales, but like a liquid at higher stresses and longer timescales. Oobleck (used mostly to show primary school kids that material behaviour can be weird) behaves like a solid for suddenly applied stresses.
Most materials actually show some combination of solid and liquid behaviors, especially as temperatures and stresses and timescales increase. In engineering, it's often called creep and/or plasticity. The materials that don't exhibit some sort of creep behaviour tend to be very highly ordered crystals, such as diamond, carbon fibre.
Consider steel or aluminium – obviously a solid, right? Flex it a little bit and it springs right back to its original shape. But bend it a lot more, and it only springs partway back to its original shape; it undergoes a plastic deformation, kind of a flow-type process. Heat them up, and it becomes much easier to bend them, they lose most of their strength and stiffness at temperatures a fraction of their melting temperatures. Put them under enough pressure and they will self heal to an extent – cold welding is indeed a thing. Hollow aluminium extrusions are essentially formed into shape as separate pieces cold-welded together in the extrusion die at temperatures way below melting point. Yet steel and aluminium on a micro scale are mostly quite crystalline with fairly well-defined melting temperatures.
Other materials don't have well-defined melting temperatures, they are effectively solids at room temperature, then as temperatures rise they behave more like very high viscosity liquids, then as temperatures rise more their viscosity decreases. Glass and lava are common examples. On a micro scale, these tend to not have any kind of ordered crystalline structure and are generally described as amorphous.
Yet other materials never melt, they decompose rather than melting when temperatures get hot enough. Thermoset polymers as used for most fibreglass products and many kinds of rubber are the most common examples of materials that decompose before melting. But even these tend to show some kind of softening behaviour as temperatures rise.
But… there's gaps between housing here in my suburb however it is still a housing area. Most of us are aware that most everything is mostly space, but the physical manifestation of the world still appears before us and obeys physical laws.
The gaps are where everything is 'connected' to everything. I can't wait till we're smart enough to work out how that all works but in the interim we study the observable world.
Yes but how do we know we arent all on some mind bending hallucinogenic cosmic substance that makes us perceive a certain thing as a corporate body?
Cant you see the gaps in that argument?
And you are still advancing an erroneous theory based on a matter of scale determined by your perceived body dimensions. Body dimensions, that largely , are full of empty space. Like the space between your houses in your suburb. In other words, this universe is replete with more gaps and 'space' than it is with what we pathetically try to describe and define as 'matter'.
Monty python – The Universe song which also goes under … – YouTube
For heaven's sake: wet means when a liquid clings to the surface of a solid, which water normally does. But if you spray the solid object with silicon, water no longer clings to it, so it cannot be wet from water. But it could be wet from some other substance not repelled by silicon. (Even lava??)
This is a language debate more than a scientific one.
If language is the instrument of thought, as somebody once said, scientists should be our most important linguists.
One of the more interesting Auckland Conversations I went to (when I still had some vestige of hope, -long gone now) was Zaid Hassan on the topic of emergent problem solving.
Here he is talking last year about the necessity to change paradigms, and practice the devolution of structures. A bit repetitive for those who may already have come across it, but his social labs work was interesting to find, and read about change.
Holy Mary sweet mother of Jesus who thought it would be a good idea to make Nick Leggett the spokesman for the trucking lobby???
The guy just gave a complete train wreck of a ranting interview on RNZ. He is completely fucking off the planet. Yet another very angry ex-Labour now fervent ACToid in a media facing position. Just what the country needs. Not.
Yes, Leggett is a true prince. Never mind the broken bodies and the broken lives and the fire crews having to wash away the gore…the trucks have to keep on rolling (at a sedate 90kph of course) or the economy will tank.
I spent 15 minutes I can't really spare trying to find the mentioned NZTA Mega Maps which I imagine indicate which of our nation's highways should have their speed limit reduced…and largely drew a blank.
Suzi did try to pin Leggett down, but she obviously didn't hear me when I yelled "Ask how many accidents fatal or otherwise involves heavy vehicles!!!!!". My rough guestimate is at least one accident involving a truck every day.
Truck involvement is about 26 to 27 % give or take on any given year, but the hidden death toll involving trucks is much higher. Interestingly, alcohol impairment is significantly below this.
The "polishing "of roads that trucks move on combined with a little moisture is lethal. The polishing is caused by the smoothing and compacting of the tyre line on the road and is considerably more pronounced on corners because of the effect of centrifical force, as if that's not enough, the fact that trucks are considerably wider than cars or even vans means that one side of the car is on a completely different surface with a co-efficient of friction to the other.
It takes considerable skill to safely drive on high trucking use roads.
Listening to that interview Suzi did get Leggett to pin his colours to the mast side of his trucks and say money would be better spent doing up the roads than being wasted on rail. I like the way she subtly squeezes the nerve and gets to the real point.
Surely he has the job because of his connections and 'back door' access as opposed to his communication skills. I would much rather know what is being said behind closed doors.
It is said that Queen Elizabeth II is well informed on the broad politics, and the Leadership of a number of Nations.
Recently she has shaken the hands of some quite "Far Out" individuals, including those who deliver alarming punishments to harmless females.
But for me to see her Hand welcome Donald Misanthrope Trump with all the Queens Trappings, was and is, a violation of Human Dignity.
For he is the man who separates unknowing little children from their parents – to such an extent that they cannot be found!
Yuck Yiuck Yuck Elizabeth !. You have let the civilised world utterly down! You are Applauding and Appeasing filth. Go and Cuddle your doggys. lick them!. But send Trump and his Nation away.
"Apparently unsatisfied with the legal loophole the Americans had created for them, the Israelis sought and received full access to the NSA's massive surveillance data troves after the war. A 2009 memorandum of understanding officially gave ISNU unrestricted access to the NSA's raw intelligence data – including the phone and internet records of American citizens and citizens of third-party countries."
At the rate Jacinda is going she will end up on a par with do-nothing Key.
She cowardly bailed from capital gains issue. She has put together a budget which is exactly as the (left) critics outline – weak and avoiding the tough issues.
Jacinda is on track for a weak place in history.
Maybe she is simply trying to ensure a second term, which is when the real action will happen, but I call pfftt on that… her colours are flying high and it aint what many most voted for.
So long as such a policy is balanced with open access to the school library during breaks, so ensure that non sociable kids dont just sit in the corner with their thumbs up their arses.
I've recently seen emerging data that suggests social media provokes anxiety and depression in you people under the age of 18 or so. Especially it seems young women.
lol I don't think you know much about kids if you think that will fly in today's world.
It is what it is – we are going to device free days (2) now and getting the board games out – hopefully the boy (11) will be able to deal with it. It must be fun or as we used to say – a lower taste can be given up if a higher taste is taken.
Haidt recommends that parents collectively approach schools to implement a ban. I agree it's very hard for any individual family to deal with, but doable if everyone is working to the same rules.
He also points out that the people who design and make these things know how addictive and potentially harmful they are, and keep their own children safe from them.
What a bullshit article. It says but students at Auckland's Diocesan School for Girls are happy with the new policy and quotes 2, yes 2, students to back this up.
I know my daughter would be super pissed off. I would be annoyed also as i often communicate with her by text and email during the day. Given how the school tramples on her rights on a consistent basis i find it essential that she has quick access to advocacy.
'The school tramples on her rights' – do you find living in a society with reasonable rules and guidelines a problem for a free-thinker? Do you tend to embrace Ayn Rand's approach.
I'm over that now (kinda). I think my ego really struggled letting it go, who wouldn't want to save the day. I'm actually revamping my touring company and will be taking climate conversation comedy on the road before long.
It's a tough call, making climate change entertaining, no one wants to talk about it, because it's depressing.
No. Two people THINK it works. They did so on the basis of some testing. However this testing looks not to have been very scientific in nature. At this point in time this remedy is of no more interest than someone claiming that the power of prayer alone (as opposed to prayer and whale blubber) could help combat Kauri dieback.
Disrespectful old coot aren't you. Woo, homeopathy… if you read the article it states:
"Both Butterworth and Ashby hope to get their treatment scientifically tested."
Most of our medicines are plant based. We got the ideas for them from indigenous people's and invariably stole their culture in the process. Then we rubbish them, as you are doing now.
You claim to be a scientists but you don't seem to understand why the scientific method is the BEST way of determining if something actually works or not. Instead you just accept the claims of these two that their remedy DID actually work. If you are actually a scientist can you tell me why the scientific method removes such things as confirmation bias from the equation?
These people may well be on to something but until such time as they properly carry out some scientific testing rather than just smearing their remedy on to some self selected trees which they check later then we don’t know anything at all. Tell me why they can’t carry out scientific testing themselves?
Just as I thought. It is clear you are not the scientist you claim you are. You have a particular agenda you are pushing and are just as much a purveyor of Woo as these two are likely to be.
You clearly cannot comprehend what is printed plainly in front of you. You failed to see I'd called for testing and whined about it, you failed to see the persons in the article had called for testing and whined about that.
All you did was prove you are either senile or stupid.
Designing and implementing a gold standard double blind, randomised control study on large natural systems like a forest is a non-trivial exercise. It would definitely need more resources than two individuals could throw at it.
There isn't any controversy here, everyone agrees this was just a 'proof of concept' initial trial and lot more scientific work needs doing. WtB is quite right, the inspiration for many medical discoveries came from indigenous observational knowledge, and disrespecting this is churlish at best.
A full blown study would not be straightforward it is true but a preliminary test to determine if a more detailed study should be carried out is easy enough to design. Unless you think we should just take people's word that something might work and spend time and money on that additional study without any further investigation.
I posted this and mentioned some experience with this particular issue in case someone with intelligence wanted to discuss: Kauri, Phytophthora or just plant pathology in general.
I withdraw any attempt at coercing intelligent discussion on the subject. Seems the verdict is in and I'm not qualified… must alter the CV.
Mills doesn't seem to think National has done anything wrong here and thinks Labour would have done something similar if they had been in the same situation.
I tried to get through to Metservice and 503 is my unlucky number.
I have made the odd polite suggestion to them but probably they are meeting government targets and making a profit and mere citizens get an opportunity to feedback but probably get greeted like yesterday's dinner being disdained by the cat.
Musta been a small tornado hit this place only minutes back, rain came in sideways, my cat, metres safely inside the greenhouse on a warm bed of straw – came in pissed off and wet. Wet angry cats look so funny!
Absolutely hosed down, wind shrieking, then silence.
Complicated isn't it. A security guard expecting to be breaking up school fights and keeping strangers from roaming round the school is expected to charge in and stop the gunman. They say he and another did nothing, but I am sure they did something. One wonders what? And what was the protocol in the manual for behaviour if a shooter comes into the school – it is a dereliction of duty if the school didn't have such a set of instructions as it is no longer a rare happening in the good ol' UNITED States of America.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46507514 At the beginning of 2018, Education Week, a journal covering education in the US, began to track school shootings – and has since recorded 23 incidents where there were deaths or injuries.
With many parts of the US having about 180 school days per year, it means, on average, a shooting once every eight school days.
From the link of Muttonbird's. They are in the USA blood-thirsty when they are seeking to blame others for gun violence. I hope all involved in the blaming have been outspoken for outlawing guns except on annual licences for hunting for the few.
A former Florida deputy who stood outside instead of confronting the gunman during last year's Parkland school massacre was arrested today on 11 criminal charges related to his inaction.
Broward State Attorney Mike Satz said in a statement that 56-year-old Scot Peterson faces child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury charges that carry a combined potential maximum prison sentence of nearly 100 years….
The Peterson arrest is the latest fallout from the Valentine's Day 2018 shooting. Governor Ron DeSantis suspended then-Sheriff Scott Israel for "neglect of duty and incompetence" over the department's actions that day. Israel is appealing that decision to the state Senate and said he intends to run again next year.
The case also spawned a state commission that issued a 458-page report detailing a litany of errors before and during the shooting, including unaggressive Broward deputies who stayed outside the school building and the policies that led to that — such as Israel's decision to change guidelines so that deputies "may" confront an active shooter rather than "shall" do so….
The chairman of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, said in an interview that the charges against Peterson are "absolutely warranted."
"Scot Peterson is a coward, a failure and a criminal," Gualtieri said. "There is no doubt in my mind that because he didn't act, people were killed."
Blame, hot and heavy. I would be surprised if anyone is prepared to take on security guard work at schools there.
Someone has to be at fault for the dead kids and it can't be gun culture, it can't be the family of the shooter, it can't be the police – who knew about his issues but could not do much, it could not be the FBi – see re police, it can't be anyone cause GUNS! Merica! Guns! Moar!Guns!For!All! Second Amendment! Sacred Guns!
But then the kids came and raised a ruckus, prayers and thoughts did not help those that committed suicide, or those that will have huge medical bills to pay and be considered a 'pre existing condition' for the rest of their lifes, did not shut up the dads unhappy about their dead kids, so someone had to be found to sacrifice to the Gods of War, Weaponry, Mayhem, Death, Bigottry and Second Amendment Rights as envisioned by the NRA.
A school resource, who did not ran into a school to save the kids from a gun man. Obviously he was not a good man with a gun, thus he is now gonna go to prison for real long.
That will teach all the other 'resources' stationed at schools, armed to their teeth, bullet proof west and all, that they don't get to opt out from a shooting, lest they be prepared to go into the slammer for life.
Leaves a horrible discomforting feeling in the stomach
There is something deeply not right about humanity going down this track… hate to think where it will lead, what the consequences might be… I don't think anybody can foresee this where or what either …. the door is only just being opened
Thinking about feeling gratitude for what we have and not wanting to spend our lives getting more just for 'retail therapy' would be a way. Being prepared to be lonely and sad for a time, and how to get out of it without buying something would help to keep control on the future and also wanting everyone to have an enjoyable life by adopting new ways of thinking, altering a little our ways of being – hard but if determined it can be done.
We do have to go down new tracks. Appreciate each other, give and also take, and be happy as possible and keep others in the happiness loop as is possible. I think Prof Jared Diamond lays out how the door is being opened. Actually it is not 'only just being opened' but we have never chosen to go through it and explore.
Diamond gives human civilisation 30 years, if we stay on our present trajectory.
“One could certainly say that the world is on a non-sustainable course at the moment, we're utilizing essential resources, forests, fisheries, top soil and water at an unsustainable rate, such that we will run out of them in several decades.
“That will deplete them to the point where we don't have a chance to correct our course. So, I would say it will all get settled in the next several decades, whether we get on to a sustainable track, or whether we go over the edge of the abyss.”
On her Instagram page last week, Pothoven wrote about her decision to seek the assistance of a euthanasia clinic.
"I deliberated for quite a while whether or not I should share this, but decided to do it anyway. Maybe this comes as a surprise to some, given my posts about hospitalisation, but my plan has been there for a long time and is not impulsive.
"I will get straight to the point: within a maximum of 10 days I will die. After years of battling and fighting, I am drained. I have quit eating and drinking for a while now, and after many discussions and evaluations, it was decided to let me go because my suffering is unbearable."
her choice, her body, her life.
And at least she could choose suicide in an environment that allows her loved ones, friends, family and those that cared about her be part of it, rather then spend a lifetime wondering as if they could have done something, anything, when really nothing could be done.
I have lost a few friends to suicide. I think many of us might have or know someone who did. And this was always the question, could we have done something? And frankly i don't have an answer.
Either we have bodily autonomy, or we don't.
But here we are discussing the fact that she choose a legal way out of her life, rather then the fact that she like so many others could not deal with the abuse she suffered. And yet, we do nothing when we find the abusers, cause insert myriads of bullshit reasons.
We would rather have her suffer, so as to not feel uncomfortable about the fact that a young women could not deal with the abuse that she was dealt, an abuse that hardly ever is punished to the full extend to the law. Now that we can live with. But bodily autonomy, nah, that is going one step to far.
Rest in peace. May she fly free of angst, anxiety, bad dreams, and abuse.
And at least she could choose suicide in an environment that allows her loved ones, friends, family and those that cared about her be part of it, rather then spend a lifetime wondering as if they could have done something, anything, when really nothing could be done.
I noticed some nasty scars on her arm in that photo. A visual indication of her inner trauma. I have read stories of people who have gone through the concentration camps and have been able to come back from it and have a life. But the abuse of trust when you are young is hard to come back from. If we can help others who are young and vulnerable, and think of her and her memory prompts us to do so, it would be a memorial for her that some good came from her sadness.
From childhood trauma, now in my 50's, still struggling not to be reactive, defensive, offensive…
Tried to drink myself to death but my liver's a tough bastard.
Some days I REALLY want to die, but then a few days later life is amazing. The thing that gets me through the dark times is the memory of the other side being achieved. Without any respite I'd have thrown in the towel ages ago.
It's a very complex subject matter. I don't know enough to say yes/no to the concept.
On the one hand I agree with Sabine, on the other I fear a slippery slope as corporations are deeply embedded in all aspects of health. And as we've seen, they'd like to own it all.
A sick person is more expensive to care for than bury. Simple accounting.
no one will be stopping the accountants. no one ever did.
But she – this girl was not killed by an uncaring state or uncaring relatives, she was killed by abuse a long time ago.
She tried to live, somehow and simply could no longer. And frankly it is worth to mention that. She …..SHE could no longer abide to live. She saw no value in it, she could not bear her suffering anymore. And she choose. Her agency, her body, her life, her choice.
As for your comment of a sick person is more expensive to care, let me rephrase this for you in accountants slogan
"A sick person is a profit centre, a dead one is an cost centre'.
there is more money to be made keeping us alive, pumped up with pills, n shit to keep functioning – at least for now.
Once there is no more use for us, they will have no issue doing away with us.
I don't understand that people today are still so blinded by their own ideas of 'human rights' and stuff that they don't see that. Merica has no issues throwing out sick people from a hospital to die in a ditch if /when they can't afford the bills anymore. Heck we keep people on a waiting list until they die. But yeah, can't have assisted suicide cause…………….what ever.
I was thinking more along the lines of where the state provides the healthcare as we get, but then there's the accountants… Easier to knock a few off than pay for long term care.
Still, if all the services get privatised you're absolutely on the money. The corporates will drain the state for however much they can squeeze.
I agree if this girl's done all she can and life is nothing but misery, why carry on. There should be an option for humane considerations but… humanity!!!
First it would be good if people would acknowledge her agency in her assisted suicide. Secondly, it would be good if people accepted that some others might not have the same value or interest in living at all. Thirdly, everyone deals with abuse, torture and death differently, and again it would be nice if that could be also accepted.
The 'young and vulnerable' would be best served if our society, our law enforcment officers, our justice system were to finally take abuse for that serious life changing crime it is, rather then offer fuck all and cut services to those that need them the most. That might help the 'young and vulnerable' to gain some of the trust that was just beaten or sexually assaulted, mentally tortured out of them.
Corbyn turned down an invitation to the Queen’s state banquet for Trump but it emerged during the press conference that he had requested a private meeting with the president.
Trump said he had rejected the request from Corbyn, describing him as “somewhat of a negative force”.
Mrs May had done "a very good job" in getting the Brexit negotiations to this point and said "she's probably a better negotiator than I am"
Brexit "will happen and it probably should happen" because the UK is "a great, great country and it wants its own identity"
Protests against him were "very small" and "fake news"
Both the US and UK are "determined to ensure that Iran never develops nuclear weapons and stops supporting and engaging in terrorism"
The two countries would reach an agreement to protect intelligence sharing, despite their disagreement over Huawei – the mobile internet infrastructure company which the US says is a risk to national security
Conservative leadership candidate Boris Johnson would do "a very good job", as would Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, but he "did not know" Michael Gove
I was hoping we could collectively choose to ignore the fact that her battles with childhood abuse induced mental illness was played out for all to see on social media.
In an alternate universe one hopes it might have been possible to treat her illness and heal her pain out of the glare of intense Instagram publicity. Clearly it is not a case of a problem shared being a problem divided by 10,000++, and therefore made bearable.
Exercising her agency and dying with the spotlight still on her…way to go. Not.
I guess I am showing my age.
You are wrong Sabine.
This is an absolute tragedy and it should never, ever be the message to other young people that suicide, either cleanly with medical assistance or potentially messily without, is a viable option when struggling with such issues.
We are obliged to give the young people hope, and better therapy.
The UK right wing media reported it without fact checking and it has gone around the world. She was denied legal euthenasia, has been starving herself for years (they called it anorexia) and has many forced feeding interventions.
It's a story which identifies the second rate, and right wing prejudiced media.
The Detail – A giant car park occupies the most expensive real estate in New Zealand on Auckland's waterfront. Can we move the port – and should we? Audio
The above sentences illustrate the problem that we have today with comprehending reality. That the port operates on the most expensive real estate in NZ is because so many people have been able to build riches from trading. Trading is the way that we have built our economies and the transfer of physical things from ports is probably one of the biggest underpinnings of much financial exchange and share market activity.
That those who make money from this then want to buy a place with a sea view doesn't mean that we should abandon our goose that laid the golden egg. Actually it is very interesting watching ships and ports at work, and it makes someone like me happy who wants a thriving, busy NZ with reasonable levels of prosperity for all.
If the port needs changing as a result of developing a port in Whangarei which will be useful and viable, and also amounts of shipping using Tauranga, well that is a result of wise decision-making assisting trade. The wealthy who want and can afford everything they fix their minds on can go jump.
Edit:
Here is the link that goes with the heading. I am replying to the heading with my thoughts about ports being grand bits of theatre and activity as well as places of industry and commercial advancement. More detail will be in the link which I haven’t read as yet. https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018698066/what-s-happening-with-auckland-s-port
The development of Wynyard wharf into apartments, restaurants, business and commercial centres, hotels, a theatre, parks, and Americas Cup facilities shows what should happen next.
This was (and in some part remains) a heavy marine precinct with fishing and refits and with massive oil and other contaminants stored in large tanks.
What it is being turned into is a whole extension of downtown Auckland, and many sections of it are completed already under Panuku and other agencies such as the Wynyard Quarter Alliance.
The next Mayor should sell the port company operations to the operators, and retain the land for a comprehensive redevelopment.
Plenty of concepts have aready come and gone, but it's time for the fresh Auckland Council to shift heavy port freight away from Auckland's downtown area, and let the freight and logistics companies sort out how freight can be brought to the inland ports and broken down.
Already with Whangarei and Tauranga there is a lessening of use of Auckland Port. Business comes before pleasure in this new century and the wealthy haven't got the message yet. If it is a good thing for transport and Auckland city to shift the dirtiest port facilities then that is wise, but all the things that cater mainly for the rich and idle should come second.
The role of tourism and the leisured class in the nation's economy cannot continue for ever. However large cruise ships could become floating accommodation when things decline later, and having wharfs where they can be moored within cooee of the main drag and the trains at Briscoe could be a drawcard for budget tourists.
What a pity that when we were raising huge sums to get Americas Cup to perform on our seas, that we couldn't done the same in NZ for very little cost as a gesture to a beautiful clean sea. Now we have a Trust that goes round ports and cleans up rubbish. So it's nice for the America's Cup. Nz Goverment knows what is important and when; I think it is important to fund this great clean up effort and also the West Coast one, and don't you say 'Rubbish' government ministers.
China increasing its milk power and baby milk powder production is a logical move. I say that move is about Australia
The commemorations for the 75 Anniversary of D Day looks cool .
I noticed the last time the housing market in Gisborne Bay of plenty rose consestantly was when Labour was last in power its called looking after all the people.
John the weather was quite wild up North Land .
It would be nice to see our government and the unions teachers and doctors come to a agreement.
I don't get into fastfood being delivered my tamariki do quite a bit home cooked food is healthier a less expensive .
That Newport story is a great one for a second name.
The Directors deck chair was a great yarn to I had one similar but cannot reveal it .
Gisborne is a great place to live sun shine hunting fishing great people.
That would be a big disaster if the Rhino Beatles wiping out coconut plantations in the Solomon Island there should be a solution to this problem Aotearoa will have to help with the research.
I say the Waikato hospital workers and everyone should be payed the living WAGE
It is needed a new mental health building to help the people who are mentally ill in Gisborne Ka pai.
Nannia it awesome getting the tangata whenua houses repaired it makes me so sad when I see whare like that I know that the whare that are in bad condition are tangata whenua houses.
I think it's cool more Maori Wahine are joining the police we need more Maori in the police so they learn to love and respect Tangata whenua.
Wikitoria I agree with Phil we need to get more people using public transportation the free ride to mark 100 million rides is good marketing ka pai
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Mars warming? Mars’ climate varies due to completely different reasons than Earth’s, and available data indicates no temperature trends comparable to Earth’s ...
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...
I was interested in David Seymour's public presentation of the Justice Select Committee's report after the submissions to the Treaty Principles Bill.I noted the arguments he presented and fact checked him. I welcome corrections and additions to what I have written but want to keep the responses concise.The Treaty of ...
Well, he runs around with every racist in townHe spent all our money playing his pointless gameHe put us out; it was awful how he triedTables turn, and now his turn to cryWith apologies to writers Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack.Eight per cent, asshole, that’s all you got.Smiling?Let me re-phrase…Eight ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The S&P 500 fell another 5.6% this morning after China retaliated with tariffs of 34% on all US imports, and the Fed warned of stagflation without rate cut relief.Delays for heart surgeries and scans are costing lives, specialists have told Stuff’s Nicholas Jones.Meanwhile, ...
When the US Navy’s Great White Fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour in 1908, it was an unmistakeable signal of imperial might, a flexing of America’s newfound naval muscle. More than a century later, the Chinese ...
While there have been decades of complaints – from all sides – about the workings of the Resource Management Act (RMA), replacing is proving difficult. The Coalition Government is making another attempt.To help answer the question, I am going to use the economic lens of the Coase Theorem, set out ...
2027 may still not be the year of war it’s been prophesised as, but we only have two years left to prepare. Regardless, any war this decade in the Indo-Pacific will be fought with the ...
Australia must do more to empower communities of colour in its response to climate change. In late February, the Multicultural Leadership Initiative hosted its Our Common Future summits in Sydney and Melbourne. These summits focused ...
Questions 1. In his godawful decree, what tariff rate was imposed by Trump upon the EU?a. 10% same as New Zealandb. 20%, along with a sneer about themc. 40%, along with an outright lie about France d. 69% except for the town Melania comes from2. The justice select committee has ...
Yesterday the Trump regime in America began a global trade war, imposing punitive tariffs in an effort to extort political and economic concessions from other countries and US companies and constituencies. Trump's tariffs will make kiwis nearly a billion dollars poorer every year, but Luxon has decided to do nothing ...
Here’s 7 updates from this morning’s news:90% of submissions opposed the TPBNZ’s EV market tanked by Coalition policies, down ~70% year on yearTrump showFossil fuel money driving conservative policiesSimeon Brown won’t say that abortion is healthcarePhil Goff stands by comments and makes a case for speaking upBrian Tamaki cleared of ...
It’s the 9 month mark for Mountain Tūī !Thanks to you all, the publication now has over 3200 subscribers, 30 recommendations from Substack writers, and averages over 120,000 views a month. A very small number in the scheme of things, but enough for me to feel satisfied.I’m been proud of ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on National's racist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, and recommended by majority that it not proceed. So hopefully it will now rapidly go to second reading and be voted down. As for submissions, it turns out that around 380,000 people submitted on ...
We need to treat disinformation as we deal with insurgencies, preventing the spreaders of lies from entrenching themselves in the host population through capture of infrastructure—in this case, the social media outlets. Combining targeted action ...
After copping criticism for not releasing the report for nearly eight months, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese released the Independent Intelligence Review on 28 March. It makes for a heck of a read. The review makes ...
After copping criticism for not releasing the report for nearly eight months, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese released the Independent Intelligence Review on 28 March. It makes for a heck of a read. The review makes ...
In short this morning in our political economy:Donald Trump has shocked the global economy and markets with the biggest tariffs since the Smoot Hawley Act of 1930, which worsened the Great Depression.Global stocks slumped 4-5% overnight and key US bond yields briefly fell below 4% as investors fear a recession ...
Hi,I’ve been imagining a scenario where I am walking along the pavement in the United States. It’s dusk, I am off to get a dirty burrito from my favourite place, and I see three men in hoodies approaching.Anther two men appear from around a corner, and this whole thing feels ...
Since the announcement in September 2021 that Australia intended to acquire nuclear-powered submarines in partnership with Britain and the United States, the plan has received significant media attention, scepticism and criticism. There are four major ...
On a very wet Friday, we hope you have somewhere nice and warm and dry to sit and catch up on our roundup of some of this week’s top stories in transport and urbanism. The header image shows Northcote Intermediate Students strolling across the Te Ara Awataha Greenway Bridge in ...
On a very wet Friday, we hope you have somewhere nice and warm and dry to sit and catch up on our roundup of some of this week’s top stories in transport and urbanism. The header image shows Northcote Intermediate Students strolling across the Te Ara Awataha Greenway Bridge in ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and Elaine Monaghan on the week in geopolitics and climate, including Donald Trump’s tariff shock yesterday; and,Labour’s Disarmament and Associate ...
I'm gonna try real goodSwear that I'm gonna try from now on and for the rest of my lifeI'm gonna power on, I'm gonna enjoy the highsAnd the lows will come and goAnd may your dreamsAnd may your dreamsAnd may your dreams never dieSongwriters: Ben Reed.These are Stranger Days than ...
With the execution of global reciprocal tariffs, US President Donald Trump has issued his ‘declaration of economic independence for America’. The immediate direct effect on the Australian economy will likely be small, with more risk ...
The StrategistBy Jacqueline Gibson, Nerida King and Ned Talbot
AUKUS governments began 25 years ago trying to draw in a greater range of possible defence suppliers beyond the traditional big contractors. It is an important objective, and some progress has been made, but governments ...
I approach fresh Trump news reluctantly. It never holds the remotest promise of pleasure. I had the very, very least of expectations for his Rumble in the Jungle, his Thriller in Manila, his Liberation Day.God May 1945 is becoming the bitterest of jokes isn’t it?Whatever. Liberation Day he declared it ...
Beyond trade and tariff turmoil, Donald Trump pushes at the three core elements of Australia’s international policy: the US alliance, the region and multilateralism. What Kevin Rudd called the ‘three fundamental pillars’ are the heart ...
So, having broken its promise to the nation, and dumped 85% of submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill in the trash, National's stooges on the Justice Committee have decided to end their "consideration" of the bill, and report back a full month early: Labour says the Justice Select Committee ...
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review offers a mature and sophisticated understanding of workforce challenges facing Australia’s National Intelligence Community (NIC). It provides a thoughtful roadmap for modernising that workforce and enhancing cross-agency and cross-sector collaboration. ...
OPINION AND ANALYSIS:Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier’s comments singling out Health NZ for “acting contrary to the law” couldn’t be clearer. If you find my work of value, do consider subscribing and/or supporting me. Thank you.Health NZ has been acting a law unto itself. That includes putting its management under extraordinary ...
Southeast Asia’s three most populous countries are tightening their security relationships, evidently in response to China’s aggression in the South China Sea. This is most obvious in increased cooperation between the coast guards of the ...
In the late 1970s Australian sport underwent institutional innovation propelling it to new heights. Today, Australia must urgently adapt to a contested and confronting strategic environment. Contributing to this, a new ASPI research project will ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital waiting list crisis just gets worse, including compelling interviews with an over-worked surgeon who is leaving, and a patient who discovered after 19 months of waiting for a referral that her bowel and ovaries were fused together with scar tissue ...
Plainly, the claims being tossed around in the media last year that the new terminal envisaged by Auckland International Airport was a gold-plated “Taj Mahal” extravagance were false. With one notable exception, the Commerce Commission’s comprehensive investigation has ended up endorsing every other aspect of the airport’s building programme (and ...
Movements clustered around the Right, and Far Right as well, are rising globally. Despite the recent defeats we’ve seen in the last day or so with the win of a Democrat-backed challenger, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, over her Republican counterpart, Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel, in the battle for ...
In February 2025, John Cook gave two webinars for republicEN explaining the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change. 20 February 2025: republicEN webinar part 1 - BUST or TRUST? The scientific consensus on climate change In the first webinar, Cook explained the history of the 20-year scientific consensus on climate change. How do ...
After three decades of record-breaking growth, at about the same time as Xi Jinping rose to power in 2012, China’s economy started the long decline to its current state of stagnation. The Chinese Communist Party ...
The Pike River Coal mine was a ticking time bomb.Ventilation systems designed to prevent methane buildup were incomplete or neglected.Gas detectors that might warn of danger were absent or broken.Rock bolting was skipped, old tunnels left unsealed, communication systems failed during emergencies.Employees and engineers kept warning management about the … ...
Regional hegemons come in different shapes and sizes. Australia needs to think about what kind of hegemon China would be, and become, should it succeed in displacing the United States in Asia. It’s time to ...
RNZ has a story this morning about the expansion of solar farms in Aotearoa, driven by today's ground-breaking ceremony at the Tauhei solar farm in Te Aroha: From starting out as a tiny player in the electricity system, solar power generated more electricity than coal and gas combined for ...
After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, and almost a year before the Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991, US President George H W Bush proclaimed a ‘new world order’. Now, just two months ...
Warning: Some images may be distressing. Thank you for those who support my work. It means a lot.A shopfront in Australia shows Liberal leader Peter Dutton and mining magnate Gina Rinehart depicted with Nazi imageryUS Government Seeks Death Penalty for Luigi MangioneMangione was publicly walked in front of media in ...
Aged care workers rallying against potential roster changes say Bupa, which runs retirement homes across the country, needs to focus on care instead of money. More than half of New Zealand workers wish they had chosen a different career according to a new survey. Consumers are likely to see a ...
The scurrilous attacks on Benjamin Doyle, a list Green MP, over his supposed inappropriate behaviour towards children has dominated headlines and social media this past week, led by frothing Rightwing agitators clutching their pearls and fanning the flames of moral panic over pedophiles and and perverts. Winston Peter decided that ...
Twilight Time Lighthouse Cuba, Wigan Street, Wellington, Sunday 6 April, 5:30pm for 6pm start. Twilight Time looks at the life and work of Desmond Ball, (1947-2016), a barefooted academic from ‘down under’ who was hailed by Jimmy Carter as “the man who saved the world”, as he proved the fallacy ...
The landedAnd the wealthyAnd the piousAnd the healthyAnd the straight onesAnd the pale onesAnd we only mean the male ones!If you're all of the above, then you're ok!As we build a new tomorrow here today!Lyrics Glenn Slater and Allan Menken.Ah, Democracy - can you smell it?It's presently a sulphurous odour, ...
US President Donald Trump’s unconventional methods of conducting international relations will compel the next federal government to reassess whether the United States’ presence in the region and its security assurances provide a reliable basis for ...
Things seem to be at a pretty low ebb in and around the Reserve Bank. There was, in particular, the mysterious, sudden, and as-yet unexplained resignation of the Governor (we’ve had four Governors since the Bank was given its operational autonomy 35 years ago, and only two have completed their ...
Long story short:PMChristopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...
Long story short:PMChristopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...
The war between Russia and Ukraine continues unabated. Neither side is in a position to achieve its stated objectives through military force. But now there is significant diplomatic activity as well. Ukraine has agreed to ...
One of the first aims of the United States’ new Department of Government Efficiency was shutting down USAID. By 6 February, the agency was functionally dissolved, its seal missing from its Washington headquarters. Amid the ...
If our strategic position was already challenging, it just got worse. Reliability of the US as an ally is in question, amid such actions by the Trump administration as calling for annexation of Canada, threating ...
Small businesses will be exempt from complying with some of the requirements of health and safety legislation under new reforms proposed by the Government. The living wage will be increased to $28.95 per hour from September, a $1.15 increase from the current $27.80. A poll has shown large opposition to ...
Summary A group of senior doctors in Nelson have spoken up, specifically stating that hospitals have never been as bad as in the last year.Patients are waiting up to 50 hours and 1 death is directly attributable to the situation: "I've never seen that number of patients waiting to be ...
Although semiconductor chips are ubiquitous nowadays, their production is concentrated in just a few countries, and this has left the US economy and military highly vulnerable at a time of rising geopolitical tensions. While the ...
Health and Safety changes driven by ACT party ideology, not evidence said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. Changes to health and safety legislation proposed by the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden today comply with ACT party ideology, ignores the evidence, and will compound New ...
In short in our political economy this morning:Fletcher Building is closing its pre-fabricated house-building factory in Auckland due to a lack of demand, particularly from the Government.Health NZ is sending a crisis management team to Nelson Hospital after a 1News investigation exposed doctors’ fears that nearly 500 patients are overdue ...
Exactly 10 years ago, the then minister for defence, Kevin Andrews, released the First Principles Review: Creating One Defence (FPR). With increasing talk about the rising possibility of major power-conflict, calls for Defence funding to ...
In events eerily similar to what happened in the USA last week, Greater Auckland was recently accidentally added to a group chat between government ministers on the topic of transport.We have no idea how it happened, but luckily we managed to transcribe most of what transpired. We share it ...
Hi,When I look back at my history with Dylan Reeve, it’s pretty unusual. We first met in the pool at Kim Dotcom’s mansion, as helicopters buzzed overhead and secret service agents flung themselves off the side of his house, abseiling to the ground with guns drawn.Kim Dotcom was a German ...
Come around for teaDance me round and round the kitchenBy the light of my T.VOn the night of the electionAncient stars will fall into the seaAnd the ocean floor sings her sympathySongwriter: Bic Runga.The Prime Minister stared into the camera, hot and flustered despite the predawn chill. He looked sadly ...
Has Winston Peters got a ferries deal for you! (Buyer caution advised.) Unfortunately, the vision that Peters has been busily peddling for the past 24 hours – of several shipyards bidding down the price of us getting smaller, narrower, rail-enabled ferries – looks more like a science fiction fantasy. One ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill today that will remove the power of MPs conscience votes and ensure mandatory national referendums are held before any conscience issues are passed into law. “We are giving democracy and power back to the people”, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. ...
Welcome to members of the diplomatic corp, fellow members of parliament, the fourth estate, foreign affairs experts, trade tragics, ladies and gentlemen. ...
In recent weeks, disturbing instances of state-sanctioned violence against Māori have shed light on the systemic racism permeating our institutions. An 11-year-old autistic Māori child was forcibly medicated at the Henry Bennett Centre, a 15-year-old had his jaw broken by police in Napier, kaumātua Dean Wickliffe went on a hunger ...
Confidence in the job market has continued to drop to its lowest level in five years as more New Zealanders feel uncertain about finding work, keeping their jobs, and getting decent pay, according to the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index. ...
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...
“Make New Zealand First Again” Ladies and gentlemen, First of all, thank you for being here today. We know your lives are busy and you are working harder and longer than you ever have, and there are many calls on your time, so thank you for the chance to speak ...
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has today launched a public consultation on New Zealand and India’s negotiations of a formal comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. “Negotiations are getting underway, and the Public’s views will better inform us in the early parts of this important negotiation,” Mr McClay says. We are ...
More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says will help support them through cost-of-living challenges. “I am pleased to confirm that from 1 ...
Progressing a holistic strategy to unlock the potential of New Zealand’s geothermal resources, possibly in applications beyond energy generation, is at the centre of discussions with mana whenua at a hui in Rotorua today, Resources and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is in the early stages ...
New annual data has exposed the staggering cost of delays previously hidden in the building consent system, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I directed Building Consent Authorities to begin providing quarterly data last year to improve transparency, following repeated complaints from tradespeople waiting far longer than the statutory ...
Increases in water charges for Auckland consumers this year will be halved under the Watercare Charter which has now been passed into law, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown say. The charter is part of the financial arrangement for Watercare developed last year by Auckland Council ...
There is wide public support for the Government’s work to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity protections, says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. “The Ministry for Primary Industries recently completed public consultation on proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act and the submissions show that people understand the importance of having a strong biosecurity ...
A new independent review function will enable individuals and organisations to seek an expert independent review of specified civil aviation regulatory decisions made by, or on behalf of, the Director of Civil Aviation, Acting Transport Minister James Meager has announced today. “Today we are making it easier and more affordable ...
The Government will invest in an enhanced overnight urgent care service for the Napier community as part of our focus on ensuring access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown has today confirmed. “I am delighted that a solution has been found to ensure Napier residents will continue to ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey attended a sod turning today to officially mark the start of construction on a new mental health facility at Hillmorton Campus. “This represents a significant step in modernising mental health services in Canterbury,” Mr Brown says. “Improving health infrastructure is ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has welcomed confirmation the economy has turned the corner. Stats NZ reported today that gross domestic product grew 0.7 per cent in the three months to December following falls in the June and September quarters. “We know many families and businesses are still suffering the after-effects ...
The sealing of a 12-kilometre stretch of State Highway 43 (SH43) through the Tangarakau Gorge – one of the last remaining sections of unsealed state highway in the country – has been completed this week as part of a wider programme of work aimed at improving the safety and resilience ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters says relations between New Zealand and the United States are on a strong footing, as he concludes a week-long visit to New York and Washington DC today. “We came to the United States to ask the new Administration what it wants from ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has welcomed changes to international anti-money laundering standards which closely align with the Government’s reforms. “The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) last month adopted revised standards for tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism to allow for simplified regulatory measures for businesses, organisations and sectors ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he welcomes Medsafe’s decision to approve an electronic controlled drug register for use in New Zealand pharmacies, allowing pharmacies to replace their physical paper-based register. “The register, developed by Kiwi brand Toniq Limited, is the first of its kind to be approved in New ...
The Coalition Government’s drive for regional economic growth through the $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund is on track with more than $550 million in funding so far committed to key infrastructure projects, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. “To date, the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) has received more than 250 ...
[Comments following the bilateral meeting with United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; United States State Department, Washington D.C.] * We’re very pleased with our meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this afternoon. * We came here to listen to the new Administration and to be clear about what ...
The intersection of State Highway 2 (SH2) and Wainui Road in the Eastern Bay of Plenty will be made safer and more efficient for vehicles and freight with the construction of a new and long-awaited roundabout, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop. “The current intersection of SH2 and Wainui Road is ...
The Ocean Race will return to the City of Sails in 2027 following the Government’s decision to invest up to $4 million from the Major Events Fund into the international event, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown says. “New Zealand is a proud sailing nation, and Auckland is well-known internationally as the ...
Improving access to mental health and addiction support took a significant step forward today with Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announcing that the University of Canterbury have been the first to be selected to develop the Government’s new associate psychologist training programme. “I am thrilled that the University of Canterbury ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened the new East Building expansion at Manukau Health Park. “This is a significant milestone and the first stage of the Grow Manukau programme, which will double the footprint of the Manukau Health Park to around 30,000m2 once complete,” Mr Brown says. “Home ...
The Government will boost anti-crime measures across central Auckland with $1.3 million of funding as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Fund, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “In recent years there has been increased antisocial and criminal behaviour in our CBD. The Government ...
The Government is moving to strengthen rules for feeding food waste to pigs to protect New Zealand from exotic animal diseases like foot and mouth disease (FMD), says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. ‘Feeding untreated meat waste, often known as "swill", to pigs could introduce serious animal diseases like FMD and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held productive talks in New Delhi today. Fresh off announcing that New Zealand and India would commence negotiations towards a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, the two Prime Ministers released a joint statement detailing plans for further cooperation between the two countries across ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the forestry sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the horticulture sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new Family Court Judges. The new Judges will take up their roles in April and May and fill Family Court vacancies at the Auckland and Manukau courts. Annette Gray Ms Gray completed her law degree at Victoria University before joining Phillips ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Wellington Regional Hospital’s first High Dependency Unit (HDU). “This unit will boost critical care services in the lower North Island, providing extra capacity and relieving pressure on the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and emergency department. “Wellington Regional Hospital has previously relied ...
Namaskar, Sat Sri Akal, kia ora and good afternoon everyone. What an honour it is to stand on this stage - to inaugurate this august Dialogue - with none other than the Honourable Narendra Modi. My good friend, thank you for so generously welcoming me to India and for our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University; and Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Fellow, Victoria University The United States and Iran are once again on a collision course over the Iranian nuclear program. In a letter ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Bradshaw, Professor of Marketing, Royal Holloway University of London US alcohol has been removed from sale in the Canadian province of British Columbia.lenic/Shutterstock As politicians around the world scramble to respond to US “liberation day” tariffs, consumers have also begun ...
While public opinion of Israel plummets, each day the genocide continues without significant repercussions only reinforces that they can ignore this opinion, writes Alex Foley.SPECIAL REPORT:By Alex Foley Israel announced that Hossam Shabat was a “terrorist” alongside six other Palestinian journalists. Hossam predicted they would assassinate him. He ...
Ngāi Tahu’s senior lawyer was in full flight on the final day of an eight-week High Court hearing when the judge brought him to a screeching halt.Barrister Chris Finlayson KC led the case for Ngāi Tahu, the South Island iwi that said a wai māori (freshwater) crisis prompted it to ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on a week of bleak reading. Nothing in life is free. Everyone knows that. But for a blissful eight months, my commute was. After closing Mount Eden station nearly a decade ago to redevelop it, Auckland Transport eventually opened a new, frequent bus route (64) to connect ...
Out of the little playground kiosk at Petone beach, Mariana’s Kitchen is serving up perfect, authentic empanadas. It was a perfect Wellington day: the sun was shining and the wind was blowing. In its gust the word “OPEN” flashed on a red and yellow banner on the Petone foreshore. From ...
As Daylight Saving comes to an end, let us remember the local naturalist who came up with the idea so he could spend more time searching for insects in the Karori Bush.Here in the south, the signs are everywhere. Beanies are creeping onto heads and people are starting to ...
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith chats to Marlon Williams about the six-year journey to releasing Te Whare Tīwekaweka, his first album entirely in te reo Māori.Singer-songwriter Marlon Williams (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Tai) remembers a childhood where speaking “household Māori” was as everyday as the waves which crash into the harbour of Ōhinehou. ...
The journalist and author takes us through her life in television, including her biggest live TV regret and the Succession moment she witnessed first hand. This week, journalist and broadcaster Ali Mau released No Words For This, a “gripping, generous, revelatory and layered” memoir that reveals shocking family secrets, explores ...
After ten rings Tracey hung up. She started the car; an orange petrol light appeared. It appeared yesterday on the way home, but Tracey decided to deal with it today. She opened her phone and first looked for specials on the BP app and then on Caltex, but there was ...
It has all the qualities of an aircraft but with its rocket engine, the Dawn Mk-II Aurora can fly faster and higher than any jet.“We have a real path to this being the first vehicle that flies to 100km altitude – the border of space – twice in a day,” ...
The agitated and perpetually frightened right wingBy spending a lot of time online while eating spaghetti on toast in small rooms and staying up all hours, illuminated by the ghostly white screen of the PC, and worrying about what could go wrong in the world if the left wing got ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese has announced that the government will ensure the Port of Darwin, currently leased by the Chinese company Landbridge, is returned to Australian hands. “Australia needs to own the Port of Darwin,” the prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese has announced that the government will ensure the Port of Darwin, currently leased by the Chinese company Landbridge, is returned to Australian hands. “Australia needs to own the Port of Darwin,” the prime ...
Now that Phil Goff has ended his term as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to the UK, he is officially free to speak his mind on the damage he believes the Trump Administration is doing to the world. He has started with these comments he made on the betrayal of Ukraine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Draper, Professor, and Executive Director: Institute for International Trade, and Jean Monnet Chair of Trade and Environment, University of Adelaide On April 2, United States President Donald Trump unveiled a sweeping new “reciprocal tariff” regime he says will level the playing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Toby Murray, Professor of Cybersecurity, School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne Several of Australia’s biggest superannuation funds have suffered a suspected coordinated cyberattack, with scammers stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of members’ retirement savings. Superannuation funds ...
Democracy Now! Jewish students at Columbia University chained themselves to a campus gate across from the graduate School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) this week, braving rain and cold to demand the school release information related to the targeting and ICE arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a former SIPA student. ...
We stand in solidarity with all communities impacted by Islamophobia, racism, and discrimination. We call for genuine accountability, not empty apologies. It is imperative that the government takes decisive action to restore integrity to the Human Rights ...
"This is a broken promise to the public. People demand the right to choose and want products from gene editing to be labelled,” said Jon Carapiet, spokesman for GE-Free New Zealand (in Food and Environment). ...
Public submissions potentially ignored and unrecorded were a focus this week. We background how the process usually works and what will happen now. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Trembath, Professor of Speech Pathology, Griffith University Lukas/Pexels If your child is struggling with certain everyday activities – such as playing with other kids, getting dressed or paying attention – you might want to get them assessed to see if ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Norfolk Island sees its United States tariff as an acknowledgment of independence from Australia. Norfolk Island, despite being an Australian territory, has been included on Trump’s tariff list. The territory has been given a 29 percent tariff, despite Australia getting only 10 percent. It ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne alybaba/Shutterstock Street trees usually grow in appalling soils, have little space for their roots, are rarely watered and often get aggressively trimmed by road authorities ...
A new poem by Amanda Faye Martin. reluctant heterosexual one time i got snowed in with a guy i thought i didn’t want to sleep with but then he said something that felt true like clarity could be simple like things could be known like picking fruit in warm weather ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $30) More of that good Hunger Games stuff: ...
Al Gore says "The more deeply I search for the roots of the global environmental crisis, the more I am convinced that it is an outer manifestation of an inner crisis that is, for lack of a better word, spiritual… what other word describes the collection of values and assumptions that determine our basic understanding of how we fit into the universe?”
“As above, so below”.
I see it in the pose of the Magician. Hermes Trismegistus would be proud!
“The ancient covenant is in pieces; man knows at last that he is alone in the universe's unfeeling immensity, out of which he emerged only by chance. His destiny is nowhere spelled out, nor is his duty. The kingdom above or the darkness below: it is for him to choose.”
Jaques Monod (Chance and necessity)
Yeah, nah!
Paula Bennett (Politician by Chance)
Is there a gym and makeover company called 'Chance'? I have been wondering who or what is responsible for a very clever change in Paula which speaks of a clever cotourier and life and body shape coach getting a lot of money from this woman to whom apparently, image is primary.
Hannah Tamaki?
Al Gore has a global carbon foot print of a small country
The UN Torture Report On Assange Is An Indictment Of Our Entire Society
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/05/31/the-un-torture-report-on-assange-is-an-indictment-of-our-entire-society/
Melzer, who by his own admission began his investigation as someone who had “been affected by the same misguided smear campaign as everybody else” regarding Assange, speaks of Assange’s plight with the fresh-eyed ferocity of a man who has not been immersed in a soul-corroding career in establishment politics or mass media. A man has not been indoctrinated into accepting as normal the relentless, malicious character assassinations of the western political/media class against a publisher of inconvenient facts about the powerful. A man who, when looking deeply and objectively into the facts with uncorrupted vision, was able to see clearly just how unforgivably abusive Assange’s treatment has been.
The Murdering of Julian Assange
https://www.globalresearch.ca/murdering-julian-assange/5679492
Julian Assange is being slowly murdered by “Her Majesty’s Prison Service” at Belmarsh prison in the south-east of London. The prison is notorious for holding people who have never been charged with a crime indefinitely. It is also called the British version of Guantanamo, and, typically used to detain so-called terrorists, thus called by the British police and secret service and aped by the British MSM and establishment. Terrorists that become terrorists by continuous and repeated accusations, by media propaganda, but not necessarily by fact.
Julian Assange has been condemned to a ‘temporary’ prison sentence of 50 weeks for jumping bail, when he sought and was granted refuge in 2012 in the Ecuadorian Embassy. And why did he jump bail? Because he was about to be extradited to neofascist Sweden, who acting in the name of Washington, accused him with phony rape and sexual misconduct charges, from where he would have most likely been extradited to the US – where he might have faced a kangaroo court and a fake trial with possible death sentence, or indefinite incarceration at Guantanamo.
Thank you for that information.
A late response last night – in my experience there is nothing so past as a past post. So in justification to myself, after WeTheBleeple called into question my ability to comment –
"If you were to never mention these subjects, how is you you know ALL your students were profoundly ignorant on said subjects.
“ESP?
“Your description of the average Han reminds me of Trump supporters. National supporters, Hosking readers…"
“But we are so superior.”
4 June 2019 at 4:02 pm
Yes how did you know Tony V? – but WtB he seems a sound commenter and I think you are being touch.
5 June 2019 at 5:38 am
A late response:
I taught senior high school kids and young adults about the age of mid twenties on the whole. With very few exceptions none could place NZ on a world map. For God's sake, I even encountered one student who couldn't even find China without a search!
Urumqi is the furtherest city from the sea in the world – 2250 kms in any direction. Perhaps that explains the depth of ignorance.
I also taught a smattering of older students who had lived through the Cultural Revolution. Their stories, retailed in meetings outside the classroom, were quite harrowing. They confirmed the censorship that prevails in China about Tianamen.
I might be spouting Chinaphobic drivel, but it is drivel derived from observation on the ground (albeit in a remote part of China).
So you repeat this shite here why?
I saw your reply, you got one back.
"the depth of ignorance."
Yes. It runs deep all right.
Go look at the other thread to get real context folks, if this sort of petty shit amuses you.
I'm sorry, but the vitriol is out of all proportion to the offence!
At university some of the favorite students were the Chinese. One couple, Woody & Sue, who'd anglicised their names for our convenience, were learning english at the same time they sat (and passed) post-grad biology including metabolomics, genetics and biochemistry.
Incredible.
But tell me more about how stupid they are.
Vitriol so offensive right, but casual racism’s ok when versed politely.
PS I'm not calling you racist – just the whole thread in the context it was presented. The separation of Chinese people from the Chinese state is required before it has any merit at all.
In the next apartment where I lived, a nine year old Chinese girl used to practise the piano until about midnight. To succeed in China you have to compete, and I mean really compete. When I told my high school students I had an after school job at 12, they looked at me incredulously. They had no 'after school!'
Most the students I encountered in Urumqi were learning English with the hope of, usually, getting a job with a foreign company (better pay and conditions) and/or moving east to where the real money was to be made.
Yet many of these students in their final years at high school (and many from No.1 Middle School, the best in the city) had, and I repeat, a profound ignorance of both geography and history.
I also taught in a language school in NZ. One day I entered my classroom to see a Chinese student on his knees, stabbing a compass point into a map, which he had removed from the wall. When I asked him what he thought he was doing, he replied, 'Taipei is not the capital of a country.'
I don't doubt for one moment the ability of Chinese student to work hard and shine, and I personally have found them good students to teach, and pleasant people to be around, both in China and NZ.
But let's not lose sight of the fact that their view of the world is a carefully manufactured and controlled one.
Yes but my point is so is ours (world view manufactured). We hid our history and banned Maori language… We might have improved now… leading me to believe we could encourage, rather than denigrate, those in similar situations.
Just go have a drink in the pub in Gore to get some stunning displays of ignorance.
Fair point – I've been in rural pubs and been appalled by the narrow-mindedness expressed by many.
But our ignorance is, to a large extent. 'willing' ignorance. We could, if we wished, expand our view of the world. That many of us don't is not to our credit.
In the school I taught at in China, wikipedia was banned. Why? Because it contained articles critical of China. I remember trying to access an article on another site sourced in the US – I'd read about three lines and then the rest of the article disappeared.
Chinese 'ignorance' is largely unwilling. Their access to differing points of view is strictly limited. For this they are to be 'pitied' rather than criticised and my comments shouldn't really be taken as criticism, merely observations of what I encountered.
Whatever the cause or reason, it still came across to me as a deep and profound ignorance.
We're probably pretty ignorant of it too Tony.
The full picture at any rate.
You would be amazed how many NZers still don't know the year the Waitangi Trearty was signed!
Yeah wilful ignorance is certainly a problem. Mostly a defense mechanism of the right (planets burning but it's inconvenient as I've shares in Statoil…).
As a coping mechanism, it kinda works. The humor around being wilfully ignorant can be top notch, and helps one laugh at their station. The promotion of it via politicians, to me, is simply unforgiveable.
Edit
I think people using ‘vitriol’ and other highly-flavoured negative descriptions, is a bad way of indicating too strongly one's own opinion. Though it makes one feel self satisfied (put you in your place you nasty, big-mouthed loon). And I have done it myself, but you have to keep learning and moving away promptly from ineffective thinking and behaviour these days.
Perhaps following the advice of 'good communication' teachers and social work facilitators and expressing the thought using the I word, (which I find can be overdone and self-centred if overused), but is useful ie 'Hearing that word makes me feel unhappy with the way the discussion is trending'. So that's a mild objection to tone down 'vitriol' and it should then be followed up with a 'Why – do you feel so strongly that you use choose that term? What is the background for your very negative response?'
I think society has to watch the way that controversial discussions are managed, to keep down the extreme emotions otherwise we will get caught up in disagreements about terms and language instead of discussing the issue. The more important it is, the more emotive the language until cool and wise thinking is impossible. Ways to run meetings with someone adjudicating and timing speakers will be a necessary part of learnings about leadership, there are techniques which are not regularly used.
We are constantly being stressed by the breakdown of our people and planet systems, and the lack of morality and respect in treatment of each other. (One instance is companies not replying to all applicants for a job – it is neglecting the sensible and fair rules of behaviour. I like examples to illustrate my reasoning.)
And venting hate at hateful people is a useless though instantly satisfying behaviour. It clears the stress, but then what is the next step for moving that person out of their position? Spiking their guns etc. The 'don't get mad, get even' saying is the one to keep in mind. Trump is a good example, and he stands in for all Clown Princes and Princesses. There needs to be an assiduous group working to impeach him, and there probably is. But they will be self-controlled, keep their emotions in check, keep schtum and plan for unobtrusiveness, and won't flap their tongues to the media.
You think ignorance is reserved for those from small rural servicing towns?
No, but it's more obvious there.
Sadly, it is your ignorance that is showing here. Maybe a tinge of racism too.
Not a single comment in that thread yesterday was even close to denigrating the Chinese people, although the older Chinese invariably are very closed mind to outsiders – the product of all those decades of isolation. Tony Veitch [etc] and myself are commenting from direct immersion in China. In my case, that immersion continues with our business, my partner (Chinese), frequent business visits to China. It also included lecturing Chinese students at Lincoln University in Accounting.
All the book reading in the world or chatting to a few Chinese students in NZ is no substitute for direct experience.
Nothing I or anyone says will open your eyes no doubt. Rapid racism and ideology is blind.
Is it really?
I have frequented drinking establishments all over the NI and SI, rural and urban and frankly, you are talking shit.
Kevin: no, you are 100% correct. My comments were directed at WTB and his comments on the thread above regarding the Tiananmen massacre. I guess I was not clear in that. Sorry for confusion.
No Bleep – that is not helpful – if there was a word to describe it, it might be <i>ruralism</i>, as an equivalent of racism.
Rural communities suffer greatly from institutional and personal ruralism, and you are merely continuing a stereotypical bias with another subset of people.
People everywhere are broadly diverse and it is not helpful or accurate to apply any form of personality / character judgement based upon a so-called group trait.
I come from a village. A village of racist wife beaters. I can call it as I see it too. I'm not saying all country folk are as described, but I'm not holding a torch for them either.
My village was close to Te Aroha, a town in the news cycle right now concerning a LBGT group starting there to try and counter homophobia (by lending support to LGBT).
Last time I was there I heard tales of the local dope growers tried to kill their mate in the patch to keep all the weed but he lived and came out of the bush and had them charged.
So evolved that neck of the woods.
Nowhere have I ever said the Chinese people are stupid. Ignorance and stupidity are not the same thing.
Ignorance can be 'cured,' stupidity never, (well almost never).
WtB You are getting too worked up. Time to slow it please. Look carefully at the dart board to see if it is a real one before you aim for the bullseye. Is that unfair to bulls – I never thought of that before? You are raising my sensitivity WtB. Suggestion – have a go at me, if you are irritated and leave some people for others if they deserve a bollocking.
Thanks Tony Veitch most interesting. About not reading maps well, showing ignorance, I think that street research about general knowledge in the USA has revealed similar levels of ignorance about the world, and their own country. Big countries successfully limiting information and narrowing education – is it actually general practice?
So I am racist for mentioning the pedigree of (some) country pubs, which I used to make a living in…
People open up to the entertainment, especially drinking into the small hours. I've heard these nasty bastards open right up.
It was only today I had to stop a Northland hick visiting a friend who thought the N word appropriate to describe the neighbors.
No tolerance for it. And yes, possibly over zealous.
Tony decided to carry it on today, I responded. He coulda just admitted his original statement was nonsensical instead of starting a shit fight.
So fuck him and his ego, I'm gonna go eat worms.
Wikileaks has a searchable cache of situation reports from the US Embassy in Beijing , concerning the Tianamen Square showdown .I had no idea it went on for 6 weeks and that some soldiers were taken hostage .And the Chinese govt was not a monolith, there were hardliners and more liberal elements.
So much of what we think we know we know from a selective view provided to us by the media.
Where would we be without Wikileaks?
Save Assange!
Now I know that some commenters shy like frightened horses at the mention of MoonofAlabama, think of MOA as a conduit to a primary source in this case and glide over the rest.
Seriously, its bloody interesting.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/06/tiananmen-square-do-the-media-say-what-really-happened.html#comments
an excerpt
Remember the iconic photo of Tankman ?Bravely halting the tanks?
"According to the man who took the photo, AP photographer Jeff Widener, the photo dates from June 5 the day after the Tiananmen Square incident. The tanks were headed away from, and not towards, the Square. They were blocked not by a student but by a man with a shopping bag crossing the street who had chosen to play chicken with the departing tanks. The lead tank had gone out its way to avoid causing him injury."
A great book is 'Tiananmen Moon'. It was written by a BBC journalist present in Tiananamen Square during the protests, one of the few western journos allowed in.
Without any doubt whatsoever, the vast majority of those present in Beijing (and the almost 100 other cities where similar protests were taking place at that time, were sincere in wanting liberalisation, political and economic. As invariably happens, the 'revolution' was in its latter days hijacked by a very small minority hell bent on slef interest.
That in no way whatsoever lessens the evil of what happened.
Emergent properties; a water molecule is not wet; it's only when you have millions of them together that the quality of "wetness" emerges; what emergent qualities might we see as present conditions evolve? They can't be predicted; they are unexpected and novel.
What the Sam Hill ?- water isnt wet , its only when our bodily senses that are made up of billions of atoms and thus molecules perceive it to be wet. Whats far more interesting is the empty spaces between atoms and thus molecules.
For there and not far away , is where we will find true science and the interdimensional nature of this universe. And put away childlike Einstien and limited physics and embrace Tessla and Quantum physics instead. I wonder if the slow learner Big Al has realized that yet?
Water isn't wet, WK???
That's your wildest claim ever!
Water molecules aren’t wet, but water surely is.
Nuuuuuuuuuuuuu !- its all in your interpretation ! Water definitely ISN'T WET !
You have been led astray by cunning manipulatory minds and bodily lies!
Stop relying on your molecular structure to dictate your sensory perception on what is , in actual fact , a holographic unreality posing as a reality !
I'm surprised and disappointed in you , Robert , you should know better than that ! Water is dry ! Repeat after me !
Water is dry !
Water is dry !
Water is dry !
And pain isn't pain !
There ! Hopefully , lesson learnt .
Monty Python's Flying Circus Main Theme – YouTube
I'm disappointed in me too, WK: how could I have made such a fundamental error about so called, "wetness". If only I'd thought outside of my bubble; everyone's heard of a dry wine; I missed that clue entirely.
Exactly !
Magnifique !!!
The French would be delighted at the example of proving something using wine !!!
As would Louis Pasteur !!!
Though he was more into milk.
Doesn't wine prove everything? In vino veritas etc…
Well , I guess you've got me there and a whole bunch of other people !
I always suspected it.
Imagine what might emerge when you connect millions of nucleic acids or amino acids with water molecules (and a few other).
"Emergent properties" thinking suggests that we should prepare for a Big Surprise; how to do that is a challenge.
When you add energy to a biological system DNA micro-mutations can be more frequent and severe. This bodes badly for individuals, but given enough time, might enhance (or bottleneck and kill off) the species.
Auckland is already emerging as the place to grow loads of stuff, but it's full of buildings… We can grow temperate, mediterranean and subtropical here now…
But the current models would have the entire bioregion under monoculture (we grow pot bellied pigs in Ponsonby and they'd like to take over everything else).
The mix of sub-tropical plants with temperate soil microbiota might show some interesting end results but prediction, as you say, is very difficult. There may be some devastating pathogens, but so long as we increase biodiversity we could get through relatively unscathed – except the human pathogens.
We will change as people. We will value and respect water finally (or perish), and biodiversity (or perish). There will be a re-emergence of eco-centric societies. This much preferable to the ego-centric fractions and factions of today.
And I predict people (maybe not today's America) will go right off corporate entities and home grown business will emerge alongside alternate trading systems and even currencies.
Carpentry, mechanics, sewing, cooking, crop husbandry will re-emerge as useful skills.
We've passed the 11th hour. There's no reversing anything with our tepid leadership and the bankers grip on the planet (and their silly growth model).
There will be disasters, war, famine, disease…
So Nike can increase its shares.
There will emerge an uprising, a horde of billions, but far too late.
I call it as I see it, a year ago I'd have given us a chance, then I paid attention and saw how spineless and toothless the world's governments really are.
Jostling for position, the one closest to the sun gets to die first.
Take the bankers down before they take the planet down. That is my emergent thought.
In another thread a day or so ago, The Peoples Budget was linked to by The Chairman. A Bryan Bruce chaired town hall meeting in Otahuhu.
A comment from the floor got to the core of things.
Instead of the government spending $6B on interest annually, to private sector banks, it could issue it's own currency. (Sure treasury would have to clear out the Mr Magoos it currently employs.)
Apparently there are a few hundred billion dollars of debt that would have to be managed.
Can someone here explain to me, as if to an 8 yr old, how this transition could take place?
The most obvious way would be to vote Social Credit and rid parliament of these neo liberal thinking junkies.
It's a very good question. There is nothing inherently wrong with the idea of a credit based currency (99% of all currency circulating is pure credit, not cash) … but why we allowed private banks an effective monopoly on it's creation was always a preposterous nonsense.
" why we allowed private banks an effective monopoly on it's creation was always a preposterous nonsense."
Yes
As Bruce Beetham said 40 or so years ago, when it was called 'funny money'.
Now that it's called quantitative easing it suddenly has gained respectability.
"but why we allowed private banks an effective monopoly on it's creation was always a preposterous nonsense."
Plus one on that!
I email RNZ regularly and quiry their insistence on having bank economists as their main go to economists to talk about our economy, they are not neutral players.
We will change as people. We will value and respect water finally (or perish), and biodiversity (or perish). There will be a re-emergence of eco-centric societies. This much preferable to the ego-centric fractions and factions of today.
That is true and incontrovertible. Somewhere in many of us is an unreconstructed hippie from the 70's who still fondly remembers The Whole Earth Catalog. It was a vision with merit and a rustic coherence that appealed to that part of us which mourns what we have sacrificed on the alter of the modern world’s overwheening materialism.
Yet ultimately I think it was insufficient; it was at some level a retreat from reality, an abdication of responsibility, a withdrawing into a self-centred hope to survive when billions around us don't. The unspoken implication was always, me and my mates will be right Jack … the rest can go to hell in whatever burning handbasket you stumble across.
Unless our vision is universal, unless it is capable of encompassing the whole of humanity, unless all Nine Billion Names of God are called and accounted for, then we fail morally.
This is the point on which so many human schemes falter, we have an idea that we think will solve all our material problems, an idea so wonderful that it is worth any moral sacrifice to achieve. It's why Stalin thought it a good idea to starve Ukraine in order to have collectivisation. He thought it the most reasonable, the most efficient and certain means to achieve his goal … yet history judges him a failure and a monster.
This is why I ask the question, does our eco-centric vision pass this test? Let me emphasis that I understand and support the ideal here. Yet if implicitly it means that the clean water and reliable electricity fail, the police no longer turn up, the doctors disappear and there are no vaccines, no antibiotics, no dentists, no safe food to eat, no schools, no communications … none of the things that make life possible for most of 9 billion people … then we will fail just as Stalin did.
If you think I argue for the status quo you are wrong. What I argue for is even more radical than you imagine … that all of us must emerge 'a new race of men' … or none at all. And that the path to get there is far more challenging than we think; so challenging that only if we act as if we were one human race do we stand a chance.
I agree absolutely. I can't build a food forest in the face of encroaching desert and hope she'll be right, as it wont.
But collectively, we can repel deserts, as was shown with work on the Loess Plateau.
But imo
The momentum required will arrive too late. There are delays to the effects of all the damage we're doing, by the time life is getting untenable we're probably well past the point of no return.
I hope I'm wrong, i see no evidence we're getting anywhere, last year resulted in record CO2 emissions
RECORD emissions, with full knowledge that it is destroying us.
Like watching an alcoholic who is told they'll die if they finish the wine barrel. Red lips, flushed face, gulp gulp gulp.
We're cooked.
All this I cannot quibble with; yet I still demand that the only response to utter catastrophe is total defiance.
Right now I've some choices to make that are keeping me awake at night. At the lowest moments of highest anxiety I have to consciously tell myself that even if the odds are stacked against a good outcome, giving up is the path to certain failure. Eventually I fall asleep and in the morning I get up and keep plugging at it. This is my best bet, even if it isn't a very good one.
Each of us on our own will feel hopeless, as hopeless as the one food forest holding back an encroaching desert. This is why connection between individuals is crucial, why we are never really alone when we set aside our ego and allow the differences and diversity of others to seep over our borders. It's this balance, this selective permeability that simultaneously allows 'other' in, while maintaining the integrity of the 'self' that we struggle with.
It's not like-minded people we need to connect with, so much as people who we do not naturally agree with, who contend with us and cause us irritation who are the ones we need most. Because from this interaction something new is capable of arising.
The cyclones providing life to the deserts
(nice read here)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-09/lake-eyre-is-a-wild-river-system-left-to-run-its-course/11035506
Thank you Poission. The hydrology of Lake Eyre is fascinating. Can we have another river moment? Man's attempts to control water flow is sometimes destined to be a losing battle. Two articles about the Atchafalaya: The Future Mississippi River. Short version here Longer read here
Thank you (RL), I needed that.
It was probably either the Ukranians or the workers in the cities; but it was the latter who were building the factories and infrastructure that made Russia great.
Incidentally I thought was Lenin, though I could be wrong.
It seems to me that the 'Plain Living' movement must coalesce and form a community who are in touch and share skills and knowledge.' There is no other way to ensure that a good number of people can flourish and be happy.
The settled power structures and their control over peoples minds do not want to change their thinking and practices which lead to technological control over the world with no owners, but corporate people bowing to a cult of whatever. And that cult does not care about individuals though it talks about invidualism, which is to edge people out of societal thinking into personal gratification and materialism. The use of alghorithms is growing, the entities using them think that they are being clever and efficient while they use the machine ideas to define behaviour in their area of work and responsibility. They are doing us all out of working with each other which makes our society right now. Eventually the machines will do the administrators out of a job. 'First they came for… then they came for… then they came for you.'
But humans want to live, and stroke their animals, and work and finish a job they have done alone or with others, and take part in the world. There has to be a two-tier layer of society with the top layer being under, at present, reluctant control imposed by cautionary minds, of its expansion into technology etc – but I think it is unstoppable. The Plain Living people (or whatever name they adopt) will have to create a united group with quirky differences but practical and trustworthy and kind and helping others to adapt to new-old ways. This is already happening but is still not seen as a main and forward-looking way of managing life, just an interesting alternative or experiment.
And be aware that the machine-minds will not be happy, the authoritarians will not be happy. Plain Living people are likely to be harassed. See how the RW states of America with the least amount of morality in their background have brought in swingeing anti-abortion laws, and Planned Parenthood as well apparently. They have decided to look moral and righteous and chosen women and sexuality as their featured cover which masks all the other amoral things they do.
I am interested in what people do, as well as what they say. We have achieved the vision of the WW2 generation, that's nice for us children of that time. But it's a different future requiring different thoughts which must hold on to practical human values. We must accept hard facts, and try to manage things humanely and fairly, with the best of our religious beliefs but not allowing them to be the total authority on everything. We want to respect life, and death, but will have to control babies, so have willingness to allow abortions because we are very fertile animals. We must be prepared to be working parts of the community even as aged people, not being carried by others and provided for like children.
If all Plain Living people form groups, with common agreements as to rules and controls, there will be different styles with different main interests but people should be able to have a life and putting clever heads together, should not descend to peasant level just scraping a living. The other tier of society will always watch and try to take advantage, because that is the approach that moneyed people take, if not adopting shonky practices themselves, they will overlook them in others if it is necessary to maintain their lifestyle. Hence the present division between rich and poor in the midst of affluence.
(Lots of editing has gone on here. I have tried to make it coherent but there will be lots of holes to pick which will be enjoyable for some. If you can find a better hole, go to it, as they used to say in WW1.)
Emergent properties, I have often wondered about the power and effects of 10% of the populace meditating regularly.
Schools seems like a great place for that to happen. No sooner than I type that I hear a wise voice say 'beware the proselytizer'.
Emergent property's?- aint gonna happen. DNA floats in what Robert calls 'water ', which he maintains is 'wet'. And all biological lifeforms are therefore supposedly 'wet'. Tell that to viruses and their RNA packages , I suppose…Yet despite that ? , – the only 'emergent property's' found in old bones is just that – old bones. So no cigar. They cant even make a dinosaur out of a chicken. Which is sad really , because Brontosaurus steaks could feed millions.
Finding tissue and DNA from a dinosaur| UNC-TV Science – YouTube
A single molecule floating in the air isn't defined as wet, but when it touches another and starts to condense, it is. Therefore a puddle, glass or pool of water is most definitely wet.
^
Another one led by the holographic lie.
Anyone ever told you your opinion is totally subjective?
UCSB science line website
To answer this question, we need to define the term "wet." If we define "wet" as the condition of a liquid sticking to a solid surface, such as water wetting our skin, then we cannot say that water is wet by itself, because it takes a liquid AND a solid to define the term "wet."
If we define "wet" as a sensation that we get when a liquid comes in contact with us, then yes, water is wet to us.
If we define "wet" as "made of liquid or moisture", then water is definitely wet because it is made of liquid, and in this sense, all liquids are wet because they are all made of liquids. I think that this is a case of a word being useful only in appropriate contexts.
http://nautil.us/issue/25/water/ingenious-richard-saykally
Why is water wet? And the proper answer is: strong tetrahedral hydrogen bonding
Chemist Richard Saykally.
Yes but its still subjective if you try to define anything , isnt it. Or at worst , general consensus , because that's all it is ,- consensus. And as for something being a 'liquid ' its still just a bunch of atoms and molecules with gaps so big you could drive a truck through them. Attracted by weak dipole charges, – so whats the difference between a lump of wood, and 'liquid' lava?
Because as sure as day follows night theres no way if you come onto contact with that 'liquid' lava , your going to describe that as being 'wet'. You will say 'ouch!' very loudly and forget very quickly about whats wet and whats not. You will then say its bloody hot instead. And still miss the point that in between those molecules and atoms there are large gaps.
Therefore it is simply a matter of scale and what you in your subjective opinion would then go on to describe only. Yet what really matters is what lies in between the spaces of neutrons and protons.
It's not my definition or my subjectivity, it's the opinion of a renowned chemist, and one I'm quite content to take as fact.
If you want to argue about your scientifically erroneous postulation that water isn't wet, take it up with Mr Saykally, he'll set you straight.
And liquid lava. Lol Isn’t that just molten rock. I’m not a vulcanologist but I wouldn’t say it was liquid.
https://www.quora.com/Is-lava-a-solid-liquid-or-a-gas
Yes , but even your opinion of the opinion of a so called 'renowned ' scientist is still subjective. There was a time when scientists said smoking was good for your health and the earth was flat. They're always getting it wrong. Despite generous government grants.
As for molten rock that is lava, – what would you describe it as ? A solid ? How come it runs and drips in inconvenient places everywhere?
The quota link gives a very good explanation as to why lava isn't a liquid, again, from a chemist.
Worth repeating, take it up with the renowned scientist if you think he's as wrong as an olde worlde flat earther or in the pay of governments. At the same time you could email De Grasse Tyson and tell him he's an idiot because the moon really is made of cheese
lol
Well how do you know the moon isnt made of cheese? – have you been there smarty pants?
And wasn't the main break through's in history's discovery's made by amateurs and not the so called 'professionals?'. So why should we trust the opinions of someone whose gone through the sausage factory and gets to plonk a few silly nonsensical letters behind their name?
Really, you're going with have I been to the moon, prove it? :sigh:
Yeah, you seem eminently qualified to make sound scientific judgements in contradiction to those qualified dopes, one a professor of chemistry at usc in Berkeley, the other a chemist and engineer.
Why would anyone have ever doubted it?
Well that's exactly the point, – how can you or I even begin to trust those so called 'qualified dopes '?
They didn't do too well with the Titanic , did they ? They couldn't even think ahead to put enough life boats on the stupid thing.
And what happened to the Challenger in 1986 ? – it explodes on lift off barely into the stratosphere and you want us to put our faith in what the eggheads have to say?
I'll bet it wouldn't have exploded if they were on board, would it have.
So why shouldn't we reckon the moons made out of cheese?
Going on your hero's past track records we can hardly even believe they made a moon / cheese landing in the 1960's . How do we / you know it wasn't just another petty political race to sell more rubber grommets to the Russians for their rockets?
Which all just goes to prove how not only are those idiots absolutely frikking clueless in predicting , – and then preventing , – even the most basic of accidents and planning ahead for potential health and safety issues , – but totally and monumentally gormless at forming a theory let alone discovering what really consists of the gaps between protons and neutrons .
All we ever get is some cockamamie bullshit about 'cosmic glue' or some other inane cop out. And governments pay them for this stuff!!
Well that's exactly the point, – how can you or I even begin to trust those so called 'qualified dopes '?
They didn't do too well with the Titanic , did they ? They couldn't even think ahead to put enough life boats on the stupid thing.
And what happened to the Challenger in 1986 ? – it explodes on lift off barely into the stratosphere and you want us to put our faith in what the eggheads have to say?
I'll bet it wouldn't have exploded if they were on board, would it have.
So why shouldn't we reckon the moons made out of cheese?
Going on your hero's past track records we can hardly even believe they made a moon / cheese landing in the 1960's . How do we / you know it wasn't just another petty political race to sell more rubber grommets to the Russians for their rockets?
Which all just goes to prove how not only are those idiots absolutely frikking clueless in predicting , – and then preventing , – even the most basic of accidents and planning ahead for potential health and safety issues , – but totally and monumentally gormless at forming a theory let alone discovering what really consists of the gaps between protons and neutrons .
All we ever get is some cockamamie bullshit about 'cosmic glue' or some other inane cop out. Or some subjective caveman dark age supposition about what lies in the empty space between the atomic matrix !
And governments pay them for this stuff!! And we pay governments our taxes !
A five year old could tell us what lies beyond matter !
https://youtu.be/fxEqIt-NUSY?t=2
Okay, consider that one bitten. What hero is that, then?
Liquidity is a state.Therefore molten lava is in it's liquid state. When it cools it's in it's solid state.
Apparently it somewhat acts like a liquid in a molten state, but not exactly. I'm on a tablet and can't easily cut and paste to here, though the quora link is still available up thread if you want to save me the effort when I get home.
“Lava doesn’t fit neatly into any of the common state categories. It has many properties that are similar to those of a liquid, but also has some properties of a bingham plastic Bingham plastic – Wikipedia. It also behaves a bit like certain plastic gels in that while it will fill voids it isn’t always self leveling.
One of the things that distinguishes lava from what we normally think of as liquids is that it isn’t a pure substance and it isn’t a true solution. Part of the result is that it doesn’t have a distinct melting point. Rather, as the rock is heated, it goes through a glassy phase with a viscosity that varies dramatically with temperature. At some point it become liquid-like, but there is still no distinct melting point or transition”
Jerald Cole, B.S., S.M. Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, SJSU, MIT
https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-glass-is-a-liquid-myth-has-finally-been-destroyed-496190894?IR=T
It seems “The higher the lava’s silica content, the higher its viscosity.”
Which makes sense. So I guess liquidity isn’t a defined state, in that the matter could be at a temperature that makes it not quite liquid, nor entirely solid.
I don’t know as much physics as I’d like to.
Any clever physicists in the house to explain this?
I don't want to look like I'm claiming to be a clever physicist, but I do work with material properties on a regular basis …
Even in the range of temperatures and stresses experienced everyday by most people, the division between solid and liquid can be quite fuzzy.
As a simple working definition a liquid cannot resist a sustained shear stress and will eventually self-level in a container. If a liquid is separated (say, poured into separate containers) then brought back together (say, poured back into the same container), then the separated portions will mingle and become indistinguishable from a sample that was never separated. On a micro scale, the molecules in a liquid are continually moving around.
Whereas a solid holds its shape. Once separated into pieces, (broken or cut), a solid won't somehow self-heal. On a micro scale, the molecules and atoms of a solid are fixed in place – if you can identify a specific atoms (say it's a very rare isotope) in a specific location in a solid, you can be confident of coming back later and finding that same atom in the same place in that solid object.
Some materials appear to neatly fit those simple definitions, and transition between solid and liquid at specific temperatures. Water transitions to ice and back again as the temperature goes past 0 degrees C. Candle wax melts when heated, then solidifies when cooled. It's very hard to get water into a state that's neither very obviously liquid or very obviously solid.
Other materials blur the boundaries. Mayonnaise (classic example of a Bingham plastic) behaves a bit like a solid (scoop a bit out and what's left in a jar doesn't self-level), but it flows readily through a pipe and self-heals. It's like a solid at low stresses and short timescales, but like a liquid at higher stresses and longer timescales. Oobleck (used mostly to show primary school kids that material behaviour can be weird) behaves like a solid for suddenly applied stresses.
Most materials actually show some combination of solid and liquid behaviors, especially as temperatures and stresses and timescales increase. In engineering, it's often called creep and/or plasticity. The materials that don't exhibit some sort of creep behaviour tend to be very highly ordered crystals, such as diamond, carbon fibre.
Consider steel or aluminium – obviously a solid, right? Flex it a little bit and it springs right back to its original shape. But bend it a lot more, and it only springs partway back to its original shape; it undergoes a plastic deformation, kind of a flow-type process. Heat them up, and it becomes much easier to bend them, they lose most of their strength and stiffness at temperatures a fraction of their melting temperatures. Put them under enough pressure and they will self heal to an extent – cold welding is indeed a thing. Hollow aluminium extrusions are essentially formed into shape as separate pieces cold-welded together in the extrusion die at temperatures way below melting point. Yet steel and aluminium on a micro scale are mostly quite crystalline with fairly well-defined melting temperatures.
Other materials don't have well-defined melting temperatures, they are effectively solids at room temperature, then as temperatures rise they behave more like very high viscosity liquids, then as temperatures rise more their viscosity decreases. Glass and lava are common examples. On a micro scale, these tend to not have any kind of ordered crystalline structure and are generally described as amorphous.
Yet other materials never melt, they decompose rather than melting when temperatures get hot enough. Thermoset polymers as used for most fibreglass products and many kinds of rubber are the most common examples of materials that decompose before melting. But even these tend to show some kind of softening behaviour as temperatures rise.
But… there's gaps between housing here in my suburb however it is still a housing area. Most of us are aware that most everything is mostly space, but the physical manifestation of the world still appears before us and obeys physical laws.
The gaps are where everything is 'connected' to everything. I can't wait till we're smart enough to work out how that all works but in the interim we study the observable world.
Yes but how do we know we arent all on some mind bending hallucinogenic cosmic substance that makes us perceive a certain thing as a corporate body?
Cant you see the gaps in that argument?
And you are still advancing an erroneous theory based on a matter of scale determined by your perceived body dimensions. Body dimensions, that largely , are full of empty space. Like the space between your houses in your suburb. In other words, this universe is replete with more gaps and 'space' than it is with what we pathetically try to describe and define as 'matter'.
Monty python – The Universe song which also goes under … – YouTube
For heaven's sake: wet means when a liquid clings to the surface of a solid, which water normally does. But if you spray the solid object with silicon, water no longer clings to it, so it cannot be wet from water. But it could be wet from some other substance not repelled by silicon. (Even lava??)
This is a language debate more than a scientific one.
If language is the instrument of thought, as somebody once said, scientists should be our most important linguists.
I'll stick with what that scientist says until he's proved wrong by another scientist.
One of the more interesting Auckland Conversations I went to (when I still had some vestige of hope, -long gone now) was Zaid Hassan on the topic of emergent problem solving.
Here he is talking last year about the necessity to change paradigms, and practice the devolution of structures. A bit repetitive for those who may already have come across it, but his social labs work was interesting to find, and read about change.
…Social Labs website.
Holy Mary sweet mother of Jesus who thought it would be a good idea to make Nick Leggett the spokesman for the trucking lobby???
The guy just gave a complete train wreck of a ranting interview on RNZ. He is completely fucking off the planet. Yet another very angry ex-Labour now fervent ACToid in a media facing position. Just what the country needs. Not.
Yes, Leggett is a true prince. Never mind the broken bodies and the broken lives and the fire crews having to wash away the gore…the trucks have to keep on rolling (at a sedate 90kph of course) or the economy will tank.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/391246/speed-limits-too-high-on-most-roads-nzta-estimates
I spent 15 minutes I can't really spare trying to find the mentioned NZTA Mega Maps which I imagine indicate which of our nation's highways should have their speed limit reduced…and largely drew a blank.
Suzi did try to pin Leggett down, but she obviously didn't hear me when I yelled "Ask how many accidents fatal or otherwise involves heavy vehicles!!!!!". My rough guestimate is at least one accident involving a truck every day.
Try GRIDLOCK by Ben Elton..high farce mixed with satire and a relevant political message.
Also recommend this book it's a good read and plenty of laughs plus some deep thinking.
Truck involvement is about 26 to 27 % give or take on any given year, but the hidden death toll involving trucks is much higher. Interestingly, alcohol impairment is significantly below this.
The "polishing "of roads that trucks move on combined with a little moisture is lethal. The polishing is caused by the smoothing and compacting of the tyre line on the road and is considerably more pronounced on corners because of the effect of centrifical force, as if that's not enough, the fact that trucks are considerably wider than cars or even vans means that one side of the car is on a completely different surface with a co-efficient of friction to the other.
It takes considerable skill to safely drive on high trucking use roads.
Listening to that interview Suzi did get Leggett to pin his colours to the
mastside of his trucks and say money would be better spent doing up the roads than being wasted on rail. I like the way she subtly squeezes the nerve and gets to the real point.Or,
I like the way she subtly squeezes the
nervepimple and gets to the realpointpus…Surely he has the job because of his connections and 'back door' access as opposed to his communication skills. I would much rather know what is being said behind closed doors.
He seemed very cross that a few mangled bodes might get in the way of the nice big shiny trucks.
A little fun tune to start the day with….
Seriously??
The new extremists
Freedumb.
Yuuuuck! Needs an antidote…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKEZt-tfLrk
Thanks Rosemary, aren't they gorgeous?
The self effacing humour, a builder of resiliance I believe.
The ability to laugh at yourself, a strength that has gone missing of late.
While waiting for The People's Budget to begin on NZPTV the other night
( https://www.nzptv.org.nz/videos/the-peoples-budget ) we watched this wee nugget…
https://www.nzptv.org.nz/videos/latest-additions-6 "Beyond a Joke"
…the girls' section was a classic.
I can't decide what's worse, the lyrics or the choreography.
You made me go back and listen to more than the first line.
Now I need therapy, lots and lots of therapy…
Oh no, sorry, US needs therapy. Lots and lots of therapy.
whew rough that was
for some reason this song came to mind
I'd have given an arm and a leg to see this guy as a young man and wannabe poet. He inspired a fair bit of work of which I'll spare you.
And if you haven't had enough maga idiocy…
The hand that Shakes
It is said that Queen Elizabeth II is well informed on the broad politics, and the Leadership of a number of Nations.
Recently she has shaken the hands of some quite "Far Out" individuals, including those who deliver alarming punishments to harmless females.
But for me to see her Hand welcome Donald Misanthrope Trump with all the Queens Trappings, was and is, a violation of Human Dignity.
For he is the man who separates unknowing little children from their parents – to such an extent that they cannot be found!
Yuck Yiuck Yuck Elizabeth !. You have let the civilised world utterly down! You are Applauding and Appeasing filth. Go and Cuddle your doggys. lick them!. But send Trump and his Nation away.
do you think she is more well informed than you?
Informed enough to wear gloves.
And twice as informed as Michael Jackson.
Very good.
It could be argued that it was a meeting of the minds.
I don't see Trump as being too far away from the British leadership during the heyday and decline of the British Empire.
"Apparently unsatisfied with the legal loophole the Americans had created for them, the Israelis sought and received full access to the NSA's massive surveillance data troves after the war. A 2009 memorandum of understanding officially gave ISNU unrestricted access to the NSA's raw intelligence data – including the phone and internet records of American citizens and citizens of third-party countries."
https://www.rt.com/news/460785-nsa-israel-intelligence-partner/
Even Larry the cat got involved in protesting Trump's visit !
What a cat. Not only protesting his presence – but also making a statement on Climate Change and the irresponsible use of large vehicles!
https://twitter.com/BillNeelyNBC/status/1135864159046967296/
Here he is waiting to welcome Trump at the famous door. Seems reluctant but doing his diplomatic bit for the nation….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Db-PZZhHw
Awww..
I will Say This :
Our Queen Elizabeth II, never intervenes when someone is in trouble.
She eats her Oates and Salads, Pats the Horses, Cuddles and Licks her Doggys front and back.
But she never intervenes. Intervention is Death.
That's her Motto ! – oh, i see one of the doggys has had an oopsy. Prince William will nobly spend a Shilling or two fixing it.
Pressure being put on Labour to do more
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/06/socialist-group-slams-labour-with-tax-the-rich-motorway-banner.html
Good.
At the rate Jacinda is going she will end up on a par with do-nothing Key.
She cowardly bailed from capital gains issue. She has put together a budget which is exactly as the (left) critics outline – weak and avoiding the tough issues.
Jacinda is on track for a weak place in history.
Maybe she is simply trying to ensure a second term, which is when the real action will happen, but I call pfftt on that… her colours are flying high and it aint what many most voted for.
Ban on cellphones in school. Well done Dio!
And the students like it. Much like when I leave this desk and discover the world and people to be much more interesting than my rabbiting on…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/113197569/auckland-school-bans-phones–and-students-are-happy-about-it
So long as such a policy is balanced with open access to the school library during breaks, so ensure that non sociable kids dont just sit in the corner with their thumbs up their arses.
I've recently seen emerging data that suggests social media provokes anxiety and depression in you people under the age of 18 or so. Especially it seems young women.
RL I guess you meant to put 'young' people,. There aren't many under 18 round here I think.
errk
I collectively add up to three under 18's, that's a start.
Found the source:
Bottom line …. kids under 16 should not have social media.
lol I don't think you know much about kids if you think that will fly in today's world.
It is what it is – we are going to device free days (2) now and getting the board games out – hopefully the boy (11) will be able to deal with it. It must be fun or as we used to say – a lower taste can be given up if a higher taste is taken.
Haidt recommends that parents collectively approach schools to implement a ban. I agree it's very hard for any individual family to deal with, but doable if everyone is working to the same rules.
He also points out that the people who design and make these things know how addictive and potentially harmful they are, and keep their own children safe from them.
Reminds me of the Watercare guy who wont drink Auckland water (I asked him as he was testing a reservoir).
What a bullshit article. It says but students at Auckland's Diocesan School for Girls are happy with the new policy and quotes 2, yes 2, students to back this up.
I know my daughter would be super pissed off. I would be annoyed also as i often communicate with her by text and email during the day. Given how the school tramples on her rights on a consistent basis i find it essential that she has quick access to advocacy.
solkta
'The school tramples on her rights' – do you find living in a society with reasonable rules and guidelines a problem for a free-thinker? Do you tend to embrace Ayn Rand's approach.
I have no problem with reasonable rules and guidelines, that's why we have the BoRA.
Play your cards right you can keep her tied to your apron strings 4 eva solky.
Amazing – results on Kauri Dieback!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/113238540/traditional-mori-medicine-could-be-a-cure-for-kauri-dieback
I'm kind of baffled except I know most microbes can't grow on lipids. There's so much we don't understand, this is a classic example.
For the record I'm meant to be doing a doctorate on Kauri right now but my supervisor fell ill then the financier died. Life goes on…
Best luck with that WtB. Can replacements be found, is money needed?
I'm over that now (kinda). I think my ego really struggled letting it go, who wouldn't want to save the day. I'm actually revamping my touring company and will be taking
climate conversationcomedy on the road before long.It's a tough call, making climate change entertaining, no one wants to talk about it, because it's depressing.
That's why walruses are leaping off cliffs.
Please don't go walrusing we need your acerbic wit etc.
Comedy's a three day week if you plan it like that. I'll still be a thorn in your side.
I was trying out some aspie material on my doctor this morning, made him snort snot.
So rewarding…
"Both Butterworth and Ashby hope to get their treatment scientifically tested. "
Ummm…. I thought they had tested this. Don't Traditional Maori medicine practioners use the scientific method when testing?
There's so much to be tested Gosman. It works (in this one context) but why…
WHY?
It's still amazing news.
No. Two people THINK it works. They did so on the basis of some testing. However this testing looks not to have been very scientific in nature. At this point in time this remedy is of no more interest than someone claiming that the power of prayer alone (as opposed to prayer and whale blubber) could help combat Kauri dieback.
Old fossil. Time will tell.
Being dismissive of culture you don't understand was expected, but still a bit sad.
It's an enigma wrapped in a mystery!
Your reply is no different to those I would expect pushing ANY unscientific idea. Do you believe in Homeopathy?
I'm a qualified scientist. I certainly want more knowledge than we've been given in the article, that's why I wrote
"There's so much to be tested Gosman"
Or was the sentence too long?
If you are a qualified scientist then you should know that it is EASY to test something scientifically and that these people failed to do that.
All they needed to do was set up a Double blind, placebo controlled test to see if the traditional Maori remedy made a difference.
The fact they did not do so suggests they aren't interested in actual science and more interested in pushing their particular brand of Woo.
Do you think we should take the word of Homeopaths who also believe their remedies work?
Disrespectful old coot aren't you. Woo, homeopathy… if you read the article it states:
"Both Butterworth and Ashby hope to get their treatment scientifically tested."
Most of our medicines are plant based. We got the ideas for them from indigenous people's and invariably stole their culture in the process. Then we rubbish them, as you are doing now.
You claim to be a scientists but you don't seem to understand why the scientific method is the BEST way of determining if something actually works or not. Instead you just accept the claims of these two that their remedy DID actually work. If you are actually a scientist can you tell me why the scientific method removes such things as confirmation bias from the equation?
These people may well be on to something but until such time as they properly carry out some scientific testing rather than just smearing their remedy on to some self selected trees which they check later then we don’t know anything at all. Tell me why they can’t carry out scientific testing themselves?
Fuck off you stupid old man you're not worth the time.
Just as I thought. It is clear you are not the scientist you claim you are. You have a particular agenda you are pushing and are just as much a purveyor of Woo as these two are likely to be.
he started a doctorate and probably started a science undergraduate degree, that’s enough for many these days. ( ie. nearly finished , sort of)
You clearly cannot comprehend what is printed plainly in front of you. You failed to see I'd called for testing and whined about it, you failed to see the persons in the article had called for testing and whined about that.
All you did was prove you are either senile or stupid.
I have nothing to prove to you.
@Gosman
Designing and implementing a gold standard double blind, randomised control study on large natural systems like a forest is a non-trivial exercise. It would definitely need more resources than two individuals could throw at it.
There isn't any controversy here, everyone agrees this was just a 'proof of concept' initial trial and lot more scientific work needs doing. WtB is quite right, the inspiration for many medical discoveries came from indigenous observational knowledge, and disrespecting this is churlish at best.
jesus christ bleeple, what's with the old hate? Eh?
the young and ignorant eh… no idea… wait until you get some decent years under your belt and all will become much clearer.
poor form
Old enough to recognise someone who sounds about a generation out of touch.
It's not the physical age, it's the fuddy duddy old BS.
Woo and homeopathy challenge, thought I was back on facebook.
It's an interesting one isn't it… who is out of touch… the old or the young
Other than phones (woop-de-doo), it is the young who are in fact out of touch
always have been
hence the value of elders (except in our out of touch 'modern' society – what an anomaly eh)
so out of touch our society
I do think I could've been more tactful, but posters who do not converse rather throw challenge (get answer) – ignore answer throw next challenge…
Not worth it.
@Redlogix
A full blown study would not be straightforward it is true but a preliminary test to determine if a more detailed study should be carried out is easy enough to design. Unless you think we should just take people's word that something might work and spend time and money on that additional study without any further investigation.
Kiss my ass Bewildered.
I posted this and mentioned some experience with this particular issue in case someone with intelligence wanted to discuss: Kauri, Phytophthora or just plant pathology in general.
I withdraw any attempt at coercing intelligent discussion on the subject. Seems the verdict is in and I'm not qualified… must alter the CV.
This is Stephen Mills and Matthew Hooton's views on the "Hacking" scandal.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018698017
Mills doesn't seem to think National has done anything wrong here and thinks Labour would have done something similar if they had been in the same situation.
Unlikely, particularly with their current leader, but how would we ever know?
I s'pose they woulda done it tooo!!
Makes a change from whah whah they do it too.
I don't think they would have.
Some people respect confidentiality and copyright.
Some people think about the implications of what they do before doing it.
IT fail at metservice.
https://twitter.com/MichaelFieldNZ/status/1136040514573164544
Blame Musk…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/first-up/audio/2018698157/spacex-chain-of-60-satellites-visible-from-nz-this-morning
I'll bet there were a few who were shitting their pants this morning if they weren't in the know.
I tried to get through to Metservice and 503 is my unlucky number.
I have made the odd polite suggestion to them but probably they are meeting government targets and making a profit and mere citizens get an opportunity to feedback but probably get greeted like yesterday's dinner being disdained by the cat.
Musta been a small tornado hit this place only minutes back, rain came in sideways, my cat, metres safely inside the greenhouse on a warm bed of straw – came in pissed off and wet. Wet angry cats look so funny!
Absolutely hosed down, wind shrieking, then silence.
Garden's watered.
Chch still cold.
https://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/content/christchurch-shivers-just-2-degrees-lunchtime
Only in America…
…can you be found guilty of an "utter disregard for the safety of others," by not shooting a gun.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12237449
Complicated isn't it. A security guard expecting to be breaking up school fights and keeping strangers from roaming round the school is expected to charge in and stop the gunman. They say he and another did nothing, but I am sure they did something. One wonders what? And what was the protocol in the manual for behaviour if a shooter comes into the school – it is a dereliction of duty if the school didn't have such a set of instructions as it is no longer a rare happening in the good ol' UNITED States of America.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46507514
At the beginning of 2018, Education Week, a journal covering education in the US, began to track school shootings – and has since recorded 23 incidents where there were deaths or injuries.
With many parts of the US having about 180 school days per year, it means, on average, a shooting once every eight school days.
From the link of Muttonbird's. They are in the USA blood-thirsty when they are seeking to blame others for gun violence. I hope all involved in the blaming have been outspoken for outlawing guns except on annual licences for hunting for the few.
A former Florida deputy who stood outside instead of confronting the gunman during last year's Parkland school massacre was arrested today on 11 criminal charges related to his inaction.
Broward State Attorney Mike Satz said in a statement that 56-year-old Scot Peterson faces child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury charges that carry a combined potential maximum prison sentence of nearly 100 years….
The Peterson arrest is the latest fallout from the Valentine's Day 2018 shooting. Governor Ron DeSantis suspended then-Sheriff Scott Israel for "neglect of duty and incompetence" over the department's actions that day. Israel is appealing that decision to the state Senate and said he intends to run again next year.
The case also spawned a state commission that issued a 458-page report detailing a litany of errors before and during the shooting, including unaggressive Broward deputies who stayed outside the school building and the policies that led to that — such as Israel's decision to change guidelines so that deputies "may" confront an active shooter rather than "shall" do so….
The chairman of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, said in an interview that the charges against Peterson are "absolutely warranted."
"Scot Peterson is a coward, a failure and a criminal," Gualtieri said. "There is no doubt in my mind that because he didn't act, people were killed."
Blame, hot and heavy. I would be surprised if anyone is prepared to take on security guard work at schools there.
Someone has to be at fault for the dead kids and it can't be gun culture, it can't be the family of the shooter, it can't be the police – who knew about his issues but could not do much, it could not be the FBi – see re police, it can't be anyone cause GUNS! Merica! Guns! Moar!Guns!For!All! Second Amendment! Sacred Guns!
But then the kids came and raised a ruckus, prayers and thoughts did not help those that committed suicide, or those that will have huge medical bills to pay and be considered a 'pre existing condition' for the rest of their lifes, did not shut up the dads unhappy about their dead kids, so someone had to be found to sacrifice to the Gods of War, Weaponry, Mayhem, Death, Bigottry and Second Amendment Rights as envisioned by the NRA.
A school resource, who did not ran into a school to save the kids from a gun man. Obviously he was not a good man with a gun, thus he is now gonna go to prison for real long.
That will teach all the other 'resources' stationed at schools, armed to their teeth, bullet proof west and all, that they don't get to opt out from a shooting, lest they be prepared to go into the slammer for life.
Merica!
Surely it would be a defense if he said he thought and prayed really hard outside…
Security guard must be a well trained and renumerated vocation.
Expected to wield lethal force.
Coming soon to New Zealand:
https://i.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/113238990/dutch-teenager-abused-as-a-child-legally-euthanised-after-long-battle-with-mental-health-anorexia
I am so disgusted and saddened by this – wtf
You can see why even Seymour has agreed to narrow the proposed scope to terminal illness.
Life's a terminal illness sashy.
A good one.
Intolerable suffering and not being able to live a meaningful and dignified life. No hope left. Just sadness and pain …
Life is tough, and then you die?
Leaves a horrible discomforting feeling in the stomach
There is something deeply not right about humanity going down this track… hate to think where it will lead, what the consequences might be… I don't think anybody can foresee this where or what either …. the door is only just being opened
In almost every challenge we face, we deal with the band aid solution for the symptom rather than tackle the cause.
Thinking about feeling gratitude for what we have and not wanting to spend our lives getting more just for 'retail therapy' would be a way. Being prepared to be lonely and sad for a time, and how to get out of it without buying something would help to keep control on the future and also wanting everyone to have an enjoyable life by adopting new ways of thinking, altering a little our ways of being – hard but if determined it can be done.
We do have to go down new tracks. Appreciate each other, give and also take, and be happy as possible and keep others in the happiness loop as is possible. I think Prof Jared Diamond lays out how the door is being opened. Actually it is not 'only just being opened' but we have never chosen to go through it and explore.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018697832/professor-jared-diamond-the-world-is-in-more-trouble-than-it-has-ever-been
Diamond gives human civilisation 30 years, if we stay on our present trajectory.
“One could certainly say that the world is on a non-sustainable course at the moment, we're utilizing essential resources, forests, fisheries, top soil and water at an unsustainable rate, such that we will run out of them in several decades.
“That will deplete them to the point where we don't have a chance to correct our course. So, I would say it will all get settled in the next several decades, whether we get on to a sustainable track, or whether we go over the edge of the abyss.”
From the same article
her choice, her body, her life.
And at least she could choose suicide in an environment that allows her loved ones, friends, family and those that cared about her be part of it, rather then spend a lifetime wondering as if they could have done something, anything, when really nothing could be done.
I have lost a few friends to suicide. I think many of us might have or know someone who did. And this was always the question, could we have done something? And frankly i don't have an answer.
Either we have bodily autonomy, or we don't.
But here we are discussing the fact that she choose a legal way out of her life, rather then the fact that she like so many others could not deal with the abuse she suffered. And yet, we do nothing when we find the abusers, cause insert myriads of bullshit reasons.
We would rather have her suffer, so as to not feel uncomfortable about the fact that a young women could not deal with the abuse that she was dealt, an abuse that hardly ever is punished to the full extend to the law. Now that we can live with. But bodily autonomy, nah, that is going one step to far.
Rest in peace. May she fly free of angst, anxiety, bad dreams, and abuse.
And at least she could choose suicide in an environment that allows her loved ones, friends, family and those that cared about her be part of it, rather then spend a lifetime wondering as if they could have done something, anything, when really nothing could be done.
I noticed some nasty scars on her arm in that photo. A visual indication of her inner trauma. I have read stories of people who have gone through the concentration camps and have been able to come back from it and have a life. But the abuse of trust when you are young is hard to come back from. If we can help others who are young and vulnerable, and think of her and her memory prompts us to do so, it would be a memorial for her that some good came from her sadness.
From childhood trauma, now in my 50's, still struggling not to be reactive, defensive, offensive…
Tried to drink myself to death but my liver's a tough bastard.
Some days I REALLY want to die, but then a few days later life is amazing. The thing that gets me through the dark times is the memory of the other side being achieved. Without any respite I'd have thrown in the towel ages ago.
It's a very complex subject matter. I don't know enough to say yes/no to the concept.
On the one hand I agree with Sabine, on the other I fear a slippery slope as corporations are deeply embedded in all aspects of health. And as we've seen, they'd like to own it all.
A sick person is more expensive to care for than bury. Simple accounting.
And who will be stopping the accountants?
no one will be stopping the accountants. no one ever did.
But she – this girl was not killed by an uncaring state or uncaring relatives, she was killed by abuse a long time ago.
She tried to live, somehow and simply could no longer. And frankly it is worth to mention that. She …..SHE could no longer abide to live. She saw no value in it, she could not bear her suffering anymore. And she choose. Her agency, her body, her life, her choice.
As for your comment of a sick person is more expensive to care, let me rephrase this for you in accountants slogan
"A sick person is a profit centre, a dead one is an cost centre'.
there is more money to be made keeping us alive, pumped up with pills, n shit to keep functioning – at least for now.
Once there is no more use for us, they will have no issue doing away with us.
I don't understand that people today are still so blinded by their own ideas of 'human rights' and stuff that they don't see that. Merica has no issues throwing out sick people from a hospital to die in a ditch if /when they can't afford the bills anymore. Heck we keep people on a waiting list until they die. But yeah, can't have assisted suicide cause…………….what ever.
I was thinking more along the lines of where the state provides the healthcare as we get, but then there's the accountants… Easier to knock a few off than pay for long term care.
Still, if all the services get privatised you're absolutely on the money. The corporates will drain the state for however much they can squeeze.
I agree if this girl's done all she can and life is nothing but misery, why carry on. There should be an option for humane considerations but… humanity!!!
First it would be good if people would acknowledge her agency in her assisted suicide. Secondly, it would be good if people accepted that some others might not have the same value or interest in living at all. Thirdly, everyone deals with abuse, torture and death differently, and again it would be nice if that could be also accepted.
The 'young and vulnerable' would be best served if our society, our law enforcment officers, our justice system were to finally take abuse for that serious life changing crime it is, rather then offer fuck all and cut services to those that need them the most. That might help the 'young and vulnerable' to gain some of the trust that was just beaten or sexually assaulted, mentally tortured out of them.
In the UK the unravelling society has its affect on the young.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/04/one-in-five-young-women-have-self-harmed-study-reveals
Meanwhile the circus goes on.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/04/trump-visit-brings-full-spectrum-of-protesters-to-trafalgar-square
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/04/trump-says-he-turned-down-corbyn-request-to-meet Trump wavers after saying NHS must be on table in US-UK trade talks
Corbyn turned down an invitation to the Queen’s state banquet for Trump but it emerged during the press conference that he had requested a private meeting with the president.
Trump said he had rejected the request from Corbyn, describing him as “somewhat of a negative force”.
Trump's advisors have him organised to cover RW political bases. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/04/trump-asks-to-meet-michael-gove-and-may-see-johnson-and-farage
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/04/eu-gives-nigel-farage-24-hours-to-explain-arron-banks-funds
On protests in UK: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018698160/protests-in-london-as-trump-meets-may
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/391236/trump-praises-extraordinary-us-uk-alliance-on-state-visit
At the news conference, Mr Trump also said:
Sabine, you said this a couple of times… "her choice, her body, her life"
Is that the decider do you think? Simple personal choice? Or is it more complex … and if so, how do those complexities fit within these circumstances?
Sounds like a slope of such slipperiness Sabine that a sizeable skate is certain..
I was hoping we could collectively choose to ignore the fact that her battles with childhood abuse induced mental illness was played out for all to see on social media.
In an alternate universe one hopes it might have been possible to treat her illness and heal her pain out of the glare of intense Instagram publicity. Clearly it is not a case of a problem shared being a problem divided by 10,000++, and therefore made bearable.
Exercising her agency and dying with the spotlight still on her…way to go. Not.
I guess I am showing my age.
You are wrong Sabine.
This is an absolute tragedy and it should never, ever be the message to other young people that suicide, either cleanly with medical assistance or potentially messily without, is a viable option when struggling with such issues.
We are obliged to give the young people hope, and better therapy.
+ 1 Yep I agree.
I agree. What a bloody awful indictment on the mental health services where she lives.
The thing about being dead is that it's sort of permanent. No fixing exists that undeads one.
Tragic beyond belief for her.
Edit
And why is she doing it so publicly?
And why is she doing it so publicly?
Please goddess, let it not be that she aspires to be such an influential Instagram influencer that…
Oh please, this has fake news written all over it.
This just in, the word gullible isn't actually in the dictionary, check it if you don't believe me
The UK right wing media reported it without fact checking and it has gone around the world. She was denied legal euthenasia, has been starving herself for years (they called it anorexia) and has many forced feeding interventions.
It's a story which identifies the second rate, and right wing prejudiced media.
Anyone who read the story and didn't instantly think "this sounds like bullshit" has identified themselves as a moron.
This is fake news.
Stuff has stuffed up.
The complicated future of Ports of Auckland
business transport
The Detail – A giant car park occupies the most expensive real estate in New Zealand on Auckland's waterfront. Can we move the port – and should we? Audio
The above sentences illustrate the problem that we have today with comprehending reality. That the port operates on the most expensive real estate in NZ is because so many people have been able to build riches from trading. Trading is the way that we have built our economies and the transfer of physical things from ports is probably one of the biggest underpinnings of much financial exchange and share market activity.
That those who make money from this then want to buy a place with a sea view doesn't mean that we should abandon our goose that laid the golden egg. Actually it is very interesting watching ships and ports at work, and it makes someone like me happy who wants a thriving, busy NZ with reasonable levels of prosperity for all.
If the port needs changing as a result of developing a port in Whangarei which will be useful and viable, and also amounts of shipping using Tauranga, well that is a result of wise decision-making assisting trade. The wealthy who want and can afford everything they fix their minds on can go jump.
Edit:
Here is the link that goes with the heading. I am replying to the heading with my thoughts about ports being grand bits of theatre and activity as well as places of industry and commercial advancement. More detail will be in the link which I haven’t read as yet.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018698066/what-s-happening-with-auckland-s-port
The development of Wynyard wharf into apartments, restaurants, business and commercial centres, hotels, a theatre, parks, and Americas Cup facilities shows what should happen next.
This was (and in some part remains) a heavy marine precinct with fishing and refits and with massive oil and other contaminants stored in large tanks.
What it is being turned into is a whole extension of downtown Auckland, and many sections of it are completed already under Panuku and other agencies such as the Wynyard Quarter Alliance.
The next Mayor should sell the port company operations to the operators, and retain the land for a comprehensive redevelopment.
Plenty of concepts have aready come and gone, but it's time for the fresh Auckland Council to shift heavy port freight away from Auckland's downtown area, and let the freight and logistics companies sort out how freight can be brought to the inland ports and broken down.
Already with Whangarei and Tauranga there is a lessening of use of Auckland Port. Business comes before pleasure in this new century and the wealthy haven't got the message yet. If it is a good thing for transport and Auckland city to shift the dirtiest port facilities then that is wise, but all the things that cater mainly for the rich and idle should come second.
The role of tourism and the leisured class in the nation's economy cannot continue for ever. However large cruise ships could become floating accommodation when things decline later, and having wharfs where they can be moored within cooee of the main drag and the trains at Briscoe could be a drawcard for budget tourists.
A HUGE amount to spend to provide more upper-end housing….
How much would be achieved for those without decent, or any, housing with that HUGE amount?
Priorities
Priorities
What are they? Judge by the actions. Add the dollars up.
Fuck Yeah, Waterworld!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterworld
They didn't ban plastic bags in the UK but put a 5p charge on them and use went down by 85%. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/04/the-guardian-view-on-phasing-out-packaging-back-to-the-plastic-free-future
What a pity that when we were raising huge sums to get Americas Cup to perform on our seas, that we couldn't done the same in NZ for very little cost as a gesture to a beautiful clean sea. Now we have a Trust that goes round ports and cleans up rubbish. So it's nice for the America's Cup. Nz Goverment knows what is important and when; I think it is important to fund this great clean up effort and also the West Coast one, and don't you say 'Rubbish' government ministers.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018698178/new-zealand-s-ocean-litter-shame
Found a version of sphinx search that doesn't die all over the place. Fixed the systemd to handle failures correctly.
I'll correct the queries tomorrow for various bits and add in some tags like author, and we'll see how we go with this new version.
Always the same. I take a holiday for a week and it takes 4 days before I'm ready to play with code again. I need to start taking 2 week holidays.
Finally. We have a date.
2050
The same year that New Zealand finally becomes carbon neutral.
Not a moment too soon, or too late.*
*Depending on your political persuasion. (That is, if there are any politics or any other sort of extant human endeavor remaining by that time)
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/597kpd/new-report-suggests-high-likelihood-of-human-civilization-coming-to-an-end-in-2050?utm_source=vicetwitterus&fbclid=IwAR3cXLbRX7OeV6X8l6mX3lELvi20FWL7Iy6RX5oRsP_pHqUL_IhCG65AxUE
and even that could be optimistic….31 years is a long time for cohesion in the face of crisis
Is cutting speed limits a sinister plot to lower the road toll?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/113248885/cutting-speed-limits-could-do-more-harm-than-good-aa-claims
John Campbell is back.
There are 33,000 perfectly good homes standing empty in Auckland
This morniings expose' by Campbell of the housing crisis in Phil Twyford's own electorate, calls for urgent action.
Empty homes tax like they do in Vancouver, maybe?
Is this thing working?
Is there anyone out there?
How about you Mickysavage?
You used to be hot on this when Labour were in opposition.
Kia ora The Am Show.
No comment on don.
China increasing its milk power and baby milk powder production is a logical move. I say that move is about Australia
The commemorations for the 75 Anniversary of D Day looks cool .
I noticed the last time the housing market in Gisborne Bay of plenty rose consestantly was when Labour was last in power its called looking after all the people.
John the weather was quite wild up North Land .
It would be nice to see our government and the unions teachers and doctors come to a agreement.
I don't get into fastfood being delivered my tamariki do quite a bit home cooked food is healthier a less expensive .
That Newport story is a great one for a second name.
The Directors deck chair was a great yarn to I had one similar but cannot reveal it .
Gisborne is a great place to live sun shine hunting fishing great people.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub
The Christchurch shooter doesn't look like he is intelligent enough to have pulled that off by himself.
Lot of Snow down south the skie season should be good this year.
Some people just want the attention they don't think about the consequences of their actions the false claim of needles found in strawberries issues.
That's not on selling new bikes with no brakes.
That's the way Tim we have to look after the innocent people voting to keep the disabled employed cool.
Eco Maori knowns what its like being served up Bullshit I get it every day of the year
Ka kite ano
Kia ora te ao Maori news.
That would be a big disaster if the Rhino Beatles wiping out coconut plantations in the Solomon Island there should be a solution to this problem Aotearoa will have to help with the research.
I say the Waikato hospital workers and everyone should be payed the living WAGE
It is needed a new mental health building to help the people who are mentally ill in Gisborne Ka pai.
Nannia it awesome getting the tangata whenua houses repaired it makes me so sad when I see whare like that I know that the whare that are in bad condition are tangata whenua houses.
I think it's cool more Maori Wahine are joining the police we need more Maori in the police so they learn to love and respect Tangata whenua.
Wikitoria I agree with Phil we need to get more people using public transportation the free ride to mark 100 million rides is good marketing ka pai
Ka kite ano