I'm not 100% on your measurement of political failure but I do agree that this is a major fail. Disgusting actually that Labour can even be connected with that veto on benefit rates and disrespect to this report. Fuck they are in for some shit – time for action Labour and yes I know you're in a coalition – so fucken what. I'm pissed at these people leaving our most vulnerable even worse off.
It's time that Labour got back into the viewpoint that we should aim for full employment – even if a lot of that is doing volunteer work. And people should be able to be on unemployment and still make extra on that, or be in part-time work and have their income boosted. Keep people in the loop, not feeling useless, rejected then resentful and angry.
The point is that we need to follow the line again of 'investing in people'. Bugger waiting for cold-minded, hard-eyed, calculating business to do it, especially since government has facilitated a lot of our business being bought or controlled by foreigners, either living here or overseas. Not all foreigners are bad of course, but many are very good at ripping NZ off, and that just adds to the scamming NZs already in business. The climate for employees is not a good one.
Encouragement for people who can get vibrant community measures going would be essential to raising us up where we belong. Like this great piece that Kathryn Ryan did this morning with the Whanganui low income-no income people.
Give funding for something like this in every community – skill-building, confidence and pride building, respect-the-people building, this is what Labour and Greens can do and NZF would agree; some of the funding could go to old people working with the young.
The Chairman shows Phil O'Reilly thinking that the welfare system needs work. I doubt very much if that man or any of his cohort have much useful stuff to add, so I'd say to progressive lefties, do your planning and just let him make suggestions if they will help the people-capacity building plan along. He would probably have something to say about being ready for employment; being able to get a job and be a capable and useful employee is important, but jobs will be pulled out from under your feet all the time in coming years. (Note the recent case in Wellington for a long-term arts-involved part-timer being dismissively dismissed; putting people out of work is a default position for business). So being able to be self-caring, self-managing, and co-operate with other good people who are also aiming for self-respect and respect for others, resilience, and who are learning capacity-building and passing it on, should be the goal.
The Chairman was doing a thorough think-through on this welfare report and tentative response from government yesterday and made some telling points that I have copied.
No, I'm suggesting that the government has no mandate from voters for radical welfare reform and that's why it's taking a cautious approach.
Here we go again. You've yet to prove that. Merely repeating it doesn't make it so.
Sixty-five percent of New Zealand First supporters wanted the party to go with Labour. Who widely campaigned on addressing poverty and inequality.
Additionally, if it were just Bradford and I that are disappointed Labour wouldn't have a problem. Unfortunately for them, the disappointment is widespread.
Moreover, failing to deliver on more of the recommendations sooner will lead to their fiscal management coming under the spotlight. People will question why they aren't prepared to invest now to save the greater cost and social harm of not doing so.
This goes beyond political disappointment. This is about denying via delaying further help to real people struggling in poverty. So no, I'm not here to gloat, I'm seeking solutions. Is a new left party the answer or do you think it will be possible to encourage Labour to act with urgency?
a vast majority of the current cabinet could well be working under a national govt instead of the current Laboir govt and we would not see any difference in decisions 😢
Have you ever had to try and get multiple independent groups with conflicting agendas to agree and work together smoothly and consistently on common goals? I've watched other people trying to do it and would not like to try it myself.
Coalition government between parties with opposing political interests is extremely difficult. This current one is performing way better than I expected it would, not least for the simple fact that it still exists and hasn't torn itself to shreds. If you want a well-disciplined group smoothly implementing policy it has no mandate for, National is (unfortunately) your only currently-available option.
This lot have found a very simple method. Simply ask Tsar Winston what he wants and do it. You can't really try and claim that the Green Party, all the time, and the Labour Party, most of the time, have ever attempted to do something that Winston doesn't approve of. Labour occasionally put something forward that Winston doesn't see as really important to his survival and he will allow them to do it. The Green Party, on the other hand are simply doormats. Still, about half them get to ride in the limos and no longer have to settle for calling a taxi to get them around. I guess that feels like progress to them.
Your proposed method would have a bit more credibility (ie, an amount > 0) if Kiwiblog et al hadn't devoted plenty of space to berating Peters' as Labour/Greens' lapdog for accepting the end of further oil and gas exploration and agreeing to the UN migration compact.
I fail to see why I should be held responsible for comments made by other people on Kiwiblog. That would be rather like saying thaat you are responsible for the complaints about the mendacity of the Government in the views of No Right Turn. I'm imagine you used to agree with him on political matters. He has, of course, started to see the light about the appalling behaviour of the CoL. Are you willing to open your eyes as well?
I didn't suggest that you were responsible for the comments, but they do serve to highlight how fatuous your claim is.
As Winston giving a damn about oil exploration, he's trying to position his party as the defender of the regions. And Shane Jones' face when he was sharing the stage for the announcement told everyone viewing it what he thought of the idea.
However as far as I can see the whole ban proposal has been gutted. Anyone who has a permit can apparently go on with exploration, and drilling, and almost certainly new production, as if the ban was never mentioned.
Sure it was but it was sold as halting any work when the permit expired. Instead we have the situation that permits are, seemingly as of right, extended when they approach expiry. This of course means that they will in practice never expire. That was not what was said at the time of her "Captains Call" was it?
At the time she said that rights would cease when the permit expired. Now we find they don't really expire at all.
One doesn't have to be ultra left to outperform this lot.
Nevertheless, I'm left but I'm a lefty with a long-term proposal that would potentially result in doing away with taxing locals. Something that would get your average right-wingers attention, thus perhaps support.
And ponder this, how many businesses would benefit from consumers (receiving benefits) spending more? Increasing benefits rates doesn't just benefit beneficiaries. It's also good for businesses returns while saving tax dollars via helping to reduce many social ills, thus is able to muster traditional right wing support. As shown by Phil O'Reilly’s support of the welfare overhaul.
Right, so this fantasy party that would be left of labour and the greens is just rhetoric and fake, just like your concern for their vote share at the next general election.
With our populace, labour have to err to centre to get elected and stay there, especially so with the right NZ1st in coalition and a public that shows no appetite for full on leftism.
The answer to turn labour left, as it always has been, is to party vote the greens and give them 10 to 15 percent to trade for policy in post election negotiations.
At this stage, there has only been calls for a new party to form.
And being left doesn't mean it won't also appeal to the right (as shown above). Thus, the wider public.
The flaw with your logic (which is commonly stated) is Labour doesn’t have to be right (or as you put it, err to the centre) to win over the right and the centre vote. Again, as shown above.
Labour's problem is they aren't prepared to stand strong for the left and take the debate to National. For example, they could have won the CGT battle. Polls show the public supported it. Moreover, their constant backing down gives the public the perception they were wrong, further weakening theirs (and the left's in general) position in the eyes of the wider public.
The Greens have shown they fold far too easy to hold Labour to account. And seeing as I've been continually telling them to up their game or risk losing their support, at this stage I won't be voting for them again.
And the way the Greens are currently polling, it could be a wasted vote, nonetheless.
Aside from clearly not understanding how mmp works, expecting a 6% party to call the shots who aren't even in government proper, for a long time you've been an attacker of the greens on here, unbelievably more so than the rwnj brigade, the answer to getting more green policy enacted is still to vote for them in bigger numbers, increasing their bargaining power in negotiations.
The Chairman, saying that the Greens are a better alternative to Labour, considering your opinion of that party, is not really an endorsement.
"I'd prefer a head cold to the'flu," is what you're saying!
And here's what you say about Labour in this thread, below. "But yes, a number will fall for Labour again." Note the language.
This is what "fall for' means.
fall for sth. informal. — phrasal verb with fall uk /fɔːl/ us /fɑːl/ verb fell, fallen. to be tricked into believing something that is not true: He told me that he owned a mansion in Spain and I fell for it.
What you say is what you believe, The Chairman. Methinks thou dost protest too much.
People supporting Labour hoping that they know when to hold, and when to fold, oand will get to the counting goodies stage?
Or people giving up and saying that Labour is full of borer, all hollowed out inside, and folds under pressure, but hoping that new growth shoots can be encouraged?
Or people saying that time is short, winter is here, the time for withholding criticism is over, let's have a new party of the left that is dedicated to people at grassroots level and practical living standards and regulation all set up for the everyday person and micro and small business, and the Greens can concentrate on the green issues, better light bulbs, environment and the people with special interests.
Did Labour Coalition have a choice on the CCTPPa? What would have happened if we had said we can't sign it or wecan't sign it in this form and wanted all sorts of alterations, or deliberately made so many requests that we in the end were frozen out?
I felt we would have been very unpopular, frozen out in other markets, and received a pasting here through the bought media.
It seems Labour had a choice when they were campaigning against it.
Moreover, the potential return on the TPP was/is minimal. So it wouldn't have been a great loss.
Labour did manage to disappoint a lot of people by ultimately supporting it.
And while they seem to have overcome that (as the negative impact of the TPP has yet to fully occur) it's the build up of disappointments accumulating that risks taking them out. Yet, I concede they are doing ok in the polls, but one must consider if they could be doing better if it wasn't for the disappointments accumulating. Moreover, will they take a hit if they continue to fail to deliver.
The Disappointment Accumulator. Perhaps we could make money on it if someone started a book with some outfit like William Hill. They can't take us on as customers as they are only licensed for Gt Britain and Gibraltar. I'm sick of feeling miserable as I watch the country go to the dogs – might as well have a bet on the side.
Where did I say I expected the Greens to call all the shots?
I've been holding the Greens to account. And have even passed on advise.
I'm a believer that democracy doesn't just end after we vote. If we make our feelings widely known, there is more chance parties will take heed and listen. Whereas, if we remain silent, little will change. Hence, more of us need to speak up and take this approach.
And even if the Greens do muster more support (which at this stage I think is unlikely) they (this current lot) have shown they are not fighters. And if one wants more from the table, one has to stand strong and fight for it. Especially as the Greens will still be the smaller partner in any new deal with Labour. And the Greens just don't have the backbone at the moment.
Apart from it can't be slander because it's the written word, and it also happens to be a fair representation, you have earned a reputation here as being anti green, which is because you continually post anti green comments.
I'm not anti Green, I just hold them to account. Them, Labour and their cheerleaders are so scared of any form of criticism it seen as an attack.
Thus, they do their best to isolate it (making out it is a single voice in a crowd) and diminish it (usually by trying to paint the person as being part of the opposition). And that is how this reputation all came about.
Therefore, you have either fallen for it (which some have) or you are advancing it. Either way I suggest you pull your head in and stick on topic. Playing the man and not the ball is another common distraction used.
If you're worried about the alleged libel, shit or get off the pot, it's your call. Given your posting history and abuse towards the green party, I'm not sweating it. You can pretend it's holding them to account, but the reputation you have is, in my opinion, well deserved… And I’m not alone in thinking that, far from it.
In noting how you're attempting to rewrite the past by mitigating the abuse you've unfairly apportioned, the crocodile tears about people playing the man are, I suspect, more boy who cried wolf.
Alternatively, your idea of holding people to account is to focus exclusively on overstating the negatives of the party(s – you give Labour the same assistance, too, sometimes), leaving little effort to recognise their successes or even criticising the tories once in a while, too.
If you were an employer treating people like that, you'd be done for constructive dismissal and workplace harrassment.
I'm not worried what people think about me, I'm not the issue.
I was just giving you a heads up on where it's at. Moreover, it was a test of your character to see if you would now refrain or continue to advance the personal crap. Clearly you failed.
Thus keep playing the man, but you will now be allocated to the sidelines as you have now been exposed as a player.
Stick to the politics you’ll get a reply, play the man and you’ll be playing by yourself.
So I've failed your character test. To be brutally honest, I take that as more of a compliment than a defect.
What I will keep doing, abiding by the site rules, is point out where you are being unreasonable and lacking a grasp of today's politics. If you want to divorce yourself from the green party, that's fine, but cut the crap you've got their best interests at heart. From your continued abuse, I don’t believe it for a second, and It's quite clear you really haven't.
If you don't want to be called fake green, the simple way out is not act like a fake green.
Its failure to deliver is going to be problematic for this Government come next election.
Maybe. On one hand folks might vote National (or not Labour/Greens) figuring we're all better off being led by arseholes who are proud of the fact they are arseholes.
Or, this lot will be voted in again because they appear so kind and loving while pretending they are not being arseholes. Who doesn't like the warm fuzzies?
Well, there is Mana and Social Credit some on the left may turn too. Some (as I've already heard) will no longer vote at all. And some may turn to a new party if one is formed.
Personally oppose TOP. Their UBI was insufficient and they wanted to tax unrealised gains, forcing those that are asset rich but income poor to borrow to meet the burden.
In Vino I note and agree with you, which is pretty usual.
I used to dislike The Chairman because he was negative too early in my opinion, a disagreeable old moaner, in my opinion, when we needed to watch, encourage, wait for results and not put weedkiller on our patch.
But I read some of his stuff the other day and think his opinion was right for the time. He made a case that would allow Prime Minister Jacinda to press forward using leverage on her popularity with NZ, and get the austerity-for-everyone-but-me Labourites off their bums and looking across the room at other figures and numbers. They don't care about people in need and the founding ideals of Labour. But figures and numbers that show money spent now will save huge expense later would crown their miserly minds; and Labour could draw on reserves set aside now for those high expected future expenses. Spend now, and produce three-fold advantage of drops in expenditure in ten years or such.
From my comment at 1 1 1 1 I think I quoted The Chairman saying what I consider should be pressed on the Labour Coalition leaders prior to the Budget of the 30th May.
Sixty-five percent of New Zealand First supporters wanted the party to go with Labour. Who widely campaigned on addressing poverty and inequality.
Additionally, if it were just Bradford and I that are disappointed Labour wouldn't have a problem. Unfortunately for them, the disappointment is widespread.
Moreover, failing to deliver on more of the recommendations sooner will lead to their fiscal management coming under the spotlight. People will question why they aren't prepared to invest now to save the greater cost and social harm of not doing so.
"The Last American Vagabond" is always really on-to-it with his analysis. He always links to the stories he is drawing his information from, so even if you don't agree with his conclusions, the links speak for themselves.
In the case of what is going on in Gaza, it seems one balloon on fire (as reported by Israel) landed on Israeli territory. Israel then fired missiles into Gaza for two days before the Gaza government responded. One of the Last Vagabond's small but very interesting points is why the Gaza missiles that are basic and unguided haven't hit civilian targets while the sophisticated guided Israeli ones have. There is one video of a rocket hitting an apartment block that makes it completely collapse. I don't think the Israelis are so stupid they wouldn't know how to hit the target they want to with its guided missiles. I'm going to speculate that they already knew what its targets they wanted to draw out. One has to wonder what Israel's ultimate objective in regards to the Palestinians is now and how a war with Iran might aid that.
Here is a good piece from the ever reliable FAIR…you can include NZ media in this analysis too, and shamefully including RNZ.
The Atlantic Illustrates Everything That’s Wrong With Media Coverage of Venezuela Sanctions
“Trump’s Venezuela Policy: Slow Suffocation,” an Atlantic report (4/17/19) by Uri Friedman and Kathy Gilsinan, passed up a rich opportunity to expose the humanitarian pretexts for economic intervention, and instead exhibited the worst tendencies of corporate media coverage of US policy in Latin America."
Venezuela can choose to trade with any other country on the planet. They do not NEED to trade witht he US. The US is not under any obligation to trade with Venezuela if they do not like the current regime in charge there.
Rubbish. Lot's of nations have survived and even thrived when the US has refused to trade with them. Iran is certainly not falling apart at this point in time. Even Cuba has managed for close to 60 years with trade restrictions and even managed a degree of growth until the 1990's.
@Gosman, when you make a statement like the one above, you show that you are either extremely naive', stupendously stupid or a troll, or maybe a bit of each?
Cripes Adrian you are either extremely naive', stupendously stupid to keep on discussing anything with Gosman – you have been here long enough. What was that about mad people doing same things, expecting different results?
Simply because it is using anothers term of reference.
To be clear, I am all for Te Reo in schools and highly value how Maori have shaped what being a "kiwi' is eg we are marvelous hosts, great allies and formidable opponents, and the importance of breaking bread together feet under the same table.
What a load of waffle this thing about description is – pakeha, tauiwi, kiwi, whats the beef? My gran used to say 'You can call me anything you like, but don't call me 'late for dinner'.
If people choose to use the word to describe themselves or allow others to do the same that is their right. I myself do not prefer to be defined by another culture.
There's a comedy festival in town. do you like your comedy political, switched on and intelligent? Many The Standard readers will love this guy. Thank me later.
Are you looking for a mad genius? A crazy discombobulated no holds barred anything goes act like you've never seen before. One of my favorite acts in the world (and people).
I heard Duncan Garner on TV last night saying that studies show cannabis causes brain damage to kids. Allbeit it was a station promo there was no reply and I was left with the impression that this was irrefutable fact. ( clever work TVNZ ). I thought then that the numbers with fetal cannabis syndrome would be huge, but can't find the numbers. Also very grateful we were lucky with our three kids. And all the kids of the parents in my cohort.
Cannabis use among pregnant and parenting women is increasing in the USA, alongside escalating THC potency in available cannabis products and the use of synthetic preparations. Existing information on how cannabis use during pregnancy may impact the course of pregnancy and fetal/child development is limited, and studies that evaluate birth outcomes and postnatal development of prenatally exposed children are inconsistent. However, accumulating neurodevelopmental data in animals and humans shows that pre- and postnatal cannabis exposure portends harm for the developing fetus and the child. THC crosses the placental barrier, and current evidence indicates that prenatal cannabis use, especially during critical periods of brain development, places the developing child at risk for neuropsychiatric, behavioral, and substance abuse problems. The extensive legalization of cannabis, the recent increase in marijuana use by pregnant women, the availability of cannabis with higher THC concentrations, and the introduction and escalating use of synthetic cannabinoids create an urgent need to determine the effects of the amplified fetal THC exposure. The risk of neurodevelopmental problems in THC-exposed children may be enhanced if the child is raised by a mother affected by neurobehavioral dysfunctions and associated comorbidities of an active cannabis use disorder. Identification and treatment of cannabis use and cannabis use disorder in women during the perinatal period should be a high clinical priority. Misperception of risk, inadequacy of provider knowledge and training, and scarcity of time and resources to comprehensively address the needs of cannabis-exposed mother-child dyads are common among health providers. Although more research is needed to establish the perinatal effects of maternal cannabis use, pregnant and postpartum women should be aware that perinatal cannabis use risks safety for both mother and child. This chapter provides an overview of the epidemiology of perinatal cannabis use, the neurobehavioral effects of prenatal cannabis exposure for the developing child, and the treatment strategies for the mother-child dyad affected by cannabis use.
Marijuana is recently a subject of a global debate due to potential medical application of cannabis products and the progressive legalization of its recreational use. This situation leads to the need for access to comprehensive and reliable information about the effects of marijuana intake. Our review presents the actual state of knowledge regarding acute and chronic health effects generated by recreational marijuana use. Marijuana smoking can lead to structural and functional alterations in the central nervous system. These effects are especially significant and dangerous at the prenatal, child, and adolescence periods. In contrary to a common myth, cannabis does exhibit an addictive potency, albeit not a strong one. We discuss the “cannabis gateway hypothesis,” which suggests that marijuana use can be the first step before trying more dangerous drugs. However, drawing significant conclusions is difficult due to the strong impact of confounders and often unclear relationships among studied factors, especially in the socioeconomic context. Moreover, we point to the need for the unbiased assessment of the harm generated by marijuana in comparison with other drugs.
Cannabinoid signalling modulates several aspects of brain function, including the generation and survival of neurons during embryonic and adult periods. The present review intended to summarise evidence supporting a role for the endocannabinoid system on the control of neurogenesis and neurogenesis-dependent functions. Studies reporting participation of cannabinoids on the regulation of any step of neurogenesis and the effects of cannabinoid compounds on animal models possessing neurogenesis-dependent features were selected from Medline. Qualitative evaluation of the selected studies indicated that activation of cannabinoid receptors may change neurogenesis in embryonic or adult nervous systems alongside rescue of phenotypes in animal models of different psychiatric and neurological disorders. The text offers an overview on the effects of cannabinoids on central nervous system development and the possible links with psychiatric and neurological disorders such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, brain ischaemia/stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. An understanding of the mechanisms by which cannabinoid signalling influences developmental and adult neurogenesis will help foster the development of new therapeutic strategies for neurodevelopmental, psychiatric and neurological disorders.
Today 7th May 2019 was the best hard hitting action from John Campbell I have seen to date.
He ripped into the Christchurch debate and had Dame Sylvia Cartwright on the show "to boot" talking about the upcoming 'class action' lawsuit going against Government agency "Southern Response". Hard hitting stuff worth a watch.
John Campbell exclusive: Major Australian law firm backing around 3000 Canterbury homeowners in class action against Southern Response JOHN CAMPBELL BREAKFAST PRESENTER
"From our experiences with some other litigation, we have serious reservations about what sort of directions may have come from the previous Government to the leadership of this particular organisation. We don’t believe the present Government has had any part in directing what has taken place here."
National leading the charge in shafting citizens no doubt.
~ 3000 claimants short changed with Billions in question.
These older women want to be maintained in the style they are accustomed to and given all the medical help to live out healthy long lives with their needs met. They think it is wrong that five-storey units should be erected near their pensioner units. Is it? Five stories is high. The planners are insisting on this, but three-storeys surely would be more suitable. At five stories, there becomes the need for a lift which a ground floor and two higher would avoid.
Compromise, going lower while still enabling more people to be housed not just have smart young planners force their ideas on the public because they can would be the best approach I think.
They live just back from a major arterial route, not some sleepy village. Five storeys (including retail and office levels) is already a compromise to get more people living and working near frequent transport and all the local businesses that population density allows to thrive.
I have sympathy for both points of view – both the women who want an aesthetically pleasant environment and a city on a human scale, and the council who has to find somewhere to put all these people.
What are cities for? Are they primarily places where commerce can occur at close proximity? Or are they places that are good to live in? I suspect it is difficult for them to be both successfully – other than for a small elite of the wealthy.
The question can also be asked – do old people who go on living far beyond the age that was normal, have the right to be treated as royalty and eat cake and be kept in an extremely comfortable manner because they merely have not died, while the young are left to crawl out of their cardboard boxes in the middle of the road etc.
A caring and intelligent society would not end up with the differential in living standards we have now. Ergo we are not a caring and intelligent society. That is an awful shock to realise for an older person who believed NZ was a good country. Old people's opinions should count. and they would be concerned about leaving things good for the next generations so their reasonable objections should be listened to while not stopping the higher building level.
I suggested three stories would be suitable, having lived in a building that high. It is right that building should go up but not to a height that is isolating. The upper crust might enjoy the Ayn Rand style. Most like to be closer to the ground and the wider community life there. What are cities for? The inhabitants to have a home and leave some land to grow stuff when it all comes down to it.
The Bjarke Ingels Group, who have built lower-cost developments as well as the Lego House, and museums in Denmark, show how higher density does not necessarily mean loss of amenity.
Have a look at their Big 8 house – a development with high rise apartments that have been designed to have a small outdoor space, and a walkway that connects you to the rest of the development and the ground outside each apartment.
Link to a Youtube clip that I haven't watched, but scanned through. The walkway is at around 11.30
I'll have a look at that. I only lived in 3 storey and that seemed good. I have seen the details about the attempt to put western people in the high rise places and how badly that works out. They have them in places like Hong Kong, Singapore – if Singapore they are so antsy about keeping tidy, they might be able to run an effective high-rise without squalor and vandalism.
But the ones you mention sound as if they offer better access. But being too far from the ground for parents with young children can be a very bad move.
Eww. I remember going for a walk past where my forebears built their house in the outer city back in the early 1900s. Alas I don't think we had ever taken photographs of it – we weren't very imaginative and thoughtful. Alas it had come down and was part of the ground environment for a similar high storey building as you showed in the link.
When I was newly married and had saved a deposit and went to a subdivision being developed by a builder, there was a book of plans to choose from, and if you wanted an extra room here or a bigger laundry, it got costed in. There was a choice of claddings.
Now the ugly boxes painted brown with dark grey roofs are a third-rate version of a home. All the same all the way down the road. And apparently the government has allowed restrictive liens to go onto titles so you can't even create something that you would like after you buy. They all have to be the same. It's a body corporate effect I think even when you have your own separate free-standing house and title.
When i was looking at cohousing and looking at the body corporate legislation, the function is there to have a fairer document that doesn't give power to a small bunch of elected members, but each person can have a free vote on most things.
I think that the average developer has far too much power, and far too little imagination to have the amount of say they have achieved. The quality of life and attraction of suburbs has diminished according to the size of the developer's brain – as in Fawlty Towers one should watch the ground when with a developer, if you see a pea-sized object it could be a vital part of the man/woman's brain.
" But being too far from the ground for parents with young children can be a very bad move. "
I watched a different documentary on the architect, but the Big 8 house which is in the clip, has a walkway in a loop from the ground to the top storey, at an accessible grade, which means that people can ride their bicycles – or push pushchairs – to their front doors. It also provides that front space for all units that becomes community space, where neighbours hang out and talk.
Innovative design – can mitigate some of the issues that are brought up regarding the high density living our planners should be moving towards.
However, it does not come without criticism, and the studio has been criticised by the BAU and traditional form crowd for "ugly" buildings. The occupants seem to like them though.
The problem with the horrible high rises in UK and USA has been access to the upper units, through a lobby where residents could be targets, or which could be in awful condition. So what you have said might be the answer. I could imagine the skateboarders loving the sloping walkways. Sounds as if it could be an enjoyable place, and noise could be mitigated.
When it comes to multiple storeys the views of this well built town in Verona Italy La Garda? really appeal – the buildings look nice and none of them are grey, brown or charcoal.
As if. You haven't responded about what's underlying your preference for short buildings other than claiming everyone else wants the same as you.
This region can’t afford more car-dependant sprawl with climate change upon us, which means building up rather than out from now on.
The more people live in each area, the more small businesses can thrive there. Taller buildings also frees up more surrounding space for shared public assets like parks and community centres.
Three storeys can be less accessible than five for people who actually can't handle stairs, increasingly common with age. The ongoing cost of lifts is shared so it is more expensive per home in a four-storey than a nine-storey building or a ninety.
Worldwide urban designers know that seven storeys is still human scale architecture as it echoes the largest established forest trees our ancestors were familiar with.
The community-building facilities that surround a building have more impact on inhabitants' sense of belonging than its height does.
There will always be smaller dwellings and quiet seaside villages but not everyone will be able to afford to live in them.
Those developers might have just come down from the trees and had their ideas affected accordingly. From an ordinary human point of view the three storey that I suggested is the best and cheapest option.
And indeed the top storey isn't then for everyone, but in life we have to look at what is suitable, difference gives choice.
The ongoing cost of lifts is shared so it is more expensive per home in a four-storey than a nine-storey building or a ninety.
It would be cheaper in a three storey to not have a lift than the four-storey which would need a lift, and so (with a lift) the height would probably need to be – ground and five upper storeys, so six to make it practical.
But three storeys could be manageable without a lift. And indeed we could start incorporating the Dutch-style method of having a beam to haul stuff to for the higher floor.
Meh. Many Aucklanders want to live in a mult-million-residents city AND live in a nice house with a garden AND be located with convenient access to the city AND not have any apartment blocks near them AND have a low cost of living. People who have contradictory expectations usually find that not all their expectations are met.
One and two-bedroom units are sold to the elderly at 80 per cent of the market value, with the exception of the village at Carrick Place, Mt Eden where the units are 50 per cent of the market value.
Chloe Swarbrick should be the leader of the Greens Party. That woman has a good future in politics. She is mature beyond her years. Always organised and interviews extremely well. I am not a fan of the greens especially while Marama Davison and James Shaw are there as joint leaders. I really think they should go to the single leader ie. Chloe.
Marama and James don't seem to be natural leaders to me either, they're not natural extroverts for a start. Chloe has that great oratory skill, much like Ardern and Lange which I think is critical to get people to connect with and follow you.
It's very kind of Erdygerdy to give the hoi polloi the opportunity to correct their mistake. He will no doubt ensure the outcome is the right one this time.
The EU is the closest inter-nation body in the world, to respective societal economic contributors and diplomat corps of nation states combining along with others of different nations in the formation of blocks that then dynamically VOTE on what are to be collective shared courses of action that are the most beneficial.
Inclusive and dynamic economic networking combining with democratic political structures.
Someways to go to that maybe but then someways to regress also.
A lot of the time, it is UN stuff that we get but it is perhaps no less fruitful to engage with and constructively support the EU when appropriate too.
Interesting, and somewhat predictable update on the Gloriously Simple Answer to all our Future Nature of Work and Subsequent Inequality Problems That Everyone Loves Even Zucherberg and All The Other Tax Dodgers, otherwise known as the UBI.
“If cash payments are allowed to take precedence, there’s a serious risk of crowding out efforts to build collaborative, sustainable services and infrastructure – and setting a pattern for future development that promotes commodification rather than emancipation.” This may help to explain why UBI has attracted support from Silicon Valley tycoons, who are more interested in defending consumer capitalism than in tackling poverty and inequality……
This calls for more and better quality public services that are free to those who need them, regardless of ability to pay.
and there's the rub..all of our austerity budget governments are committed to spending as little as possible, be they Right, Left or in the Middle..they all would like us to know how not spending is more important than even basicaly maintaining the house we live in, let alone securing good outcomes for our children.
Except that the people are regarded as cash cows by business – that's where they want the spending to be. Not on repairs, but on new goods with either volume mark-up or goods of taste and discernment that allow for better profit from those who have risen on the social mobility ladder.
If you aren't in that bracket, and can't even afford the cheaper volume goods, the business community have managed to limit your access to second-hand electrical goods under health and safety, repairs are almost as dear as new goods. If Council don't upkeep the public provision of things it makes life more difficult. Further down its round the rubbish bins, dumpster diving is prevented by locks though they throw out much good, edible produce, the opshop throw outs (and the opshops are keen pricer uppers), and so on – there are plugs in place to prevent trickle downs by big business. The system is pretty tight.
"Bridges said it was important for him to draw attention to the fact that …"
Bridges simply drew attention to the fact that he's a dick. After his big extra speaking time splurge last week he thinks he's The Manbut still showing everyone he's the boy.
Another problem for the Labour Coalition with is corsets so tight – enough to make the government faint. All agree at the Waikato DHB that basically the problem there is underfunding. No-one has wanted to run it since the last CEO got the heaveho in late 2017.
Tesla put the elictric car's on the World stage. I agree that there needed to be a stimulating of the NZ elictric car's up take.
Don't worry Graham I have put some good videos up that even a – – – – – – can get the true facts on climate change.
I believe that technology changes have to happen to fight climate change but don't go trying to build huge carbon capture machines when we just need to plant Papatuanukue billion years old solution to that issue TREES.
Its good to see that NZ business confidence is up on the official cash rate drop. I would buy a elictric car if I could afford one
We have to make sure the huge multi national companies are reined in from all there cheating OUR society of honesty and a happy healthy future for ALL this administration is just sucking as much money out of the world as they can possibly get before they get there ASS kicked out.
California defies Trump to ban pesticide linked to childhood brain damage
The EPA had moved to ban chlorpyrifos under Obama, but the Trump administration reversed that effort
California is banning a widely used pesticide that has been linked to brain damage in children, a major victory for public health advocates who have long fought to outlaw the toxic chemical in the agricultural industry.
The state ban on chlorpyrifos, a pesticide used on almonds, citrus, cotton, grapes, walnuts and other crops, follows years of research finding the chemical causes serious health effects in children, including impaired brain and neurological development. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had moved to ban the chemical under Barack Obama, but the Trump administration reversed that effort, rejecting the scientific conclusions of its own government experts
No nothing to look at here no laws broken YEA RIGHT what about the privacy laws they are in bed together all the people that work for clark and thompson are EX police WTF.
Firm that spied on quake insurance complainants 'did not break law.
I think that the main goal of MPI is to eradicate the bovine dease it's a mess the wealthy southland farmers created so they need to lump it.
I don't think NZ has to stop dairy farming to meet our Paris agreement the study has not been conducted with NZ farming conditions we will have to farm organically tho. No comment on Cameron.
There you go another bad issue with PEE O NO we don't have a huge PEE problem nothing bad going down in NZ YEA RIGHT.
That's cool brain sergery to save one of Atoearoa taonga a kakapo chicks live saving operation Ka pai.
That's bullshit alcohol consumption is dropping. A study commissioned by the alcohol industry is going to try and influence people to drink more of the shit.
I had a excellent dog the manager could not get over how fast I got him working he was a hunter way.
I will pridict that there will be no blame with the loss of the SAS person.
Te wharehuia Milroy all the best to your whanau I'm sure they will miss you and will always remember your Mana Wairua.
Looks like the police and Maori tv love publishing the positive phenomenon of Tangata whenua YEA RIGHT I know you people are to stupid to see the effects you have on OUR tangata Mauri. Ma te wa I will teach the Neanderthals a lesson Ka kite ano
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
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Even Phil O'Reilly get's it (the need to overhaul the welfare system)
The extent of this political failure is measured by how bad the poverty stats are compared to how good the economic growth and unemployment stats are.
4% unemployed, major sectors seriously begging for staff, really low numbers on welfare.
A generational moment to address poverty using the state's machinery.
But no. Leave it.
Real shit work Sepuloni.
Two weeks to budget and its 'framework', this government is acting as tired an uncaring as a third term National Party government.
I'm not 100% on your measurement of political failure but I do agree that this is a major fail. Disgusting actually that Labour can even be connected with that veto on benefit rates and disrespect to this report. Fuck they are in for some shit – time for action Labour and yes I know you're in a coalition – so fucken what. I'm pissed at these people leaving our most vulnerable even worse off.
It's time that Labour got back into the viewpoint that we should aim for full employment – even if a lot of that is doing volunteer work. And people should be able to be on unemployment and still make extra on that, or be in part-time work and have their income boosted. Keep people in the loop, not feeling useless, rejected then resentful and angry.
The point is that we need to follow the line again of 'investing in people'. Bugger waiting for cold-minded, hard-eyed, calculating business to do it, especially since government has facilitated a lot of our business being bought or controlled by foreigners, either living here or overseas. Not all foreigners are bad of course, but many are very good at ripping NZ off, and that just adds to the scamming NZs already in business. The climate for employees is not a good one.
Encouragement for people who can get vibrant community measures going would be essential to raising us up where we belong. Like this great piece that Kathryn Ryan did this morning with the Whanganui low income-no income people.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018693899/growing-silverbeet-and-self-esteem-in-whanganui
Give funding for something like this in every community – skill-building, confidence and pride building, respect-the-people building, this is what Labour and Greens can do and NZF would agree; some of the funding could go to old people working with the young.
The Chairman shows Phil O'Reilly thinking that the welfare system needs work. I doubt very much if that man or any of his cohort have much useful stuff to add, so I'd say to progressive lefties, do your planning and just let him make suggestions if they will help the people-capacity building plan along. He would probably have something to say about being ready for employment; being able to get a job and be a capable and useful employee is important, but jobs will be pulled out from under your feet all the time in coming years. (Note the recent case in Wellington for a long-term arts-involved part-timer being dismissively dismissed; putting people out of work is a default position for business). So being able to be self-caring, self-managing, and co-operate with other good people who are also aiming for self-respect and respect for others, resilience, and who are learning capacity-building and passing it on, should be the goal.
The Chairman was doing a thorough think-through on this welfare report and tentative response from government yesterday and made some telling points that I have copied.
The Chairman …
7 May 2019 at 10:10 am
Here we go again. You've yet to prove that. Merely repeating it doesn't make it so.
Sixty-five percent of New Zealand First supporters wanted the party to go with Labour. Who widely campaigned on addressing poverty and inequality.
Additionally, if it were just Bradford and I that are disappointed Labour wouldn't have a problem. Unfortunately for them, the disappointment is widespread.
Moreover, failing to deliver on more of the recommendations sooner will lead to their fiscal management coming under the spotlight. People will question why they aren't prepared to invest now to save the greater cost and social harm of not doing so.
The Chairman 5.1.1
6 May 2019 at 12:14 pm
This goes beyond political disappointment. This is about denying via delaying further help to real people struggling in poverty. So no, I'm not here to gloat, I'm seeking solutions. Is a new left party the answer or do you think it will be possible to encourage Labour to act with urgency?
The Chairman …
7 May 2019 at 7:20 am
The report highlights what is required. Therefore, it's not that they don't have a clue.
They aren't stuck fiddling, they are stalling.
a vast majority of the current cabinet could well be working under a national govt instead of the current Laboir govt and we would not see any difference in decisions 😢
Have you ever had to try and get multiple independent groups with conflicting agendas to agree and work together smoothly and consistently on common goals? I've watched other people trying to do it and would not like to try it myself.
Coalition government between parties with opposing political interests is extremely difficult. This current one is performing way better than I expected it would, not least for the simple fact that it still exists and hasn't torn itself to shreds. If you want a well-disciplined group smoothly implementing policy it has no mandate for, National is (unfortunately) your only currently-available option.
"to agree and work together smoothly".
This lot have found a very simple method. Simply ask Tsar Winston what he wants and do it. You can't really try and claim that the Green Party, all the time, and the Labour Party, most of the time, have ever attempted to do something that Winston doesn't approve of. Labour occasionally put something forward that Winston doesn't see as really important to his survival and he will allow them to do it. The Green Party, on the other hand are simply doormats. Still, about half them get to ride in the limos and no longer have to settle for calling a taxi to get them around. I guess that feels like progress to them.
Spot on.
Abolish 3 strikes anyone?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104608068/governments-three-strikes-repeal-killed-by-nz-first
Capital gains Tax anyone?
https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/jacinda-ardern-thuds-back-to-earth-thanks-to-nzfs-carefully-generated-torpedo-cgt
Your proposed method would have a bit more credibility (ie, an amount > 0) if Kiwiblog et al hadn't devoted plenty of space to berating Peters' as Labour/Greens' lapdog for accepting the end of further oil and gas exploration and agreeing to the UN migration compact.
I fail to see why I should be held responsible for comments made by other people on Kiwiblog. That would be rather like saying thaat you are responsible for the complaints about the mendacity of the Government in the views of No Right Turn. I'm imagine you used to agree with him on political matters. He has, of course, started to see the light about the appalling behaviour of the CoL. Are you willing to open your eyes as well?
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/05/not-binding.html
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-fix.html
Besides what evidence do you have that Winston gives a damn about oil exploration? There doesn't appear to be any in Northland does there?
I didn't suggest that you were responsible for the comments, but they do serve to highlight how fatuous your claim is.
As Winston giving a damn about oil exploration, he's trying to position his party as the defender of the regions. And Shane Jones' face when he was sharing the stage for the announcement told everyone viewing it what he thought of the idea.
Maybe.
However as far as I can see the whole ban proposal has been gutted. Anyone who has a permit can apparently go on with exploration, and drilling, and almost certainly new production, as if the ban was never mentioned.
OMV are planning to do precisely that.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12220887
The Green Party don't like it but they are simply being ignored.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12220973
It was only ever a ban on NEW exploration permits so not sure why you think it has been gutted.
It was not part of the Green-Labour agreement but rather a bonus so while the Greens will voice their opinion they have not been wronged.
"new permits"
Sure it was but it was sold as halting any work when the permit expired. Instead we have the situation that permits are, seemingly as of right, extended when they approach expiry. This of course means that they will in practice never expire. That was not what was said at the time of her "Captains Call" was it?
At the time she said that rights would cease when the permit expired. Now we find they don't really expire at all.
Up North here we told Statoil to fuck off and they did. It was a worry for a while though.
Its failure to deliver is going to be problematic for this Government come next election.
Why would you worry about that?
Wont that new ultra left party you're advocating for easily become the new government?
One doesn't have to be ultra left to outperform this lot.
Nevertheless, I'm left but I'm a lefty with a long-term proposal that would potentially result in doing away with taxing locals. Something that would get your average right-wingers attention, thus perhaps support.
And ponder this, how many businesses would benefit from consumers (receiving benefits) spending more? Increasing benefits rates doesn't just benefit beneficiaries. It's also good for businesses returns while saving tax dollars via helping to reduce many social ills, thus is able to muster traditional right wing support. As shown by Phil O'Reilly’s support of the welfare overhaul.
You asked: "Why would you worry about that?"
Because I'd like to see them deliver on more.
Right, so this fantasy party that would be left of labour and the greens is just rhetoric and fake, just like your concern for their vote share at the next general election.
With our populace, labour have to err to centre to get elected and stay there, especially so with the right NZ1st in coalition and a public that shows no appetite for full on leftism.
The answer to turn labour left, as it always has been, is to party vote the greens and give them 10 to 15 percent to trade for policy in post election negotiations.
Wow!
Back it up.
At this stage, there has only been calls for a new party to form.
And being left doesn't mean it won't also appeal to the right (as shown above). Thus, the wider public.
The flaw with your logic (which is commonly stated) is Labour doesn’t have to be right (or as you put it, err to the centre) to win over the right and the centre vote. Again, as shown above.
Labour's problem is they aren't prepared to stand strong for the left and take the debate to National. For example, they could have won the CGT battle. Polls show the public supported it. Moreover, their constant backing down gives the public the perception they were wrong, further weakening theirs (and the left's in general) position in the eyes of the wider public.
The Greens have shown they fold far too easy to hold Labour to account. And seeing as I've been continually telling them to up their game or risk losing their support, at this stage I won't be voting for them again.
And the way the Greens are currently polling, it could be a wasted vote, nonetheless.
Vote Green again my arse. You are just a really crap troll.
Not only did I vote Green last election, I was on here (thus on record) encouraging others too. So save your bullshit.
Giss-a-link or it didn't happen.
Aside from clearly not understanding how mmp works, expecting a 6% party to call the shots who aren't even in government proper, for a long time you've been an attacker of the greens on here, unbelievably more so than the rwnj brigade, the answer to getting more green policy enacted is still to vote for them in bigger numbers, increasing their bargaining power in negotiations.
“Vote Green again my arse. You are just a really crap troll.”
Obvious dichotomy.
Here's one where I highlight the Greens are a better choice
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-07092017/#comment-1379864
The Chairman, saying that the Greens are a better alternative to Labour, considering your opinion of that party, is not really an endorsement.
"I'd prefer a head cold to the'flu," is what you're saying!
And here's what you say about Labour in this thread, below. "But yes, a number will fall for Labour again." Note the language.
This is what "fall for' means.
fall for sth. informal. — phrasal verb with fall uk /fɔːl/ us /fɑːl/ verb fell, fallen. to be tricked into believing something that is not true: He told me that he owned a mansion in Spain and I fell for it.
What you say is what you believe, The Chairman. Methinks thou dost protest too much.
The Gambler with Kenny Rogers
Who or what is The Gambler at the moment?
People supporting Labour hoping that they know when to hold, and when to fold, oand will get to the counting goodies stage?
Or people giving up and saying that Labour is full of borer, all hollowed out inside, and folds under pressure, but hoping that new growth shoots can be encouraged?
Or people saying that time is short, winter is here, the time for withholding criticism is over, let's have a new party of the left that is dedicated to people at grassroots level and practical living standards and regulation all set up for the everyday person and micro and small business, and the Greens can concentrate on the green issues, better light bulbs, environment and the people with special interests.
Yes, in politics one has to know when to hold or when to fold. Unfortunately for Labour they seem to have it the wrong way around.
They should have folded on their support of the TPP and stood strong on their support of a CGT.
Did Labour Coalition have a choice on the CCTPPa? What would have happened if we had said we can't sign it or wecan't sign it in this form and wanted all sorts of alterations, or deliberately made so many requests that we in the end were frozen out?
I felt we would have been very unpopular, frozen out in other markets, and received a pasting here through the bought media.
It seems Labour had a choice when they were campaigning against it.
Moreover, the potential return on the TPP was/is minimal. So it wouldn't have been a great loss.
Labour did manage to disappoint a lot of people by ultimately supporting it.
And while they seem to have overcome that (as the negative impact of the TPP has yet to fully occur) it's the build up of disappointments accumulating that risks taking them out. Yet, I concede they are doing ok in the polls, but one must consider if they could be doing better if it wasn't for the disappointments accumulating. Moreover, will they take a hit if they continue to fail to deliver.
The Disappointment Accumulator. Perhaps we could make money on it if someone started a book with some outfit like William Hill. They can't take us on as customers as they are only licensed for Gt Britain and Gibraltar. I'm sick of feeling miserable as I watch the country go to the dogs – might as well have a bet on the side.
Where did I say I expected the Greens to call all the shots?
I've been holding the Greens to account. And have even passed on advise.
I'm a believer that democracy doesn't just end after we vote. If we make our feelings widely known, there is more chance parties will take heed and listen. Whereas, if we remain silent, little will change. Hence, more of us need to speak up and take this approach.
And even if the Greens do muster more support (which at this stage I think is unlikely) they (this current lot) have shown they are not fighters. And if one wants more from the table, one has to stand strong and fight for it. Especially as the Greens will still be the smaller partner in any new deal with Labour. And the Greens just don't have the backbone at the moment.
Your reputation precedes you, so that latest attack on the greens isn't all that unexpected.
History shows you definitely appear to be a fake green/ leftie on a sustained smear mission.
That reputation is based on slander which you are perpetuating.
My feelings on the Greens are widely shared, evident by comments on social media and their failure to gain traction in the polls.
You've been caught out so many times. Might as well just ditch the handle and start all over.
Apart from it can't be slander because it's the written word, and it also happens to be a fair representation, you have earned a reputation here as being anti green, which is because you continually post anti green comments.
With supporter like you, who needs enemies?
It is still libel/defamation nonetheless.
I'm not anti Green, I just hold them to account. Them, Labour and their cheerleaders are so scared of any form of criticism it seen as an attack.
Thus, they do their best to isolate it (making out it is a single voice in a crowd) and diminish it (usually by trying to paint the person as being part of the opposition). And that is how this reputation all came about.
Therefore, you have either fallen for it (which some have) or you are advancing it. Either way I suggest you pull your head in and stick on topic. Playing the man and not the ball is another common distraction used.
If you're worried about the alleged libel, shit or get off the pot, it's your call. Given your posting history and abuse towards the green party, I'm not sweating it. You can pretend it's holding them to account, but the reputation you have is, in my opinion, well deserved… And I’m not alone in thinking that, far from it.
In noting how you're attempting to rewrite the past by mitigating the abuse you've unfairly apportioned, the crocodile tears about people playing the man are, I suspect, more boy who cried wolf.
Alternatively, your idea of holding people to account is to focus exclusively on overstating the negatives of the party(s – you give Labour the same assistance, too, sometimes), leaving little effort to recognise their successes or even criticising the tories once in a while, too.
If you were an employer treating people like that, you'd be done for constructive dismissal and workplace harrassment.
I'm not worried what people think about me, I'm not the issue.
I was just giving you a heads up on where it's at. Moreover, it was a test of your character to see if you would now refrain or continue to advance the personal crap. Clearly you failed.
Thus keep playing the man, but you will now be allocated to the sidelines as you have now been exposed as a player.
Stick to the politics you’ll get a reply, play the man and you’ll be playing by yourself.
So I've failed your character test. To be brutally honest, I take that as more of a compliment than a defect.
What I will keep doing, abiding by the site rules, is point out where you are being unreasonable and lacking a grasp of today's politics. If you want to divorce yourself from the green party, that's fine, but cut the crap you've got their best interests at heart. From your continued abuse, I don’t believe it for a second, and It's quite clear you really haven't.
If you don't want to be called fake green, the simple way out is not act like a fake green.
Its failure to deliver is going to be problematic for this Government come next election.
Maybe. On one hand folks might vote National (or not Labour/Greens) figuring we're all better off being led by arseholes who are proud of the fact they are arseholes.
Or, this lot will be voted in again because they appear so kind and loving while pretending they are not being arseholes. Who doesn't like the warm fuzzies?
Well, there is Mana and Social Credit some on the left may turn too. Some (as I've already heard) will no longer vote at all. And some may turn to a new party if one is formed.
But yes, a number will fall for Labour again.
What about TOP. It sounded promising if it sticks to the UBI with increments, it might drag in some of the welfare bennies.
Personally oppose TOP. Their UBI was insufficient and they wanted to tax unrealised gains, forcing those that are asset rich but income poor to borrow to meet the burden.
Coming in late at the end of a long thread.. I love that phrase 'The Disappointment Accumulator'
I too have long seen The Chairman as a concern troll – the most persistent and devious I have seen.
But I would now like name The Chairman "The Disappointment Accumulation Dispersal Man."
His messages always spread discouragement… so far.
In Vino I note and agree with you, which is pretty usual.
I used to dislike The Chairman because he was negative too early in my opinion, a disagreeable old moaner, in my opinion, when we needed to watch, encourage, wait for results and not put weedkiller on our patch.
But I read some of his stuff the other day and think his opinion was right for the time. He made a case that would allow Prime Minister Jacinda to press forward using leverage on her popularity with NZ, and get the austerity-for-everyone-but-me Labourites off their bums and looking across the room at other figures and numbers. They don't care about people in need and the founding ideals of Labour. But figures and numbers that show money spent now will save huge expense later would crown their miserly minds; and Labour could draw on reserves set aside now for those high expected future expenses. Spend now, and produce three-fold advantage of drops in expenditure in ten years or such.
From my comment at 1 1 1 1 I think I quoted The Chairman saying what I consider should be pressed on the Labour Coalition leaders prior to the Budget of the 30th May.
"The Last American Vagabond" is always really on-to-it with his analysis. He always links to the stories he is drawing his information from, so even if you don't agree with his conclusions, the links speak for themselves.
In the case of what is going on in Gaza, it seems one balloon on fire (as reported by Israel) landed on Israeli territory. Israel then fired missiles into Gaza for two days before the Gaza government responded. One of the Last Vagabond's small but very interesting points is why the Gaza missiles that are basic and unguided haven't hit civilian targets while the sophisticated guided Israeli ones have. There is one video of a rocket hitting an apartment block that makes it completely collapse. I don't think the Israelis are so stupid they wouldn't know how to hit the target they want to with its guided missiles. I'm going to speculate that they already knew what its targets they wanted to draw out. One has to wonder what Israel's ultimate objective in regards to the Palestinians is now and how a war with Iran might aid that.
Here is a good piece from the ever reliable FAIR…you can include NZ media in this analysis too, and shamefully including RNZ.
The Atlantic Illustrates Everything That’s Wrong With Media Coverage of Venezuela Sanctions
“Trump’s Venezuela Policy: Slow Suffocation,” an Atlantic report (4/17/19) by Uri Friedman and Kathy Gilsinan, passed up a rich opportunity to expose the humanitarian pretexts for economic intervention, and instead exhibited the worst tendencies of corporate media coverage of US policy in Latin America."
https://fair.org/home/the-atlantic-illustrates-everything-thats-wrong-with-media-coverage-of-venezuela-sanctions/?awt_l=CnT3e&awt_m=h0eSPn4haIR._TQ
Venezuela can choose to trade with any other country on the planet. They do not NEED to trade witht he US. The US is not under any obligation to trade with Venezuela if they do not like the current regime in charge there.
its not that simple.
When the U.S engages in financial war, trade becomes extremely difficult for regimes that have sanctions applied to them.
Denying nations access to the B.I.S and SWIFT systems as Iran is experiencing ,have a huge impact on trade and the domestic economy.
Rubbish. Lot's of nations have survived and even thrived when the US has refused to trade with them. Iran is certainly not falling apart at this point in time. Even Cuba has managed for close to 60 years with trade restrictions and even managed a degree of growth until the 1990's.
@Gosman, when you make a statement like the one above, you show that you are either extremely naive', stupendously stupid or a troll, or maybe a bit of each?
If you disagree with me explain to me WHY the US should trade with nations that it has fundamental ideological differences with.
Cripes Adrian you are either extremely naive', stupendously stupid to keep on discussing anything with Gosman – you have been here long enough. What was that about mad people doing same things, expecting different results?
@greywarshark, true enough, you got me there.
The yankistanis heavy other nations into complying with their sanctions gozzer, you didn't realise that?
Of course they do. And nations can choose to ignore the US pressure as they do in relation to Cuba.
you do not seem to understand how international financing of trade works .
Do you actually know what SWIFT and the B.I.S are!
Lot's of countries carry out financing of trade without reference to the US.
which ones and how do they pay for oil?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/iran-sell-oil-grey-market-tightens-sanctions-190505162325159.html
Name 10.
Our colonial anxiety – again https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/112491079/how-many-times-does-this-need-to-be-said-pakeha-is-not-a-slur
I don't mind others using pakeha to describe me.
I don't use the word to describe myself.
Simply because it is using anothers term of reference.
To be clear, I am all for Te Reo in schools and highly value how Maori have shaped what being a "kiwi' is eg we are marvelous hosts, great allies and formidable opponents, and the importance of breaking bread together feet under the same table.
Whereas as a pakeha I'm not that keen on being called a kiwi
Fair enough Jan, I will bear that in mind when addressing you.
Do you mind if I ask why?
What a load of waffle this thing about description is – pakeha, tauiwi, kiwi, whats the beef? My gran used to say 'You can call me anything you like, but don't call me 'late for dinner'.
Absolutely. I would much rather be called "Pakeha" than "kiwi".
"Kiwi" is infantile nonsense.
Resisting a term defined by others is an expression of power – who has it, who fears losing it, and the balance society negotiates at the time.
One persons 'expression of power' is another's desire for autonomy.
Individualism is a value of some cultural groups.
If people choose to use the word to describe themselves or allow others to do the same that is their right. I myself do not prefer to be defined by another culture.
What 'culture' are you then.
NZ European or NZ Anglo-Celtic.
I'm from the culture of Hip-Hop….Rap is something you do, Hip-Hop is something you live! You are not doing Hip-Hop, you are Hip-Hop!
You can 'prefer' all you want, but that does not determine what social groups you belong to. That is negotiated by society, funnily enough.
There's a comedy festival in town. do you like your comedy political, switched on and intelligent? Many The Standard readers will love this guy. Thank me later.
https://www.comedyfestival.co.nz/find-a-show/steve-hughes/
Are you looking for a mad genius? A crazy discombobulated no holds barred anything goes act like you've never seen before. One of my favorite acts in the world (and people).
https://www.comedyfestival.co.nz/find-a-show/phil-nichol-your-wrong/
And there is a mad gem of a comic here from Australia. Seriously off the wall, I was an instant fan after this clip: Demi Lardner
https://www.comedyfestival.co.nz/find-a-show/demi-lardner/
Demi might be relatively new, but she certainly deserves patronage. Seriously funny, but not everyone's cup of tea.
You should be able to find your own cup of tea in the Festival there are a lot of shows.
https://www.comedyfestival.co.nz/find-a-show/
Demi, excellent!
"…just an owl.." brilliant.
I heard Duncan Garner on TV last night saying that studies show cannabis causes brain damage to kids. Allbeit it was a station promo there was no reply and I was left with the impression that this was irrefutable fact. ( clever work TVNZ ). I thought then that the numbers with fetal cannabis syndrome would be huge, but can't find the numbers. Also very grateful we were lucky with our three kids. And all the kids of the parents in my cohort.
Hi Bruce
I didn't hear Duncan Garner on this, but the links between cannabis use in pregnancy and foetal development problems are covered in the following:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140127093140.htm
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/children-cannabis-impairs-fetal-brain-development-012814#1 (which links to http://emboj.embopress.org/content/early/2014/01/27/embj.201386035)
Some more recent (2019) links (all cite Shadrach's 2014 EMBO Journal paper).
Only the abstracts (copied here) are free.
Today 7th May 2019 was the best hard hitting action from John Campbell I have seen to date.
He ripped into the Christchurch debate and had Dame Sylvia Cartwright on the show "to boot" talking about the upcoming 'class action' lawsuit going against Government agency "Southern Response". Hard hitting stuff worth a watch.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/john-campbell-exclusive-major-australian-law-firm-backing-3000-canterbury-homeowners-in-class-action-against-government-owned-southern-response?auto=6033165600001
John Campbell exclusive: Major Australian law firm backing around 3000 Canterbury homeowners in class action against Southern Response JOHN CAMPBELL BREAKFAST PRESENTER
"From our experiences with some other litigation, we have serious reservations about what sort of directions may have come from the previous Government to the leadership of this particular organisation. We don’t believe the present Government has had any part in directing what has taken place here."
National leading the charge in shafting citizens no doubt.
~ 3000 claimants short changed with Billions in question.
Wonder if the current Government will advise them to settle this out of court?
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/388631/elderly-women-take-a-stand-as-auckland-council-fights-its-own-organisation
These older women want to be maintained in the style they are accustomed to and given all the medical help to live out healthy long lives with their needs met. They think it is wrong that five-storey units should be erected near their pensioner units. Is it? Five stories is high. The planners are insisting on this, but three-storeys surely would be more suitable. At five stories, there becomes the need for a lift which a ground floor and two higher would avoid.
Compromise, going lower while still enabling more people to be housed not just have smart young planners force their ideas on the public because they can would be the best approach I think.
They live just back from a major arterial route, not some sleepy village. Five storeys (including retail and office levels) is already a compromise to get more people living and working near frequent transport and all the local businesses that population density allows to thrive.
I have sympathy for both points of view – both the women who want an aesthetically pleasant environment and a city on a human scale, and the council who has to find somewhere to put all these people.
What are cities for? Are they primarily places where commerce can occur at close proximity? Or are they places that are good to live in? I suspect it is difficult for them to be both successfully – other than for a small elite of the wealthy.
The question can also be asked – do old people who go on living far beyond the age that was normal, have the right to be treated as royalty and eat cake and be kept in an extremely comfortable manner because they merely have not died, while the young are left to crawl out of their cardboard boxes in the middle of the road etc.
A caring and intelligent society would not end up with the differential in living standards we have now. Ergo we are not a caring and intelligent society. That is an awful shock to realise for an older person who believed NZ was a good country. Old people's opinions should count. and they would be concerned about leaving things good for the next generations so their reasonable objections should be listened to while not stopping the higher building level.
I suggested three stories would be suitable, having lived in a building that high. It is right that building should go up but not to a height that is isolating. The upper crust might enjoy the Ayn Rand style. Most like to be closer to the ground and the wider community life there. What are cities for? The inhabitants to have a home and leave some land to grow stuff when it all comes down to it.
Design quality is important Grey.
The Bjarke Ingels Group, who have built lower-cost developments as well as the Lego House, and museums in Denmark, show how higher density does not necessarily mean loss of amenity.
Have a look at their Big 8 house – a development with high rise apartments that have been designed to have a small outdoor space, and a walkway that connects you to the rest of the development and the ground outside each apartment.
Link to a Youtube clip that I haven't watched, but scanned through. The walkway is at around 11.30
I'll have a look at that. I only lived in 3 storey and that seemed good. I have seen the details about the attempt to put western people in the high rise places and how badly that works out. They have them in places like Hong Kong, Singapore – if Singapore they are so antsy about keeping tidy, they might be able to run an effective high-rise without squalor and vandalism.
But the ones you mention sound as if they offer better access. But being too far from the ground for parents with young children can be a very bad move.
The ugliness of spreadsheet architecture.
https://unherd.com/2019/04/the-hideous-spread-of-spreadsheet-architecture/
Eww. I remember going for a walk past where my forebears built their house in the outer city back in the early 1900s. Alas I don't think we had ever taken photographs of it – we weren't very imaginative and thoughtful. Alas it had come down and was part of the ground environment for a similar high storey building as you showed in the link.
When I was newly married and had saved a deposit and went to a subdivision being developed by a builder, there was a book of plans to choose from, and if you wanted an extra room here or a bigger laundry, it got costed in. There was a choice of claddings.
Now the ugly boxes painted brown with dark grey roofs are a third-rate version of a home. All the same all the way down the road. And apparently the government has allowed restrictive liens to go onto titles so you can't even create something that you would like after you buy. They all have to be the same. It's a body corporate effect I think even when you have your own separate free-standing house and title.
When i was looking at cohousing and looking at the body corporate legislation, the function is there to have a fairer document that doesn't give power to a small bunch of elected members, but each person can have a free vote on most things.
I think that the average developer has far too much power, and far too little imagination to have the amount of say they have achieved. The quality of life and attraction of suburbs has diminished according to the size of the developer's brain – as in Fawlty Towers one should watch the ground when with a developer, if you see a pea-sized object it could be a vital part of the man/woman's brain.
" But being too far from the ground for parents with young children can be a very bad move. "
I watched a different documentary on the architect, but the Big 8 house which is in the clip, has a walkway in a loop from the ground to the top storey, at an accessible grade, which means that people can ride their bicycles – or push pushchairs – to their front doors. It also provides that front space for all units that becomes community space, where neighbours hang out and talk.
Innovative design – can mitigate some of the issues that are brought up regarding the high density living our planners should be moving towards.
However, it does not come without criticism, and the studio has been criticised by the BAU and traditional form crowd for "ugly" buildings. The occupants seem to like them though.
The problem with the horrible high rises in UK and USA has been access to the upper units, through a lobby where residents could be targets, or which could be in awful condition. So what you have said might be the answer. I could imagine the skateboarders loving the sloping walkways. Sounds as if it could be an enjoyable place, and noise could be mitigated.
When it comes to multiple storeys the views of this well built town in Verona Italy La Garda? really appeal – the buildings look nice and none of them are grey, brown or charcoal.
Unlike the critics, I actually like the aesthetic of the Big 8 development, primarily because of the way that they allocate space.
Beauty in the eye of … and all that.
You did notice how tall those Italian buildings are, right? People have lived like that for centuries, without pining for a lawn to mow.
Are you going to pick everything I say apart now and put it under a microscope Sacha?
As if. You haven't responded about what's underlying your preference for short buildings other than claiming everyone else wants the same as you.
This region can’t afford more car-dependant sprawl with climate change upon us, which means building up rather than out from now on.
The more people live in each area, the more small businesses can thrive there. Taller buildings also frees up more surrounding space for shared public assets like parks and community centres.
Three storeys can be less accessible than five for people who actually can't handle stairs, increasingly common with age. The ongoing cost of lifts is shared so it is more expensive per home in a four-storey than a nine-storey building or a ninety.
Worldwide urban designers know that seven storeys is still human scale architecture as it echoes the largest established forest trees our ancestors were familiar with.
The community-building facilities that surround a building have more impact on inhabitants' sense of belonging than its height does.
There will always be smaller dwellings and quiet seaside villages but not everyone will be able to afford to live in them.
Those developers might have just come down from the trees and had their ideas affected accordingly. From an ordinary human point of view the three storey that I suggested is the best and cheapest option.
And indeed the top storey isn't then for everyone, but in life we have to look at what is suitable, difference gives choice.
"From an ordinary human point of view the three storey that I suggested is the best and cheapest option."
Best for what? Cheaper per home than what?
The ongoing cost of lifts is shared so it is more expensive per home in a four-storey than a nine-storey building or a ninety.
It would be cheaper in a three storey to not have a lift than the four-storey which would need a lift, and so (with a lift) the height would probably need to be – ground and five upper storeys, so six to make it practical.
But three storeys could be manageable without a lift. And indeed we could start incorporating the Dutch-style method of having a beam to haul stuff to for the higher floor.
Again, best for what?
Meh. Many Aucklanders want to live in a mult-million-residents city AND live in a nice house with a garden AND be located with convenient access to the city AND not have any apartment blocks near them AND have a low cost of living. People who have contradictory expectations usually find that not all their expectations are met.
The council don't think it's such a flash idea either greysy. Might be worth following the money on this one.
Obviously a hefty ratepayer subsidy isn't enough.
Was this the bit that caught your eye?
Āe
FFS, that's the icing on the cake. And the smug old ducks just popped up on the telly full of their own importance. Nope.
That's interesting joe90 thanks.
Chloe Swarbrick should be the leader of the Greens Party. That woman has a good future in politics. She is mature beyond her years. Always organised and interviews extremely well. I am not a fan of the greens especially while Marama Davison and James Shaw are there as joint leaders. I really think they should go to the single leader ie. Chloe.
Marama and James don't seem to be natural leaders to me either, they're not natural extroverts for a start. Chloe has that great oratory skill, much like Ardern and Lange which I think is critical to get people to connect with and follow you.
Agree… and I think Chloe is actually smarter than both the current leaders.
Best of three?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48177740
It's very kind of Erdygerdy to give the hoi polloi the opportunity to correct their mistake. He will no doubt ensure the outcome is the right one this time.
https://www.magic.co.nz/home/news/2019/04/jacinda-ardern–the-christchurch-summit-in-paris.html
The EU is the closest inter-nation body in the world, to respective societal economic contributors and diplomat corps of nation states combining along with others of different nations in the formation of blocks that then dynamically VOTE on what are to be collective shared courses of action that are the most beneficial.
Inclusive and dynamic economic networking combining with democratic political structures.
Someways to go to that maybe but then someways to regress also.
A lot of the time, it is UN stuff that we get but it is perhaps no less fruitful to engage with and constructively support the EU when appropriate too.
Some welcomed news on a binding cannabis referendum – https://www.greens.org.nz/news/press-release/green-party-welcomes-cannabis-referendum-fully-drafted-legislation?fbclid=IwAR3eVVyFKpRrQZlsVzil9X0iS1cNIypMPA6vChp1estxzkDJvqP-fg7vUz0
Very interesting EP. Couldn't find such info elsewhere. Has Andrew announced it all yet?
Interesting, and somewhat predictable update on the Gloriously Simple Answer to all our Future Nature of Work and Subsequent Inequality Problems That Everyone Loves Even Zucherberg and All The Other Tax Dodgers, otherwise known as the UBI.
and there's the rub..all of our austerity budget governments are committed to spending as little as possible, be they Right, Left or in the Middle..they all would like us to know how not spending is more important than even basicaly maintaining the house we live in, let alone securing good outcomes for our children.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/06/universal-basic-income-public-realm-poverty-inequality?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2eOPMyVg68zNacUN2fNj4FhNi_K_Gex0OYzTRZbFKv1K5x0e0DqzdxDew#Echobox=1557140856
Except that the people are regarded as cash cows by business – that's where they want the spending to be. Not on repairs, but on new goods with either volume mark-up or goods of taste and discernment that allow for better profit from those who have risen on the social mobility ladder.
If you aren't in that bracket, and can't even afford the cheaper volume goods, the business community have managed to limit your access to second-hand electrical goods under health and safety, repairs are almost as dear as new goods. If Council don't upkeep the public provision of things it makes life more difficult. Further down its round the rubbish bins, dumpster diving is prevented by locks though they throw out much good, edible produce, the opshop throw outs (and the opshops are keen pricer uppers), and so on – there are plugs in place to prevent trickle downs by big business. The system is pretty tight.
Oops. Simon Bridges has been chucked out of the House for rubbishing the Speaker mid through Simon's questions.
Scraping the bottom of the barrel for attention now.
Simon was near to whining child like.
"Bridges said it was important for him to draw attention to the fact that …"
Bridges simply drew attention to the fact that he's a dick. After his big extra speaking time splurge last week he thinks he's The Man but still showing everyone he's the boy.
Simon has to understand yet that 'decorum' is more than making up de numbers in de House.
or the need for the apple de-coring.
Today's barnyard noises are brought to you by Simon Bridges.
Funny Goats.
Amazing vocals.. But can't beat the sheep.
Ashley Clinton Sheeps Choir
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs5cGVl-Zto
It goes for 4 minutes.
Another problem for the Labour Coalition with is corsets so tight – enough to make the government faint. All agree at the Waikato DHB that basically the problem there is underfunding. No-one has wanted to run it since the last CEO got the heaveho in late 2017.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/388660/health-minister-replaces-waikato-dhb-board-with-commissioner
Kia ora Newshub
The Auckland mayor race is on
Tesla put the elictric car's on the World stage. I agree that there needed to be a stimulating of the NZ elictric car's up take.
Don't worry Graham I have put some good videos up that even a – – – – – – can get the true facts on climate change.
I believe that technology changes have to happen to fight climate change but don't go trying to build huge carbon capture machines when we just need to plant Papatuanukue billion years old solution to that issue TREES.
Its good to see that NZ business confidence is up on the official cash rate drop. I would buy a elictric car if I could afford one
Ka kite ano
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/qqjVwAg5fK4
We have to make sure the huge multi national companies are reined in from all there cheating OUR society of honesty and a happy healthy future for ALL this administration is just sucking as much money out of the world as they can possibly get before they get there ASS kicked out.
California defies Trump to ban pesticide linked to childhood brain damage
The EPA had moved to ban chlorpyrifos under Obama, but the Trump administration reversed that effort
California is banning a widely used pesticide that has been linked to brain damage in children, a major victory for public health advocates who have long fought to outlaw the toxic chemical in the agricultural industry.
The state ban on chlorpyrifos, a pesticide used on almonds, citrus, cotton, grapes, walnuts and other crops, follows years of research finding the chemical causes serious health effects in children, including impaired brain and neurological development. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had moved to ban the chemical under Barack Obama, but the Trump administration reversed that effort, rejecting the scientific conclusions of its own government experts
Ka kite ano links below
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/08/california-pesticide-ban-chlorpyrifos-agriculture
https://youtu.be/s4rGnCIU-w8
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/h4DFXUndvbw
A uneducated tangata whenua O Atoearoa let's the Papatuanukue know the justice system of the PAPATUANUKUE are corrupt
No nothing to look at here no laws broken YEA RIGHT what about the privacy laws they are in bed together all the people that work for clark and thompson are EX police WTF.
Firm that spied on quake insurance complainants 'did not break law.
Ka kite ano link below.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/112592552/firm-that-spied-on-quake-insurance-complainants-did-not-break-law
Kia ora Newshub.
Archie is a cool name for the new royal tama.
I think that the main goal of MPI is to eradicate the bovine dease it's a mess the wealthy southland farmers created so they need to lump it.
I don't think NZ has to stop dairy farming to meet our Paris agreement the study has not been conducted with NZ farming conditions we will have to farm organically tho. No comment on Cameron.
There you go another bad issue with PEE O NO we don't have a huge PEE problem nothing bad going down in NZ YEA RIGHT.
That's cool brain sergery to save one of Atoearoa taonga a kakapo chicks live saving operation Ka pai.
That's bullshit alcohol consumption is dropping. A study commissioned by the alcohol industry is going to try and influence people to drink more of the shit.
I had a excellent dog the manager could not get over how fast I got him working he was a hunter way.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Te ao Maori News.
Condolences to the SAS whanau.
I will pridict that there will be no blame with the loss of the SAS person.
Te wharehuia Milroy all the best to your whanau I'm sure they will miss you and will always remember your Mana Wairua.
Looks like the police and Maori tv love publishing the positive phenomenon of Tangata whenua YEA RIGHT I know you people are to stupid to see the effects you have on OUR tangata Mauri. Ma te wa I will teach the Neanderthals a lesson Ka kite ano
Kia ora The AM Show.
https://youtu.be/vqnwqsJYyiU
Mokopuna mahi
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/hT_nvWreIhg
Had a epiphany yesterday Ma te wa Whanau
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/DgGr_n4fgyI
Whanau we must teach all te Mokopuna te reo
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/bnVUHWCynig