Open mike 08/07/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, July 8th, 2019 - 120 comments
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120 comments on “Open mike 08/07/2019 ”

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  1. Sanctuary 1
    8 July 2019 at 7:07 am

    An interesting short video from Novara Media which starkly lays out how class riddled the UK is… (And the sassy Ash Sarkar… *sigh*)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPCNc90i3JA&t=276s

    • johnm 1.1
      8 July 2019 at 9:20 am

      The Tories always hold the view that the state is an apparatus for the protection of the swag of the property owners … Christ drove the money changers out of the temple, but you inscribe their title deed on the altar cloth.

      There is only one hope for mankind – and that is democratic Socialism.

      “That is why no amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party that inflicted those bitter experiences on me. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. They condemned millions of first-class people to semi-starvation. Now the Tories are pouring out money in propaganda of all sorts and are hoping by this organised sustained mass suggestion to eradicate from our minds all memory of what we went through. But, I warn you young men and women, do not listen to what they are saying now. Do not listen to the seductions of Lord Woolton. He is a very good salesman. If you are selling shoddy stuff you have to be a good salesman. But I warn you they have not changed, or if they have they are slightly worse than they were.”

      Quotes fron Aneurin Bevan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aneurin_Bevan

      • Bewildered 1.1.1
        8 July 2019 at 10:18 am

        So your suggesting and imposed ideaology their Ed, democracy as long as it socialism, yep that will work Just like Hong Kong and Russian democracy, you can vote as long as you vote how you are told

      • bewildered 1.1.2
        8 July 2019 at 1:21 pm

        This guy was around in the 50 60s unfortunately not the 70s to see what the glories of socialism inflicted on the Uk His thinking and experiences was 19th early 20th century Britain and so are his solutions, hardly relevant today based on old world problems with old world solutions, not to mention they ended up in abject failure with Britain pretty rooted by 1970 and only saved by Maggie Thatcher liberal conservatism and a lot smarter Tory party than they have masquerading as such today, albeit still better than the alternative crazy Corbynestas Party

        • KJT 1.1.2.1
          8 July 2019 at 1:27 pm

          Do you even live on the same planet.

          Thatcher destroyed Britain.

          They are unlikely to ever, recover.

          • bewildered 1.1.2.1.1
            8 July 2019 at 1:47 pm

            Beg to disagree after living in Britain for many years, for all Britain is ;now it’s streets ahead of the dour, strike ridden closed for business 1970s, as is nz to that point Your logic falls over by not factoring in what Britain or nz would be today if it carried on the same path it was on, not contrasting some rose tinted view of what life use to be like

            • KJT 1.1.2.1.1.1
              8 July 2019 at 2:27 pm

              I was there in New Zealand in the 70's. A much better place, in many ways, than New Zealand, now.

              Unless you think poverty, homelessness, beggars on the streets and every family having to work at least two jobs, is an improvement.

              • bewildered …
                8 July 2019 at 7:41 pm

                Still avoiding the question KJT , it is not so much your nostalgic view of 1970s Nz ( I am sure it was nice albeit boring and very little choice of anything) or now what happens on the boundaries of Nz but more so where nz would be if we carried on with same policy setting once Britain decided we were not their farm and would no longer fund our lifestyle

                • KJT …
                  9 July 2019 at 1:31 pm

                  Interesting right wing propaganda spin, but wrong.

                  Much of our "lifestyle" was funded by internal production.

                  It could be argued that no longer having to produce commodities, to fund importing shoddy British manufactured goods, sound familiar, would have improved our lifestyle. But we will never know, as Neo -liberal Governments not only changed the bath water, which needed doing, but they also threw out the baby, the bath, and sold the house.

          • johnm 1.1.2.1.2
            8 July 2019 at 2:17 pm

            100%KJT She was an ignorant bigoted wrecker.

        • Gabby 1.1.2.2
          8 July 2019 at 6:02 pm

          Why you blaming socialism for the blundering incompetence of pommie management beewee?

    • Morrissey 1.2
      8 July 2019 at 11:38 am

      Ash Sarkar is "sassy", you say. If that word now means "cowardly, craven, ready to recycle vicious government lies", then you are correct.

      On the other hand, if the meaning of the word remains what it has always meant, then your descriptor for her is utterly inappropriate.

      Ostensibly ‘alternative’ Novara Media’s Ash Sarkar – who has published numerous opinion pieces in the Guardian and Independent, and who is a favoured guest on flagship BBC shows like Daily Politics, Question Time, the Andrew Marr Show and Newsnight – tweeted:

      ‘Just sayin’ it’s possible to think that Julian Assange is a definite creep, a probable rapist, a conspiracist whackjob *and* that his arrest has incredibly worrying implications for the treatment of those who blow the whistle on gross abuses of state power.’

      Sarkar revealed the depth of her knowledge when she wrote:

      ‘His arrest today came *after* the investigations into rape and the Swedish arrest warrant were dropped.

      ‘That doesn’t mean he’s innocent of those charges.’

      Anyone who knows anything about Assange knows that he has never been charged. But Sarkar’s damning comments on a leading truth-teller facing the wrath of the US state, play extremely well with the ‘mainstream’ gatekeepers selecting BBC guests and Guardian contributors. Sarkar deleted the tweet smearing Assange, not because she regretted her appalling comments, but because ‘ugly stuff defending sexual assault itself has been turning up in my work inbox’ from ‘men’.

      https://www.newcoldwar.org/assange-arrest-part-2-a-definite-creep-a-probable-rapist/

      https://novaramedia.com/2019/04/15/julian-assange-and-the-problem-of-solidarity/

      • Psycho Milt 1.2.1
        8 July 2019 at 1:45 pm

        ‘Just sayin’ it’s possible to think that Julian Assange is a definite creep, a probable rapist, a conspiracist whackjob *and* that his arrest has incredibly worrying implications for the treatment of those who blow the whistle on gross abuses of state power.’

        That statement is clearly and objectively true, so it's not obvious where you're drawing the descriptors "cowardly, craven and vicious" from, other than unsavory corners of your own id.

        • Morrissey 1.2.1.1
          8 July 2019 at 2:46 pm

          The bullshit about him being a creep, a rapist and a whackjob should be a clue as to her cowardice and her dishonesty.

          • Psycho Milt 1.2.1.1.1
            8 July 2019 at 3:16 pm

            It's a clue that she may not agree with Morrissey on the subject, nothing more. "Disagrees with Morrissey" is not a synonym for "cowardice" or "dishonesty."

            • Morrissey 1.2.1.1.1.1
              8 July 2019 at 3:36 pm

              "Disagrees with Morrissey" is not a synonym for "cowardice" or "dishonesty."

              That's true, Milt. What makes her a liar and a coward is not that she might disagree with me, or with Julian Assange himself. What makes her a coward and a liar is her recycling of vicious government-sponsored lies about Julian Assange.

              • Psycho Milt …
                8 July 2019 at 4:07 pm

                "Vicious government-sponsored lies" is your opinion, and you're calling her a coward and liar because she may (it's not clear from the tweet) disagree with that opinion.

                It helps if you don't start from the position that your opinions are objective facts – many logic fails can be avoided by that one simple technique.

                • Morrissey …
                  8 July 2019 at 6:13 pm

                  "Vicious government-sponsored lies" is your opinion,

                  It's a reasoned opinion; unlike Sarkar with her brutal recycling of smears she's read in the Grauniad and heard on British State/Murdoch broadcasting, I actually care about the truthfulness and the effect of my words.

                  and you're calling her a coward and liar because she may (it's not clear from the tweet) disagree with that opinion.

                  If she disagrees with it—which, considering she otherwise presents as an intelligent and critical thinker, she no doubt does—then why did she repeat those disgusting smears? The only possible reason, presuming that she is a rational person who is skeptical of the British government's machinations, is that she was afraid of stating outright what the facts of the matter are, i.e., that Assange is in captivity because he is indeed a journalist who exposed massive crimes by the institutions trying to destroy him.

                  • Psycho Milt …
                    8 July 2019 at 8:57 pm

                    If you did actually care about the truthfulness and effectiveness of your words, you wouldn't continually present your personal opinions (eg "brutal recycling of smears", "disgusting smears") as facts.

                    • Morrissey …
                      9 July 2019 at 8:59 am

                      Okay, she recycled the smears in a caring fashion, and the smears were actually quite classy, and as unimpeachable and rigorous as that Christchurch police case against Peter Ellis.

                      Still leaves her looking rather cowardly, however.

        • Gabby 1.2.1.2
          8 July 2019 at 6:03 pm

          Morpissey scorns the truth when it clashes with his knowledge of how things should be.

          • Morrissey 1.2.1.2.1
            8 July 2019 at 6:14 pm

            What "truth" are you talking about Gobby? Are you going to start raving about his cat now?

  2. Dennis Frank 2
    8 July 2019 at 7:33 am

    "President Trump’s approval rating has risen to the highest point of his presidency" according to the latest ABC News / Washinton Post poll – but the polling finished July 1st, so it doesn't endorse his claim that the American revolutionary army took over airports in 1775 (134 years before the first airport was built).

    "Trump has slipped up in making historical references before. He referred to Frederick Douglass during a 2017 Black History Month event as if he were still alive, even though the famed abolitionist died in 1895. He also claimed that President Andrew Jackson was angry about "what was happening" with the Civil War, although Jackson died 16 years before the war began." https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-trump-revolutionary-war-airport-memes-20190705-story.html

    He could be competing for an honorary degree in historical revisionism, eh? Historical revisionists are normally leftist academics, of the anti-imperial persuasion, so pitching for their vote at the military rally on July 4th could be seen as a recruiting move to get more patriots on board.

    And "the survey shows a clear majority of Americans continue to oppose impeachment proceedings. The new poll finds 59 percent of Americans saying the House should not begin such proceedings".

    • Morrissey 2.1
      8 July 2019 at 12:14 pm

      Dennis, do you think his "base"—whatever that actually is—cares or even understands that he spouted that ridiculous anachronism? After all, many of them think the world is just a tad over 6,000 years old, and that the moon landing was a hoax.

      • Dennis Frank 2.1.1
        8 July 2019 at 3:37 pm

        Yeah Morrisey, much of his base is permanently out to lunch. Those that are true conservatives yet educated and erudite are always the rightists with the most leverage on the right of centre. The ones you refer to are vastly greater in number in the USA, yet they are merely voters.

        The ones to watch are the opinion leaders in the establishment (traditionally more right than left, yet a mix). Such people support Trump when he's useful, but are likely to withdraw that support when he becomes a liability.

        • Morrissey 2.1.1.1
          8 July 2019 at 3:41 pm

          How much more outrageous do you think he might get, Dennis?

          • Dennis Frank 2.1.1.1.1
            8 July 2019 at 3:57 pm

            I've done some background reading on the guy to ascertain his potential for a second term. His style has always been outrageous – deliberately so. The question of mental illness is the hinge. We can't predict how that may trend. Others may be better placed than me to opine on trajectories of dementia…

  3. OnceWasTim 3
    8 July 2019 at 7:58 am

    Geek elections ……… 🙁 🙁 but predicatable! (As were the Indian elections for that matter).

    • OnceWasTim 3.1
      8 July 2019 at 12:58 pm

      oops! the case of the missing 'r'

      I'm thinking come 2020, the Left will scrape/glide in for a second term, but that voter turn out will remain abysmal, and we'll still be pontificating as to why that is whilst preparing for a 2023 defeat, still unable to actually get our shit together.

      This morning's Nine2Noon/from the Right, and from the Left (with Mills rather than the slightly-less-from-the-Right Williams) was QI. Some valid points "On Both Sides, On BOTH sides….. tremendous, phenomenal, etc).

      Bloody shame Jonathan Boston's team came up with a few ideas AFTER the election, alongside a few others that have been banging their heads against brick walls for the past few years. Although I understand why they couldn't. Although we could have had another one of those committee things, perhaps given it the acronym CAMEL and staffed it with a load of Horse riders fresh from a UK fox hunt, and parachuted in for the task. They could even give us a few more linguistic platitudes for the pollywantacracker and departmental headhoncho to spout

      And @ Dennis Frank (above or below – can't be fucked looking which right now), although you might be correct in suggesting targeting the 'middle' to win elections is the way to go, we shouldn't be pretending we'll solve issues and the plight of those at the edges, or indeed those who've given up on participating in our democracy as long as we do.

      • Dennis Frank 3.1.1
        8 July 2019 at 4:15 pm

        we shouldn't be pretending we'll solve issues and the plight of those at the edges, or indeed those who've given up on participating in our democracy as long as we do

        It's an important point. I'd prefer you to view it with more optimism. smiley

        Whereas most centrists are simply there by default (unable to identify with left or right) a portion are principled and either opinion leaders or political activists. That is to say, they wield more influence as a group than their numbers suggest. Why? Because transcending polarity is both sophisticated thinking and a sign of intelligence.

        Need it defeat ethics or conscience? Of course not! It's readily deployable alongside both, as a political stance. I'm not even slightly interested in resiling from support of GP policies, for instance. Doesn't mean to say I'm sufficiently stupid to insist they are implemented in coalition govt. All I ask is for the GP leadership to demonstrate a little more expertise…

      • Andre 3.1.2
        8 July 2019 at 4:28 pm

        oops! the case of the missing 'r'

        It's also quite interesting pondering exactly what might be "predicatable" from that election. Unless there's also an extra "a".

        • OnceWasTim 3.1.2.1
          8 July 2019 at 6:19 pm

          True 🙂

          I'll get up a little later tomorrow

          • In Vino 3.1.2.1.1
            8 July 2019 at 7:57 pm

            Actually. I think it about time the geeks did have an election to nominate their leader and spokesperson.. Note the gender-neutral thing. Mankind – sorry – Personkind has a long way to go in achieving the ideal nomenclature.

  4. Sacha 4
    8 July 2019 at 8:12 am

    Illustrating the impact of the new disability family care funding policy: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12247412

    Christchurch woman Gillian Kney, 73, who has arthritis and looks after her husband Franz, 78, who has Parkinson's disease and dementia, said being paid to care for Franz would make a huge difference.

    "It would improve our standard of living. It would mean I didn't have to call on my daughter all the time, and she has a young family and owns a business and works six days a week, and she does a lot of work for us and I wish I could reciprocate in some way.

    "The biggest bugbear of all is transport. At this point we don't have enough for taxis."

    • Rosemary McDonald 5.1
      8 July 2019 at 8:31 am

      If I had to choose one advocate to get the ear of the Current Mob in order to effect a change in attitude towards poverty it would be Susan St. John from CPAG.

      I'd have her on speed dial if I were the PM and truly desired Wellbeing for my people.

    • greywarshark 5.2
      8 July 2019 at 12:34 pm

      A cheap shot but it isn't entirely wrong – perhaps not a surplus but a sir-plus. As most of the triumph for the surplus is likely to come from males, and most of the angst about lack of money is likely with females.

  6. Rosemary McDonald 6
    8 July 2019 at 8:24 am

    On Natrad this morning was an interview with advocate Jane Carrigan who has been supporting Diane Moody and her significantly learning disabled son Shane Chamberlain through a couple of legal actions.
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018703096/disability-care-funding-changes-give-false-hope-family-carers
    Predictably, they are not impressed that yesterday's announcement regarding the much fought for fix of the stinking mess left by the Previous Incumbents of disability support services provided by family carers does not include an overhaul of the Needs Assessment process.

    The Appeal Court judges had this to say…

    Postscript[90]

    We make two additional points. First, we note that this is the third occasion on which a dispute between the Ministry of Health and parents who care for disabled adult children has reached this Court. We hope that in the future parties to disputes over the nature and extent of funding eligibility are able to settle their differences without litigation.

    Second, we have referred to our unease, which is shared by Palmer J, about the complexity of the statutory instruments governing funding eligibility for disability support services. They verge on the impenetrable, especially for a lay person, and have not been revised or updated to take into account the significant change brought about by pt 4A. We hope that the Ministry is able to find an effective means of streamlining the regime, thereby rendering it accessible for the people who need it most and those who care for them.

    http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1802/ChamberlainvMinisterofHealth.pdf

    Some of us felt more than a little better that these august and intelligent fellows struggled to understand a system that has blighted the existence of disabled Kiwis and their families.

    To say that some of us have a less than constructive relationship with our NASC (Needs Assessment and Service Coordination) office would be merely hinting at the frustration many of us have encountered.

    Both Peter and myself have got off the phone from our NASC in tears.

    • greywarshark 6.1
      8 July 2019 at 10:27 am

      The news reports this morning indicate that the agencies that government contracts out to, to implement its policies have considerable licence to interpret the law which can take its actions beyond the intention of the law, and that where the country is split between numerous contractors, there will be different approaches and judgments made about what entitlements caretakers are allocated.

      That this happens to carers of disabled people was revealed while talking about the funding difficulties that carers are having in this mornings news.

      This is one of the unchallengeable disadvantages of government not running systems directly, all this opening up to private operators in matters that relate to people's lives, only lengthens the chain of responsibility and makes it difficult to implement policies appropriately and with the balance of efficiency for cost and effectiveness of kindly and practical help that is justified by need, showing humanity.

      I don't see agencies at a distance from government, doing a better job than Government Direct. That is a term I would expect to hear more about as a citizen and a voter!

      Parents struggling to look after disabled family members say changes announced by the government on Sunday mean very little and just gives false hope.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018703097/work-ongoing-to-change-disability-support-issues-genter
      The complex assessment system that determines the hours per week that the family carer works has not been changed, and this has been heavily criticised by those caring for family members.
      Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter joins us with her response.

      • Rosemary McDonald 6.1.1
        8 July 2019 at 10:46 am

        "…of kindly and practical help that is justified by need, showing humanity. "

        Some of us are way past the point of expecting humanity from our NASC. We'd be positively orgasmic if they gave even the slightest hint that they had a working knowledge of the different types of impairment and the appropriate type of hands on care required to meet an individual's core needs.

        If any of them had ever asked "How can we help you?" I think we might have died of shock.

        (I write in the past tense because the relationship between Peter and myself and our NASC has broken down beyond recovery.

        Just as well they're not actually having to fund any care for him.)

  7. Gosman 7
    8 July 2019 at 8:48 am

    The Greek election result highlight a real problem for those supporting a more radical leftist solution to politics. Populist Left wing parties tend to disappoint and fail to deliver the promised changes compared to populist right wing parties.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/07/greeks-choose-between-beach-and-ballot-in-first-post-debt-bailout-poll

    • Dennis Frank 7.1
      8 July 2019 at 8:55 am

      The winner: "Mitsotakis, a reformist ex-banker who has been at pains to modernise and revamp one of Europe’s most conservative parties since being elevated to its helm in January 2016. “Credit has to go to him and his strategy of opening up and moving the party towards the centre,” said Haris Theocharis, a candidate MP and former head of public revenues."

      Yet more proof that centrism is the key to success. Will the slow learners in the GP leadership cabal get it this time? Unlikely.

      • KJT 7.1.1
        8 July 2019 at 1:37 pm

        Total Bollocks.

        Cleaving to the centre, is how the US democrats left a big hole of disappointed voters, for Trump and the repubs, to drive a horse and cart through.

        And, will be the reason why, Labour may lose in 2020.

        Even Bridges is pretending to be more left wing to get back power.

        BTW. The Greens are hardly radical left. Current social policies are about as "left" as Holyoaks, unfortunately!

        • Dennis Frank 7.1.1.1
          8 July 2019 at 3:28 pm

          You're in denial. Wanting sensible/intelligent leftist policies ought not handicap a party into marginalisation. People can walk & chew gum simultaneously, and it's up to politicians to demonstrate equivalent finesse.

          The point is that success comes from learning what actually works in the real world. The lesson from how the radical left handled power in Greece does need to be learned. The lesson from Greek voters!

          • KJT 7.1.1.1.1
            9 July 2019 at 1:42 pm

            What happened" in the real world" was the Democratic party in the USA, failed in achieving the "left wing" policies of looking after people, their voters wanted, so they got Trump.

            THAT, is the real world!

    • Bearded Git 7.2
      8 July 2019 at 10:36 am

      39.7 versus 31.5 is not a landslide as the article says…..it is only the dumb Greek system that awards a large number of bonus seats to the largedt polling party that makes it so.

    • AB 7.3
      8 July 2019 at 10:54 am

      "Populist Left wing parties tend to disappoint and fail to deliver the promised changes" As a sort of 'Gosman Generalisation' I can accept that. Of course the 'Gosman Generalisation' is a bad faith generalisation, so it deliberately leaves out what may cause that failure to deliver – especially the pervasively hostile operating environment that even moderate left-wing governments face.

      But even accepting the statement at face value – it doesn't follow that it "highlight[s] a real problem for those supporting more radical leftist solutions". Because those failures to deliver aren't caused by the radicalism, they are caused by the strength of the opposing forces. And those forces will oppose any change, timid or radical, it doesn't matter. The best response therefore may be even greater radicalism, not less.

      • Gosman 7.3.1
        8 July 2019 at 12:41 pm

        No, it highlights you need a better strategy to deal with the opposing forces if you want to get radical left wing policies implemented. What won't help is crying that it ain't fair that people are opposing you in trying to implement your left wing agenda.

    • swordfish 7.4
      8 July 2019 at 12:15 pm

      The Greek Election Result highlights:
      Majority Bonus System + fragmentation of the Left

      In terms of popular support … (for all Parties receiving over 1% of vote):

      Broad Left (Syriza, KINAL (MfC), Communist, MeRA25, Course of Freedom) = 49.9%

      Broad Right (ND, Greek Solution, Golden Dawn) = 46.4%

      Or … excluding those Parties that failed to make the Threshold:

      Broad Left: 48.4%

      Broad Right: 43.4%

      • Gosman 7.4.1
        8 July 2019 at 12:39 pm

        Who is likely to be in power?

      • Bearded Git 7.4.2
        8 July 2019 at 4:00 pm

        mmm thank you Swordfish….belies the stupid media headlines….I'm guessing the ridiculous 50 bonus seats for the biggest party will give the Right power?

    • Fireblade 7.5
      8 July 2019 at 1:34 pm

      Meanwhile…

      The New Zealand election result highlight a real problem for those supporting a more radical right solution to politics. Populist right wing parties tend to disappoint and fail to deliver the promised changes compared to populist left wing parties.

  8. greywarshark 8
    8 July 2019 at 9:33 am

    . In it, she explores meat grown in labs from cultured animal cells, crop weeding robots that remove the need for pesticides and vertical indoor farms where vegetables are grown with neither sun nor soil.

    Author and Professor of investigative journalism and science writing at Vanderbilt University Amanda Little has spent four years travelling around the United States and the world researching what people, business and governments are doing to ensure humanity can be fed sustainably and equitably. Her book is called The Fate of Food: What We'll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon

  9. lprent 9
    8 July 2019 at 9:47 am

    Time for work after what seems like a weekend (something I ate).

    I think I sorted the search out a bit. Was running two differing copies of the search tool at startup and which one got grabbed the port at startup was a matter of luck. One could read the database. The other could not.

    • Dennis Frank 9.1
      8 July 2019 at 10:07 am

      Good sleuthing. I hope the same gremlin grabs a hold of the voting portal when they finally get around to developing it, and randomises the results. Nobody would ever know – they'd just marvel at how biodiversity had suddenly become evident in politics. We need that, to loosen the strangle-hold of mainstreamers.

    • Kevin 9.2
      8 July 2019 at 12:17 pm

      Nice work.yes

  10. McFlock 10
    8 July 2019 at 10:16 am

    Article on the Intercept that argues immigration/asylum-seeking isn't a massive problem at even the levels that make right-wingers crap their pants. And efforts to prevent it kill people. Lots of people.

    Yes, it requires planning and support, but it's just not enough to screw up an economy or suddenly disrupt a culture.

    • greywarshark 10.1
      8 July 2019 at 11:08 am

      We can work it out – if we put our minds, our brains, our hearts to it. I'm thinking in music this morning.

      We can work it out. Life is very short and there is no time for fussing and fighting my friend.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xedn8vp6W20

    • KJT 10.2
      8 July 2019 at 1:45 pm

      15 million Australian and I forget how many millions of Indonesian, climate refugees heading for New Zealand, "won't be a problem"?

      • McFlock 10.2.1
        8 July 2019 at 4:24 pm

        That's the sort of math that said we'd all be dead from ebola by now because of the trends in the first couple of months of the 2014 outbreak.

        It's coupled with the sort of misquoting that makes one wonder how carefully the link was read.

        • KJT 10.2.1.1
          9 July 2019 at 1:38 pm

          Come on. Australian agriculture is already marginal. Where do you think they are going to go, if they are starving and have heat waves that kill people.

          • McFlock 10.2.1.1.1
            9 July 2019 at 1:48 pm

            Most will stay and fight each other.

            Others will go for Europe or the US.

            Some will try to fly here. And flights are controllable at point of origin.

            As for the rest, the Tasman is a big moat.

  11. soddenleaf 11
    8 July 2019 at 10:26 am

    They invaded our island land, warring tribes disunited stood no chance. The tribes that accept Roman rule were assimilated, those that did not we're killed and sold into slavery. Eventually they left, Britian united, kept the roads, laws, the dispossession however, the violence was forgotten, we moved on.

    Deep in the culture of Europeans is understood both the seizure and the oppression that has been inflicted on Maori. Eventually Maori will too. Average Briton, is no longer a Briton pre Roman invasion; in the mix of Picks, there are Norman, Viking, Italian, etc, and it didn't stop.

    You see there is no such thing as White race, it's a nonsense, as someone once pointed out to me, were actually have more colours than any other group, ranging from white, pink, med brown, Indian brown. And it's the same with Maori, they are becoming more coloured. Racism is just the nonsense boil idiots use to get special pleadings. Like some Christians who want to tell non Christians and nonagreeing Christians to obey govt edicts that are sourced solely from their specific readings…

    It's a fact that however it was going to happen, land would have been subdivided to utilize the European farming methods. There were never enough Maori to convert all that land. Sure in some cases tribes were treated harsher, it's wrong but nothing Europeans hadn't done to each other, or Maori wouldn't have. Let's just consider the absurdity, that the Europeans turned round and left when asked, they weren't, as tribes realised the power they could get over each other and embraced muskets, etc.

    So what is exactly the point of discussing race? To remind us all that racists come from all corners, talk nonsense and want redress for stuff that was going happen inevitably from the invaders technology, and had nothing to do with race, except of course the human one. Sort it out, fair deal, move on.

    The reality is as we age as a population, as we grow closer both digitally and culturally, we will harvest a imbalances of inequality, and the ease to which racists can advantage their weaken egos will be expose to be a expense to us all and our future. Sure, if a young poor person start vulgarly ranting about how racist a stranger is, it's not the stranger whose being racist. Sure, it's sad how poor managers are, that they don't hire because of their weaken egos, but really shareholder power is not what it used to be, fix the class system it's far more of a problem.

    I don't walk in your shoes, you dont want to, but I don't see how me trying helps you move on, just how we get locked in smelly reeking shoes that actually we all can easily find greviences to feed too. Talking about racism helps you be less racist,and me less, great. But actually the program last night just made racism more prominent. It's not my problem the Romans destroyed Druidism, or robbed my ancestors to their ties to the land, it's not my problem that my invader ancesters and my dispossessed ancestor did stuff to each other. And similarly for some mixed Maori European to demand redress, sure recent greviences that have merit, but fair dealing means we move on together. And so what if we embracesome Maori practices, we're they ever just Maori, weren't they always human,not restricted by race.

    look I don't know, who cares, seek the positive in other's.

    • mauī 11.1
      8 July 2019 at 5:40 pm

      I find it funny you say you don't define people by race and then next minute go on to defining people by income and class. Have to be a tory!

      It's also great having such a strong anti-racist as yourself on here. Telling other races to "get over it" and to for us all to "become one people". Have you considered a career in race relations? 🙂 You would last all of about 5 seconds!

  12. greywarshark 12
    8 July 2019 at 10:29 am

    This morning's news included examples of government agencies at arms length from the Ministry like the Transport Authority buying more expensive IT from Texas than from two smaller NZ companies which would have liked to had real opportunity to tender, and felt they could meet the requirements at a reasonable cost. (NZ losing out on VA in building our enterprise in the 21st century.)

    Obese patients have to be held in Manukau hospital instead of going to a private partner for post-operative care. The lack of action by National on the food front, to effect a decline in unhealthy food has not helped, with more interest in supporting fast-food businesses, often overseas companies. And the private partners are not wishing to reallocate profit to the more expensive care of the obese, which are more numerous in Manukau than elsewhere, involving infrastructure changes, wider doors, stronger floors, stronger lifting machinery.

  14. marty mars 14
    8 July 2019 at 10:34 am

    So many around, like unexploded bombs, ready to go off.

    Almost 20 historic landfill sites in the Tasman district are at risk of being exposed by storm surges and sea level rise.

    Information from local councils show there are 20 closed landfills across Nelson and Tasman, 18 of which are located on the coastline or near rivers and estuaries.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113925019/historic-landfill-sites-across-nelson-tasman-at-risk-of-sea-level-rise

    Perhaps it may be better to create a Ministry of Mitigation – they could do some work BEFORE disasters happen – cos they are going to happen.

    • Dennis Frank 14.1
      8 July 2019 at 10:39 am

      Good thinking, I'll support that. Amazing how reluctant politicians are when it comes to shifting from ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Fence at the top isn't hard.

    • RedLogix 14.2
      8 July 2019 at 10:47 am

      The mining industry is in the early stages of recognising old landfills as an excellent resource. The technologies are sufficiently developed to make proof of concept and pilot plants a viable proposition.

      Early projects would need govt development funding and probably operational subsidies, but there are companies that would be interested in giving it a go.

      • greywarshark 14.2.1
        8 July 2019 at 11:13 am

        What good ideas. A Ministry of Mitigation would have a clear direction that could not be argued with and result in a Minister being driven out of office as … whatever negative adjective thrown at him/her.

        The Ministry would have its place to stand and be expected to act according to its given mission. Let's go for having one.

      • Robert Guyton 14.2.2
        8 July 2019 at 11:24 am

        I wonder how they might mine without releasing greenhouse gases and toxic leachates.

        • greywarshark 14.2.2.1
          8 July 2019 at 11:42 am

          That would be a good topic to start on!
          Seeing the Ministry's job would be to examine and do research and produce results which would have to be published in full, a lot of the prevarication of the nostalgic wishful thinkers would be breached. And it would be done in-government-house not contracted out! And there would be no commercial sensitivity BS either.

          That would be what I'd expect anyway.

      • marty mars 14.2.3
        8 July 2019 at 1:35 pm

        I can't quite imagine how that works – do they just dig it up and drag what they need out of what they process. Hardly seems worth it. Is there something else they do – chucking it down a deep mine shaft could be a goer.

        • RedLogix 14.2.3.1
          8 July 2019 at 5:05 pm

          Yes something like that. There are such things as ore sorters that are already being used to separate out the metals and plastics. Then I'd imagine you'd go to a wet process of some sort to detox the heavy metals, then filter and convey the resulting damp output to a biological process of some kind.

          Maybe convey it up vertically 50m or so out of the reach of sea level, then plant with reed beds or other species known to be good at absorbing any residual metals. There has been a lot of interesting research already done.

          While perfect 100% elimination is probably not economically feasible, reducing the hazard by several orders of magnitude (a 99% reduction) should be doable. The economics would depend a lot on how much valuable metals and material can be recovered at the first step.

  15. greywarshark 15
    8 July 2019 at 10:44 am

    Melzer has recently transformed the debate around 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Julian Assange’s situation by formally finding that Assange is a victim of state-sponsored (and publicly perpetuated) psychological torture.

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/07/08/guest-blog-suzie-dawson-not-in-my-name-academics-publicly-attacking-un-torture-rapporteur/

    Suzie Dawson has tested the sincerity of Assange's attackers.

    • Morrissey 15.1
      8 July 2019 at 12:02 pm

      His state-sponsored persecution and torture have elicited elicited expressions of amusement and contempt from some "liberals" in New Zealand…..

      ZOE FERGUSON: It’s Nelson Mandela’s birthday!
      NOELLE McCARTHY: Yes it I-I-I-I-I-IS!
      ZOE FERGUSON: And he shares his birthday with Hunter S. Thompson and Vin Diesel!
      CHRIS TROTTER: [indulgently] Ho ho ho ho!
      NOELLE McCARTHY: Well happy BIRTHDAY to Madiba!

      …..[General murmurings of assent.]…..

      NOELLE McCARTHY: And there’s a new movie out about Julian Assange?
      ZOE FERGUSON: Yes, The Fifth Estate. It stars Benedict Cumberpatch!
      NOELLE McCARTHY: And how’s his Australian accent?
      ZOE FERGUSON: Actually, it’s not bad! Here, have a listen….

      A short clip plays, of Benedict Cumberpatch as Assange saying: “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. But if you give him a mask, he will tell you the truth.

      …..[Short but significant silence in the studio.]

      NOELLE McCARTHY: That wasn’t too bad, actually.
      CHRIS TROTTER: Of course, a top rate actor like Benedict Cumberpatch was always going to be able to manage an Aussie accent.
      LISA SCOTT: Mmmmm, mmmmm.
      NOELLE McCARTHY: Yes indeed.
      ZOE FERGUSON: Of course Assange says the movie is “propaganda and lies”. He he he!
      LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
      NOELLE McCARTHY: Ha ha ha ha ha!
      CHRIS TROTTER: Ho ho ho ho ho! He WOULD! Ho ho ho ho!

      …..[Awkward silence]….

      https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/chris-trotter-reckons-zimmerman-jury.html

      It's not only wishy-washy "liberals" who are amused at Assange's plight. Our most infamous right wing fashionista and a brutal old cop have rarely found anything so funny as the thought of a political dissenter suffering….

      JIM MORA: I like pockets, but there was a trend away from pockets, wasn’t there, and for a while you couldn’t buy a shirt with a pocket in it.
      DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: I LIKE pockets!
      MORA: Yep. I like pockets.
      DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: I think they’ve been treated quite badly, pockets.
      GRAHAM BELL: Modern shirts, you’ve got nowhere to put your pens.

      ….[A long pause, then on to the next topic. They maintain the same light-hearted tone, but this time it’s for something altogether more serious. Like fearful, obedient commissars in Maoist China, these people know the correct stance to take towards an officially designated target]….

      JIM MORA: Now, Julian Assange on the catwalk.
      DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: [highly amused] Yes!
      MORA: How’s he going to manage this?
      ZARA POTTS: Well, it hasn’t stopped him, his asylum claim hasn’t stopped him from doing all sorts of things. Even last week he opened rapper MIA’s New York concert with a ten minute Skype chat, so he’s pretty busy.
      DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: I thought he couldn’t leave though.
      ZARA POTTS: He does it all on his computer.
      DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Oh, right.
      ZARA POTTS: This is Vivienne Westwood’s son Ben, and as part of London Fashion Week, he is going to take the catwalk to Julian Assange in the Ecadorian embassy.
      GRAHAM BELL: [derisive snort] Ha!
      DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: [querulous tone] Howwwww?
      GRAHAM BELL: Some people will do ANYTHING to get publicity.
      DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Ha ha ha ha ha!
      ZARA POTTS: Ha ha ha ha ha! Yes, it’s not because he cuts a particularly dashing figure or wears clothes THAT well. The whole thing is a little bit more political than that. Ben Westwood is saying that he wants Julian Assange in his show so that Assange doesn’t slip into obscurity.
      MORA: There’s not much danger of that though, is there.
      ZARA POTTS: No. He’s wanting to highlight his plight.
      DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: So he’s going to be modeling the clothes.
      ZARA POTTS: Yes.
      GRAHAM BELL: It’ll be the look for the very OILY character. Hm hm hm hm hm.
      DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Yeowww!
      GRAHAM BELL: Hm hm hm hm hm.
      MORA: How do they put a runway into an embassy? It’s basically just a big HOUSE, isn’t it.
      ZARA POTTS: Maybe they’ve got a big hallway. The collection has been influenced by Clint Eastwood’s Western films and also Assange’s “combat beret look”.

      ….[General snickering, snorting and guffawing]….

      ZARA POTTS: And there is also a garment with Julian Assange’s image printed on it. He he he he he!
      DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Ha ha ha ha ha!
      GRAHAM BELL: Ho ho ho ho ho! Can’t WAIT!
      MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha!
      ZARA POTTS: The soundtrack is from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, so that will be something to, uh, see….

      https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/graham-bell-continues-to-run-amok-on.html

      Chris Trotter, that serious-as-fuck bullfrog and poseur, was driven to imitate Speedy Gonzales as he poured ridicule on the government-designated political target….

      SUSAN BALDACCI: Julian Assange is a little bit paranoid.
      MORA: Oh yes? Hur, hur, hur, hur!
      SUSAN BALDACCI: Yeah, he claims that being holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy, he is deprived of his human right of getting enough sun.
      MORA: Is it a human right to get enough sun?
      SUSAN BALDACCI: That’s what he claims! He claims that being not allowed to leave London is violating his “human rights”.
      MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
      LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
      CHRIS TROTTER: Haw haw haw haw haw!
      SUSAN BALDACCI: He thinks he should be allowed out of his Ecuador embassy hideout to sunbathe.
      MORA: He can get out on the balcony, where he gave that speech!
      LISA SCOTT: Yeah! Ha ha ha ha ha!
      CHRIS TROTTER: Yeah! Ha ha ha ha ha! Or get him a sun lamp! THAT’s what he needs!
      LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
      SUSAN BALDACCI: He he he he he!
      TROTTER: I suspect the ambassador’s just sick of the sight of him! “Are you ever going to LEEEEAAAVE?”
      MORA: Sun lamp! Get him a sun lamp!!!
      LISA SCOTT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
      MORA: Back after the news!

      https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/an-unusually-inane-and-depraved-edition.html

      • greywarshark 15.1.1
        8 July 2019 at 12:23 pm

        Morrissey – you have made this point dozens of times. I have realised after reading your notes as to their comments that these people just think that knowing the names of newsmakers and their current travails is a huge achievement. Chris Trotter is on there because to do a good job of understanding NZs present culture, he needs to mingle and listen to the current prattle. And sometimes it's a good change to have a prattle as a break from the dark fog that flows through our history to pool at our door.

        Time for a kit-kat perhaps Morrissey. Do you remember the tv ad where the animal photographer was trying to entice the chimps out, but they only came out of the hide when he was looking the other way. It's no use keeping tabs on the Panel – it is candy floss for tired people, always the same. Keep on with it and you'll get as stale a mind as most listeners. You might find some political funkery from a different angle if you changed seats.

        • Morrissey 15.1.1.1
          8 July 2019 at 12:31 pm

          Chris Trotter is on there because to do a good job of understanding NZs present culture, he needs to mingle and listen to the current prattle.

          He wasn't "listening to prattle", he was mocking the suffering of a political dissenter.

          It's no use keeping tabs on the Panel – it is candy floss for tired people, always the same.

          Fair point, buddy. I would go crazy if I sat around listening to that all day. I don't, however, listen to it very much at all. I made the grave error this morning of tuning into "Magic Talk" hosted by one Peter Williams. It was so goddamned horrible that I was compelled to dash down a hurried transcript. Keep your eyes peeled!

          I see that I’ve already passed comment on his horror show, by the way….

          https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/05/one-of-most-hapless-talk-radio-tragics.html

          https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/11/discussion-on-kiwiblog-about-peter.html

          • greywarshark 15.1.1.1.1
            8 July 2019 at 3:19 pm

            Morrissey I read you because you try to have something to say. I don't want to read your opinion about other talking heads. Blah blah let them go. Can you look stuff up for How to Get There and add something every Sunday that would be useful?

            • Morrissey 15.1.1.1.1.1
              8 July 2019 at 3:31 pm

              I share your opinion of these talking heads. I decided long ago to make a point of capturing as much of their chatter as I could. Sure it's ephemeral, and most of it is worthless in and of itself, but it's important to understand just how these vacuous people hold so much influence in our society.

              Anyway, most of the time I don't analyze them, I just capture their repulsive conversations and re-present them to the public. I think that Chris "Speedy Gonzales" Trotter, Laughing Lisa Scott, Grouchy Graham Bell, Despicable Denise L'Estrange-Corbet, and all the rest of them do a fine job of hanging themselves. I don't think they should be allowed to escape scrutiny and judgement just because most people never heard, or have forgotten, their hateful performances.

          • Kevin 15.1.1.1.2
            8 July 2019 at 3:35 pm

            I enjoy your perspective Morrissey. Keep it up.

        • Adrian Thornton 15.1.1.2
          8 July 2019 at 4:38 pm

          " It's no use keeping tabs on the Panel – it is candy floss for tired people, always the same. Keep on with it and you'll get as stale a mind as most listeners."

          It is also helpful to keep reminding some people and possibly inform others as to some of the terrible views held by many of RNZ regular hosts and guests…it is also helpful to place the news and views provided by RNZ it's rightful context..so keep banging on Morrissey I say..job well done.

  16. Ad 16
    8 July 2019 at 11:56 am

    Irony alert:

    Marsden Point Refining is proposing a very large solar power generator to run the plant there.

    It would be 31 hectares, deliver 24 Megawatts, and potentially take our only oil refinery off the grid.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12247521

    Without presuming New Zealand can do without an oil refinery for the imaginable future, and I sure ain't bagging them for trying, but what would it take to make an oil refinery sustainable?

    • Rosemary McDonald 16.1
      8 July 2019 at 12:51 pm

      Silly idea. The salt air would leave a film on the panels that would require constant cleaning. The salt air would very possibly corrode the panels. 31 hectares is a lot of land and already the refinery is close to the Port in one direction and close to the timber treatment in the other. And Winston wants to expand the port. And then there's a neat wee DOC reserve with part of the Te Araroa trail running through it. And then there's the absolute bestest overnight parking spot for when we're traveling from the FFN back to the Waikato.

    • xanthe 16.2
      8 July 2019 at 12:55 pm

      "

      what would it take to make an oil refinery sustainable?

      "

      well there are algae that produce oil from sunlight and remove nitrates and nutrients from fresh water in the process.

      one random link to get you sterted

      https://petrowiki.org/Producing_crude_oil_from_algae

    • WeTheBleeple 16.3
      8 July 2019 at 3:09 pm

      Solar panels. Tech from statoil (already in use) to take the CO2 released from the process rather than venting to the atmosphere. Use the oil products for applications where alternatives are not yet available – the medicines, high tech/high value end; where it's not just burned up for a trip to the dairy.

      That'd be a good start.

      • greywarshark 16.3.1
        8 July 2019 at 4:49 pm

        And when the oil runs out or down, we have the solar panels still there being useful. Doesn't sound too bad a scheme, pretty good i would say.

  17. greywarshark 17
    8 July 2019 at 12:51 pm

    Gordon Campbell of Werewolf and Scoop thinks that being aware of commercial reality and seizing an opportunity like Lord of the Rings and other productions has given us a standing that puts us in line for ongoing business for our creatives. This is important for us to take on board. The naive wittering and deep resentment that built up over this matter as unions didn't get an agreement to suit themselves and foolishly allied themselves with an Oz union that would have no friendship for our situation, has not led to a loss to the country and we can be grateful for that. Idealism needs to step forward first, and then cede some of its hopes to pragmatism, and then be of nice wit to see where advantage can be gained in doing a good, clever, honest job and getting leverage wherever is reasonable.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1907/S00024/gordon-campbell-on-the-usual-grumbling-over-screen-subsidies.htm

    Ultimately, we seem to have won this production largely because of the mature film industry infrastructure that New Zealand has built on the back of those previously subsidized productions. For example: we now have the studio sound stages that Scotland currently lacks, highly skilled film crews, expert props-makers, costumers and set-builders, and can boast a world-leading post-production facility. Basically, New Zealand can offer the entire spectrum of services from initial shoots to post-production FX, and none of this would have been possible without the previous generation of tax breaks and production grants. As the World of Locations industry website points out, those prior productions also committed to substantial quotas of key local personnel, tourism campaigns and skills and talent development programmes for emerging local crew.

  18. ianmac 18
    8 July 2019 at 1:28 pm

    The onslaught against Pharmac is a bit disturbing. Garner for one echoes the claim that NZ is in the Third World in Cancer treatment. This is patently un true. Facts are better than rabid slurs. This what some in NZ hold up as a gold standard. The UK Cancer Drugs Fund.

    But when the UK’s Royal Society of Medicine analysed five years of national news reports last year it found they were overwhelmingly approving of the Cancer Drugs Fund.

    "Access at any cost was a clear totem around which the pro-Fund media based its coverage. The views of experts who pointed out the intrinsic unfairness of the Fund – or the lack of efficacy of many of the drugs – seem to have counted for little against the human interest stories of individual patients," the report said.

    If concluded that “mostly positive media stories are likely to have contributed to the CDF's continuation despite mounting evidence of its ineffectiveness”.

    Critics of the fund were "lone voices in the wilderness”, it said

    That study was commissioned by Richard Sullivan, Professor of cancer and global health at Kings College London, who advises other countries in cancer care regimes.

    In 2017 he said the UK's CDF had been a "huge waste of money" and a "major policy error" before NICE took over responsibility for it in 2016.

    A few years ago our Pharmac was the envy of many other countries.

    Have a look at the graph in the excellent Media Watch program. NZ is at the base in green and is very close to Australian success rate.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018702689/cancer-campaign-coverage-puts-heat-on-pharmac

  19. Bewildered 19
    8 July 2019 at 1:40 pm

    The problem is it’s a emotional plaything for whoever is in opposition to beat the government of the day around the head with Both National and labour have not been shy to do so, media then run with it or in some cases initiate for good press and opposition politicians more than happy to play ball.

  20. greywarshark 20
    8 July 2019 at 3:38 pm

    Labour fears being accused of being profligate and of raising the net debt of an already indebted nation, but the Government's net debt is at the bottom of the OECD and the nation's net debt has fallen 20-30 percentage points of GDP in the last decade.

    Robertson and Ardern argue we are so vulnerable in the event of another GFC or an earthquake that we have to keep our powder dry. But they're thinking as if they were in the offices of Helen Clark or Michael Cullen from 1999 to 2008, when New Zealand's economy and balance sheets were both actually and relatively vulnerable.

    So says Bernard Hickey. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/07/01/657972/how-phil-twyford-lost-housing-and-kiwibuild-failed

    1 July 2019 updated 7 July 2019

    If we did something that raised our dollar a little, that would no doubt put up our international debt, but would also put up prices of imports which would also reduce our imports which would enable us to reduce our international debt (private), which would make it easier for the Govt to borrow for infrastructure which would increase employment and wages, which would then increase spending, and more would go on NZ goods with imports being dearer, and then we could bring our interest rate up a little which would bring superannuiants spending up somewhat and so would produce quantitative raising.

    And this can be picked apart no doubt but I wonder if we want to keep on as we are going, because I feel that we are stuck and need to put a sack or board under the wheels for traction.

  21. greywarshark 21
    8 July 2019 at 4:24 pm

    Kauri 350 year old and ringbarked in 2015 – cured by Maori with beeswax and curative leaf.

    'It's ridiculous': Top kauri scientist over lack of protection for Titirangi's Awhiawhi 20 Jun, 2019 https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12242227

    Trying to protect important long-term national assets from the crazies only interested in their short-term asses, requires staunchness and now some support. The Government is powerless against progress; both the Orc-land City Council and central gummint.
    .

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/114028761/neighbours-who-opposed-felling-of-400yearold-titirangi-kauri-tree-ordered-to-pay-court-costs
    Auckland neighbours who opposed felling of Titirangi kauri tree ordered to pay court costs 7 July 2019
    Two Aucklanders who took a group of developers to court in an attempt to save a centuries-old kauri tree have been ordered to pay $30,000 in court fees….

    Charlesworth said despite their disappointment in the judge's decision, she and Maehl acknowledged they had to pay and would be fundraising for the costs.

    Ron Hoy Fong's company prosecuted by Commerce Commission for alleged price fixing 8 July 2019
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12247644

    A company owned by a property investment guru who allegedly encouraged buyers to use fake names, work in packs to drive down prices and target desperate homeowners facing foreclosure is being prosecuted by the Commerce Commission…

    In 2017 the Weekend Herald revealed a tutoring video by Fong was being supplied free to members of the Auckland Property Investors Association (APIA).

    It encouraged investors to look for the "seven Ds" – targeting deceased estates, desperate homeowners facing foreclosure, developers on the brink of bankruptcy, divorcees and "dummies" who didn't know the value of their home.

    (Do the family wanting to cut down the historic tree for their puny development belong to the Auckland Property Investors Ass,?)

    and 4 July 2019 https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/04-07-2019/dude-wheres-my-kauri-the-pitched-battle-over-titirangi-trees/

    Watercare recently lodged a resource management application in order to begin construction of a replacement water treatment plant in the heart of Titirangi, adding to the powderkeg of tension between locals and Council over the protection of kauri trees.

  22. greywarshark 22
    8 July 2019 at 5:07 pm

    Submissions on New Zealand’s Zero Carbon Bill close at 5pm on Tuesday 16 July – make your submission here.

  23. soddenleaf 23
    9 July 2019 at 1:27 pm

    Maui is everything a race relation meeting? Are you always looking for the best help? Most people, seems to me, believe that racism occurs, and its a opportunity to dissauge, recondition, change minds. It isn't going to happen if racists like you see everyone else as racists, its a negative negative, perpetutaul cycle. We will, are even, one people, and we will just keep merging, and racists like you need to move on coz youre history. Sure there will be differences, like Hindus go to Temple, etc… ..must eat you up that.

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  • New Zealand has never been closed for business
    1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    14 hours ago

  • Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    17 hours ago

  • Melissa Lee and the media: ending the quest
    Chris Trotter writes –  MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    18 hours ago

  • The Hoon around the week to April 19
    TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    19 hours ago

  • The ‘Humpty Dumpty’ end result of dismantling our environmental protections
    Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    19 hours ago

  • Nicola's Salad Days.
    I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    20 hours ago

  • Study sees climate change baking in 19% lower global income by 2050
    TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    20 hours ago

  • Weekly Roundup 19-April-2024
    It’s Friday again. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week on Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered at the government looking into a long tunnel for Wellington. On Wednesday we ran a post from Oscar Simms on some lessons from Texas. AT’s ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    21 hours ago

  • Jack Vowles: Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  The data is from February this ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    23 hours ago

  • Clearing up confusion (or trying to)
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago

  • How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log iPhone Without Computer
    How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log on iPhone Without a Computer: A Step–by–Step Guide Losing your iPhone call history can be frustrating, especially when you need to find a specific number or recall an important conversation. But before you panic, know that there are ways to retrieve deleted call logs on your iPhone, even without a computer. This guide will explore various methods, ranging from simple checks to utilizing iCloud backups and third–party applications. So, let‘s dive in and recover those lost calls! 1. Check Recently Deleted Folder: Apple understands that accidental deletions happen. That‘s why they introduced the “Recently Deleted“ folder for various apps, including the Phone app. This folder acts as a safety net, storing deleted call logs for up to 30 days before permanently erasing them. Here‘s how to check it: Open the Phone app on your iPhone. Tap on the “Recents“ tab at the bottom. Scroll to the top and tap on “Edit“. Select “Show Recently Deleted“. Browse the list to find the call logs you want to recover. Tap on the desired call log and choose “Recover“ to restore it to your call history. 2. Restore from iCloud Backup: If you regularly back up your iPhone to iCloud, you might be able to retrieve your deleted call log from a previous backup. However, keep in mind that this process will restore your entire phone to the state it was in at the time of the backup, potentially erasing any data added since then. Here‘s how to restore from an iCloud backup: Go to Settings > General > Reset. Choose “Erase All Content and Settings“. Follow the on–screen instructions. Your iPhone will restart and show the initial setup screen. Choose “Restore from iCloud Backup“ during the setup process. Select the relevant backup that contains your deleted call log. Wait for the restoration process to complete. 3. Explore Third–Party Apps (with Caution): ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
    Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
    The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
    Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
    A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago

  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 days ago

  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    2 days ago

  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • What is Mexico doing about climate change?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • State of humanity, 2024
    2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...
    Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • The case for cultural connectedness
    A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
    Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • True Blue.
    True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
    While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
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  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
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  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
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  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
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    2 days ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
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  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
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  • Government backing mussel spat project
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  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
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  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
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  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
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  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
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  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
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    3 days ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
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  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
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  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
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  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
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  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
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  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
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    5 days ago

  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
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  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
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  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
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    5 days ago

  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
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  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
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  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
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  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
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  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
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  • Navigating an unstable global environment
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  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
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    1 week ago

  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
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  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
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    1 week ago

  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
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  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
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