The National Party has released a discussion document asking if benefits to solo mothers who refuse to vaccinate should be cut, but Mr Luxon's suggestion it go further to working for families is new….but apparently worth getting feedback from average kiwi's on..
The interview was as bad and as low brow, dumd and stupid as you could imagine, but it reminded me of a bit from this Think Big interview with Slavoj Žižek at about 10:30 into it…
Great clip Adrian. He spells it out. I think I got a fairly clear view before I started watching and listening to him (you can be in two minds sometimes), but he is right. We need to look at outcomes, without any labelling of left or right, any naming of political pathway, and what we are seeing is an unacceptable slide into nimbyism, selfishness, callousness, and obsession. There are fantasy views of what is going on that people shine on any unattractive facade, like using the world as a backscreen for a giant epic.
I think he is missing a point about local government and so on; I think that people need to wake up and take some responsibility for their local area, and come together with other local areas to form a viable plan for good systems and outcomes. This would run in parallel with the national and international stuff which we have so little input or control over. Too much talk about how things should be is where the activity goes, too little actual intelligent and far-seeing work. There needs to be fast decision-making, enabling things to be done as pilots within an agreed framework.
Our world has come to a crossroads. We can't drag ourselves along the same route with politicians spitting venom at each other, and hate for a majority of us while being paid large salaries to prevent anything happening that would help those most in need. They are like wearing leg irons, and even those wil goodwill are too heavy for us to move far. We are in need of new, good laws and practices that take us into the future, but the past want to hold onto their prize won in the blood and vileness of World War 2.
It is important for people who want to be both kind and practical to find each other, because nothing worthwhile is going to come from the rest of the democrats who want to leave the important stuff for the end of the meeting agenda; someone quoted once that if you wanted agreement at an average committee meeting to develop a nuclear bomb it should be a bland heading at the end of the agenda, after a discussion on whether the garden shed should be repositioned in a better spot where it would be over the cricket crease.
They will prefer to follow inadequate policies, or watch sport or let off firecrackers, which include the word that is likely to be the death knell of many! We will have so many complaints when they are banned. And we need to do it right away so there isn't another full Guy Fawkes, though there will be the regular letting them off individually and in groups on occasions for years. Perhaps there is a connection with our planet's birth called the Big Bang, and males of all ages carry a genetic memory!
They say " Without deep and lasting changes, the world is facing "untold human suffering" the study says."
what they shoud say however is this "
Without deep and lasting changes, the poor of this world are facing untold human suffering:" the study says. (and one could argue that they are already doing so).
while the 'poor' (currently) will (and are) suffering the most it is important to understand that the situation is not static and that it will change…and not slowly.
The 'wealthy' will not be immune until the very end as that wealth relies on interdependent systems to be of use.
Some women i know had great stories about payment and money options in germanyjust after the war and before the monetary reform in 1948. Prostitution- or fraternazation – got you food, cigarettes, booze etc etc etc. And these three things paid for everything else.
in a world without food, the last remaining body to be eaten is currency – and i bet you a dollar that the one eating will be people like Jarvanka (and their ilk and those like them) and the one being eaten is just some schmuck of the street who will not be missed by anyone. .
where is that money?…how do they access it?..as said the functioning systems have to remain operable for it to be of use…stranded assets cant be sold ….banks and sharemarkets collapse….distribution networks are easily disrupted (assuming theres something to distribute)…if the poor are unable to cope, who does the work?
Card houses dont slowly disintegrate…they collapse, and we have built one very unstable global house of cards
come on, you are not telling me you don't see how cigarettes, booze and food, sex, life stock ( animals / human) can be used at currency? I have one nubile 14 year old slave to sell for 5 cows and a horse ( i think in the bible they might even speak of that type of transaction often disguised on the idea of 'marriage / dowry/brideprice etc)
I pointed to Germany in the years of 1945 – 1948 in which the country was demonstrably destroyed, several families often shared one flat in fairly bombed out houses (each family a room, something that was also done in England / Holland / Italy / etc during the war), power, water supply was intermittently and ' the Reichsmark aka money' had no value. Guess what, you could pick potatoes at the farm and as payment you took home a bag of potatoes. You could sell yourself for some fags from the Ami's and use these to pay for goods at hte black market. Or like my mother did as a child with her siblings, pick cigarettes butts of the floor, take them home, clean them up and re-roll them for the elders in the family to smoke.
I find it really funny that in your doom/gloom scenario you leave out the fact that people are a. resilient and will to some degree adapt, b. that people trade and even if go far back in time have gone to great lenght and distances to bring goods to their people, c. there will always be a ruling class i.e. the strongest/fittest/ will survive. You can sell an hour or several of sex for a pound of bacon, you can then sell one half pound of bacon for flour, eggs, butter, and make bread, sell that for a week of rent in a hovel, etc etc etc. In fact some people already live life like that. We already have that in todays society, it is called survival sex and its a standard thing to do when homeless – especially when young and homeless.
As for work? ;Lol, the telephone answer drones of today will be meat. so will be most of the pencil pushers that serve no other reason then create paperwork that again serves no purpose other then billing you the customer out of your money. The ones that can create value with their hands, that can grow food, that can build, mend, fix, heal, etc will be however in great demand .
And yes, the ones with 'money' will be the last ones to diet.
Cause this is what humans do, we build, then we destroy and kill and then we will build again.
The world is changing, and we are not ….that is our biggest issue. If we would look a the changes to come and do something – rather then insist in doing a. nothing, or b. just something to pretend to be doing something – that would help this transition to a planet that will be hotter, more hostile etc we would probably end up fine.
But we are not doing this.
This is like parking in an illegal park and then complaining about the ticket one gets. Its not hte fault of the parking warden that the car was parked illegally so why blame him/her for the ticket.
And currently that is the collective of this planet, continuing to park illegally while moaning about parking tickets. When people collectively wake up to the realisation that they are too poor for parking tickets they will look for an alternative that works better but not a moment before.
so the wealthy will sell themselves and their children for some flour or bacon (as long as there remains some) and squat in an unserviced building (no power or running water) and theyre 'fine'…. I guess our interpretations of the word fine are at odds….Syria , Somalia and the like must be holiday resorts.
no, just to clarify as your reading comprehension is not functioning properly today
your children will be sold as meat to those that will be 'rich' when the endtimes of which you are so afraid of come to pass. Unless your decendency is the 'global elite of future times' then they get to buy someones children for what ever is needed in order to survive.
My comprehension fine and dont dispute any of that has happened or will happen again….my dispute is with your position that the
"The rich will be fine until the very end. "
You appear to miss the point the rich are only so as long as the current paradigm exists…remove the current paradigm (as CC will) and their wealth disappears
and again you seem to lack any imagination that 'money' as you think it is and will be can be replaced by anything that someone places value on. Or our 'current paradigm".
You can be the poorest bloke in the universe but if someone wanted to buy your daughter for what is 'money' you could sell her 🙂 And someone would have the 'money' to buy her. And that money may be printed paper, or it may be a bag of potatoes a cow and a goat or simply your life.
And he / she who has many goats and camels and water and what ever can be considered desirable will be considered rich.
And yes, the rich of today, will have land, they will have access to water on that land, they will be able to plant/grow etc etc etc.
The world will not end with us, as much as the world did not end in the thirty year war, or during ww 2 or such. The world will change, there will be rich there will be poor, and chances are that when that times comes you and i are both dead and thus among the lucky ones.
Maybe you need to watch some more of the dystopian movies that are to understand that money / current paradigm is what ever has value to the many (water, food, imo) and that can then used for trading and thus rich/poor will again and still exist.
So yes, the rich will be fine until the end, and the end will be much earlier for the poor then the rich. I suggest that you read the Stark from Ben Elton, he says things so much better then I.
Good luck ensuring the loyalty of that 'security' when the shit really hits the fan. People tend to eat each other when things get really grim, and a pantry full of plump, pampered rich folk would likely prove irresistible.
Some rich will get et, sure. But warlords arising in a time of strife are just another type of rich folk, and then they get called "knight" and "duke" and "king", and hundreds of years later their descendants are conventional rich folk. And they own guns and know where the food stores are buried, so people do what they say in times of strife, and if things get really bad they transition into a barter/thug economy and become warlords…
The grisly film Delicatessen with touches of the ironic, is a most unusual 1991 French production. Post-apocalyptic is what it is called. Getting some meat means knowing someone has been murdered. Who knows what humans would end up doing if we don't find a way to build a lasting rational society with ethics which will apply to all.
The rich will find before the end that they are not fine. We have seen how people go mad when they are corrupted, letting the poor die and animals and nature die, will corrupt them absolutely and the fine and wonderful souls of men, women and animals will all shrink.
People get desperate for some order, communion with other people with soul, and purpose in life that one person locked up in jail and in isolation wrote that watching the ants and cockroaches kept him sane.
It has been well established that the so called "war on drugs" was a catastrophic failure, but large segments of the right, even in this country still push it or something similar as a legitimate action for the state to pursue.
Bridges is now quite obviously going for the right wing 'populist' lane, I have noticed that his rhetoric has become more and more confrontational and base over the previous couple of months..and I guess he figures that with his shit poll numbers he hasn't got anything to lose.
Note the contrast with Judith, who is carefully downplaying the nasty streak that had her manufacture the title "Crusher", the better to compete with the unlovable Simon and presumably Jacinda.
Mind, while its easy to simply shake the head at the No Mates and No Ideas Party, this is a 'war' that is Labours/Green/NZFirst to loose.
Currently however it seems that when it comes to a realistic approach to drugs and their usage all we get is fake piety from the Greens _ No Gummibears for you, nothing from Labour, nothing from NZFirst and nothing but bullshit from National.
So maybe J.A could do something? Anything? you know, something?
The worse Bridges gets, the more Luxon will seem like a breath of fresh air by comparison, even if he is a religious weirdo. I'm sure it's all part of the 'strategy'.
Boris Johnson was on Monday night accused of presiding over a cover-up after it emerged that No 10 refused to clear the publication of a potentially incendiary report examining Russian infiltration in British politics, including the Conservative party.
Downing Street indicated on Monday that it would not allow a 50-page dossier from the intelligence and security committee to be published before the election, prompting a string of complaints over its suppression.
The committee’s chairman, Dominic Grieve, called the decision “jaw dropping”, saying no reason for the refusal had been given, while Labour and Scottish National party politicians accused No 10 of refusing to recognise the scale of Russian meddling.
Having voted for the enfant terrible as their leader and PM as a party what did these tories expect ! wah wah wah it's all your own fault.
Russian dosh has been buying influence in the UK since Putin came to power either by those in exile from him or Vlad's supporters. Those against him do however seem to have alot of fatal accidents.
As always follow the money……it'll end up in greedy tory hands, Lord Rees hedge funds etc.
Idiots – don't they know we have just signed a historic trade deal that will generate lots of profit for our exporters – we are sweeeeeet.
The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists.
“We declare clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency,” it states. “To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. [This] entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems.”
There is no time to lose, the scientists say: “The climate crisis has arrived and is accelerating faster than most scientists expected. It is more severe than anticipated, threatening natural ecosystems and the fate of humanity.”
Indeed, I was wondering how J and the crew view increased international Trade deals with China with the need to, you know, keep the planet livable… ie the foolishness of trading environmentally suspect Dairy and Pine trees in return for disposable clothing, furniture and electronics…
After reading the fact test on Jacinda Aderns Achievements video. All I can say is great that our govt can spend all this money. But they are 🤬 this up in a big way.
eg Mental Heath I have a few friends who are observing large stress/anxiety issues with their children – Exam time with the stress that comes along with that. (This also ties in with Mike Kings heroic efforts in mental health.)With all this smile and nod stuff our leaders do when the cameras are on them, how about following this up with how those intended to benefit from their policies can access the services to receive help? See a counsellor – come back in the new year. For 1 of them they have already attempted the most sad response. Still no immediate help available, unless you can pay – then like cancer treatments is immediately available.
Oh dear, it seems that testimony from other witnesses has caused a key witness in the Ukraine thing to have " refreshed my recollection about certain conversations." and he felt the need to submit a three-page revision to his previous testimony.
Sondland told Congress that his memory was "refreshed" after reviewing the opening statements by Bill Taylor, the acting ambassador to Ukraine, and Tim Morrison, a former adviser to Trump on Russian and European affairs. Sondland's addendum also recounted a Sept. 1 meeting in Warsaw where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky raised his concerns to Mike Pence about the suspension of military aid. Sondland said he believed that withholding the $391 million in security assistance was "ill-advised," but claimed he didn't know "when, why or by whom the aid was suspended." The revelation comes after House committees leading the impeachment inquiry released transcripts of witness testimony by Sondland and Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine.
It is. But to prove perjury you have to prove lying, which requires proving intent to mislead. So if you can …ahem… proactively "correct the record" ahead of the posse coming looking for you, then it's going to be awfully hard to prove that intent. No matter how obviously you were rumbled before issuing that "correction".
I wouldn't know, I haven't been paying attention to the minutiae of what Twyford has or hasn't said. And I've no idea what that has to do with the topic of this thread, ie testimony about gross abuse of power by the US president.
But if I had to guess, based on your past behaviour, I'd guess you're making a claim based on completely ignoring context and stretching the meaning of what someone said waaaaaaay beyond what any normal person would understand to be the meaning of what was said. As well as likely pretending that something is monumentally important when in fact it is relatively trivial.
Unbeknownst to counsel and subsequent to this testimony, it was discovered and reported that the interest in Naftogaz was tied to an alleged scheme by Giuliani’s now indicted pals to make some serious corn off of toppling the straight shooters at Naftogaz. Oops.
the council election here in Middle NZ was literally bullshit, they were all indepent, no one had any religious believes before the election – then suddenly they turn pro life (pro forced birth, once born the child is on its own and better own a pair of boots with bootstraps in case pulling up is needed), all want to stop rates increases but all want to invest more into the community but not into social programmes that would address homelessness, mental illness, drug use, prostitution and such – that would be throwing pearls before swine.
and thus no one votes – be that for council or government – cause you would not have a clue who these clowns are and what they want other then maybe a slice of influence for themselves.
and btw, this is exactly why the shitshow in the us won, cause he was out and proud with his fucking around, his bullying, his not paying bills or taxes, his stiffing contractors, his stealing of children and loosing them, his racism, his cruelty and his sadism and such, and thus as his voters can attest today, They knew what they voted for and they liked it. Maybe this is something people running for public office should try a bit more, be honest and see if it works.
David Mac….just can’t see this. Votes are protected by both PIN and Password. Huge penalties could be prescribed for hacking.
You can compare online with the postal voting system we have now where I know for sure that some people vote on behalf of others. The idea is that online voting is ADDITIONAL to postal voting so many people would vote by post anyway.
Additional is good. You might be able to do a web form, many can't.
Basically, if you want to discuss usability, look to the last census. Not a complete disaster, but still fucks people around and denies us some important data because people didn't imagine putting it online could be a bad thing.
Hacking is the main problem, though. It doesn't have to be Wheedle-bad design to be hackable, and then nobody has any record of what the original votes were. Unlike paper ballots.
Fucksake, it's only the choice of who will be in government. It deserves a bit of effort from the voters.
A major difference compared to continuously live systems like banking is that if a problem occurs, the system can be "rolled back" and reconstructed from the last known correct state. Whereas as one-shot systems like voting or the census have to be correct the first time. But the nature of it being one-shot makes it harder to even detect when something is not right – because there's no recent performance history to compare against.
No, it also included the traditional door-knockers.
As for "making it easy", there's the old adage that security is a compromise between safety and ease of use. That's why you probably don't have a three-factor time-delay lock on your front door. But if you have a lot of stuff, you might have a deadbolt as well as a night latch.
What research have you read that suggests online voting significantly increases voter participation in younger age groups?
The hackers you detect are the ones who get caught – what about the rest? And you still think penalties matter (take that one up with rawshark).
The John Oliver show before the most recent one, he delved into the US voting machine situation. They do not connect to the internet per se. As Oliver pointed out, doesn't matter, for the sake of a clandestine plot, they're vunerable as.
Oliver makes light of the fact that his footage shows us how to take control of the motherboard in a voting machine and then footage of stockpiles of unattended, unprotected voting machines waiting to be shipped to the polling booths.
It's all misguided concerns, the dismissal of fabulous efficient tech…until the Kim.com party wins 82% of the vote.
US electronic voting systems and machines are notoriously poorly managed and insecure. This is probably not an indicative example of the concept being taken seriously.
Very little of the security concerns around online voting are about ensuring only legitimate voters actually cast the votes, which is what the mailed PIN and password is about.
Much of the objection to online voting is the possibility of electronic records getting fraudulently manipulated as they are being created or altered after creation, without leaving a traceable record. There have been enough instances of visibly malfunctioning electronic voting machines overseas that this isn't just a hypothetical. Hence the attraction of the permanent record created by paper ballots.
Ask an actual IT expert. The person running this site, lprent, would be a good start. All the actual IT experts I'm aware of that have expressed an opinion about online voting are strongly opposed to it, for those security reasons. (apart from those connected with companies trying to sell voting software)
Firstly, penalties are meaningless. State agents are out of jurisdiction, and freelance hackers think they're the smartest guys in the room and won't get caught (often they're correct).
"Systems can be put in place" is hand-waving. If it's online, it's a vulnerability. Not even banking systems are invulnerable.
There have been reports of electronic vote tampering in the USA already which have been documented and put on line. I may have taken a note of the links, haven't time to look for them, but people should start doing as much researching for themselves as they can. It does take time though.
Not as far as I am concerned. There are several obvious issues that anyone should be able to understand.. And these don't even cover the hacker issues that I wrote about last time.
Capacity. Just consider what happened with the last census in 2018. Done online. I know of at least 4 computer programmers, including me, who were unable to complete part of the census because the system didn't allow me to save. That was why that census has such major gaps.
This is a spike issue. All of a sudden a system goes from having virtually no use apart from artificial testing to falling over under real world loads. Happens all of the time in my network programming world. Another example was the live streaming of rugby by spark recently.
Hell – it has happened on this site in different elections.
Frequency. Elections come around about at best every year (presuming that the local councils, power boards and other electoral systems used the same systems – which is not a given).
So the most frequent analogy used of banking online systems is completely false. Those are systems running all of the time, being tinkered with, updated, and tuned all of the time. There is no comparison between a tuned all-the-time load system with a punctuated system of shortish peak loads (over days or weeks) and long quiesient periods in terms of reliability.
Server side technology. The frequency carries a separate issue – technology changes all of the time.
Nothing faster than networks and operating systems. On average all of these have multiple updates per day. The culmulative total of upgrades is such that every few years it is like testing for a new system
Assume that because of the punctuated usage, you're going to need some severe recertifications and testing on each usage and virtually all of the perceived cost advantages fall out of the window.
You either maintain a single increasingly obsolete system with increasing rare and very expensive developer and system support. This is the model used by voter machines in the US.
Or you have a massive upfront cost on each usage. Neither strategy lends itself to long term reliability. Because the world keeps discovering exploits all of the time for old systems.
Client side technology. FFS – sure there are standards out there. But which generation do you want to support? It isn't like the government pays for our gear…
I know of readers on here who use IE 8 on windows XP – something that hasn't been supported since god knows when (about 2010). I have seen people using PPC Macs with Safari – which I seem to remember stopped production in about 2007. One crazy person uses a Sparc workstation with firefox. I even tested that it worked ok earlier this year in a VM for my own curiosity. And I'm only getting a small selection of NZ voters.
Just think about that for a second. What you are imposing is effectively a property requirement to vote. Or you have to maintain expensive multiple voting systems.
etc… and as for..
But surely Andre systems can be put in place that stop tampering? With huge fines/imprisonment as penalties?
Isn't this just paranoia?
Who exactly do you think is technically capable in (say) the police force or electoral commission or even the intelligence community to detect and track down these miscreants?
FFS: The US intelligence community and companies can barely figure out by behaviour which groups were tampering with crucial systems and from what countries they were doing it from. Individuals from another country or even kiwis routed via the net anywhere in the world – even less so. The US capabilities are astronomical compared to compared to anything we have here.
Not to mention that we'd have to have them accessible to our justice system to even attempt a prosecution.
I hesitate to do this, but I pretty much reject all of this LPrent.
I think online voting should be given a go at Council level and if it works given a go at the GE.
If insoluble problems of security are identified by all means dump it, but the chronically low levels of voting and the obvious ease of voting online convince me this is worth the risk.
When ATMs were first intoduced into NZ @BeardedGit, the "instigators" – the managers and salesmen (as opposed to the "IT experts") were confident there were "systems put in place"
Then those instigators soon began wringing their hands and demanding that "something must be done".
From memory, some of the first ATMs were of the Diebold brand – the people that make voting machines, and hosted by Fletcher Challenge.
And then later, when managers opted for cheaper brands of ATMs other than IBM ones hosted on an IBM network, and supposedly entirely compatible, little things like leaving a receipt in a slot meant that transactions wouldn't be committed and the books didn't balance. (All "systems had been put in place").
Voting is far more important as far as I'm concerned than banks not fessing up to some of their losses due to fraudulent activity
I see more fires caused by Guy Fawkes Fireworks. Oz banned them decades ago when will be stop this unecessary destruction and protect people from themselves.
I watched some 'men' firing skyrockets over an old peoples home, when challenged they replied 'it's perfectly legal'…..see the problem here ?
After years of terrified animals, sulphurous stenches and nervous waits with the hose at hand, our fireworks mad neighbours have sold up and buggered off.
Well, lighting fireworks and burning shit down is a human right for all truly “manly men”…except where people do something about it.
An example: in the Far North on Karikari Peninsula, fireworks were a problem for years with even District Council total fire bans not impressing those that stock piled fireworks for occasions other than Nov. 5, nor controlled displays by the local Fire station. So for the last two years courtesy of the Northland Regional Council, a binding Firework Ban with penalties was instituted, and has worked pretty well so far because the overwhelming majority of residents not only support it, but help the Firefighters enforce it!
I was filling the car at the gas station last night while fireworks were whizzing gaily overhead. Clutching the dispenser in white-knuckled hands, I was thinking "Come on, damn you, pump faster!" I hate Guy Fawkes, and so does my cat.
Close all the windows, pull the curtains, turn the TV on loud even if you're not watching and the cat will think all the cracks and bangs are coming out of the TV. Operation Normal.
Ha yeah Anne, I Spotified 4 loud hours of the history of Glam Rock. Holly is accustomed to that environment and was none the wiser. Flashes behind the curtains and T-Rex belong together.
When I was 12, I adored the 5th of November. I miss being excited by fireworks. Must be a bit like a narcotics habit, endure a protracted addiction chasing a buzz as tasty as the first. My Mum loved them to the day she died. Catherine Wheels, they reminded her of galaxies.
It's probably time we grew up and found a way to get that fireworks buzz without burning family homes down.
I wonder if the NZ Navy out of Devonport could take the helm of something special over the Waitemata. A big co-ordinated display would be a hell teamwork builder…and morale. They have ammo that reaches a use-by date. The spectacle could be taken off-shore, the Waitemata doesn't burn.
I don't want to stop tipping my hat to the Guy that would dare to smuggle barrels of gun-powder beneath the benches. As committed activists go, Mr Fawkes takes the cake. Outrageous insane act on a land far from here…. Maybe our growing up involves embracing the Matariki stars instead.
20-25 years ago, Twinings (I think it was Twinings) financed a magnificent display on the Waitemata Harbour. They had three barges… one close to North Head, one opposite the Devonport ferry terminal and the third somewhere off the Viaduct Basin. They synced beautifully and I reckon it was the best display ever seen in Auckland.
There must have been around 50,000 to 100,000 onlookers from North Head through to the Harbour Bridge on both sides of the Harbour.
It's gonna be ever more fascinating watching the escalating squirming, evading, lying and reversals of positions previously held dear coming up over the next few months.
Grace Millane’s accused murderer has pleaded ‘rough sex gone wrong’ as his defence against guilt for her death. As I suspected would happen. We can’t let this become a thing in New Zealand. It’s licence to kill. I may not be able to stick around to argue about this topic as highly triggering but please look at the link if you care or have any concern about this important issue for women in ‘current year’. It’s real. It’s serious. It’s killing us.
they don't care, rape, sexual abuse, death at the hand of a partner they don't care. It must be something that happend because we did something to deserve it cause if we did not do something to deserve it then the men who killed these women must be fully responsible. And that can not be. Never ever. Thus nothing gets done, and the reputation of these dead women and their families must be smeared and other women must know and understand that if that happens to you its because you consented to it.
i am sorry, but nothing will ever happen to change that. Nothing.
That scenario doesn't just apply to the rape and killing of women which is at the most serious end of the spectrum. It also applies to other forms of attack on individual women whether it be physical or psychological bullying type behaviour. And you're right Sabine. It almost always gets brushed aside as something the victim supposedly did or said. We asked for it so… stop your moaning, it's your own fault.
BTW @greywarshark, things have re-appeared (in my case) – just on a different day than when posted.
Meanwhile, given Jacinda's attempts to clean up a sleezey, egotistical, misogynistic, exceptionalist oil slick that has the potential to taint everything around it, I'm reading up on tantric sex and dusting off my copy of the Karma Sutra.
It seems a little more ‘civilised’ than ordering a bit of porn on the taxpayers’ credit card
Edit
Well a gentleman can then go home and say to his wife of either gender:
'I am always true to you in my fashion, I'm always true to you darling in my way.'
And don't be too tough, we are talking about a human, being human. In the future it may be just a memory when we get to a stage where machines merge. (Your algorithm is so compatible with mine!)
There possibly will be cases of computer ‘promiscuity’ and some programs will become unstable.
Some good results from the Tuesday Elections in Virginia, Kentucky, – The Blue wave of 2018 continues which promises well for this time next year.
It’s not Election Day 2020 yet, but on Tuesday we got the next best thing.
Voters all over the country headed to polls to decide local and state elections. The headline-grabbing contest was Democrat Andy Beshear beating Republican incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin in the Kentucky governor’s race — a state President Donald Trump won by a whopping 30 percent in 2016. Some caveats:Bevin was among the most unpopular governors in the country, and other Republican leaders in the state outperformed him on Tuesday.
But Beshear’s win was stilla big loss for Trump, who campaigned in Kentucky just a day before the election, explicitlytying Bevin’s race to his own reputation. The results also showed that Democrats in Kentucky were fired up — Beshear outperformed the 2015 Democratic gubernatorial candidate in many areas of the state.
The other huge story was Virginia’s state legislature elections, where Democrats flipped both the state House and Senate, ensuring a trifecta with Gov. Ralph Northam (D) already in the governor’s mansion.
Virginia has been trending blue for years, but the fact that Democrats generated so much enthusiasm in an off-year where state legislature elections were the biggest thing on the ballot means the party is organized and enthusiastic, even for traditionally sleepier races.
Many of the questions going forward are going to be what this all means for Trump and Republicans in 2020. It’s not good news for them, for sure. If we learned one thing from Tuesday, it’s that Democrats are fired up — even in redder states.
But there’s a lot of other impacts that extend far beyond Trump.
That Virginia Dems winning all three levels of government sets up the possibility of finally ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment of the Constitution, as mentioned in the last "winner" in the Vox piece linked above.
However, that Vox piece misses a lot of details that will make it fascinating to watch, such as several states that ratified it some time ago have since attempted to rescind their ratification. But since it's never been tested, it's unknown whether the rescinding is valid.
Virginia Dems winning all three levels of government sets up the possibility of finally ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment of the Constitution,
Yeah true that – just keeping fingers crossed.
Meanwhile – in Pence's home town no less –
Democrats take control of Columbus City Council
Four years ago, local Democrats made a statement by winning two Columbus City Council seats. Tuesday, they reshaped the council in a way it hasn’t been in more than 30 years.
Four Democrats won seven of the city council seats up for grabs in the municipal election — the most the party has held at one time since 1983.
Jerone Wood (District 1) and Grace Kestler (at-large) unseated Republican incumbents. Elaine Wagner (District 2) and Tom Dell (at-large) were re-elected to second terms.
Not to mention that the ERA had a target date of something like 1982 for ratification (what idiot thought that was a good idea?). Probably means that a whole new round of ramifications.
tl;dr a whole bunch of court battles over whether states can rescind their ratification of constitutional amendment, likely arguments in both chambers of Congress over what needs to be passed again after previous deadlines expired. All battles featuring Repugs arguing women should be explicitly treated as second-class citizens.
Aotearoa natural products will become sort after commodities in the near future.
Why did the previous lot start selling hundreds of thousands South island crown lease land at dirt cheap prices A.
What I see is money being used once again to stop conservation so that the money men can carry on pillaging the Ross sea tooth fish that fishery will collapse unless its protected like most fishery hav. Orange Ruffy is a great example.
I think choosing kind words to describe the problem like emotionally confused instead of mental health will get a lot more people to come forward and admit they are having problems.
Data is not the holy grail unless it is reviewed by un biest sources it can be massaged to tell the story that the colabrator wants to use to influence people's opinions.
Consumerism is the Phenomenon that can be directly linked to all the carbon being pumped into our atmosphere.
This story is evedince that New Zealand is not as squeaky clean as most people believe.
White Silence: The tragic story of the Air Zealand jet that flew into Mt Erebus, killing all 257 people on board.
The crash of an Air New Zealand plane on Mt Erebus on 28 November 1979 was the country's deadliest disaster, and the investigation into it produced the now well-known phrase: "An orchestrated litany of lies".
What was the orchestrated litany of lies? Who was supposed to be lying? And why did the plane crash?
Some people know all about those things. But most of us don't. And really, we should.
Not just because it's our worst-ever disaster, or a major anniversary is upon us, but because too few people over the years have ever really, properly reckoned with them. And that has got us where we are today. Forty years on, with an unresolved mess.
The other thing that gets you is the circumstances of the crash: the plane just flew into the mountain. There was no mechanical failure, it wasn't caught in some polar storm, it just flew into the mountain. At 1500 feet. When the investigators listened to the cockpit voice recorder (black box) they were stunned to hear that in the final seconds before impact, none of the flight crew saw Erebus in front of them.
. The only people with any experience flying in Antarctica were flight engineer Gordon Brooks and the in-flight commentator Peter Mulgrew.
Mr Mulgrew was a mountaineer and an adventurer. He was part of the British Antarctic expedition in the 1950s and later lost both his feet to frostbite while climbing in the Himalayas. He wasn't initially rostered for the 28 November flight, but swapped with one of the other commentators – his friend, Sir Edmund Hillary.
White Silence: The bizarre Erebus burglary – 'hardly anything was missing'
Maria called the police. The burglary was strange for a few reasons: The power cut. How many burglars cut the power? Also, hardly anything was missing. A tape recorder was gone, a digital clock, some passports. But not Maria's jewellery, which was in the same drawer as the passports.
There was one more thing: a photo of her husband, Captain Jim Collins, torn to pieces, and placed back in the envelope where it was kept.
The more sinister theory was that the burglary was the work of New Zealand's SIS. In the four months since the crash, the Erebus disaster had taken on a life of its own.The safety record of DC10s had come under intense scrutiny. Since the first aircraft rolled off the production line in 1970 there had been no fewer than six crashes, claiming nearly 900 lives. Erebus was only the third-worst of them.
The SIS entered the theory because in 1980, Air New Zealand was entirely owned by the New Zealand government. An existential threat to the airline would be its problem.The shareholding minister was the Finance Minister, also the country's Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon. Muldoon also happened to be Minister for the SIS. RNZ's chief political
correspondent at the time, Richard Griffin, remembers some wild rumours circulating in the press gallery.
There was a lot of speculation…Robert Muldoon… was using the SIS illegally, but who would know.
Africa poised to lead way in global green revolution, says report
Continent is set for massive urbanisation but can avoid relying on fossil fuels, says IEA.
Africa is poised to lead the world’s cleanest economic revolution by using renewable energy sources to power a massive spread of urbanisation, says an IEA report.
The IEA, or International Energy Agency, predicts that solar energy will play a big role in supporting the continent’s growing population and industrialisation over the next 20 years.
The report forecasts that Africa’s appetite for energy will grow at double the rate of the global average in the coming decades as the continent overtakes China and India as the most populated region in the world.
Africa’s population is expected to grow to more than 2 billion people by 2040, a rise of 800 million from today or the population equivalent of the US and Europe combined, says the report. People are expected to turn to cities and towns at a rate never seen before, where the demand for new houses and infrastructure will ignite an energy-hungry industrial revolution.
Birol said: “Africa’s total contribution to cumulative global emissions from energy over the last 100 years is only 2%, which is half the emissions of Germany today. If everyone in Africa had access to energy this 2% will rise to just 3% – it’s still nothing. It’s peanuts compared to other countries in the world which are using fossil fuels such as coal for energy.
“But while Africa does not contribute to climate change the continent is on the frontline of its potential effects, including droughts. Africa is perhaps the most innocent continent in terms of its contributions to climate change, but they will be the victims
I have accused some companies of this and here I find facts to back up my accusations. The person on the spade whenua has decreased and bureaucracy has increased hence our Roads are not being built as effective efficiently as 40 years ago the tangata on the whenua are getting paid bugger all most of the wages going to management.
‘Parkinson’s Law’ took on a life of its own, forming the basis of several more essays and a book by Parkinson, leading to public lectures around the world.
But what fewer people know is that Parkinson’s original intent was not to take aim at old lady letter-writers or journalists like me, but at a different kind of inefficiency – the bureaucratisation of the British Civil Service. In his original essay he pointed out that although the number of navy ships decreased by two thirds, and personnel by a third, between 1914 and 1928, the number of bureaucrats had still ballooned by almost 6% a year. There were fewer people and less work to manage – but management was still expanding, and Parkinson argued that this was due to factors that were independent of naval operational needs.
One scholar who has taken a serious look at Parkinson’s Law is Stefan Thurner, a professor in Science of Complex Systems at the Medical University of Vienna. Thurner says he became interested in the concept when the faculty of medicine at the University of Vienna split into its own independent university in 2004. Within a couple years, he says, the Medical University of Vienna went from being run by 15 people to 100, while the number of scientists stayed about the same. “I wanted to understand what was going on there, and why my bureaucratic burden did not diminish – on the contrary it increased,” he says.
He happened to read Parkinson’s book around the same time and was inspired to turn it into a mathematical model that could be manipulated and tested, along with co-authors Peter Klimek and Rudolf Hanel. “Parkinson argued that if you have 6% growth rate of any administrative body, then sooner or later any company will die. They will have all their workforce in bureaucracy and none in production.
What Are the Top 5 Environmental Concerns for 2019?
1. Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the most complex and vital feature of our planet. It is essentially every living thing and ecosystem that makes up the environment. From the tallest giraffe to the smallest microorganism, everything plays an important role in the maintenance of our world.
But with the increase in global warming, pollution and deforestation, biodiversity is in danger. Billions of species are going or have gone extinct all over the world. Some scientists, in fact, are suggesting that we are in the beginning of a 6th mass extinction, posing issues for our planet and ourselves.
2. Water
Water pollution is a huge concern for us and our environment. Not only is polluted water a huge financial strain but is also killing both humans and marine life. With oil spills, an abundance of plastic waste and toxic chemicals entering our waterways, we’re damaging the most valuable resource our planet has to offer.
By educating people on the causes and effects of water pollution, we can work together to undo the damage humans have caused. Laws also need to change to make pollution tougher, consistently across national borders.
3. Deforestation
We need plants and trees to survive. They provide oxygen, food, water and medicine for everyone, all over the globe. But if deforestation continues at the rate it’s occurring, we won’t have much of the valuable forestry left.
With natural wildfires, illegal logging and the mass amount of timber being harvested for commercial use, our forests are decreasing at an alarming rate. As well as reducing our supply of oxygen, the loss of forests is contributing around 15% of our greenhouse gas emissions
All types of pollution, and environmental concerns, are interlinked and influence one another. So, to tackle one is to tackle them all. That’s why we need to work together, as a community, to reduce the impact that pollution is having on our environment.
5. Climate Change
As pointed out by a recent UN report, without ‘unprecedented changes’ in our actions and behaviour, our planet will suffer drastically from global warming in just 12 years. Greenhouses gases are the main cause of climate change, trapping in the sun’s heat and warming the surface of the earth.
An increased ocean temperature is affecting the sea life and ecosystems habituated there. The rise in global sea levels is shrinking our land, causing mass floods and freak weather incidents across the world. If we continue as we are, the world will suffer irreversibly
It looks like we are going to see some colourful Tawhirimate soon.
That's is cool Doc seed banking our native trees to protect them from mertalrust.
That just shows how backwards Australia laws are.
Big flooding in Britain that's Global warming feel sorry for Te tangata they have had repeated flooding of late.
War is for idiots peace is what makes a great Papatuanuku.
Cool that Nui tamariki are being taught how to swim with help from Aotearoa commissioner pool. My first swimming lesson was thrown in the deep I soon learned how to swim.
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
RNZ Morning Report this morning
Bridges defends new recruit Christopher Luxon
The National Party has released a discussion document asking if benefits to solo mothers who refuse to vaccinate should be cut, but Mr Luxon's suggestion it go further to working for families is new….but apparently worth getting feedback from average kiwi's on..
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018720911/bridges-defends-new-recruit-christopher-luxon
The interview was as bad and as low brow, dumd and stupid as you could imagine, but it reminded me of a bit from this Think Big interview with Slavoj Žižek at about 10:30 into it…
Great clip Adrian. He spells it out. I think I got a fairly clear view before I started watching and listening to him (you can be in two minds sometimes), but he is right. We need to look at outcomes, without any labelling of left or right, any naming of political pathway, and what we are seeing is an unacceptable slide into nimbyism, selfishness, callousness, and obsession. There are fantasy views of what is going on that people shine on any unattractive facade, like using the world as a backscreen for a giant epic.
I think he is missing a point about local government and so on; I think that people need to wake up and take some responsibility for their local area, and come together with other local areas to form a viable plan for good systems and outcomes. This would run in parallel with the national and international stuff which we have so little input or control over. Too much talk about how things should be is where the activity goes, too little actual intelligent and far-seeing work. There needs to be fast decision-making, enabling things to be done as pilots within an agreed framework.
Our world has come to a crossroads. We can't drag ourselves along the same route with politicians spitting venom at each other, and hate for a majority of us while being paid large salaries to prevent anything happening that would help those most in need. They are like wearing leg irons, and even those wil goodwill are too heavy for us to move far. We are in need of new, good laws and practices that take us into the future, but the past want to hold onto their prize won in the blood and vileness of World War 2.
It is important for people who want to be both kind and practical to find each other, because nothing worthwhile is going to come from the rest of the democrats who want to leave the important stuff for the end of the meeting agenda; someone quoted once that if you wanted agreement at an average committee meeting to develop a nuclear bomb it should be a bland heading at the end of the agenda, after a discussion on whether the garden shed should be repositioned in a better spot where it would be over the cricket crease.
They will prefer to follow inadequate policies, or watch sport or let off firecrackers, which include the word that is likely to be the death knell of many! We will have so many complaints when they are banned. And we need to do it right away so there isn't another full Guy Fawkes, though there will be the regular letting them off individually and in groups on occasions for years. Perhaps there is a connection with our planet's birth called the Big Bang, and males of all ages carry a genetic memory!
"The study, based on 40 years of data on a range of measures, says governments are failing to address the crisis.
Without deep and lasting changes, the world is facing "untold human suffering" the study says."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/402621/climate-scientists-warn-of-untold-suffering-without-major-changes
They say " Without deep and lasting changes, the world is facing "untold human suffering" the study says."
what they shoud say however is this "
Without deep and lasting changes, the poor of this world are facing untold human suffering:" the study says. (and one could argue that they are already doing so).
The rich will be fine until the very end.
while the 'poor' (currently) will (and are) suffering the most it is important to understand that the situation is not static and that it will change…and not slowly.
The 'wealthy' will not be immune until the very end as that wealth relies on interdependent systems to be of use.
It will get to a point where paper money has no value at all.
Yep. With money they could buy into the high ground, buy in scarce food and buy security when faced with rebellion.
Mind you money might become worthless.
money – stones, pebbles, shells, gold, shiny trinkets, sex, food, cigarettes etc will always exist.
Some women i know had great stories about payment and money options in germanyjust after the war and before the monetary reform in 1948. Prostitution- or fraternazation – got you food, cigarettes, booze etc etc etc. And these three things paid for everything else.
in a world without food, the last remaining body to be eaten is currency – and i bet you a dollar that the one eating will be people like Jarvanka (and their ilk and those like them) and the one being eaten is just some schmuck of the street who will not be missed by anyone. .
where is that money?…how do they access it?..as said the functioning systems have to remain operable for it to be of use…stranded assets cant be sold ….banks and sharemarkets collapse….distribution networks are easily disrupted (assuming theres something to distribute)…if the poor are unable to cope, who does the work?
Card houses dont slowly disintegrate…they collapse, and we have built one very unstable global house of cards
come on, you are not telling me you don't see how cigarettes, booze and food, sex, life stock ( animals / human) can be used at currency? I have one nubile 14 year old slave to sell for 5 cows and a horse ( i think in the bible they might even speak of that type of transaction often disguised on the idea of 'marriage / dowry/brideprice etc)
I pointed to Germany in the years of 1945 – 1948 in which the country was demonstrably destroyed, several families often shared one flat in fairly bombed out houses (each family a room, something that was also done in England / Holland / Italy / etc during the war), power, water supply was intermittently and ' the Reichsmark aka money' had no value. Guess what, you could pick potatoes at the farm and as payment you took home a bag of potatoes. You could sell yourself for some fags from the Ami's and use these to pay for goods at hte black market. Or like my mother did as a child with her siblings, pick cigarettes butts of the floor, take them home, clean them up and re-roll them for the elders in the family to smoke.
I find it really funny that in your doom/gloom scenario you leave out the fact that people are a. resilient and will to some degree adapt, b. that people trade and even if go far back in time have gone to great lenght and distances to bring goods to their people, c. there will always be a ruling class i.e. the strongest/fittest/ will survive. You can sell an hour or several of sex for a pound of bacon, you can then sell one half pound of bacon for flour, eggs, butter, and make bread, sell that for a week of rent in a hovel, etc etc etc. In fact some people already live life like that. We already have that in todays society, it is called survival sex and its a standard thing to do when homeless – especially when young and homeless.
As for work? ;Lol, the telephone answer drones of today will be meat. so will be most of the pencil pushers that serve no other reason then create paperwork that again serves no purpose other then billing you the customer out of your money. The ones that can create value with their hands, that can grow food, that can build, mend, fix, heal, etc will be however in great demand .
And yes, the ones with 'money' will be the last ones to diet.
and thats your description of 'fine'?
yes. it is.
Cause this is what humans do, we build, then we destroy and kill and then we will build again.
The world is changing, and we are not ….that is our biggest issue. If we would look a the changes to come and do something – rather then insist in doing a. nothing, or b. just something to pretend to be doing something – that would help this transition to a planet that will be hotter, more hostile etc we would probably end up fine.
But we are not doing this.
This is like parking in an illegal park and then complaining about the ticket one gets. Its not hte fault of the parking warden that the car was parked illegally so why blame him/her for the ticket.
And currently that is the collective of this planet, continuing to park illegally while moaning about parking tickets. When people collectively wake up to the realisation that they are too poor for parking tickets they will look for an alternative that works better but not a moment before.
so the wealthy will sell themselves and their children for some flour or bacon (as long as there remains some) and squat in an unserviced building (no power or running water) and theyre 'fine'…. I guess our interpretations of the word fine are at odds….Syria , Somalia and the like must be holiday resorts.
no, just to clarify as your reading comprehension is not functioning properly today
your children will be sold as meat to those that will be 'rich' when the endtimes of which you are so afraid of come to pass. Unless your decendency is the 'global elite of future times' then they get to buy someones children for what ever is needed in order to survive.
A bit like this .https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTTKCDEIv7aY2tfbfm25ES8j14kZ1CBLlJzDHSIMLmhOqPiaVEI&s
and that was roughly about a hundred years ago.
or here a bit more recent
🙂 See how easy that was. But i guess being scared of the bogey man and times without money is just so us.
My comprehension fine and dont dispute any of that has happened or will happen again….my dispute is with your position that the
"The rich will be fine until the very end. "
You appear to miss the point the rich are only so as long as the current paradigm exists…remove the current paradigm (as CC will) and their wealth disappears
and again you seem to lack any imagination that 'money' as you think it is and will be can be replaced by anything that someone places value on. Or our 'current paradigm".
You can be the poorest bloke in the universe but if someone wanted to buy your daughter for what is 'money' you could sell her 🙂 And someone would have the 'money' to buy her. And that money may be printed paper, or it may be a bag of potatoes a cow and a goat or simply your life.
And he / she who has many goats and camels and water and what ever can be considered desirable will be considered rich.
And yes, the rich of today, will have land, they will have access to water on that land, they will be able to plant/grow etc etc etc.
The world will not end with us, as much as the world did not end in the thirty year war, or during ww 2 or such. The world will change, there will be rich there will be poor, and chances are that when that times comes you and i are both dead and thus among the lucky ones.
Maybe you need to watch some more of the dystopian movies that are to understand that money / current paradigm is what ever has value to the many (water, food, imo) and that can then used for trading and thus rich/poor will again and still exist.
So yes, the rich will be fine until the end, and the end will be much earlier for the poor then the rich. I suggest that you read the Stark from Ben Elton, he says things so much better then I.
Good luck ensuring the loyalty of that 'security' when the shit really hits the fan. People tend to eat each other when things get really grim, and a pantry full of plump, pampered rich folk would likely prove irresistible.
I think Sabine is right. Climate change won't be the end of the rich, it will be the beginning of the Acme Sea Wall Corporation.
pretty much.
Some rich will get et, sure. But warlords arising in a time of strife are just another type of rich folk, and then they get called "knight" and "duke" and "king", and hundreds of years later their descendants are conventional rich folk. And they own guns and know where the food stores are buried, so people do what they say in times of strife, and if things get really bad they transition into a barter/thug economy and become warlords…
The grisly film Delicatessen with touches of the ironic, is a most unusual 1991 French production. Post-apocalyptic is what it is called. Getting some meat means knowing someone has been murdered. Who knows what humans would end up doing if we don't find a way to build a lasting rational society with ethics which will apply to all.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avuovbgoyxU
The rich will find before the end that they are not fine. We have seen how people go mad when they are corrupted, letting the poor die and animals and nature die, will corrupt them absolutely and the fine and wonderful souls of men, women and animals will all shrink.
People get desperate for some order, communion with other people with soul, and purpose in life that one person locked up in jail and in isolation wrote that watching the ants and cockroaches kept him sane.
The war on drugs is so much fun when it kills young female leaders by it's armed hard right proxies.
It has been well established that the so called "war on drugs" was a catastrophic failure, but large segments of the right, even in this country still push it or something similar as a legitimate action for the state to pursue.
Bridges is now quite obviously going for the right wing 'populist' lane, I have noticed that his rhetoric has become more and more confrontational and base over the previous couple of months..and I guess he figures that with his shit poll numbers he hasn't got anything to lose.
Totally, his replacement is waiting in the Botany wings so he's going all out on the ranty dog whistling.
This allows the hollowmen to pitch up the 'fresh face/new way' memes when Luxon takes the head of the table.
CL is a more experienced corporate assassin than shonky so he’s got the calm assured trusting delivery down pat already.
Note the contrast with Judith, who is carefully downplaying the nasty streak that had her manufacture the title "Crusher", the better to compete with the unlovable Simon and presumably Jacinda.
Mind, while its easy to simply shake the head at the No Mates and No Ideas Party, this is a 'war' that is Labours/Green/NZFirst to loose.
Currently however it seems that when it comes to a realistic approach to drugs and their usage all we get is fake piety from the Greens _ No Gummibears for you, nothing from Labour, nothing from NZFirst and nothing but bullshit from National.
So maybe J.A could do something? Anything? you know, something?
The worse Bridges gets, the more Luxon will seem like a breath of fresh air by comparison, even if he is a religious weirdo. I'm sure it's all part of the 'strategy'.
A couple of days after Labour questioned Cummings past and its move on, nothing to be seen here.
https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/1190821622527201281
Boris Johnson was on Monday night accused of presiding over a cover-up after it emerged that No 10 refused to clear the publication of a potentially incendiary report examining Russian infiltration in British politics, including the Conservative party.
Downing Street indicated on Monday that it would not allow a 50-page dossier from the intelligence and security committee to be published before the election, prompting a string of complaints over its suppression.
The committee’s chairman, Dominic Grieve, called the decision “jaw dropping”, saying no reason for the refusal had been given, while Labour and Scottish National party politicians accused No 10 of refusing to recognise the scale of Russian meddling.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/04/no-10-blocks-russia-eu-referendum-report-until-after-election?
Having voted for the enfant terrible as their leader and PM as a party what did these tories expect ! wah wah wah it's all your own fault.
Russian dosh has been buying influence in the UK since Putin came to power either by those in exile from him or Vlad's supporters. Those against him do however seem to have alot of fatal accidents.
As always follow the money……it'll end up in greedy tory hands, Lord Rees hedge funds etc.
£3.5m from Russian donors since 2010. £489,850 in the last year.
If only there was a clue about why they wouldn’t publish a report about Russian interference.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/revealed-russian-donors-have-stepped-tory-funding/
Caption contest?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EIkqsXbVAAEjhML?format=jpg&name=large
or maybe…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EIlwSiUUEAAr82s?format=jpg&name=small
1st pic
"I'll raise your bid for the leadership with 2 free seats in business class, wherever, whenever you want."
2nd pic
Turn that smile upside down – Vote National.
Idiots – don't they know we have just signed a historic trade deal that will generate lots of profit for our exporters – we are sweeeeeet.
Indeed, I was wondering how J and the crew view increased international Trade deals with China with the need to, you know, keep the planet livable… ie the foolishness of trading environmentally suspect Dairy and Pine trees in return for disposable clothing, furniture and electronics…
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/01/30/wto-chief-denial-climate-impact-trade/
After reading the fact test on Jacinda Aderns Achievements video. All I can say is great that our govt can spend all this money. But they are 🤬 this up in a big way.
eg Mental Heath I have a few friends who are observing large stress/anxiety issues with their children – Exam time with the stress that comes along with that. (This also ties in with Mike Kings heroic efforts in mental health.)With all this smile and nod stuff our leaders do when the cameras are on them, how about following this up with how those intended to benefit from their policies can access the services to receive help? See a counsellor – come back in the new year. For 1 of them they have already attempted the most sad response. Still no immediate help available, unless you can pay – then like cancer treatments is immediately available.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/117008657/counsellors-unpaid-as-mike-kings-gumboot-fund-runs-out-of-cash
Oh dear, it seems that testimony from other witnesses has caused a key witness in the Ukraine thing to have " refreshed my recollection about certain conversations." and he felt the need to submit a three-page revision to his previous testimony.
https://www.salon.com/2019/11/05/gordon-sondland-changes-his-testimony-in-the-impeachment-inquiry-to-acknowledge-a-quid-pro-quo/
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/05/politics/gordon-sondland-kurt-volker-transcripts-impeachment-inquiry/index.html
Yeah – funny that.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/05/sondland-reverses-himself-on-ukraine-quid-pro-quo-000318
I thought lying to Congress was perjury?
… lying to Congress was perjury?
It is. But to prove perjury you have to prove lying, which requires proving intent to mislead. So if you can …ahem… proactively "correct the record" ahead of the posse coming looking for you, then it's going to be awfully hard to prove that intent. No matter how obviously you were rumbled before issuing that "correction".
So that is what Twyford was up to yesterday when he "corrected" an answer to a question.
He had been caught out lying and he doesn't want to end up before the Privileges Committee.
I wouldn't know, I haven't been paying attention to the minutiae of what Twyford has or hasn't said. And I've no idea what that has to do with the topic of this thread, ie testimony about gross abuse of power by the US president.
But if I had to guess, based on your past behaviour, I'd guess you're making a claim based on completely ignoring context and stretching the meaning of what someone said waaaaaaay beyond what any normal person would understand to be the meaning of what was said. As well as likely pretending that something is monumentally important when in fact it is relatively trivial.
Very subtle, Alwyn. Very subtle.
Yeah, there are corrections and corrections.
"Oh yes, sorry, my mistake, there is an elephant in the room. I should of looked harder."
Mr Hoarse is reading the transcript.
https://twitter.com/HoarseWisperer/status/1191791814765957120
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1191791814765957120.html
Oh sweet baby cheeses …
I just voted for the Central Lakes Trust on line. It took me less than 2 minutes.
You simply go to website and put in PIN and Password both of which you receive on the voting paper in the post.
SO EASY. This has to be the way to go for Council elections.
the council election here in Middle NZ was literally bullshit, they were all indepent, no one had any religious believes before the election – then suddenly they turn pro life (pro forced birth, once born the child is on its own and better own a pair of boots with bootstraps in case pulling up is needed), all want to stop rates increases but all want to invest more into the community but not into social programmes that would address homelessness, mental illness, drug use, prostitution and such – that would be throwing pearls before swine.
and thus no one votes – be that for council or government – cause you would not have a clue who these clowns are and what they want other then maybe a slice of influence for themselves.
and btw, this is exactly why the shitshow in the us won, cause he was out and proud with his fucking around, his bullying, his not paying bills or taxes, his stiffing contractors, his stealing of children and loosing them, his racism, his cruelty and his sadism and such, and thus as his voters can attest today, They knew what they voted for and they liked it. Maybe this is something people running for public office should try a bit more, be honest and see if it works.
lol try teaching my mum how to do it.
I can't get comfortable with online voting or voting machines. I think it places too much access to influence in the hands of skillful hackers.
Regardless of how secure, most big heists have a player on the inside.
David Mac….just can’t see this. Votes are protected by both PIN and Password. Huge penalties could be prescribed for hacking.
You can compare online with the postal voting system we have now where I know for sure that some people vote on behalf of others. The idea is that online voting is ADDITIONAL to postal voting so many people would vote by post anyway.
I'm 65 and it was a piece of cake McFlock.
Additional is good. You might be able to do a web form, many can't.
Basically, if you want to discuss usability, look to the last census. Not a complete disaster, but still fucks people around and denies us some important data because people didn't imagine putting it online could be a bad thing.
Hacking is the main problem, though. It doesn't have to be Wheedle-bad design to be hackable, and then nobody has any record of what the original votes were. Unlike paper ballots.
Fucksake, it's only the choice of who will be in government. It deserves a bit of effort from the voters.
Sorry but wrong and wrong and wrong.
The census was all online-it didn't permit postal responses. It was also much more complicated that voting-a poor comparison.
You have to make it easy for voters especially young voters who are much more likely to vote online. Democracy is worth the effort of making it easy.
Hacking is very unlikley to succeed undetected and can be handled by the correct systems and penalties.
A major difference compared to continuously live systems like banking is that if a problem occurs, the system can be "rolled back" and reconstructed from the last known correct state. Whereas as one-shot systems like voting or the census have to be correct the first time. But the nature of it being one-shot makes it harder to even detect when something is not right – because there's no recent performance history to compare against.
No, it also included the traditional door-knockers.
As for "making it easy", there's the old adage that security is a compromise between safety and ease of use. That's why you probably don't have a three-factor time-delay lock on your front door. But if you have a lot of stuff, you might have a deadbolt as well as a night latch.
What research have you read that suggests online voting significantly increases voter participation in younger age groups?
The hackers you detect are the ones who get caught – what about the rest? And you still think penalties matter (take that one up with rawshark).
The John Oliver show before the most recent one, he delved into the US voting machine situation. They do not connect to the internet per se. As Oliver pointed out, doesn't matter, for the sake of a clandestine plot, they're vunerable as.
Oliver makes light of the fact that his footage shows us how to take control of the motherboard in a voting machine and then footage of stockpiles of unattended, unprotected voting machines waiting to be shipped to the polling booths.
It's all misguided concerns, the dismissal of fabulous efficient tech…until the Kim.com party wins 82% of the vote.
US electronic voting systems and machines are notoriously poorly managed and insecure. This is probably not an indicative example of the concept being taken seriously.
Very little of the security concerns around online voting are about ensuring only legitimate voters actually cast the votes, which is what the mailed PIN and password is about.
Much of the objection to online voting is the possibility of electronic records getting fraudulently manipulated as they are being created or altered after creation, without leaving a traceable record. There have been enough instances of visibly malfunctioning electronic voting machines overseas that this isn't just a hypothetical. Hence the attraction of the permanent record created by paper ballots.
But surely Andre systems can be put in place that stop tampering? With huge fines/imprisonment as penalties?
Isn't this just paranoia?
Ask an actual IT expert. The person running this site, lprent, would be a good start. All the actual IT experts I'm aware of that have expressed an opinion about online voting are strongly opposed to it, for those security reasons. (apart from those connected with companies trying to sell voting software)
Nope.
Firstly, penalties are meaningless. State agents are out of jurisdiction, and freelance hackers think they're the smartest guys in the room and won't get caught (often they're correct).
"Systems can be put in place" is hand-waving. If it's online, it's a vulnerability. Not even banking systems are invulnerable.
There have been reports of electronic vote tampering in the USA already which have been documented and put on line. I may have taken a note of the links, haven't time to look for them, but people should start doing as much researching for themselves as they can. It does take time though.
Here's an actual IT expert's opinion on online voting.
https://thestandard.org.nz/online-voting-no-try-polling-booths/
There were lots of IT people on twitter saying no, don't do it, when the online voting issue was being discussed last month.
Not as far as I am concerned. There are several obvious issues that anyone should be able to understand.. And these don't even cover the hacker issues that I wrote about last time.
This is a spike issue. All of a sudden a system goes from having virtually no use apart from artificial testing to falling over under real world loads. Happens all of the time in my network programming world. Another example was the live streaming of rugby by spark recently.
Hell – it has happened on this site in different elections.
So the most frequent analogy used of banking online systems is completely false. Those are systems running all of the time, being tinkered with, updated, and tuned all of the time. There is no comparison between a tuned all-the-time load system with a punctuated system of shortish peak loads (over days or weeks) and long quiesient periods in terms of reliability.
Nothing faster than networks and operating systems. On average all of these have multiple updates per day. The culmulative total of upgrades is such that every few years it is like testing for a new system
Assume that because of the punctuated usage, you're going to need some severe recertifications and testing on each usage and virtually all of the perceived cost advantages fall out of the window.
You either maintain a single increasingly obsolete system with increasing rare and very expensive developer and system support. This is the model used by voter machines in the US.
Or you have a massive upfront cost on each usage. Neither strategy lends itself to long term reliability. Because the world keeps discovering exploits all of the time for old systems.
I know of readers on here who use IE 8 on windows XP – something that hasn't been supported since god knows when (about 2010). I have seen people using PPC Macs with Safari – which I seem to remember stopped production in about 2007. One crazy person uses a Sparc workstation with firefox. I even tested that it worked ok earlier this year in a VM for my own curiosity. And I'm only getting a small selection of NZ voters.
Just think about that for a second. What you are imposing is effectively a property requirement to vote. Or you have to maintain expensive multiple voting systems.
etc… and as for..
Who exactly do you think is technically capable in (say) the police force or electoral commission or even the intelligence community to detect and track down these miscreants?
FFS: The US intelligence community and companies can barely figure out by behaviour which groups were tampering with crucial systems and from what countries they were doing it from. Individuals from another country or even kiwis routed via the net anywhere in the world – even less so. The US capabilities are astronomical compared to compared to anything we have here.
Not to mention that we'd have to have them accessible to our justice system to even attempt a prosecution.
It isn't paranoid. It is just realistic.
I hesitate to do this, but I pretty much reject all of this LPrent.
I think online voting should be given a go at Council level and if it works given a go at the GE.
If insoluble problems of security are identified by all means dump it, but the chronically low levels of voting and the obvious ease of voting online convince me this is worth the risk.
When ATMs were first intoduced into NZ @BeardedGit, the "instigators" – the managers and salesmen (as opposed to the "IT experts") were confident there were "systems put in place"
Then those instigators soon began wringing their hands and demanding that "something must be done".
From memory, some of the first ATMs were of the Diebold brand – the people that make voting machines, and hosted by Fletcher Challenge.
And then later, when managers opted for cheaper brands of ATMs other than IBM ones hosted on an IBM network, and supposedly entirely compatible, little things like leaving a receipt in a slot meant that transactions wouldn't be committed and the books didn't balance. (All "systems had been put in place").
Voting is far more important as far as I'm concerned than banks not fessing up to some of their losses due to fraudulent activity
I see more fires caused by Guy Fawkes Fireworks. Oz banned them decades ago when will be stop this unecessary destruction and protect people from themselves.
I watched some 'men' firing skyrockets over an old peoples home, when challenged they replied 'it's perfectly legal'…..see the problem here ?
After years of terrified animals, sulphurous stenches and nervous waits with the hose at hand, our fireworks mad neighbours have sold up and buggered off.
Bliss.
Well, lighting fireworks and burning shit down is a human right for all truly “manly men”…except where people do something about it.
An example: in the Far North on Karikari Peninsula, fireworks were a problem for years with even District Council total fire bans not impressing those that stock piled fireworks for occasions other than Nov. 5, nor controlled displays by the local Fire station. So for the last two years courtesy of the Northland Regional Council, a binding Firework Ban with penalties was instituted, and has worked pretty well so far because the overwhelming majority of residents not only support it, but help the Firefighters enforce it!
I was filling the car at the gas station last night while fireworks were whizzing gaily overhead. Clutching the dispenser in white-knuckled hands, I was thinking "Come on, damn you, pump faster!" I hate Guy Fawkes, and so does my cat.
Close all the windows, pull the curtains, turn the TV on loud even if you're not watching and the cat will think all the cracks and bangs are coming out of the TV. Operation Normal.
Ha yeah Anne, I Spotified 4 loud hours of the history of Glam Rock. Holly is accustomed to that environment and was none the wiser. Flashes behind the curtains and T-Rex belong together.
When I was 12, I adored the 5th of November. I miss being excited by fireworks. Must be a bit like a narcotics habit, endure a protracted addiction chasing a buzz as tasty as the first. My Mum loved them to the day she died. Catherine Wheels, they reminded her of galaxies.
It's probably time we grew up and found a way to get that fireworks buzz without burning family homes down.
I wonder if the NZ Navy out of Devonport could take the helm of something special over the Waitemata. A big co-ordinated display would be a hell teamwork builder…and morale. They have ammo that reaches a use-by date. The spectacle could be taken off-shore, the Waitemata doesn't burn.
Ban them and do something better.
I don't want to stop tipping my hat to the Guy that would dare to smuggle barrels of gun-powder beneath the benches. As committed activists go, Mr Fawkes takes the cake. Outrageous insane act on a land far from here…. Maybe our growing up involves embracing the Matariki stars instead.
Ban them and do something better.
20-25 years ago, Twinings (I think it was Twinings) financed a magnificent display on the Waitemata Harbour. They had three barges… one close to North Head, one opposite the Devonport ferry terminal and the third somewhere off the Viaduct Basin. They synced beautifully and I reckon it was the best display ever seen in Auckland.
There must have been around 50,000 to 100,000 onlookers from North Head through to the Harbour Bridge on both sides of the Harbour.
Top Repug: 'Release the transcript!'
*transcript is released*
reporter: Reporter: “Do you plan on reading these transcripts that were released?”⁰
Graham: “No.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lindsey-graham-impeachment-transcripts-gordon-sondland_n_5dc1ed6ee4b0f5dcf8fcabe4
It's gonna be ever more fascinating watching the escalating squirming, evading, lying and reversals of positions previously held dear coming up over the next few months.
https://wecantconsenttothis.uk/
Grace Millane’s accused murderer has pleaded ‘rough sex gone wrong’ as his defence against guilt for her death. As I suspected would happen. We can’t let this become a thing in New Zealand. It’s licence to kill. I may not be able to stick around to argue about this topic as highly triggering but please look at the link if you care or have any concern about this important issue for women in ‘current year’. It’s real. It’s serious. It’s killing us.
I can't see anyone here arguing about it Compass Rose. Good on you for bringing the matter to TS readers' attention.
they don't care, rape, sexual abuse, death at the hand of a partner they don't care. It must be something that happend because we did something to deserve it cause if we did not do something to deserve it then the men who killed these women must be fully responsible. And that can not be. Never ever. Thus nothing gets done, and the reputation of these dead women and their families must be smeared and other women must know and understand that if that happens to you its because you consented to it.
i am sorry, but nothing will ever happen to change that. Nothing.
That scenario doesn't just apply to the rape and killing of women which is at the most serious end of the spectrum. It also applies to other forms of attack on individual women whether it be physical or psychological bullying type behaviour. And you're right Sabine. It almost always gets brushed aside as something the victim supposedly did or said. We asked for it so… stop your moaning, it's your own fault.
We'd need a judiciary not riddled with perverts wouldn't we.
something serious
something funny
so what you gonna do about it?
https://youtu.be/_JpH3Hud32w
What happens if big corporations regard dead passengers as externalities?
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50293927
Boeing whistleblower raises doubts over 787 oxygen system
BTW @greywarshark, things have re-appeared (in my case) – just on a different day than when posted.
Meanwhile, given Jacinda's attempts to clean up a sleezey, egotistical, misogynistic, exceptionalist oil slick that has the potential to taint everything around it, I'm reading up on tantric sex and dusting off my copy of the Karma Sutra.
It seems a little more ‘civilised’ than ordering a bit of porn on the taxpayers’ credit card
Edit
Well a gentleman can then go home and say to his wife of either gender:
'I am always true to you in my fashion, I'm always true to you darling in my way.'
And don't be too tough, we are talking about a human, being human. In the future it may be just a memory when we get to a stage where machines merge. (Your algorithm is so compatible with mine!)
There possibly will be cases of computer ‘promiscuity’ and some programs will become unstable.
Amazing what blowing holes in a Saudi oil facility can achieve.
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1191752174084210699
Some good results from the Tuesday Elections in Virginia, Kentucky, – The Blue wave of 2018 continues which promises well for this time next year.
https://www.vox.com/2019/11/5/20949741/winners-and-losers-election-night-2019
That Virginia Dems winning all three levels of government sets up the possibility of finally ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment of the Constitution, as mentioned in the last "winner" in the Vox piece linked above.
However, that Vox piece misses a lot of details that will make it fascinating to watch, such as several states that ratified it some time ago have since attempted to rescind their ratification. But since it's never been tested, it's unknown whether the rescinding is valid.
Yeah true that – just keeping fingers crossed.
Meanwhile – in Pence's home town no less –
http://www.therepublic.com/2019/11/05/democrats-take-control-of-columbus-city-council/
Not to mention that the ERA had a target date of something like 1982 for ratification (what idiot thought that was a good idea?). Probably means that a whole new round of ramifications.
The piece below from Amanda Marcotte at Salon covers some of what's likely to come.
https://www.salon.com/2019/11/06/phyllis-schlaflys-dead-but-the-equal-rights-amendment-may-come-back-to-life/
tl;dr a whole bunch of court battles over whether states can rescind their ratification of constitutional amendment, likely arguments in both chambers of Congress over what needs to be passed again after previous deadlines expired. All battles featuring Repugs arguing women should be explicitly treated as second-class citizens.
This Time piece and the wikipedia entry also have good info.
Kia Ora Breakfast.
Aotearoa natural products will become sort after commodities in the near future.
Why did the previous lot start selling hundreds of thousands South island crown lease land at dirt cheap prices A.
What I see is money being used once again to stop conservation so that the money men can carry on pillaging the Ross sea tooth fish that fishery will collapse unless its protected like most fishery hav. Orange Ruffy is a great example.
I think choosing kind words to describe the problem like emotionally confused instead of mental health will get a lot more people to come forward and admit they are having problems.
Data is not the holy grail unless it is reviewed by un biest sources it can be massaged to tell the story that the colabrator wants to use to influence people's opinions.
Consumerism is the Phenomenon that can be directly linked to all the carbon being pumped into our atmosphere.
Ka kite Ano
This story is evedince that New Zealand is not as squeaky clean as most people believe.
White Silence: The tragic story of the Air Zealand jet that flew into Mt Erebus, killing all 257 people on board.
The crash of an Air New Zealand plane on Mt Erebus on 28 November 1979 was the country's deadliest disaster, and the investigation into it produced the now well-known phrase: "An orchestrated litany of lies".
What was the orchestrated litany of lies? Who was supposed to be lying? And why did the plane crash?
Some people know all about those things. But most of us don't. And really, we should.
Not just because it's our worst-ever disaster, or a major anniversary is upon us, but because too few people over the years have ever really, properly reckoned with them. And that has got us where we are today. Forty years on, with an unresolved mess.
The other thing that gets you is the circumstances of the crash: the plane just flew into the mountain. There was no mechanical failure, it wasn't caught in some polar storm, it just flew into the mountain. At 1500 feet. When the investigators listened to the cockpit voice recorder (black box) they were stunned to hear that in the final seconds before impact, none of the flight crew saw Erebus in front of them.
. The only people with any experience flying in Antarctica were flight engineer Gordon Brooks and the in-flight commentator Peter Mulgrew.
Mr Mulgrew was a mountaineer and an adventurer. He was part of the British Antarctic expedition in the 1950s and later lost both his feet to frostbite while climbing in the Himalayas. He wasn't initially rostered for the 28 November flight, but swapped with one of the other commentators – his friend, Sir Edmund Hillary.
Ka kite Ano link below below.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/402799/white-silence-the-tragic-story-of-the-air-zealand-jet-that-flew-into-mt-erebus-killing-all-257-people-onboard
White Silence: The bizarre Erebus burglary – 'hardly anything was missing'
Maria called the police. The burglary was strange for a few reasons: The power cut. How many burglars cut the power? Also, hardly anything was missing. A tape recorder was gone, a digital clock, some passports. But not Maria's jewellery, which was in the same drawer as the passports.
There was one more thing: a photo of her husband, Captain Jim Collins, torn to pieces, and placed back in the envelope where it was kept.
The more sinister theory was that the burglary was the work of New Zealand's SIS. In the four months since the crash, the Erebus disaster had taken on a life of its own.The safety record of DC10s had come under intense scrutiny. Since the first aircraft rolled off the production line in 1970 there had been no fewer than six crashes, claiming nearly 900 lives. Erebus was only the third-worst of them.
The SIS entered the theory because in 1980, Air New Zealand was entirely owned by the New Zealand government. An existential threat to the airline would be its problem.The shareholding minister was the Finance Minister, also the country's Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon. Muldoon also happened to be Minister for the SIS. RNZ's chief political
correspondent at the time, Richard Griffin, remembers some wild rumours circulating in the press gallery.
There was a lot of speculation…Robert Muldoon… was using the SIS illegally, but who would know.
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/116618310/white-silence-the-bizarre-erebus-burglary–hardly-anything-was-missing
https://youtu.be/g_D5vzqBVWo
Africa poised to lead way in global green revolution, says report
Continent is set for massive urbanisation but can avoid relying on fossil fuels, says IEA.
Africa is poised to lead the world’s cleanest economic revolution by using renewable energy sources to power a massive spread of urbanisation, says an IEA report.
The IEA, or International Energy Agency, predicts that solar energy will play a big role in supporting the continent’s growing population and industrialisation over the next 20 years.
The report forecasts that Africa’s appetite for energy will grow at double the rate of the global average in the coming decades as the continent overtakes China and India as the most populated region in the world.
Africa’s population is expected to grow to more than 2 billion people by 2040, a rise of 800 million from today or the population equivalent of the US and Europe combined, says the report. People are expected to turn to cities and towns at a rate never seen before, where the demand for new houses and infrastructure will ignite an energy-hungry industrial revolution.
Birol said: “Africa’s total contribution to cumulative global emissions from energy over the last 100 years is only 2%, which is half the emissions of Germany today. If everyone in Africa had access to energy this 2% will rise to just 3% – it’s still nothing. It’s peanuts compared to other countries in the world which are using fossil fuels such as coal for energy.
“But while Africa does not contribute to climate change the continent is on the frontline of its potential effects, including droughts. Africa is perhaps the most innocent continent in terms of its contributions to climate change, but they will be the victims
Kia Ora 1 News.
I know what it's like working 4 days straight.
People dumpling rubbish in our Awa is not on maybe the needs to be a 2 hours a week free dumping for the people less fortunate.
The Bush fire season is starting earlier and getting bigger in Australia and America let's hope not to much life is lost.
The British rocket car that's trying to break the land speed record looks highly technical.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Great to see Te Rangatahi Kapa Haka going Mana.
Hine it looks like they might learn to treat a Tangata Whenua Mana Wahine of your standing with more respect.
The Book on Tangata Whenua protest looks like it will be awesome there will be a lot of knowledge in it to.
Sonny is being rewarded for his Mana Mahi.
The Tangata Whenua Sports awards has heaps of great Stars this year congratulations to you all.
Ka kite Ano
I have accused some companies of this and here I find facts to back up my accusations. The person on the spade whenua has decreased and bureaucracy has increased hence our Roads are not being built as effective efficiently as 40 years ago the tangata on the whenua are getting paid bugger all most of the wages going to management.
‘Parkinson’s Law’ took on a life of its own, forming the basis of several more essays and a book by Parkinson, leading to public lectures around the world.
But what fewer people know is that Parkinson’s original intent was not to take aim at old lady letter-writers or journalists like me, but at a different kind of inefficiency – the bureaucratisation of the British Civil Service. In his original essay he pointed out that although the number of navy ships decreased by two thirds, and personnel by a third, between 1914 and 1928, the number of bureaucrats had still ballooned by almost 6% a year. There were fewer people and less work to manage – but management was still expanding, and Parkinson argued that this was due to factors that were independent of naval operational needs.
One scholar who has taken a serious look at Parkinson’s Law is Stefan Thurner, a professor in Science of Complex Systems at the Medical University of Vienna. Thurner says he became interested in the concept when the faculty of medicine at the University of Vienna split into its own independent university in 2004. Within a couple years, he says, the Medical University of Vienna went from being run by 15 people to 100, while the number of scientists stayed about the same. “I wanted to understand what was going on there, and why my bureaucratic burden did not diminish – on the contrary it increased,” he says.
He happened to read Parkinson’s book around the same time and was inspired to turn it into a mathematical model that could be manipulated and tested, along with co-authors Peter Klimek and Rudolf Hanel. “Parkinson argued that if you have 6% growth rate of any administrative body, then sooner or later any company will die. They will have all their workforce in bureaucracy and none in production.
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191107-the-law-that-explains-why-you-cant-get-anything-done
To the post below because someone is playing games with my devices I have to make post like this.
We need a good clean environment to live and leave for our Mokopuna. If not all the movies about a apocalypse will come true.
What Are the Top 5 Environmental Concerns for 2019?
1. Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the most complex and vital feature of our planet. It is essentially every living thing and ecosystem that makes up the environment. From the tallest giraffe to the smallest microorganism, everything plays an important role in the maintenance of our world.
But with the increase in global warming, pollution and deforestation, biodiversity is in danger. Billions of species are going or have gone extinct all over the world. Some scientists, in fact, are suggesting that we are in the beginning of a 6th mass extinction, posing issues for our planet and ourselves.
2. Water
Water pollution is a huge concern for us and our environment. Not only is polluted water a huge financial strain but is also killing both humans and marine life. With oil spills, an abundance of plastic waste and toxic chemicals entering our waterways, we’re damaging the most valuable resource our planet has to offer.
By educating people on the causes and effects of water pollution, we can work together to undo the damage humans have caused. Laws also need to change to make pollution tougher, consistently across national borders.
3. Deforestation
We need plants and trees to survive. They provide oxygen, food, water and medicine for everyone, all over the globe. But if deforestation continues at the rate it’s occurring, we won’t have much of the valuable forestry left.
With natural wildfires, illegal logging and the mass amount of timber being harvested for commercial use, our forests are decreasing at an alarming rate. As well as reducing our supply of oxygen, the loss of forests is contributing around 15% of our greenhouse gas emissions
4. Pollution
Pollution is one of the primary causes of many of the other environmental concerns, including climate change and biodiversity. All 7 key types of pollution – air, water, soil, noise, radioactive, light and thermal – are affecting our environment.
All types of pollution, and environmental concerns, are interlinked and influence one another. So, to tackle one is to tackle them all. That’s why we need to work together, as a community, to reduce the impact that pollution is having on our environment.
5. Climate Change
As pointed out by a recent UN report, without ‘unprecedented changes’ in our actions and behaviour, our planet will suffer drastically from global warming in just 12 years. Greenhouses gases are the main cause of climate change, trapping in the sun’s heat and warming the surface of the earth.
An increased ocean temperature is affecting the sea life and ecosystems habituated there. The rise in global sea levels is shrinking our land, causing mass floods and freak weather incidents across the world. If we continue as we are, the world will suffer irreversibly
Ka kite Ano link below
Link to the above post.
https://www.envirotech-online.com/news/air-monitoring/6/breaking-news/what-are-the-top-5-environmental-concerns-for-2019/47579
Kia Ora 1 News.
It looks like we are going to see some colourful Tawhirimate soon.
That's is cool Doc seed banking our native trees to protect them from mertalrust.
That just shows how backwards Australia laws are.
Big flooding in Britain that's Global warming feel sorry for Te tangata they have had repeated flooding of late.
War is for idiots peace is what makes a great Papatuanuku.
Cool that Nui tamariki are being taught how to swim with help from Aotearoa commissioner pool. My first swimming lesson was thrown in the deep I soon learned how to swim.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Our old Tangata Whenua sites need to be taonga and kept in prestige condition for Te Mokopuna.
That's is cool that the fire service is checking and teaching te Marae and tangata about mitigating Ahi.
Congratulations to Te Young Maori for his invitation to the 21 Asia tech conference that can be a great mahi for Te Rangatahi.
Ka kite Ano
https://youtu.be/qQfetkoGrpU