Some of the reasons the US military consistently and strongly advises the US government to get serious about climate change. And gets ignored, just like any other experts giving advice to those that don’t want to hear it.
One of the most destructive industries/businesses in the history of our species, whose essence is to destroy ‘things’ using land, sea and air … offers advice of climate change…
And you’ve posted the link, in support of that position…
Some of your comments are in the right direction, but this is not one of them…and you have missed the point completely….
The perverse use of an article in which one of the most polluting industry’s in human history, directly and indirectly responsible for greater environmental damage and destruction than any other…is ‘concerned’ about impacts climate change…
You’d think the military should be concerned about the contribution they make to ‘climate change’…Andre couldn’t make that association in his desperation to poke sticks at Trump….
The perverse use of an article in which one of the most polluting industry’s in human history, directly and indirectly responsible for greater environmental damage and destruction than any other
[citation needed]
The military is one of those ‘necessary evils’ that we need. That said the US uses theirs to maintain control over the rest of the world rather than as simple defence. This makes their reasons for preventing Climate Change immoral as it’s just to help them maintain their global control but at least they’re saying that Climate Change is a major issues and are working to prevent it.
Whether or not you’ll find comparative data is another matter entirely. Considering the impact of fossil fuels upon foreign policy (and its wars) I don’t think it’s a a particularly bold statement.
I think you are right One Too. It strikes me as another example of American Exceptualism. Even they can’t understand they are the biggest polluters , all they care about is Pax Americana, which means perpetual war.
Why would you trust or believe any military even around cc. They are big polluters, liars, uncaring, blissfully ignorant, living in denial even when the noises they make sound plausible – really, the military are EXACTLY like the rest of us.
There are other good reasons to at least be aware of their perspective, especially in regards to threat analysis. After all, getting that wrong can mean significant personal cost.
Read the linked article marty. While I’m sure no-one here regards the US military as their favourite cuddle bunny, it isn’t reason to so lightly dismiss their strategic thinking.
WW2 as been described by some as the First Great Petroleum War … so many crucial tactical moments pivoted on access to fuel. If Rommel had won that last crucial battle at Ruweisat Ridge and made it to Cairo, closed the Mediterranean, and captured the Saudi oil fields it’s hard to overstate the impact. Or if the American’s were not able to pump so much oil domestically. Or how the Japanese lost the Pacific because their navy never had enough bunker oil. Any student of the military understands this.
Unnecessarily high and growing operational fuel demand increases mission risk
Critical missions at fixed installations are at unacceptable risk from extended power loss
So, too much liquid fuel needed in the field and too much reliance on unsteady power grids at the bases
In other documents the US military has clearly signalled cc as a global destabilisation threat.
So while it’s true they’re very much burdened into a legacy of gross over-dependence on oil, they’re not so stupid (as the rest of us are) to continue to deny how this potentially compromises their mission.
Im saying their thinking is based upon THEIR issues, agenda, objectives etc. So yes if fuel runs out, or a big storm occurs they won’t get to kill as many of the enemy as they want.
Amazing to me the ability of some to accept and bow down to authority just cos they are authorities. Humans are definately pack animals.
Oh and why do we need more evidence the shit has hit the fan. The military has bought all this up so they can maintain mission ability – the mission is what again?
Yes that sums it up. As I said these guys aren’t cuddly bunnies.
But the interesting thing here is that when you look at outfits like big insurers and the military whose operations are grounded in very hard reality … all the politicized climate denying bullshit melts away very quickly.
As an ex-military officer I concur with the sentiments expressed above. We have an on-going military situation in Syria which many have indicated is a result of the drought of 2006 onwards. The drought http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-h-gleick/water-and-conflict-in-syr_b_5404774.html (the worst in recorded history) lead to a severe shortage of grain in the region, with a resultant spike in food prices. The failure of the Assard Govt to respond to this crisis ended in the resultant civil conflict. Syria could be said to be one of the first Climate Wars. So to is the continual war in South Sudan. Both these areas are highly succeptable to climate change in a rapidly warming world.
That is one reason for military to be concerned wrt to AGW.
Another – from a Naval perspective – is Sea Level Rise. Naval ports and harbours (as are all ports world wide), are going to be serverly affected by SLR by the end of this century with the resulting loss of extensive infrastructure and damage caused by storm surges.
Yes Andre, you are right most western military forces are now factoring climate change in our strategic and tactical planning. I discussed this with Weka sometime ago in one of Weka posts.
Of course I have bias, you silly person. Everyone does. That being so, I’m not particularly “angry” about it.
This “Globalist” (with a capital ‘G’) media you speak of, do they have anything to do with the UN, and its plan to take away your guns? Or is it George Soros? I get so confused. Where do HAARP fit in?
Basically, the answer is that the industry has increased tourism numbers, brought in more bizniz, but the downside is a threat to, and disregard of the consequences for the environment.
In short maximise short term dollars and bring in mostly minimum wages workers to satisfy the tourist demand, while polluting and degrading the environment for local communities and future generations…. and that’s not even touching the other issues of bottling water and selling land that was formerly used as parks, reserves and environmental areas, to put up more houses, more people, more cars, more pollution and higher prices, higher rates to pay for the infrastructure as the ponzi scheme continues….
I’m for tourism, but tourism designed around preserving the environment and creating satisfying local jobs for local people, sharing the experience of pure nature with tourists… not the other way around…
You can see the attraction that tourism holds for National. It’s cheap, easy to understand and the major costs can be put upon the taxpayers all of which makes it a nice earner for the owners who won’t have to do anything such as researching and developing new products.
Unfortunately, they didn’t really think about what the added numbers meant in terms of infrastructure and so didn’t plan it at all. We’re now seeing what happens when you follow National’s lack of planning and foresight.
The short-termism is also apparent in the implicit CC denial in the push to expand tourism. If/When tourists have to pay the real cost of their CO2 emissions – would they travel all this way and back?
CC is likely to create a pincer movement that will greatly damage mass tourism – on one hand the need to reduce CO2 emissions will make discretionary travel very expensive, and on the other, CC itself will wreck some of the scenic landscapes people are coming to see.
A third factor may be that larger, more frequent and more violent storms will produce enough accidents to make people feel that conventional passenger aircraft are not safe enough.
all good points. The problem in NZ that Natz in particular have caused is that much of our economy is based around short term and changing industries…. a quick look in the future would have foreseen having an economy around cows, tourism and construction is not lasting….. diversification was badly needed a decade ago.
Also tourism is changing about being a unique experience, just as the Natz are trying to commercialise it for short term profit (and not even profit much of the time) and going in the opposite direction.
If Natz were not so bad, you could laugh at them. Their obsession with oil exploration in the time of peak oil and sustainable energy, giving away water rights when water is predicted to be one of the most precious resources, have a low wage economy when countries like Norway do the opposite and invest in their countries future, importing young people apparently for our aging population crisis, but then allowing the aged parents to come too and get full welfare within a few years, investing in motorways when you have little public transport….
Which raises the question of just how large storm radii, or how clustered, they can get in a +2degree climate.
And of course the risk isn’t really the chances of a divert, it’s the chances of a pilot or controller incorrectly deciding the line of “too tough to land or take off”. Which causes a lot of air accidents.
Tautoko, Tautoko Manga Mata 🙂
That’s an excellent article you’ve recommended, thanks. I found this paragraph:
“As these lies become transparent we are thrown into what Gramsci calls an interregnum—a time when the reigning ideology has lost efficacy but has yet to be replaced by a new one. “The crisis consists,” Gramsci wrote, “precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born, [and] in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.” Hence political mutations such as Donald Trump, or in Gramsci’s time Mussolini.”
Market forces take effect on an ideology. A use by date exists. Idealogy creates behaviours that amass waste, create reluctance to change, invite entrepreours to game, thus the potancy, force for good, orginial goals of the ideology is undermine. So how ironic that a ideology of pro-market forces should be undermined by market forces. Climate change, debt, social maliase, inevitable really that a creed of ignoring govt would pile up more fiscal, environmental, social waste so quickly and so hard to ignore.
The neo-libs were right, market forces would ridicule them into oblivion.
Revolutionary policy for Gramsci did not come from above but from below. It was organic. And the failure, in his eyes, of revolutionary elites is that they were often as dictatorial and disconnected from workers as capitalist elites. The masses had to be integrated into the structures of power to create a new form of mass politics—hence his insistence that all people are intellectuals capable of autonomous and independent thought. A democracy is only possible when all of its citizens understand the machinery of power and have a role in the exercising of power.
And hence my insistence that the policies that parliament work on should be voted upon by the people first, that businesses become cooperatives that aren’t owned by anyone and that all the resources of the national territory are owned by the people.
The people need to have power and not individuals.
It repeats the familiar theme of the absolute requirement for independent autonomic critical thinking and awareness to safeguard society against evil forces (i.e. from our fellow humans). A theme that is also reminiscent of Hannah Arendt who argued that political action must be rooted in proper thinking and judgement.
What also caught my eye was in one of the comments:
People act from emotion not intellect, as those who control society have learned so well.
I’ve heard this assertion many times, often in the context of politics and how people tend to vote and for whom.
I think it needs a minor ‘adjustment’ to:
People react from emotion and act from intellect
To be wholly human means that emotion and intellect work in concert and complement each other. And only then can we accomplish what Gramsci and Arendt envisioned and have a chance of freeing of the shackles imposed upon us by others and ‘normative’ society and thus ultimately by ourselves.
Menstrual bleeding may have to be treated as a disability to get fair treatment for girl pupils with early age onset at 10, perhaps just a suitable receptacle for used product. The cost of the products is also beyond poor students’ parents budgets and some teachers are funding needy students who would otherwise stay home because being blood stained is so noticeable and embarrassing.
Amazingly this normal bodily process is not accepted by society or schools. Now it has become something public and a talking point instead of something private, the embarrassment needs to be pushed aside and action taken to assist these young girls entering womanhood.
The trend in western countries I think, is that onset will be at an earlier age than previously. Of course NZ has no information gathering about this, we don’t want to know about things apart from financial matters pertaining to the wealthy, their profit and investments.
Of course NZ has no information gathering about this, we don’t want to know about things apart from financial matters pertaining to the wealthy, their profit and investments.
And how many people will complain about the government gathering such data as a breach of privacy?
Russian military intelligence executed a cyberattack on at least one U.S. voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials just days before last November’s presidential election…
Ms Reality Winner should’ve done an Ed and bolted when she could.
JUST IN: FBI has arrested and charged the woman they say leaked a Top Secret document to The Intercept, federal official tells NBC News.— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 5, 2017
best I’ve seen was 2% but that didn’t take into account margin of error. Myself, I think it’s going to waste important left wing votes. Not that cannabis people haven’t done that before. FFS, the Greens have a good cannabis policy.
TOP has good ideas, and their policies look good on the surface, but scratch the surface and what I find is an economist’s view of the world. They’re getting too many things wrong in the detail.
edit, sorry, should have said that I think most polls are showing TOP under 1%
My understanding was that ‘The Green Party’ originally courted the legalise vote because that was the 5% dealt with.
TOPs are apparently polling at 2% – which considering there is no campaign underway yet and they have no history…
As for supposed ‘wasted votes’. If everyone always operated by that yard-stick, nothing new would ever arise in the parliamentary system we have. Ever. However, ‘wasted’ votes pushing a party to 4.8% (say) sends a clear signal to all those who baulked that yes, they did actually have an option – and that they unfortunately chose to forego it “this time around”.
Agree with both comments that the 5% should be dog tucker. Apart from anything else it would end the nonsense of people voting for “a lesser” because they fear that their 1/2 500 000th of a say in matters will be reduced to 1/∞.
Threshhold i like, it provides some moderation against rampant democracy just as moderation does here. Everything needs some balance and I want some protection against the tunnel visioned, the narrow obssessives, the nutty dreamers, the ones who never reflect or look for their own faulty thinking and results – keep the threshhold, alter it around the edges perhaps reducing it to 4% only.
We need to make mistakes to learn from them. The threshold prevents that from happening and it also prevents us from changing a system that doesn’t actually work.
We have a system that propagates failure because it prevents us making the mistakes we need to grow and find solutions.
DTB
I am so impressed with your unshakeable belief in humanity and how well it will manage when it just gets the right system. You are a sentinel of fine human thought and goodwill. And I am sincere and probably embarrass you. But when you talk about threshholds being a barrier to learning, I think that there is a limit to what we want to learn now, and we have heaps we don’t face, so don’t deluge us with more, we’ll collapse and turn away, lose our mojos. Face it we people don’t learn from our mistakes, or the lesson doesn’t last beyond a few generations and then only if it is dished out regularly and rigidly along with the morning porridge.
We haven’t time to live through the evolution of any new great idea for humanity that requires us to rely on it and abandon every old sensible practice we have organised for ourselves. The bloody little backstabbers who come along with better ideas to replace existing ones are willing to abandon the work done on building a good-enough system, in favour of some super-duper one they are over-confident about – they give me the shits. Most of them will drift away as it fails to work and provide the needed outcomes, and only one determined old shit will continue, bemoaning that if only something different had been done then… Think of Roger Douglas, perfect example.
Work with what we have, tweak it so it flies in a reasonable stable way, and guard it against the revolutionaries who have a better idea that is being formulated as we speak. And watch your back – all workers for society aren’t the same, and don’t assume you know the pretensions of others and they are good, and check your own for practicality and principle. Be ready to control yourself and think around the situation when there might be need to abandon principles in emergencies.
There is so much PC talk as people shrink from looking at our present, and want the future to remain hazy where all problems will have been solved. You know, in 2080 when our pollution targets will all have been met and so on.
Essentially you’re just saying you don’t trust people to choose decent representatives. Don’t get me wrong, I detest representative ‘democracy’ because it’s a sham.
But there are degrees of undemocratic, and the 5% threshold reduces even the small degree of democracy that can be said to exist in a representative system.
I have concern about the frequent absence of thought about job creation and training and skill education in serving life purpose when discussing need for better social conditions for the future.
People kept isolated in poverty, with no job to fit themselves into society and fill their days, no wages, having to ask for extra when specially needy but probably denied, or even not able to be heard, never having much, with no future achievable goals, and getting anything mainly through theft – these will become a permanent sub-culture.
I almost feel embarassed for Hillary when she narrates a story where blame lands everywhere except on her poor performance and the fact everyone hates her.
The Dems could have run with almost any other candidate and won, but no they had to go with their Globalist political dynasty heiress.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: I meant to do this earlier, but got distracted by site issues. This comment was in a post that didn’t refer to Hillary Clinton at all. Your comment was the first comment and caused a major diversion away from the topic of the post. As you probably intended.
There is a rule against that and since you ignored my wee warning… Well I really like to train social fucktards (like you) about why that rule is there. Now you have to read instead of writing for a while. Watch the careful social behaviour that doesn’t step past moderators tolerances. And if you don’t like it, well just read the last paragraph of the about.
Banned for 4 weeks.
Read the policy about diverting from the author’s topic. ]
Except Clinton didnt say ‘blame lies elsewhere’- FAKE NEWS ALERT
““I take absolute personal responsibility,” Clinton said of her November defeat during a sit-down with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at an event titled Women for Women International in New York. “I was the candidate, I was the person who was on the ballot. I am very aware of the challenges, the problems, the shortfalls that we had.”
Did we make mistakes? Oh course we did. Did I make mistakes? Oh my gosh, yes.”
Everybody hates her? Is that why she got got 3.5 million more primary votes than Sanders and almost 3 mill more votes than Trump ( but not in all the right places)
Could we just let it go that YOU hate her, not the american voters for whom you speak
Why do I care? No idea why I should care about a major so called good political figure throwing out a big barrel of porkies. If you’re on the good side shouldn’t you be expecting rationality and integrity from your politicians, and from all the good media too? Or do you let it slide by because they’re against the most evil Trump/Russia and anything goes to stop the evil doers.
When people stop saying things like “everyone hates her” despite the objective evidence to the contrary, then I’m sure people will stop bringing up reality.
No, there’s a difference between refuting stupid claims (like calling Trump “one of the most despised politicians in history”) and gnashing one’s teeth in despair. If you want to talk about American democracy, then the example of the Electoral College overruling the popular vote is relevant. If you want to say Clinton was universally hated, then the popular vote is also relevant.
But it wasn’t even the clintonists who raised her name in this thread. Maybe it’s sanders or trump supporters with buyers’ remorse who should learn to gtf over it.
How’s about you address the person you’re addressing by the things the person you’re addressing has said or claimed, as opposed to what others aside from the person you’re addressing has said or claimed?
Because otherwise, it’s just ‘picking fights’ for the hell of it. Which is boring.
I did. 808 made a claim about Clinton, I pointed out how it was factually incorrect, then Adam came in asking people to stop pointing out reality, so I responded to that request by saying why my comment was relevant rather than any “desperation”.
“When people stop saying things like “everyone hates her” despite the objective evidence to the contrary, then I’m sure people will stop bringing up reality.”.
Not necessarily “hated” but by no means popular – even less so, it seems, than the Trumpet
Washington Post-ABC News Poll (April 17-20 2017)
Suggests Hillary Clinton would not win a rematch with Donald Trump.
Trump leading 43 to 40 percent on the question of who voters would pick if the election were held today.
96 percent of those who voted for Trump would do so again. Among Clinton voters, 85 percent said they would stand by their decision – with most of those who would not saying they’d either go with a third-party candidate or not vote at all.
Suffolk University poll (March 2017)
As Hillary Clinton makes her reemergence with a speech at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Wednesday night, a new poll shows her with her worst image numbers ever. The Suffolk University poll shows that just 35 percent of registered voters have a favorable opinion of Clinton, compared with 55 percent who have an unfavorable one.
The decline is due to both Democrats and independents apparently souring on Clinton. While 88 percent of Democrats and 32 percent of independents liked Clinton in October, today those numbers are 74 percent and 25 percent, respectively.
None of which is to say that she can’t right the ship. But for now, Clinton is a uniquely unpopular figure in American politics – more uniquely unpopular, it seems, than the uniquely unpopular figure to whom she lost.
Is that result really surprising? Trump’s been president with daily coverage for for 5 months – a shitty president, but that still counts for something. Clinton hasn’t been doing a damned thing to raise her profile or defend herself in that time. Do you think trump would be anything more than a half-remembered joke if the outcome were reversed?
As 808 shows, memories about politics are often fleeting.
” Is that why she got got 3.5 million more primary votes than Sanders ”
#FAKE CAMPAIGN
She got more votes because she had her underlings at the DNC sabotaging Sanders – do you not remember the DNC president quitting and slithering over to war hawk Hillary’s campaign when Wikileaks exposed the DNC backstabbing?
Bernie supporters HATE her. They aren’t stupid.
“almost 3 mill more votes than Trump ( but not in all the right places)”
LOL, how does that make her not hated?
Could we just let it go that YOU just cant see what a failed politician Hillary is, but the US voters can?
Your heroine had the entire state apparatus including the Media Party (#Fake News) trying to haul her rotten carcass across the finish line first. And failed spectacularly because she was such a hated figure.
You have to remember the US voters are corralled into a #Fake choice between two carefully screened globalist loyalists. Except this time it went terribly terribly wrong, lol.
So bragging about Hillary’s hollow “popular” vote is as delusional as her own inability to take any responsibility for her catastrophic failure.
If you believe that your idol has been some how “cheated” of the presidency then maybe you better go brush up on the humanist political philosophy underpinning the concept of democracy – you demonstrate a poor grasp of this subject.
Dude, I’ve never called her my heroine, I don’t believe that I’ve even gone so far to say she was “cheated” out of the presidency (although I have pointed out an inconsistency in the processes of a supposedly democratic nation, but hey, the UK is FPP, too). Those are your fixations.
I just point out when your hatred of clinton oversteps reality into comments about how “everyone hates her”. Classic projection. YOU hate her, fine, but tens of millions voted for her, and surely even a zealot like you would concede that it’s likely a chunk of those people liked her.
Why do I think your delusion is a big deal? Because it is a dodge. It means that people didn’t vote for trump, they just got given a horrible choice between trump and clinton, and bernie would have vanquished the trump dragon because his heart is pure.
The fact is bernie lost fairly. Clinton lost fairly.
Trump won because he was the loudest voice in the chaotic start to an imperfect system, Fox loved him, and that gave him a certain cache amongst obsessive idiots, and normal people in politics didn’t know how to deal with someone who can insult the grieving parents of a dead US soldier, have multiple sexual assault allegations against him, and still go up in the polls.
Dukeofurl: “Everybody hates her? Is that why she got got 3.5 million more primary votes than Sanders and almost 3 mill more votes than Trump ( but not in all the right places)”
Oh yeah, lots of Americans just LOVE Clinton, don’t they? It was the blogosphere, and comments thereon, prior to the US election that first alerted me to the possibility that Clinton might just lose.
Saw this comment online a little while ago: ‘The thinking people in USA KNOW Russia had nothing to do with our elections! We hated Clinton and would have voted for an alligator if that was the only opponent to Clinton!” Ha! Think that alligator coulda been a contender…..
With regard to the popular vote, that’s not how elections are won in the US. As Clinton ought to have known. It didn’t matter a good goddamn how big a share of the popular vote she got: she needed the EC votes to win.That’s how the system works there; she and her team were evidently too incompetent to figure that out.
“It didn’t matter a good goddamn how big a share of the popular vote she got”
There is a graphic showing where Hillary won the popular vote across the USA. She only secured major urban centers with large populations of blacks, latinos and white hipster/cosmopolitan types. The vast swathe of “fly over country” was lost to Trump.
And the whole point of the Electoral College is to counter balance the urban population.
But if you run a campaign relying on Mylie Cyrus and Katie Perry beseeching unemployed Illinois steel workers to vote for you, its going to end badly.
re point england reserve/development enabling bill
Can I republish an article that appears in the Te Awa, which appeared in a green party magazine, but not online. The authours have given me their permission and at the very least would like to raise awareness on this issue.
Or should I just post it all in the comments?
It would be great if you would allow it as a guest post.tks
Amongst those receiving public acclaim I see a category … a Queen’s honour (knighthood) for services to my community.
Apparently opening a “healthy” American Burger chain in my community is a virtue.
Over 130 Imams & Religious Leaders from diverse backgrounds refuse to perform the funeral prayer for London attackers in an unprecedented move
5 June 2017
Imams and religious leaders from across the country and a range of schools of thought have come together to issue a public statement condemning the recent terror attack in London and conveying their pain at the suffering of the victims and their families.
In an unprecedented move, they have not only refused to perform the traditional Islamic prayer for the terrorist – a ritual that is normally performed for every Muslim regardless of their actions – but also have called on others to do the same. They said:
“Consequently, and in light of other such ethical principles which are quintessential to Islam, we will not perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer over the perpetrators and we also urge fellow imams and religious authorities to withdraw such a privilege. This is because such indefensible actions are completely at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam.”
For the full statement and list of signatories, see below.
This is what needs to happen
plus
let us see CHRISTIAN leaders denouncing the making and SALE OF ARMS (conveniently called DEFENCE).
What is Christ-like about this? How can a good Christian reconcile the $110bn arms deal to Saudi Arabia who won’t be using these arms in their own country.
In UK the police are trying to find the bomb-maker for a terrorist incident.
USA and UK ARE also Bomb-makers!
NZ business and how it is treated by the business-friendly Gnashional government.
Rod Oram referred to the government undercutting NZ businesses that had been asked to develop forward-thinking plans by going to Amazon which is likely to be setting up a South Pacific office in Australia.
Tues 6 June Business commentator Rod Oram
Rod talks to Lynn Freeman about the severe lack of international carbon credits will require a big revamp of our Emissions Trading, the government signs up Amazon for a big cloud computing deal, to the great disappointment of NZ suppliers, and Spark drops plans for a venture capital fund with other major corporates.
The US could well be using their Saudi proxies to undermine a Qatari regime that’s on speaking terms with Iran.
Note from the author: Events have happened faster than I imagined when I wrote this last week. Six Arab states have now cut diplomatic relations with Qatar. Its land borders with Saudi Arabia are closed and 85 percent of its imports are cut. A full siege is in place. This is no longer a “spat”. It is looking as if the object of this pre-planned campaign is regime change in Qatar.
It would appear that Stephen Joyce is has become Associate Minister of Conservation by default..
“The Department of Conservation is being accused of failing in its conservation role after it made a neutral submission on a proposed West Coast coal mine.”
“DOC said both it and MBIE had an interest in the proposal and there was a cabinet directive to submit together when this occurred, which often resulted in a neutral submission.
Forest and Bird said the department seemed to have abdicated its advocacy role.
And pointed out the submission suggested minimising the damage to conservation values, yet DOC’s own experts said the site was of high value and was significant.
“The function of the department is to advocate for the protection, not advocate for the minimisation of the destruction”.
And remember we are basically a developing country relying on commodity farming, tourism, and overseas companies buying up special resources and anything clever we achieve.
Japan famously had an “income-doubling” plan in the 1960s. With that successful example in mind, why not introduce a “minimum wage doubling” plan, to be carried out over a period of years, thus giving business the chance to adjust?
as Keynes famously said, when the facts change, I change my mind.
The main reason governments are leery of intervening in labor markets is bad memories of failed wage and price controls during the high-inflation 1970s. But a second, more current, reason is that businesses everywhere lobby them to keep out, arguing that competitiveness depends on cheap labor.
But it’s time to ignore the lobbies and take courage. Sometimes, raising the minimum wage really would risk killing employment. But today that looks unlikely, at least in countries where unemployment rates are now low. And we need more investment in new technology to raise productivity, not less. Raising minimum wages would help stimulate that investment, while boosting consumer demand.
as Keynes famously said, when the facts change, I change my mind.
Ah, but do facts change?
Or is it that we find out that what we thought was true was actually wrong?
And we need more investment in new technology to raise productivity, not less. Raising minimum wages would help stimulate that investment, while boosting consumer demand.
That’s what penal rates are for. Instead of having the same people work more and more it encourages a) employment of more people and b) investment in new technology to boost productivity. The latter also being helped by depreciation rules.
“Lady Bronagh?” Sorry Bronagh that title is reserved for female members of the British Aristocracy who inherit the title.
Bronagh will be “Bronagh, Lady Key”
(Thanks Ruth Gardener, Ch Ch.)
Adult children of authoritarians are useful in three ways: first, they tend to be trustworthy confidants in regimes rife with paranoia, as corrupt authoritarian states usually are. Second, they are excellent vessels for laundering money, creating enough distance that assets stolen from the state are harder to track. Third, they tend to have a warmer public profile which offsets the brutality of the dictator by distracting the population with pictures of their happy families or glamorous lifestyle.
Something good to hear and see.
If you like Don McLean singing Vincent watch this youtube which is presented with a
backdrop of Van Gogh’s paintings – a beautifully presented video which honours the painter and the writer and singer well.
Hoopla And Razzamatazz: Putting the country into debt allows a Minister of Finance to keep the lights on and the ATMs working without raising taxes. That option may become unavoidable at some future time, for some future government, but that is not the present government’s concern – not in the ...
Speaking Truth To Power: Greta Thunberg argues that the fine sounding phrases of well-meaning politicians changes nothing. The promises made, the targets set – and then re-set – are all too familiar to the younger generations she has encouraged to pay attention. They have heard it all before. Accordingly, she ...
The Spiral of Silence Problem As climate communicator John Cook cleverly illustrates below, a big obstacle to raising awareness about climate change is the "spiral of silence," a reluctance to talk about it. There are many reasons for this reluctance we can speculate about. Perhaps people don't want to be ...
The informed discussion on the next steps in tax policy is about improving the income tax base, not about taxing wealth directly.David Parker, the Minister for Inland Revenue, gave a clear indication that his talk on tax was to be ‘pointy-headed’ by choosing a university venue for his presentation. As ...
A couple of weeks ago, Newsroom reported that the government was failing to meet its proactive release obligations, with Ministers releasing less than a quarter of cabinet papers and in many cases failing to keep records. But Chris Hipkins was already on the case, and in a recent cabinet paper ...
Why are the New Zealand media so hostile to the government – not just this government, but any government? The media I have in mind are not NZME-owned outlets like the Herald or Newstalk ZB, whose bias is overtly political and directed at getting rid of the current Labour government. ...
In this week’s “A View from Afar” podcast Selwyn Manning and I speculate on how the Ruso-Ukrainian War will shape future regional security dynamics. We start with NATO and work our way East to the Northern Pacific. It is not comprehensive but we outline some potential ramifications with regard to ...
At base, the political biffo back and forth on the merits of Budget 2022 comes down to only one thing. Who is the better manager of the economy and better steward of social wellbeing – National or Labour? In its own quiet way, the Treasury has buried a fascinating answer ...
by Don Franks Poverty in New Zealand today has new ugly features. Adequate housing is beyond the reach of thousands. More and more people full time workers must beg food parcels from charities. Having no attainable prospects, young people lash out and steal. A response to poverty from The Daily ...
Drought: the past is no longer prologue Drought management in the United States (and elsewhere) is highly informed by events of the past, employing records extending 60 years or longer in order to plan for and cope with newly emerging meterorological water deficits. Water resource managers and agricultural concerns use ...
The government announced its budget today, with Finance Minister Grant Robertson giving the usual long speech about how much money they're spending. The big stuff was climate change and health, with the former being pre-announced, and most of the latter being writing off DHB's entirely fictional "debt" to the the ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has delivered a Budget that will many asking “Is that all there is?” There is a myriad of initiatives and there is increased spending, but strangely it doesn’t really add up to much at all for those hoping for a more traditional Labour-style Budget. The headline ...
Last year, Cook Islands Deputy Prime Minister Robert Tapaitau stood down as a minister after being charged with conspiracy to defraud after an investigation into corruption in Infrastructure Cook Islands and the National Environment Service. He hasn't been tried yet, but this week he has been reinstated: The seven-month ...
A ballot for three member's bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Repeal of Good Friday and Easter Sunday as Restricted Trading Days (Shop Trading and Sale of Alcohol) Amendment Bill (Chris Baillie) Electoral (Strengthening Democracy) Amendment Bill (Golriz Ghahraman) Increased Penalties for ...
No Jesus Here.She rises, unrested, and stepsOnto the narrow balconyTo find the day. To greetThe Sunday God she sings to.But this morning His face is clouded.Grey and wet as a corpseWashed by tears.Behind her, in the tangled bedding,the children bicker and whine.Worrying the cheap furnitureLike hungry puppies.They clutch at her ...
After two years of Corona-induced online meetings in 2020 and 2021, this year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will take place as a hybrid conference in both Vienna and online from May 23 to 27. To take hybrid and necessary hygiene restrictions into account, there (unfortunately) will be no ...
“Māori star lore was, and still remains, a blending together of both astronomy and astrology, and while there is undoubtedly robust science within the Māori study of the night sky, the spiritual component has always been of equal importance” writes Professor Rangi Matamua in his book Matariki – Te whetū tapu ...
The foibles of the Aussie electoral system are pretty well-known. The Lucky Country doesn’t have proportional representation. Voting for everyone over 18 is compulsory, but within a preferential system. This means that in the relatively few key seats that decide the final result, it can be the voters’ second, third ...
Julia Steinberger is an ecological economist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. She first posted this piece at Medium.com, and it was reposted on Yale Climate Connections with her permission. Today I went to give a climate talk at my old high school in Geneva – and was given a ...
A/Prof Ben Gray* Gray B. Government funding of interpreters in Primary Care is needed to ensure quality care. Public Health Expert Blog.17 May 2022. The pandemic has highlighted many problems in the NZ health system. This blog will address the question of availability of interpreters for people with limited English ...
I have suggested previously that sometimes Tolkien’s writer-instincts get the better of him. Sometimes he departs from his own cherished metaphysics, in favour of the demands of story – and I dare say, that is a good thing. Laws and Customs of the Eldar might be an interesting insight ...
One of the key planks of yesterday's Emissions Reduction Plan is a $650 million fund to help decarbonise industry by subsidising replacement of dirty technologies with clean ones. But National leader Chris Luxon derides this as "corporate welfare". Which probably sounds great to the business ideologues in the Koru club. ...
Poisonous! From a very early age New Zealanders are warned to give small black spiders with a red blotch on their abdomens a wide berth. The Katipo, we are told, is venomous: and while its bite may not kill you, it can make you very unwell. That said, isn’t the ...
“The truth prevails, but it’s a chore.” – Jan Masaryk: The intensification of ideological pressures is bearable for only so-long before ordinary men and women reassert the virtues of tolerance and common sense.ON 10 MARCH 1948, Jan Masaryk, the Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia, was found dead below his bathroom window. ...
Clearly, the attempt to take the politics out of climate change has itself been a political decision, and one meant to remove much of the heat from the global warming issue before next year’s election. What we got from yesterday’s $2.9 billion Emissions Reduction Plan was a largely aspirational multi-party ...
Michelle Uriarau (Mana Wāhine Kōrero) talks to Dane Giraud of the Free Speech Union LISTEN HERE Michelle Uriarau is a founding member of Mana Wāhine Kōrero – an advocacy group of and for Māori women who took strong positions against the ‘Self ID’ and ‘Conversion Practises Bills’. One of the ...
If we needed any confirmation, we have it in spades in today’s edition of the Herald; our supposedly leading daily newspaper is determined to do what it can to decide the outcome of the next election – to act, that is, not as a newspaper but as the mouthpiece for ...
Sean Plunkett, founding editor of the new media outlet, The Platform, was interviewed on RNZ's highly regarded flagship programme "Mediawatch".Mr Plunkett has made much about "cancel culture" and "de-platforming". On his website promoting The Platform, he outlines his mission statement thusly:The Platform is for everyone; we’re not into cancelling or ...
“That’s a C- for History, Kelvin!”While it is certainly understandable that Māori-Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis was not anxious to castigate every Pakeha member of the House of Representatives for the crimes committed against his people by their ancestors; crimes from which his Labour colleagues continue to draw enormous benefits; the ...
The Government promised a major reform of New Zealand’s immigration system, but when it was announced this week, many asked “is that it?” Over the last two years Covid has turned the immigration tap off, and the Government argued this produced the perfect opportunity to reassess decades of “unbalanced immigration”. ...
While the new fiscal rules may not be contentious, what they mean for macroeconomic management is not explained.In a pre-budget speech on 3 May 2022, the Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson, made some policy announcements which will frame both this budget and future ones. (The Treasury advice underpinning them is ...
Under MMP, Parliament was meant to look like New Zealand. And, in a lot of ways, it does now, with better representation for Māori, tangata moana, women, and the rainbow community replacing the old dictatorship of dead white males. But there's one area where "our" parliament remains completely unrepresentative: housing: ...
Justice Denied: At the heart of the “Pro-Life” cause was something much darker than conservative religious dogma, or even the oppressive designs of “The Patriarchy”. The enduring motivation – which dares not declare itself openly – is the paranoid conviction of male white supremacists that if “their” women are given ...
In case of emergency break glass— but glass can cut Fire extinguishers, safety belts, first aid kits, insurance policies, geoengineering: we never enjoy using them. But given our demonstrated, deep empirical record of proclivity for creating hazards and risk we'd obviously be foolish not to include emergency responses in our inventory. ...
After a brief hiatus, the “A View from Afar” podcast is back on air with Selwyn Manning leading the Q&A with me. This week is a grab bag of topics: Russian V-Day celebrations, Asian and European elections, and the impact of the PRC-Solomon Islands on the regional strategic balance. Plus ...
Last year, Vanuatu passed a "cyber-libel" law. And predictably, its first targets are those trying to hold the government to account: A police crackdown in Vanuatu that has seen people arrested for allegedly posting comments on social media speculating politicians were responsible for the country’s current Covid outbreak has ...
Could it be a case of not appreciating what you’ve got until it’s gone? The National Party lost Simon Bridges last week, which has reinforced the notion that the party still has some serious deficits of talent and diversity. The major factor in Bridges’ decision to leave was his failed ...
Who’s Missing From This Picture? The re-birth of the co-governance concept cannot be attributed to the institutions of Pakeha rule, at least, not in the sense that the massive constitutional revisions it entails have been presented to and endorsed by the House of Representatives, and then ratified by the citizens of New ...
Fiji signed onto China’s Belt and Road initiative in 2018, along with a separate agreement on economic co-operation and aid. Yet it took the recent security deal between China and the Solomon Islands to get the belated attention of the US and its helpmates in Canberra and Wellington, and the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Lexi Smith and Bud Ward “CRA” It’s one of those acronyms even many-a-veteran environmental policy geek may not recognize. Amidst the scores and scores of acronyms in the field – CERCLA, IPCC, SARA, LUST, NPDES, NDCs, FIFRA, NEPA and scores more – ...
In a nice bit of news in a World Gone Mad, I can report that Of Tin and Tintagel, my 5,800-word story about tin (and political scheming), is now out as part of the Spring 2022 edition of New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). As noted previously, this one owes a ...
Dr Jennifer Summers, Professor Michael Baker, Professor Nick Wilson* Summers J, Baker M, Wilson N. Covid-19 Case-Fatality Risk & Infection-Fatality Risk: important measures to help guide the pandemic response. Public Health Expert Blog. 11 May 2022. In this blog we explore two useful mortality indicators: Case-Fatality Risk (CFR) and Infection-Fatality ...
In the depths of winter, most people from southern New Zealand head to warmer climes for a much-needed dose of Vitamin D. Yet during the height of the last Ice Age, one species of moa did just the opposite. I’m reminded of Bill Bailey’s En Route to Normal tour that visited ...
In the lead-up to the Budget, the Government has been on an offensive to promote the efficiency and quality of its $74 billion Covid Response and Recovery Fund -especially the Wage Subsidy Scheme component. This comes after criticisms and concerns from across the political spectrum over poor-quality spending, and suggestions ...
Elizabeth Elliot Noe, Lincoln University, New Zealand; Andrew D. Barnes, University of Waikato; Bruce Clarkson, University of Waikato, and John Innes, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare ResearchUrbanisation, and the destruction of habitat it entails, is a major threat to native bird populations. But as our new research shows, restored ...
Unfinished: Always, gnawing away at this government’s confidence and empathy, is the dictum that seriously challenging the economic and social status-quo is the surest route to electoral death. Labour’s colouring-in book, and National’s, have to look the same. All that matters is which party is better at staying inside the lines.DOES ...
Radical As: Māori healers recall a time when “words had power”. The words that give substance to ideas, no matter how radical, still do. If our representatives rediscover the courage to speak them out loud.THERE ARE RULES for radicalism. Or, at least, there are rules for the presentation of radical ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters A brutal, record-intensity heat wave that has engulfed much of India and Pakistan since March eased somewhat this week, but is poised to roar back in the coming week with inferno-like temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius (122°F). The ...
The good people at the Reading Tolkien podcast have put out a new piece, which spends some time comparing the underlying moral positions of George R.R. Martin and J.R.R. Tolkien: (The relevant discussion starts about twenty-seven minutes in. It’s a long podcast). In the interests of fairness, ...
Crime is becoming a key debate between Labour and National. This week they are both keen to show that they are tough on law and order. It’s an issue that National has a traditional advantage on, and is one that they’re currently getting good traction from. In response, Labour is ...
So far, the excited media response to the spike in “ram-raid” incidents is being countered by evidence that in reality, youth crime is steeply in decline, and has been so for much of the past decade. Who knew? Perhaps that’s the real issue here. Why on earth wasn’t the latest ...
In the past 10 years or so – and that’s how quickly it has happened – all our comfortable convictions about the unassailability of free speech have been turned on their heads. Suddenly we find ourselves fighting again for rights we assumed were settled. Click here to watch the video ...
Enforced Fertility: The imminent overturning of Roe versus Wade by the US Supreme Court is certain to raise echoes here that are no less evocative of the dystopia envisioned by Margaret Atwood in The Handmaid’s Tale. Gilead can happen here.WITH THE UNITED STATES seemingly on the brink of becoming “Gilead”, ...
Not Wanted On Grounds Of Political Rejuvenation: Winston Peters did nothing more than visit the protest encampment erected by anti-vaxxers on the parliamentary lawn. A great many New Zealanders applauded him for meeting with the protesters and wondered why the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition could not do ...
May The Force Be With Us: With New Zealanders under 40, nostalgia for a time when politics worked gains little purchase. Politics hasn’t swerved to any noticeable degree since the 1980s, becoming in the Twenty-First Century a battle between marketing strategies, not ideologies. Young New Zealanders critique political advertisements in ...
Dane Giraud reflects on his working class upbringing and how campaigning for free speech radicalised him Evidence to support censorship as a tool for social cohesion is paltry. I Read the NZ Human Rights Commission website, and 99% of their ‘evidence’ is anecdotal. When asked why we need hate speech ...
As you may have noticed, I have been slowly working my way through the works of Agatha Christie. At the time of writing, I have read some thirty-eight of her books – less than half her total output, but arguably enough to get a reasonable handle on it. It ...
Population growth has some effect on economic growth, but it is complicated especially where infrastructure is involved. We need to think more about it. In an opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald, John Gascoigne claimed that New Zealand was a ‘tragic tale of economic decline’. He gave no evidence ...
The Greens have been almost invisible since the 2020 election. Despite massive crises impacting on people’s lives, such as climate change, housing, inequality, and the cost of living, they’ve had very little to say. On this week’s highly contentious issue of politicians being banned from Parliament by Trevor Mallard, the ...
The government has announced it will be replacing all coal boilers in schools by 2025: All remaining coal boilers in New Zealand schools will be replaced with cleaner wood burners or electric heating by 2025, at a cost of $10 million, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced. The coal ...
Israeli news media and politicians often complain about the activity of neo-Nazis in Ukraine. “Activists and supporters of Ukrainian nationalist parties hold torches as they take part in a rally to mark the 112th birth anniversary of Stepan Bandera, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 1, 2021. Credit: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters The recent ...
Another gnawing warming worry Accidental outcomes of our engineering prowess are warming Arctic regions at a rapid pace. Another species of accomplished engineers is rapidly occupying and exploiting new territory we've thereby made more easily available, namely beavers (Castor canadensis). Beaver populations in affected Arctic regions have increased from "none" to "quite a ...
Dr Simon Lambert’s dream is to see Indigenous nations across the world exercising their sovereign rights by adding their say to disaster risk reduction planning. Simon, of Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana, specialises in indigenous disaster risk reduction, indigenous health and indigenous development, social science, environmental management, planning ...
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Mr Speaker, It has taken four-and-a-half years to even start to turn the legacy of inaction and neglect from the last time they were in Government together. And we have a long journey in front of us! ...
Today Greens Te Mātāwaka Chair and Health Spokesperson, Dr Elizabeth Kerekere, said “The Greens have long campaigned for an independent Māori Health Authority and pathways for Takatāpui and Rainbow healthcare. “We welcome the substantial funding going into the new health system, Pae Ora, particularly for the Māori Health Authority, Iwi-Partnership ...
Budget 2022 shows progress on conservation commitments in the Green Party’s cooperation agreement Green Party achievements in the last Government continue to drive investment in nature protection Urgent action needed on nature-based solutions to climate change Future budget decisions must reflect the role nature plays in helping reduce emissions ...
Landmark week for climate action concludes with climate budget Largest ever investment in climate action one of many Green Party wins throughout Budget 2022 Budget 2022 delivers progress on every part of the cooperation agreement with Labour Budget 2022 is a climate budget that caps a landmark week ...
Green Party welcomes extension to half price fares Permanent half price fares for Community Services Card holders includes many students, which helps implement a Green Party policy Work to reduce public transport fares for Community Services Card holders started by Greens in the last Government Budget 2022 should be ...
New cost of living payment closely aligned to Green Party policy to expand the Winter Energy Payment Extension and improvement of Warmer Kiwi Homes builds on Green Party progress in Government Community energy fund welcomed The Green Party welcomes the investment in Budget 2022 to expand Warmer Kiwi ...
Budget 2022 support to reduce homelessness delivers on the Green Party’s cooperation agreement Bespoke support for rangatahi with higher, more complex needs The Green Party welcomes the additional investment in Budget 2022 for kaupapa Māori support services, homelessness outreach services, the expansion of transitional housing, and a new ...
Green Party reaffirms call for liveable incomes and wealth tax Calls on Government to cancel debt owed to MSD for hardship assistance such as benefit advances, and for over-payments The Green Party welcomes the support for people on low incomes Budget 2022 but says more must be done ...
Our Government has just released this year’s Budget, which sets out the next steps in our plan to build a high wage, low carbon economy that gives economic security in good times and in bad. It’s full of initiatives that speed up our economic recovery and ease cost pressures for ...
A stronger democracy is on the horizon, as Golriz Ghahraman’s Electoral (Strengthening Democracy) Amendment Bill was pulled from the biscuit tin today. ...
Tomorrow, the Government will release this year’s Budget, setting out the next steps in our plan to build a high wage, low carbon economy that gives economic security in good times and in bad. While the full details will be kept under wraps until Thursday afternoon, we’ve announced a few ...
As a Government, we made it clear to New Zealanders that we’d take meaningful action on climate change, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. Earlier today, we released our next steps with our Emissions Reduction Plan – which will meet the Climate Commission’s independent science-based emissions reduction targets, and new ...
Emissions Reduction Plan prepares New Zealand for the future, ensuring country is on track to meet first emissions budget, securing jobs, and unlocking new investment ...
The Greens are calling for the Government to reconsider the immigration reset so that it better reflects our relationship with our Pacific neighbours. ...
Hamilton City Council and Whanganui District Council have both joined a growing list of Local Authorities to pass a motion in support of Green Party Drug Reform Spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick’s Members’ bill to minimise alcohol harm. ...
Today, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a major package of reforms to address the immediate skill shortages in New Zealand and speed up our economic growth. These include an early reopening to the world, a major milestone for international education, and a simplification of immigration settings to ensure New Zealand ...
Proposed immigration changes by the Government fail to guarantee pathways to residency to workers in the types of jobs deemed essential throughout the pandemic, by prioritising high income earners - instead of focusing on the wellbeing of workers and enabling migrants to put down roots. ...
Ehara taku toa i te toa takatahi, engari taku toa he toa takimano – my strength is not mine alone but the strength of many (working together to ensure safe, caring respectful responses). We are striving for change. We want all people in Aotearoa New Zealand thriving; their wellbeing enhanced ...
The Green Party is throwing its support behind the 10,000 allied health workers taking work-to-rule industrial action today because of unfair pay and working conditions. ...
Since the day we came into Government, we’ve worked hard to lift wages and reduce cost pressures facing New Zealanders. But we know the rising cost of living, driven by worldwide inflation and the war in Ukraine, is making things particularly tough right now. That’s why we’ve stepped up our ...
An independent review of New Zealand’s detention regime for asylum seekers has found arbitrary and abusive practices in Aotearoa’s immigration law, policy, and practice. ...
Tiwhatiwha te pō, tiwhatiwha te ao. Tiwhatiwha te pō, tiwhatiwha te ao. Matariki Tapuapua, He roimata ua, he roimata tangata. He roimata e wairurutu nei, e wairurutu nei. Te Māreikura mārohirohi o Ihoa o ngā Mano, takoto Te ringa mākohakoha o Rongo, takoto. Te mātauranga o Tūāhuriri o Ngai Tahu ...
Three core networks within the tourism sector are receiving new investment to gear up for the return of international tourists and business travellers, as the country fully reconnects to the world. “Our wider tourism sector is on the way to recovery. As visitor numbers scale up, our established tourism networks ...
The Government is contributing $100,000 to a Mayoral Relief Fund to help the Levin community following this morning’s tornado, Minister for Emergency Management Kiri Allan says. “My thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by severe weather events in Levin and across the country. “I know the tornado has ...
The Quintet of Attorneys General have issued the following statement of support for the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and investigations and prosecutions for crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine: “The Attorneys General of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand join in ...
Morena tatou katoa. Kua tae mai i runga i te kaupapa o te rā. Thank you all for being here today. Yesterday my colleague, the Minister of Finance Grant Robertson, delivered the Wellbeing Budget 2022 – for a secure future for New Zealand. I’m the Minister of Health, and this was ...
Urgent Budget night legislation to stop major supermarkets blocking competitors from accessing land for new stores has been introduced today, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Dr David Clark said. The Commerce (Grocery Sector Covenants) Amendment Bill amends the Commerce Act 1986, banning restrictive covenants on land, and exclusive covenants ...
It is a pleasure to speak to this Budget. The 5th we have had the privilege of delivering, and in no less extraordinary circumstances. Mr Speaker, the business and cycle of Government is, in some ways, no different to life itself. Navigating difficult times, while also making necessary progress. Dealing ...
Budget 2022 provides funding to implement the new resource management system, building on progress made since the reform was announced just over a year ago. The inadequate funding for the implementation of the Resource Management Act in 1992 almost guaranteed its failure. There was a lack of national direction about ...
The Government is substantially increasing the amount of funding for public media to ensure New Zealanders can continue to access quality local content and trusted news. “Our decision to create a new independent and future-focused public media entity is about achieving this objective, and we will support it with a ...
$662.5 million to maintain existing defence capabilities NZDF lower-paid staff will receive a salary increase to help meet cost-of living pressures. Budget 2022 sees significant resources made available for the Defence Force to maintain existing defence capabilities as it looks to the future delivery of these new investments. “Since ...
More than $185 million to help build a resilient cultural sector as it continues to adapt to the challenges coming out of COVID-19. Support cultural sector agencies to continue to offer their important services to New Zealanders. Strengthen support for Māori arts, culture and heritage. The Government is investing in a ...
It is my great pleasure to present New Zealand’s fourth Wellbeing Budget. In each of this Government’s three previous Wellbeing Budgets we have not only considered the performance of our economy and finances, but also the wellbeing of our people, the health of our environment and the strength of our communities. In Budget ...
It is my great pleasure to present New Zealand’s fourth Wellbeing Budget. In each of this Government’s three previous Wellbeing Budgets we have not only considered the performance of our economy and finances, but also the wellbeing of our people, the health of our environment and the strength of our communities. In Budget ...
Four new permanent Coroners to be appointed Seven Coronial Registrar roles and four Clinical Advisor roles are planned to ease workload pressures Budget 2022 delivers a package of investment to improve the coronial system and reduce delays for grieving families and whānau. “Operating funding of $28.5 million over four ...
Establishment of Ministry for Disabled People Progressing the rollout of the Enabling Good Lives approach to Disability Support Services to provide self-determination for disabled people Extra funding for disability support services “Budget 2022 demonstrates the Government’s commitment to deliver change for the disability community with the establishment of a ...
Fairer Equity Funding system to replace school deciles The largest step yet towards Pay Parity in early learning Local support for schools to improve teaching and learning A unified funding system to underpin the Reform of Vocational Education Boost for schools and early learning centres to help with cost ...
$118.4 million for advisory services to support farmers, foresters, growers and whenua Māori owners to accelerate sustainable land use changes and lift productivity $40 million to help transformation in the forestry, wood processing, food and beverage and fisheries sectors $31.6 million to help maintain and lift animal welfare practices across Aotearoa New Zealand A total food and ...
House price caps for First Home Grants increased in many parts of the country House price caps for First Home Loans removed entirely Kāinga Whenua Loan cap will also be increased from $200,000 to $500,000 The Affordable Housing Fund to initially provide support for not-for-profit rental providers Significant additional ...
Child Support rules to be reformed lifting an estimated 6,000 to 14,000 children out of poverty Support for immediate and essential dental care lifted from $300 to $1,000 per year Increased income levels for hardship assistance to extend eligibility Budget 2022 takes further action to reduce child poverty and ...
More support for RNA research through to pilot manufacturing RNA technology platform to be created to facilitate engagement between research and industry partners Researchers and businesses working in the rapidly developing field of RNA technology will benefit from a new research and development platform, funded in Budget 2022. “RNA ...
A new Business Growth Fund to support small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to grow Fully funding the Regional Strategic Partnership Fund to unleash regional economic development opportunities Tourism Innovation Programme to promote sustainable recovery Eight Industry Transformation Plans progressed to work with industries, workers and iwi to transition ...
Budget 2022 further strengthens the economic foundations and wellbeing outcomes for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa, as the recovery from COVID-19 continues. “The priorities we set for Budget 2022 will support the continued delivery of our commitments for Pacific peoples through the Pacific Wellbeing Strategy, a 2020 manifesto commitment for Pacific ...
Boost for Māori economic and employment initiatives. More funding for Māori health and wellbeing initiatives Further support towards growing language, culture and identity initiatives to deliver on our commitment to Te Reo Māori in Education Funding for natural environment and climate change initiatives to help farmers, growers and whenua ...
New hospital funding for Whangārei, Nelson and Hillmorton 280 more classrooms over 40 schools, and money for new kura $349 million for more rolling stock and rail network investment The completion of feasibility studies for a Northland dry dock and a new port in the Manukau Harbour Increased infrastructure ...
$168 million to the Māori Health Authority for direct commissioning of services $20.1 million to support Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards $30 million to support Māori primary and community care providers $39 million for Māori health workforce development Budget 2022 invests in resetting our health system and gives economic security in ...
Biggest-ever increase to Pharmac’s medicines budget Provision for 61 new emergency vehicles including 48 ambulances, along with 248 more paramedics and other frontline staff New emergency helicopter and crew, and replacement of some older choppers $100 million investment in specialist mental health and addiction services 195,000 primary and intermediate aged ...
Landmark reform: new multi-year budgets for better planning and more consistent health services Record ongoing annual funding boost for Health NZ to meet cost pressures and start with a clean slate as it replaces fragmented DHB system ($1.8 billion year one, as well as additional $1.3 billion in year ...
Fuel Excise Duty and Road User Charges cut to be extended for two months Half price public transport extended for a further two months New temporary cost of living payment for people earning up to $70,000 who are not eligible to receive the Winter Energy Payment Estimated 2.1 million New ...
A return to surplus in 2024/2025 Unemployment rate projected to remain at record lows Net debt forecast to peak at 19.9 percent of GDP in 2024, lower than Australia, US, UK and Canada Economic growth to hit 4.2 percent in 2023 and average 2.1 percent over the forecast period A ...
Cost of living payment to cushion impact of inflation for 2.1 million Kiwis Record health investment including biggest ever increase to Pharmac’s medicines budget First allocations from Climate Emergency Response Fund contribute to achieving the goals in the first Emissions Reduction Plan Government actions deliver one of the strongest ...
Budget 2022 will help build a high wage, low emissions economy that provides greater economic security, while providing support to households affected by cost of living pressures. Our economy has come through the COVID-19 shock better than almost anywhere else in the world, but other challenges, both long-term and more ...
Health Minister Andrew Little will represent New Zealand at the first in-person World Health Assembly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from Sunday 22 – Wednesday 25 May (New Zealand time). “COVID-19 has affected people all around the world, and health continues to ...
New Zealand is committing to trade only in legally harvested timber with the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today. Under the Bill, timber harvested in New Zealand and overseas, and used in products made here or imported, will have to be verified as being legally harvested. ...
The Government has welcomed the release today of StatsNZ data showing the rate at which New Zealanders died from all causes during the COVID-19 pandemic has been lower than expected. The new StatsNZ figures provide a measure of the overall rate of deaths in New Zealand during the pandemic compared ...
Legislation that will help prevent serious criminal offending at sea, including trafficking of humans, drugs, wildlife and arms, has passed its third reading in Parliament today, Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta announced. “Today is a milestone in allowing us to respond to the increasingly dynamic and complex maritime security environment facing ...
Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor is set to travel to Thailand this week to represent New Zealand at the annual APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) meeting in Bangkok. “I’m very much looking forward to meeting my trade counterparts at APEC 2022 and building on the achievements we ...
Settlement of the first pay-equity agreement in the health sector is hugely significant, delivering pay rises of thousands of dollars for many hospital administration and clerical workers, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “There is no place in 21st century Aotearoa New Zealand for 1950s attitudes to work predominantly carried out ...
Health Minister Andrew Little opened a new intensive care space for up to 12 ICU-capable beds at Christchurch Hospital today, funded from the Government’s Rapid Hospital Improvement Programme. “I’m pleased to help mark this milestone. This new space will provide additional critical care support for the people of Canterbury and ...
Budget 2022 will continue to deliver on Labour’s commitment to better services and support for mental wellbeing. The upcoming Budget will include a $100-million investment over four years for a specialist mental health and addiction package, including: $27m for community-based crisis services that will deliver a variety of intensive supports ...
Budget 2022 will continue to deliver on Labour’s commitment to better mental wellbeing services and support, with 195,000 primary and intermediate aged children set to benefit from the continuation and expansion of Mana Ake services. “In Budget 2022 Labour will deliver on its manifesto commitment to expand Mana Ake, with ...
Policy failure over the last eight years — including a massive cut to the ABC’s international funding — has weakened Australia’s voice in the Pacific to its lowest ebb since the Menzies government established the first radio shortwave service across the region more than 80 years ago. Now, with China’s ...
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Some of the reasons the US military consistently and strongly advises the US government to get serious about climate change. And gets ignored, just like any other experts giving advice to those that don’t want to hear it.
https://www.vox.com/2017/6/5/15729426/paris-agreement-climate-change-military
One of the most destructive industries/businesses in the history of our species, whose essence is to destroy ‘things’ using land, sea and air … offers advice of climate change…
And you’ve posted the link, in support of that position…
Didn’t think through this one either, did you!
The ego self-interacts with sub-empirical spacetime events.
It appears that you’re the one who isn’t thinking.
One of the things that the military is worried about is that Climate Change will cause more wars and they don’t want that.
‘They don’t want that’
Don’t they…really..and how would you know?
Some of your comments are in the right direction, but this is not one of them…and you have missed the point completely….
The perverse use of an article in which one of the most polluting industry’s in human history, directly and indirectly responsible for greater environmental damage and destruction than any other…is ‘concerned’ about impacts climate change…
You’d think the military should be concerned about the contribution they make to ‘climate change’…Andre couldn’t make that association in his desperation to poke sticks at Trump….
Seems it went right by you, as well
The levels are dropping, lower!
Because they say so.
Interestingly enough, the US military is <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/why-the-military-is-trying-to-reduce-its-fossil-fuel-use/"doing quite a bit about reducing their reliance upon fossil fuels.
[citation needed]
The military is one of those ‘necessary evils’ that we need. That said the US uses theirs to maintain control over the rest of the world rather than as simple defence. This makes their reasons for preventing Climate Change immoral as it’s just to help them maintain their global control but at least they’re saying that Climate Change is a major issues and are working to prevent it.
[citation needed]
As is often the case, Wikipedia’s article is a good place to start.
Whether or not you’ll find comparative data is another matter entirely. Considering the impact of fossil fuels upon foreign policy (and its wars) I don’t think it’s a a particularly bold statement.
I think you are right One Too. It strikes me as another example of American Exceptualism. Even they can’t understand they are the biggest polluters , all they care about is Pax Americana, which means perpetual war.
Why would you trust or believe any military even around cc. They are big polluters, liars, uncaring, blissfully ignorant, living in denial even when the noises they make sound plausible – really, the military are EXACTLY like the rest of us.
Why would you trust them? Wrong question.
There are other good reasons to at least be aware of their perspective, especially in regards to threat analysis. After all, getting that wrong can mean significant personal cost.
Read the linked article marty. While I’m sure no-one here regards the US military as their favourite cuddle bunny, it isn’t reason to so lightly dismiss their strategic thinking.
WW2 as been described by some as the First Great Petroleum War … so many crucial tactical moments pivoted on access to fuel. If Rommel had won that last crucial battle at Ruweisat Ridge and made it to Cairo, closed the Mediterranean, and captured the Saudi oil fields it’s hard to overstate the impact. Or if the American’s were not able to pump so much oil domestically. Or how the Japanese lost the Pacific because their navy never had enough bunker oil. Any student of the military understands this.
In other documents the US military has clearly signalled cc as a global destabilisation threat.
So while it’s true they’re very much burdened into a legacy of gross over-dependence on oil, they’re not so stupid (as the rest of us are) to continue to deny how this potentially compromises their mission.
Im saying their thinking is based upon THEIR issues, agenda, objectives etc. So yes if fuel runs out, or a big storm occurs they won’t get to kill as many of the enemy as they want.
Amazing to me the ability of some to accept and bow down to authority just cos they are authorities. Humans are definately pack animals.
Oh and why do we need more evidence the shit has hit the fan. The military has bought all this up so they can maintain mission ability – the mission is what again?
Yes that sums it up. As I said these guys aren’t cuddly bunnies.
But the interesting thing here is that when you look at outfits like big insurers and the military whose operations are grounded in very hard reality … all the politicized climate denying bullshit melts away very quickly.
Yep and I agee we need to keep an eye on what they think and another eye on why they are saying what they are saying in the way that are saying it.
As an ex-military officer I concur with the sentiments expressed above. We have an on-going military situation in Syria which many have indicated is a result of the drought of 2006 onwards. The drought http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-h-gleick/water-and-conflict-in-syr_b_5404774.html (the worst in recorded history) lead to a severe shortage of grain in the region, with a resultant spike in food prices. The failure of the Assard Govt to respond to this crisis ended in the resultant civil conflict. Syria could be said to be one of the first Climate Wars. So to is the continual war in South Sudan. Both these areas are highly succeptable to climate change in a rapidly warming world.
That is one reason for military to be concerned wrt to AGW.
Another – from a Naval perspective – is Sea Level Rise. Naval ports and harbours (as are all ports world wide), are going to be serverly affected by SLR by the end of this century with the resulting loss of extensive infrastructure and damage caused by storm surges.
The military are exactly like the rest of us, only more so – with the worst aspects written larger.
The unexplainable fascinates infinite genes
Yes, wars have encouraged destructive technologies.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/war-drive-technological-advancement.htm
Yes Andre, you are right most western military forces are now factoring climate change in our strategic and tactical planning. I discussed this with Weka sometime ago in one of Weka posts.
Anyone know why most U.K. Election poll reporting leaves out the SNP?
I think because outside Scotland they have no impact.
But they’re a potential coalition or C and S partner for Labour, so being able to count all the seats is crucial.
A lot of that actually applies to the Globalist media machine’s onslaught against Trump.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Nope. In fact it applies to all sources all the time. Thanks for displaying your bias though.
Of course you have no bias do you?
I merely pointed out the Globalist media beat up of a nationalist politician. Why does that make you so angry?
Of course I have bias, you silly person. Everyone does. That being so, I’m not particularly “angry” about it.
This “Globalist” (with a capital ‘G’) media you speak of, do they have anything to do with the UN, and its plan to take away your guns? Or is it George Soros? I get so confused. Where do HAARP fit in?
New series of investigations by RNZ journos on (pros and cons of) how Key/Nats’ government has shaped NZ. Today’s installment is on tourism:
“Brighter Future? Does tourism trump taonga?”
Basically, the answer is that the industry has increased tourism numbers, brought in more bizniz, but the downside is a threat to, and disregard of the consequences for the environment.
In short maximise short term dollars and bring in mostly minimum wages workers to satisfy the tourist demand, while polluting and degrading the environment for local communities and future generations…. and that’s not even touching the other issues of bottling water and selling land that was formerly used as parks, reserves and environmental areas, to put up more houses, more people, more cars, more pollution and higher prices, higher rates to pay for the infrastructure as the ponzi scheme continues….
I’m for tourism, but tourism designed around preserving the environment and creating satisfying local jobs for local people, sharing the experience of pure nature with tourists… not the other way around…
You can see the attraction that tourism holds for National. It’s cheap, easy to understand and the major costs can be put upon the taxpayers all of which makes it a nice earner for the owners who won’t have to do anything such as researching and developing new products.
Unfortunately, they didn’t really think about what the added numbers meant in terms of infrastructure and so didn’t plan it at all. We’re now seeing what happens when you follow National’s lack of planning and foresight.
The short-termism is also apparent in the implicit CC denial in the push to expand tourism. If/When tourists have to pay the real cost of their CO2 emissions – would they travel all this way and back?
CC is likely to create a pincer movement that will greatly damage mass tourism – on one hand the need to reduce CO2 emissions will make discretionary travel very expensive, and on the other, CC itself will wreck some of the scenic landscapes people are coming to see.
A third factor may be that larger, more frequent and more violent storms will produce enough accidents to make people feel that conventional passenger aircraft are not safe enough.
all good points. The problem in NZ that Natz in particular have caused is that much of our economy is based around short term and changing industries…. a quick look in the future would have foreseen having an economy around cows, tourism and construction is not lasting….. diversification was badly needed a decade ago.
Also tourism is changing about being a unique experience, just as the Natz are trying to commercialise it for short term profit (and not even profit much of the time) and going in the opposite direction.
If Natz were not so bad, you could laugh at them. Their obsession with oil exploration in the time of peak oil and sustainable energy, giving away water rights when water is predicted to be one of the most precious resources, have a low wage economy when countries like Norway do the opposite and invest in their countries future, importing young people apparently for our aging population crisis, but then allowing the aged parents to come too and get full welfare within a few years, investing in motorways when you have little public transport….
Passenger aircraft already fly well above any storms. Stronger and more violent storms are more likely to affect sea-going luxury passenger liners.
we don’t expect passengers to parachute in, do we?
No but then planes also have about an hour of spare flight time in case of storms so that they can also land outside of a storm’s radius.
Which raises the question of just how large storm radii, or how clustered, they can get in a +2degree climate.
And of course the risk isn’t really the chances of a divert, it’s the chances of a pilot or controller incorrectly deciding the line of “too tough to land or take off”. Which causes a lot of air accidents.
“Tourists are like dairy”…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/201846479/tourism-infrastructure-and-the-environment
A good long read from Chris Hedges on mass culture and herd mentality.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/05/antonio-gramsci-and-battle-against-fascism
Tautoko, Tautoko Manga Mata 🙂
That’s an excellent article you’ve recommended, thanks. I found this paragraph:
“As these lies become transparent we are thrown into what Gramsci calls an interregnum—a time when the reigning ideology has lost efficacy but has yet to be replaced by a new one. “The crisis consists,” Gramsci wrote, “precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born, [and] in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.” Hence political mutations such as Donald Trump, or in Gramsci’s time Mussolini.”
Interregnum. Interesting.
Robert – you may find this book of essays interesting as well. It was edited by the wonderful Morgan Godfrey and published last year.
http://bwb.co.nz/books/interregnum
Thank you very much, Karen.
Market forces take effect on an ideology. A use by date exists. Idealogy creates behaviours that amass waste, create reluctance to change, invite entrepreours to game, thus the potancy, force for good, orginial goals of the ideology is undermine. So how ironic that a ideology of pro-market forces should be undermined by market forces. Climate change, debt, social maliase, inevitable really that a creed of ignoring govt would pile up more fiscal, environmental, social waste so quickly and so hard to ignore.
The neo-libs were right, market forces would ridicule them into oblivion.
And hence my insistence that the policies that parliament work on should be voted upon by the people first, that businesses become cooperatives that aren’t owned by anyone and that all the resources of the national territory are owned by the people.
The people need to have power and not individuals.
An excellent article, thank you.
It repeats the familiar theme of the absolute requirement for independent autonomic critical thinking and awareness to safeguard society against evil forces (i.e. from our fellow humans). A theme that is also reminiscent of Hannah Arendt who argued that political action must be rooted in proper thinking and judgement.
What also caught my eye was in one of the comments:
I’ve heard this assertion many times, often in the context of politics and how people tend to vote and for whom.
I think it needs a minor ‘adjustment’ to:
People react from emotion and act from intellect
To be wholly human means that emotion and intellect work in concert and complement each other. And only then can we accomplish what Gramsci and Arendt envisioned and have a chance of freeing of the shackles imposed upon us by others and ‘normative’ society and thus ultimately by ourselves.
How to counter terrorism…
Canadians carry out acts of kindness to honor victim of London Bridge attack
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/05/london-bridge-attack-christine-archibald-canada
Menstrual bleeding may have to be treated as a disability to get fair treatment for girl pupils with early age onset at 10, perhaps just a suitable receptacle for used product. The cost of the products is also beyond poor students’ parents budgets and some teachers are funding needy students who would otherwise stay home because being blood stained is so noticeable and embarrassing.
Amazingly this normal bodily process is not accepted by society or schools. Now it has become something public and a talking point instead of something private, the embarrassment needs to be pushed aside and action taken to assist these young girls entering womanhood.
The trend in western countries I think, is that onset will be at an earlier age than previously. Of course NZ has no information gathering about this, we don’t want to know about things apart from financial matters pertaining to the wealthy, their profit and investments.
Earlier onset of puberty in deprived households.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201844930/early-puberty-linked-to-growing-up-in-poorer-homes
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/92906575/early-puberty-linked-to-the-poverty-trap
Primary school ‘excludes’ girl with period
And how many people will complain about the government gathering such data as a breach of privacy?
It’s official, The Intercept must be working for the fake news media! Bigly!
Coincidentally…..
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-government-contractor-georgia-charged-removing-and-mailing-classified-materials-news
Ms Reality Winner should’ve done an Ed and bolted when she could.
This caught my attention this morning on RNZ. Abe Gray president of the ALCP is resigning to join the Opportunities Party.
Not sure how many from the ALCP will follow him.
Were Morgan to get over 5% this could be interesting.
How many votes from ALCP or current or new voters could vote for Morgan’s party?
How many votes does Morgan need to get to reach 5%?
100,000 votes i believe give or take
Pipe dream
whats top polling like? a lot of what he says i get, but with my voting record he probably doesn’t want my vote i seem to back losers every time.
best I’ve seen was 2% but that didn’t take into account margin of error. Myself, I think it’s going to waste important left wing votes. Not that cannabis people haven’t done that before. FFS, the Greens have a good cannabis policy.
TOP has good ideas, and their policies look good on the surface, but scratch the surface and what I find is an economist’s view of the world. They’re getting too many things wrong in the detail.
edit, sorry, should have said that I think most polls are showing TOP under 1%
My understanding was that ‘The Green Party’ originally courted the legalise vote because that was the 5% dealt with.
TOPs are apparently polling at 2% – which considering there is no campaign underway yet and they have no history…
As for supposed ‘wasted votes’. If everyone always operated by that yard-stick, nothing new would ever arise in the parliamentary system we have. Ever. However, ‘wasted’ votes pushing a party to 4.8% (say) sends a clear signal to all those who baulked that yes, they did actually have an option – and that they unfortunately chose to forego it “this time around”.
It also sends the message that having a 5% threshold is a stupid, undemocratic idea.
Curtailing democracy is why we have a 5% threshold.
Politicians and capitalists really don’t like it when the ‘common’ people have a say in their own governance.
Agree with both comments that the 5% should be dog tucker. Apart from anything else it would end the nonsense of people voting for “a lesser” because they fear that their 1/2 500 000th of a say in matters will be reduced to 1/∞.
MMP is much better than first past the post, more interesting as well.
True but our MMP can be improved and become even more democratic simply by removal of the threshold.
Threshhold i like, it provides some moderation against rampant democracy just as moderation does here. Everything needs some balance and I want some protection against the tunnel visioned, the narrow obssessives, the nutty dreamers, the ones who never reflect or look for their own faulty thinking and results – keep the threshhold, alter it around the edges perhaps reducing it to 4% only.
We need to make mistakes to learn from them. The threshold prevents that from happening and it also prevents us from changing a system that doesn’t actually work.
We have a system that propagates failure because it prevents us making the mistakes we need to grow and find solutions.
DTB
I am so impressed with your unshakeable belief in humanity and how well it will manage when it just gets the right system. You are a sentinel of fine human thought and goodwill. And I am sincere and probably embarrass you. But when you talk about threshholds being a barrier to learning, I think that there is a limit to what we want to learn now, and we have heaps we don’t face, so don’t deluge us with more, we’ll collapse and turn away, lose our mojos. Face it we people don’t learn from our mistakes, or the lesson doesn’t last beyond a few generations and then only if it is dished out regularly and rigidly along with the morning porridge.
We haven’t time to live through the evolution of any new great idea for humanity that requires us to rely on it and abandon every old sensible practice we have organised for ourselves. The bloody little backstabbers who come along with better ideas to replace existing ones are willing to abandon the work done on building a good-enough system, in favour of some super-duper one they are over-confident about – they give me the shits. Most of them will drift away as it fails to work and provide the needed outcomes, and only one determined old shit will continue, bemoaning that if only something different had been done then… Think of Roger Douglas, perfect example.
Work with what we have, tweak it so it flies in a reasonable stable way, and guard it against the revolutionaries who have a better idea that is being formulated as we speak. And watch your back – all workers for society aren’t the same, and don’t assume you know the pretensions of others and they are good, and check your own for practicality and principle. Be ready to control yourself and think around the situation when there might be need to abandon principles in emergencies.
There is so much PC talk as people shrink from looking at our present, and want the future to remain hazy where all problems will have been solved. You know, in 2080 when our pollution targets will all have been met and so on.
Essentially you’re just saying you don’t trust people to choose decent representatives. Don’t get me wrong, I detest representative ‘democracy’ because it’s a sham.
But there are degrees of undemocratic, and the 5% threshold reduces even the small degree of democracy that can be said to exist in a representative system.
Graig nearly got 5% in 2011.
Correction 2011 Conservative Party 2.65% of vote, 2014 3.7% of vote.
Shame he didn’t opt to support the Greens and urge his members to follow him.
I have concern about the frequent absence of thought about job creation and training and skill education in serving life purpose when discussing need for better social conditions for the future.
People kept isolated in poverty, with no job to fit themselves into society and fill their days, no wages, having to ask for extra when specially needy but probably denied, or even not able to be heard, never having much, with no future achievable goals, and getting anything mainly through theft – these will become a permanent sub-culture.
This rash of thefts will be the norm for all except the gated communities.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/92465179/students-restaurant-patrons-and-church-parishioners-hit-by-west-christchurch-breakins
any one who doesn’t grasp that a government has to actively make work (more now than ever ) is a fool who shouldn’t be in politics.
But people who have sucked into their pores the propaganda that business has to be the innovator find it hard to shake that off.
More propaganda from the Globalists.
I almost feel embarassed for Hillary when she narrates a story where blame lands everywhere except on her poor performance and the fact everyone hates her.
The Dems could have run with almost any other candidate and won, but no they had to go with their Globalist political dynasty heiress.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: I meant to do this earlier, but got distracted by site issues. This comment was in a post that didn’t refer to Hillary Clinton at all. Your comment was the first comment and caused a major diversion away from the topic of the post. As you probably intended.
Just as you’d done earlier https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06062017/#comment-1337108
There is a rule against that and since you ignored my wee warning… Well I really like to train social fucktards (like you) about why that rule is there. Now you have to read instead of writing for a while. Watch the careful social behaviour that doesn’t step past moderators tolerances. And if you don’t like it, well just read the last paragraph of the about.
Banned for 4 weeks.
Read the policy about diverting from the author’s topic. ]
Ok then.
So The Intercept is working for Hillary? It sounds to me as though she’s controlling the Russians too 🙄
Except Clinton didnt say ‘blame lies elsewhere’- FAKE NEWS ALERT
““I take absolute personal responsibility,” Clinton said of her November defeat during a sit-down with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at an event titled Women for Women International in New York. “I was the candidate, I was the person who was on the ballot. I am very aware of the challenges, the problems, the shortfalls that we had.”
Did we make mistakes? Oh course we did. Did I make mistakes? Oh my gosh, yes.”
Everybody hates her? Is that why she got got 3.5 million more primary votes than Sanders and almost 3 mill more votes than Trump ( but not in all the right places)
Could we just let it go that YOU hate her, not the american voters for whom you speak
Yeah total personal responsibility 🙄
I’m reminded of that sign that comes up during the classic Airplane movie “Unbelievable Bullshit”
Why do you even care what she does or doesn’t say? Seriously what’s the point?
Yeap she’s yesterdays news, move on people.
Why do I care? No idea why I should care about a major so called good political figure throwing out a big barrel of porkies. If you’re on the good side shouldn’t you be expecting rationality and integrity from your politicians, and from all the good media too? Or do you let it slide by because they’re against the most evil Trump/Russia and anything goes to stop the evil doers.
When they don’t get elected I forget about them -especially when they don’t deserve mentions.
Can we stop with the whole popular vote thing, it’s bloody useless and pointless bringing it up.
For the last 200 years the Democratic party knows how the election is won, and what it needs to be done to win it via the Electoral College system.
If you don’t understand how it works – here is an introduction.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/electoral-college
When people stop saying things like “everyone hates her” despite the objective evidence to the contrary, then I’m sure people will stop bringing up reality.
That is a equally silly statement as well – “everyone hates her”. But the other about the popular vote, is quite daft, and reaks of desperation.
Lets never forget she lost, and lost to on of the most despise politician in history.
No, there’s a difference between refuting stupid claims (like calling Trump “one of the most despised politicians in history”) and gnashing one’s teeth in despair. If you want to talk about American democracy, then the example of the Electoral College overruling the popular vote is relevant. If you want to say Clinton was universally hated, then the popular vote is also relevant.
But it wasn’t even the clintonists who raised her name in this thread. Maybe it’s sanders or trump supporters with buyers’ remorse who should learn to gtf over it.
How’s about you address the person you’re addressing by the things the person you’re addressing has said or claimed, as opposed to what others aside from the person you’re addressing has said or claimed?
Because otherwise, it’s just ‘picking fights’ for the hell of it. Which is boring.
I did. 808 made a claim about Clinton, I pointed out how it was factually incorrect, then Adam came in asking people to stop pointing out reality, so I responded to that request by saying why my comment was relevant rather than any “desperation”.
seems logical to me.
_____________________________________________________________________________
McFlock
____________________________________________________________________________
Not necessarily “hated” but by no means popular – even less so, it seems, than the Trumpet
Washington Post-ABC News Poll (April 17-20 2017)
Suggests Hillary Clinton would not win a rematch with Donald Trump.
Trump leading 43 to 40 percent on the question of who voters would pick if the election were held today.
96 percent of those who voted for Trump would do so again. Among Clinton voters, 85 percent said they would stand by their decision – with most of those who would not saying they’d either go with a third-party candidate or not vote at all.
Suffolk University poll (March 2017)
Is that result really surprising? Trump’s been president with daily coverage for for 5 months – a shitty president, but that still counts for something. Clinton hasn’t been doing a damned thing to raise her profile or defend herself in that time. Do you think trump would be anything more than a half-remembered joke if the outcome were reversed?
As 808 shows, memories about politics are often fleeting.
Your heroine is delusional:
“Hillary Clinton: ‘I take responsibility for every decision I made, but that’s not why I lost'”
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/31/hillary-clinton-speaks-at-code-conference-on-the-information-war.html
” Is that why she got got 3.5 million more primary votes than Sanders ”
#FAKE CAMPAIGN
She got more votes because she had her underlings at the DNC sabotaging Sanders – do you not remember the DNC president quitting and slithering over to war hawk Hillary’s campaign when Wikileaks exposed the DNC backstabbing?
Bernie supporters HATE her. They aren’t stupid.
“almost 3 mill more votes than Trump ( but not in all the right places)”
LOL, how does that make her not hated?
Could we just let it go that YOU just cant see what a failed politician Hillary is, but the US voters can?
Except the majority of US voters, who voted for her.
Your heroine had the entire state apparatus including the Media Party (#Fake News) trying to haul her rotten carcass across the finish line first. And failed spectacularly because she was such a hated figure.
You have to remember the US voters are corralled into a #Fake choice between two carefully screened globalist loyalists. Except this time it went terribly terribly wrong, lol.
So bragging about Hillary’s hollow “popular” vote is as delusional as her own inability to take any responsibility for her catastrophic failure.
If you believe that your idol has been some how “cheated” of the presidency then maybe you better go brush up on the humanist political philosophy underpinning the concept of democracy – you demonstrate a poor grasp of this subject.
Dude, I’ve never called her my heroine, I don’t believe that I’ve even gone so far to say she was “cheated” out of the presidency (although I have pointed out an inconsistency in the processes of a supposedly democratic nation, but hey, the UK is FPP, too). Those are your fixations.
I just point out when your hatred of clinton oversteps reality into comments about how “everyone hates her”. Classic projection. YOU hate her, fine, but tens of millions voted for her, and surely even a zealot like you would concede that it’s likely a chunk of those people liked her.
Why do I think your delusion is a big deal? Because it is a dodge. It means that people didn’t vote for trump, they just got given a horrible choice between trump and clinton, and bernie would have vanquished the trump dragon because his heart is pure.
The fact is bernie lost fairly.
Clinton lost fairly.
Trump won because he was the loudest voice in the chaotic start to an imperfect system, Fox loved him, and that gave him a certain cache amongst obsessive idiots, and normal people in politics didn’t know how to deal with someone who can insult the grieving parents of a dead US soldier, have multiple sexual assault allegations against him, and still go up in the polls.
Dukeofurl: “Everybody hates her? Is that why she got got 3.5 million more primary votes than Sanders and almost 3 mill more votes than Trump ( but not in all the right places)”
Oh yeah, lots of Americans just LOVE Clinton, don’t they? It was the blogosphere, and comments thereon, prior to the US election that first alerted me to the possibility that Clinton might just lose.
Saw this comment online a little while ago: ‘The thinking people in USA KNOW Russia had nothing to do with our elections! We hated Clinton and would have voted for an alligator if that was the only opponent to Clinton!” Ha! Think that alligator coulda been a contender…..
With regard to the popular vote, that’s not how elections are won in the US. As Clinton ought to have known. It didn’t matter a good goddamn how big a share of the popular vote she got: she needed the EC votes to win.That’s how the system works there; she and her team were evidently too incompetent to figure that out.
“It didn’t matter a good goddamn how big a share of the popular vote she got”
There is a graphic showing where Hillary won the popular vote across the USA. She only secured major urban centers with large populations of blacks, latinos and white hipster/cosmopolitan types. The vast swathe of “fly over country” was lost to Trump.
And the whole point of the Electoral College is to counter balance the urban population.
But if you run a campaign relying on Mylie Cyrus and Katie Perry beseeching unemployed Illinois steel workers to vote for you, its going to end badly.
So why have the FBI arrested the leaker 808?
@weka
re point england reserve/development enabling bill
Can I republish an article that appears in the Te Awa, which appeared in a green party magazine, but not online. The authours have given me their permission and at the very least would like to raise awareness on this issue.
Or should I just post it all in the comments?
It would be great if you would allow it as a guest post.tks
I’ll email you if that’s ok (I can get your email from the back end).
yep tks weka.
Amongst those receiving public acclaim I see a category … a Queen’s honour (knighthood) for services to my community.
Apparently opening a “healthy” American Burger chain in my community is a virtue.
Good.
Imam Abdullah Hasan
8 hrs ·
Over 130 Imams & Religious Leaders from diverse backgrounds refuse to perform the funeral prayer for London attackers in an unprecedented move
5 June 2017
Imams and religious leaders from across the country and a range of schools of thought have come together to issue a public statement condemning the recent terror attack in London and conveying their pain at the suffering of the victims and their families.
In an unprecedented move, they have not only refused to perform the traditional Islamic prayer for the terrorist – a ritual that is normally performed for every Muslim regardless of their actions – but also have called on others to do the same. They said:
“Consequently, and in light of other such ethical principles which are quintessential to Islam, we will not perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer over the perpetrators and we also urge fellow imams and religious authorities to withdraw such a privilege. This is because such indefensible actions are completely at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam.”
For the full statement and list of signatories, see below.
An interesting statement. They’ve just declared that terrorists aren’t Islamic.
This is what needs to happen
plus
let us see CHRISTIAN leaders denouncing the making and SALE OF ARMS (conveniently called DEFENCE).
What is Christ-like about this? How can a good Christian reconcile the $110bn arms deal to Saudi Arabia who won’t be using these arms in their own country.
In UK the police are trying to find the bomb-maker for a terrorist incident.
USA and UK ARE also Bomb-makers!
Shouldn’t that be the “Performance artist known as Jonathan Pie”
Unfortunately some dont see it as only parody/satire
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Gotta love the British sense of humour,
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/05/london-bridge-attack-brings-out-defiant-british-humour?CMP=share_btn_tw
NZ business and how it is treated by the business-friendly Gnashional government.
Rod Oram referred to the government undercutting NZ businesses that had been asked to develop forward-thinking plans by going to Amazon which is likely to be setting up a South Pacific office in Australia.
Tues 6 June Business commentator Rod Oram
Rod talks to Lynn Freeman about the severe lack of international carbon credits will require a big revamp of our Emissions Trading, the government signs up Amazon for a big cloud computing deal, to the great disappointment of NZ suppliers, and Spark drops plans for a venture capital fund with other major corporates.
business economy
about 1 hour ago
Business commentator Rod Oram
From Nine To Noon, about 1 hour ago
Listen duration 14′ :32″
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201846456/business-commentator-rod-oram
The US could well be using their Saudi proxies to undermine a Qatari regime that’s on speaking terms with Iran.
Note from the author: Events have happened faster than I imagined when I wrote this last week. Six Arab states have now cut diplomatic relations with Qatar. Its land borders with Saudi Arabia are closed and 85 percent of its imports are cut. A full siege is in place. This is no longer a “spat”. It is looking as if the object of this pre-planned campaign is regime change in Qatar.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/why-saudi-rulers-need-foreign-approval-621030574
It would appear that Stephen Joyce is has become Associate Minister of Conservation by default..
“The Department of Conservation is being accused of failing in its conservation role after it made a neutral submission on a proposed West Coast coal mine.”
“DOC said both it and MBIE had an interest in the proposal and there was a cabinet directive to submit together when this occurred, which often resulted in a neutral submission.
Forest and Bird said the department seemed to have abdicated its advocacy role.
And pointed out the submission suggested minimising the damage to conservation values, yet DOC’s own experts said the site was of high value and was significant.
“The function of the department is to advocate for the protection, not advocate for the minimisation of the destruction”.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/332357/doc-issues-ambivalent-coal-mine-submission
A Stephen Fry, missed his wit on QI. This is nice piece from him, came up again when I opened YouTube – so thought would shear…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN3riEFwl0Q&ab_channel=BrianGovatos
Electricity – minigrids – development.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/mini-grids-africa-electrification-by-strive-masiyiwa-and-richard-branson-2017-06
And remember we are basically a developing country relying on commodity farming, tourism, and overseas companies buying up special resources and anything clever we achieve.
Prescription to break the economic slowdown – raide the minimum wage. It uses what economic tools are left. What a good idea.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/escaping-the-wage-trap-by-bill-emmott-2017-05
as Keynes famously said, when the facts change, I change my mind.
The main reason governments are leery of intervening in labor markets is bad memories of failed wage and price controls during the high-inflation 1970s. But a second, more current, reason is that businesses everywhere lobby them to keep out, arguing that competitiveness depends on cheap labor.
But it’s time to ignore the lobbies and take courage. Sometimes, raising the minimum wage really would risk killing employment. But today that looks unlikely, at least in countries where unemployment rates are now low. And we need more investment in new technology to raise productivity, not less. Raising minimum wages would help stimulate that investment, while boosting consumer demand.
Ah, but do facts change?
Or is it that we find out that what we thought was true was actually wrong?
That’s what penal rates are for. Instead of having the same people work more and more it encourages a) employment of more people and b) investment in new technology to boost productivity. The latter also being helped by depreciation rules.
“Lady Bronagh?” Sorry Bronagh that title is reserved for female members of the British Aristocracy who inherit the title.
Bronagh will be “Bronagh, Lady Key”
(Thanks Ruth Gardener, Ch Ch.)
The tale of the dictator’s daughter and her prince
Remind anyone of a particular NZ family?
Tillerson gets the fingers
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/93382262/birdflipping-welcome-for-us-secretary-of-state-rex-tillerson-in-new-zealand
Something good to hear and see.
If you like Don McLean singing Vincent watch this youtube which is presented with a
backdrop of Van Gogh’s paintings – a beautifully presented video which honours the painter and the writer and singer well.