NZ Herald: New Zealand’s fastest growing real estate listings site, OneRoof.co.nz, today announced a strategic partnership with Bank of New Zealand (BNZ).
This marks the beginning of a long-term relationship that will enable both organisations to achieve a joint vision of helping more New Zealanders into their own homes.”
Housing crisis solved! Thanks BNZ and NZH, with NZ in both your names I know you have NZ as your core interest. How much do you think you can get for it?
“The easy fix … is to look at further engineering marvels or medical approaches and more technology to counter the root cause, when all we need is to go back to basics.”
This business has certainly identified a need. Quite sure that advice (go back to basics) applies to adults too. Possibly prohibitively expensive: “relatively low fees” but time will tell.
Anyway, hats off for trying. I recommend gardening and walking in parks for adults with tech malaise who are probably not allowed to attend this pre-school, it helps.
Haha. I like this I thought of the same idea but as a service for a laugh; and to wind up those lefties in the pronoun debate. Like there’s not enough BS to contend with. I reckon he’s having a bit of a wind up himself. Bit of a creep though.
I thought I might identify as a black, handicap, gay, female: for funding purposes. It’d certainly help if I was also younger.
Now watch very boring people lose their shit over this non issue in a world gone mad.
Why don’t you try it then if it’s so easy to get funding, bet you don’t coz reality is not what’s imagined in your head. And no, I’m not wound up, I just find you idiotic.
Did I miss something there Marty? Where did he write/talk about himself in the third person? (I am not going to go into all the female pronouns for that question, either….)
I guess the subject of my satirical ire was not made clear as it cropped up in a response to James comment concerning a man trying to change to the age he ‘identifies with’.
This guy is likely taking the piss out of the Canadian debate on new laws enforcing the use of a persons preferred pronoun e.g. he, she, shim (there’s a list out there); the debate which subsequently saw Jordan Peterson’s rise to fame in that he opposed this law.
Now the mere mention of this man’s name get’s people howling for blood round these parts only attack articles and regurgitating all sorts of reviews and articles hating on him seem allowed. They call him transphobic.
I like to know what people are saying, he is an interesting enough fellow who popped up on the youtube radar.
What fascinated me the most was the amount of hate generated towards a man who, agree with him or not, tried to make a rational debate about free speech. Rallies were organised, speeches disrupted, anger vented!
With Peterson’s fame came lots of correspondence. Not all hate mail. Persons in the LGBT community were expressing to him that the issues radicals were taking him to task for were not their issues at all and they wanted to be left alone not thrust in the spotlight.
This rang bells re: disabilities, tokenism, et. al… being patronized.
Provided they genuinely feel that they have been born into the body of an 18-year-old and can convince counsellors and facilitators of that fact, why on earth not? We must endeavour to be inclusive, and encourage diversity in our Brave New World…
“A deceased brothel owner and reality television star has won a state assembly seat in Nevada in the midterm elections. Dennis Hof, who owned seven legal brothels in the state, died last month during his 72nd birthday celebrations.”
Repugs are real big on forgiving the sinner. As long as he’s their kind of sinner. Recently getting indicted in an ongoing criminal investigation with the risk of substantial jail time is no obstacle to re-election.
Dennis Frank
A dead man wins a political place in the USA. Priceless. As WeTheBleeple says ‘a world gone mad’. Though WTB don’t be so cynical about everything that you’re putting down systems and people using them, trying to struggle on will you.
I am am a fan of the rant. Usually the ranter is saying what many are thinking. There is a feeling of solidarity and that somebody in the world can see things from one’s own POV. And sometimes having said or written it, the whole matter becomes clearer and one can see where the logical points are missing or a new line to take that is as cunning as a Backadder joke!
Edmund: Oh, please, please tell me what your plan is, please tell me, please tell me.
Percy: All right: I go along to the Infanta’s room and tell her that you’ve gone mad.
She comes to the door, and you meet her disguised as a little pig.
Then — and this is the cunning bit — instead of saying `oink oink’,
you say `mooooo’! http://blackadderquotes.com/i-have-a-cunning-plan
As long as we can think up ideas like that, we can go forward with confidence,
and regain our balance (after we have rolled around laughing).
German Greens seem to be resurgent at long last, and social democrats are heading down the gurgler: “The social democratic SPD has been the biggest loser in recent years. Once dominant, it has struggled to attract voters. Its 13 per cent score in the Forsa poll is the lowest recorded by the party since it was banned by the Nazis.”
“One survey by pollsters Forsa found the CDU/CSU on 27 per cent, while the Greens were on 24 per cent, up three. The far-right AfD trailed on 13 per cent, the same score as the centre-left social democrats. The leftist Die Linke and centre-right liberal FDP were both on 9 per cent each.”
End of an era in Germany, when Merkel departs in a few weeks. Here’s a voter analysis from Oct 1st that outlines the emerging political terrain. One graph depicts an already-established populist majority – dramatically illustrating Fukuyama’s thesis that identity politics are now playing out on the political right (more than on the left): https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-political-center-sways-toward-populist-fringes-study/a-45696487
“One in three voters now sympathizes with populist policies, according to a new study by the Bertelsmann Foundation.” The writer is only referring to one portion of the three-way split shown in the graph. Not mentioning the third of voters that self-identify as `partially populist’ seems as likely to be willful misrepresentation as incompetence. What’s wrong with popularity anyway?? Why so scared?
Commentators routinely dismiss populism as banal or a bizarre trend. Winston, our local exemplar, has proven consistently that it ain’t so. Google’s definition: “In politics, populism refers to a range of approaches which emphasise the role of “the people” and often juxtapose this group against “the elite”. There is no single definition of the term, which developed in the 19th century”.
“The survey, which sampled 3,400 voters in May and August, measured populist attitudes around an individual’s tendency to sympathize with three core factors: anti-establishment attitudes, anti-pluralism and the desire for more sovereignty.”
You were trying to help by doing this and sadly you have paid the ultimate price. It must be very hard for your family and friends at this time – kia kaha
Ed I couldn’t agree more. I find boxing repugnant. It’s not just the risk of significant head injury which can lead to death, second one recently. It’s that fighting is regarded as sport/entertainment.
‘Soccer’ is a non contact sport. Rugby has changed rules in attempting to deal with head injuries.
You or I can freely play ‘soccer’ or rugby on the street or over at the park. But we don’t get to play boxing. That’s called “arrested and up in court”.
KJT………………..I can’t agree with that. You are not allowed to hit someone on the rugby or soccor field. The whole point of boxing is to hit someone, actually to knock them out. Boxing condones hurting someone………………… so the psychological message it sends people is that this is acceptable. The aim of rugby etc is to score points through running, kicking a ball etc. Of course they are contact sports so there will be injuries, but there are rules to minimize these injuries.
I agree about head injuries in those sports, and in an ideal world I probably would ban them, particularly rugby , but realize there is little or no chance of that.
I am not sure what you mean by hair splitting kit. The whole aim of boxing is to hit your opponent hard with the view to knocking them out. Sports such as rugby there is no intention to hit your opponent ideally to knock them out. In fact if you did this you would likely be sent off……..
None of the other sports people list down this thread include physical violence……….archery as someone mentioned is about hitting a target, not a person.
I am not saying we should ban sports cause of risk. For me it’s that I find fighting ie hitting another person, actually aiming to punch them in the head and knock them out vile and repugnant……………..it is the one sport I would ban if I could…….
That would be true if no pros ever died or where damaged seriously.
I love a good boxing match though
Maybe all charity fights should have big helmets as a rule and thicker gloves.
That’s one of the suggestions floating around, and should have been done years ago. The other suggestion a couple of trainers came up with was longer training requirements before the bout, licensed trainers, and better attention to matching competitors.
The Eds of the world just don’t seem to get how much of an art there is to most of the pugilistic sports. It really is just as much chess as thumpythumpy.
And by that stage in the fight Boyd was already out of attack ideas for quite some time.
That’s the real thing about Tyson – nobody could figure out how to hit him without getting thumped themselves.
Yeah, He ruled the heavyweight division for a good 5+ years.
Tyson was my favourite boxer by far, loved his speed, power, quickness, movement combined with tremendous balance.
Lennox Lewis was about the only guy who could deal with Tyson, height and reach and a really controlled game plan.
Awesome, intelligent boxer, just a bit mechanical for me.
The thing is that pugilistic sports are sports, not combat. So put in the protective gear, so mistakes aren’t fatal. And minimise those mistakes with comprehensive training.
The one I’ve not usually been partial to is cage-fighting – they remove most of the safety measures, but still ban things that would give a quick end to a real fight. And sometimes it just becomes a gross-out contest, too. So it’s sport, but between beavis and butthead. And no, this is not something I would say to their faces, as I’m not looking for injury 😉
So should horse riding, tramping, mountaineering, rugby, cricket, walking across the road, surfing ,swimming, cycling, long distance running, helicopter flying, parachuting, hanggliding , wind surfing, driving anything, working , eating, drinking, swimming, drug taking of any kind, lying on the couch for hours, basicly anything you can think of.
They all kill people one way or another, the only solution is to end it all right now.
Or grow up and get some perspective.
If it was really about that, you would also be demanding an end to any sport which is ritualized warfare, which may cause injury, . I.E. all team sports, for one.
Actually, it’s about two people making a conscious decision to engage in a form of hand to hand combat. I would not refer to it as sport, as such… nor would I refer to it as vile…that is overly dramatic…
As a point of reference, for my opinion…..’vile’ is waging warfare around the globe murdering, maiming and displacing hundreds of millions of people in relatively short time-frame….
Vile (not exhaustive or exclusive)
Economic/financial warfare
Conventional warfare
Guerilla warfare
Covert warfare
Weather warfare
Space warfare
Environmental warfare
Legal warfare
Political warfare
Ideological warfare
Ad Nauseum
I’m strongly left and have been since I took my first breath when I hit the ground ,
(thanks Bruce ), but the main thing that fucks me off about a large section of the overly concerned ” left ” is that they want to STOP things, all sorts of things that actually do not personally affect them.
Sure people tragicly die doing stuff that they freely want to do but that is their choice. Or we could ban Free Choice, now there’s the permanent political wilderness right there.
Adrian. No to banning those sports…..they don’t involve intentionally hurting someone else.
My husband and I saw a group of young guys in an organised fight in Brisbane. We stepped in because there was concrete beneath them and it could have been a tradgey. I am proud that we did. They said to us that they knew they shouldn’t be doing it.
If boxing is ok, why is hitting another person not? Just curious about the rationale
Time to stop using a rugby match/ Marathon/ yacht race, to raise money for charity. There are better alternatives. The personal cost is to high when a death occurs.
Fixed it for you.
The academic lefts biggest problem with boxing is us, the “great unwashed”, like it.
Just the same as we like yacht racing, Rugby and Beer drinking.
Hell yeah, I forgot about yachting and boating and fishing and gardening ( that compost is a killer) and don’t even start me on lawnmowing. All these things are comparable they are sports or pastimes. They all kill far more people than boxing, which incidently I don”t even like. you’ve got to have a screw loose if you want to get the shit thumped out of you, but much like free speech ( which incidently also gets you killed ) I will defend others right to freely do what they want.
Adrian does that include parents hitting their kids? Two adults having a fist fight over an issue hurting each other cause that is their right? Oh wait that is breaking the law
I think that’s an idiotic smart-arse response. I watch enough netball and basketball to note the physical clashes, the contact in ‘non-contact’ sports. I watch a lot of football (soccer) to see the perpetual heading of the ball as well as the collisions, often involving heads.
So if the case is “so clear” with about 90% of our contact sports people developing CTE be clear and tell us if you’re including netball, and basketball, and football and judo and whatever other sports?
Footballs ignoring it also. Sterling uni in Scotland did a study where they had a machine flight corners in and 20 footballers took I think 10 headers each
Then cognitive testing showed more than 75% of them suffered a loss of function.
One small exercise…..imagine a life of it from childhood up.
Education of parents concerning the extremely high risks involved would be a good start. This would get the ball rolling on government interest via the noise parents might then make. I’m all for (informed) freedom of choice; but minors are also involved in vast numbers and so probably need some Government oversight for the benefit of their safety.
Not as often as rugby players, say, but when they do cop a whack it’s often quite a solid one from a boom or pole or flying pulley block. Not to mention losing appendages to taut ropes going around hard things.
I guess we got this far by being energetic using violence. It can only be contained with some protections properly policed. The world is coming to an end anyway, as we know it, we face floods, fires, starvation. Why do you still think along 20th century lines? Let people go for it, as I say with limitations. Soon we won’t have the range of jobs that are already lower than around 1970s. Earning money by physical sport will be an accepted career even with risks. As Auden says
“Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.”
Living is an option in a damaged world and society without much love. People must be able to support themselves, and boxing and physical sports are ways of necessity, as well as personal advancement even with the risks.
Practically it is foolish to go on about banning them, just try and protect those involved from egregious harm, and provide suitable care for the injured.
Thinking about the replacement of mental, sedentary work and pasttimes in place of the manual, hands-on, physical reminds me how recent and wide-ranging this change has been. It has destroyed the society we had and I don’t think we will recover from the damage.
I am getting discursive here thinking about the love-hate relationship we have with this technology. I note that computers became mainstream with PCs around 1980. My sons played around with Amigas which were great but never got the breakthrough in the competitive world of tech. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_computers#VIC-20_and_Commodore_64
And this is where the most bruising fighting is going on, in the machine and ether world, rather than the physical. Now physicality of anything is up in the air so to speak, physical labour, books and knowledge, everything being downgraded by use of ‘clouds’. And we can only watch this fighting, large corporations battling for the dominance of the world’s everything.
(A memory of the Amiga RIP. Commodore’s later product line, the Amiga platform, ran a GUI operating system by default. The Amiga laid the blueprint for future development of personal computers with its groundbreaking graphics and sound capabilities. Byte called it “the first multimedia computer… so far ahead of its time that almost nobody could fully articulate what it was all about.”[56]
You might be onto something Greywarshark, my prediction is that E-Sports, computer gemes etc are going to kill more people than all other adventurous pastimes combined. The indolence, lack of exercise and fitness will all have a heavy cost in lower life expectantcy.
“The average gamer, far from being a teen, is actually a 35-year-old man who is overweight, aggressive, introverted and … often depressed, according to a report (.pdf) out this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”
That’s a really good point. Exercise not only improves physical health, but mental health as well. It probably benefits society far more than the downsides. Love to see that study.
I’d rather get out in the garden or bush than a boxing ring myself. If I get gored by a pig or a thistle it’s my own stupid fault. I know the risks.
But this (sport related brain injury) does seem like one of those things it’s more comfortable not to talk about in ‘polite society.’ Like Israel, China, and the 80’s.
Lead in our water and our standards which are double those of China and Scandinavia, aren’t being policed by MoBie. High lead in our drinking water is not coming from old pipes in the ground which one might think would be the source, but uncontrolled standards on taps especially the mixer ones, I have one to be installed that I bought earlier on special, so how do I know that it is up to standard. Is there any authoritative and responsible body that I can ring?
/sarc
The thing is that the government regulations have placed the responsibility on the working plumber to be installing product that is lawful (and I don’t know if it mentions health). But where is the screen and list of tested, reliable product that a plumber could refer to for a check as to lawful brands?
Great link. There are so many worries for government and opposition MP’s like Stadiums, conventions centres, defending the rights of drug lords, it seems that poisoning with fake products (children in particular are effected by lead) does not seem to be high on the agenda.
Know someone who was nearly killed by an incorrect fitting off an imported gas oven. Probably widespread but not much interest in addressing anything at source.
But hey, products come from companies and often overseas made and NZ has been the poster child for neoliberalism and trade for decades now and against any regulations on ‘trade’ you know like stopping bad or incorrect products coming in and poisoning unsuspecting consumers.
Synthetics-contaminated cooking utensil poisoned Porirua children
More on this – NZ ‘voluntary’ regulation standards…
“Currently New Zealand adherence to standard is voluntary. Products are not being tested and as a result, there is a high risk that unsafe products are readily available to consumers both instore and online,” Wallace said.
“We believe that there will be other tapware and pipe systems out there that will also fail this standard.”
A mandatory water mark on all plumbing products was implemented in Australia following several high-profile cased of poor-quality products in its public water systems.
Wallace said he believed New Zealand should have a compulsory third-party testing and verification process for all plumbing products sold on the market.
That didn’t take long. The moment King Con gets confident he can get a compliant replacement confirmed, Attorney General Sessions is gone. Watch out for attempts to end the Mueller investigation.
I don’t want to talk about his returns. I just want to look at them. Better yet, I want a group of deeply cynical financial experts to spend however long it takes for a thorough look at them, Fortunately, the new Dem-majority House is about to do that for me.
Gawd I’m sick of popcorn. Any suggestions for an alternative?
Pretzels? Little hard crunchy things? Ugh. If you’re ever in Philadelphia, be sure to get a big old genuine soft pretzel. With some mustard. After that, those little hard ones will forever just seem wrong.
I’m guessing that the new Democrat majority in the House means it now has the option of establishing its own investigation in case Mueller’s becomes a fizzer? If so, sending a macho signal akin to the Maori haka is understandable. I agree it would be entertaining to call his bluff and see how his 70 year old frame performs!
But really, the offer of bipartisan legislation is intended to break gridlock, so the Democrats will look churlish & petty if they fail to reciprocate. All he’s doing is signalling pragmatism, and the return to traditional politics. Seems a mutual-benefit scenario to me. Why not make democracy work for a change?
Nah investigate. I think t.rump is scared and probably rightly so.
I have to say that I sorta want gridlock and his policies and plans stopped – I really have zero time for t.rump – I’d monkey wrench every single thing he wants to do.
And I understand your sentiment – you may be a better, kinder man than me I think.
Doubt it, just non-partisan. I rarely approve of his messaging and behaviour. But I remember him hosting fund-raisers for the Clintons. He’s an opportunist more than anything, I reckon.
“The bad news: he now looks to have a better chance at staying in office until 2025. This year’s midterm elections broke for Trump much more than expected.” “Also, the midterms should make it a near-certainty that no serious Republican will challenge Trump for the presidential nomination in 2020. He has proven once again that he is an impressive electoral campaigner with a crude but effective grasp of strategy.”
This all hinges on whether the Republican establishment has a better option than Trump. Given that he has outperformed Obama at this stage of the cycle (roughly half the swing against), they may well read it as evidence that he’s not as flaky as he seems.
Victim mentality. I caught a brief excerpt from a piece on Radionz – a woman, sounds young, outlining some supposedly sexist behaviour, like ‘He shook the hand of my male colleague but didn’t shake mine’. Women who acted to advance the feminist wishes for respect in the world for women did not suggest that they should wait to be given it. Women need to learn to be assertive and put themselves forward when appropriate, not just whinge.
It has not been common for men and women to shake hands, and if this man did not and she wanted to be greeted and establish a friendly basis to their interaction, then she should have put her hand forward, and nodded or smiled to him which would have indicated that she had agency and was going to be a person who would be involved and responsible. Problem solved, established standing indicated in a small gesture. He would not have refused to shake her hand unless he was a moron and a weird, patriarchal-cult type.
Perhaps he didn’t acknowledge her. I didn’t hear the piece though and maybe she used a bad example. I have experienced plenty of times when I have been ignored or apparently have been invisible owing to gender.
On the other hand social niceties are a peculiar thing. I always offer my hand and although sometimes the other party looks briefly surprised, we shake hands and get on with business.
Hit the banks with a $100m annual levy, says Shane Jones after review
“Banking strategists in this country and overseas are conscious that New Zealand is one of the few developed countries that do not have a banking levy. Aussie banks pay it in their own country, but they get a free good in our country. Make them pay for it.”
Australia has introduced a bank levy of 0.06 per cent on the liabilities of major banks, expected to raise about A$1.5b annually.”
“A police officer “drove dangerously” at 200kmh during a pursuit in which two people died, an official review has found.
The officer drove at speeds reaching 200kmh in an 80kmh area during the pursuit which ended in a crash which left two dead and three injured on October 23.”
Since when have police sat down and reviewed this car chasing behaviour. Ever? Why are they so concerned about cars being stolen? Caring about property before people?
Do they take the malicious attitude that ‘There’s another no good useless young crim off our books’ when the joy-riders get over-excited and scared and try to flee, like they have seen shown on reality tv? These people are being incited to suicide, and the police should be made culpable. Stopping this would not be going soft on crime, the work of crime prevention would continue, but it should not extend to enticing police to what is a murderous response, assymetric to the crime they are facing. (We have seen this before in the case where a dedicated graffitist was knifed to death by a householder defending his fence and aggravated by this vandalism.)
The whole car chase thing and unrealistic targets for proactive prevention of crime is monstrous and brings the police into bad repute and they disgrace themselves by continuing this unacceptable behaviour.
“Ngāi Tāmanuhiri has worked alongside the Ministry of Education to create an educational resource, targeted at 9-11-year-old te reo Māori learners, called ‘He Putanga nō Uki’, which is a story about the discovery of the Horouta waka.
Ngāi Tāmanuhiri Chief Executive Robyn Rauna says they are delighted to have been given the opportunity to tell their story, their way.
“He Putanga nō Uki is one of those stories we were raised on. To be able to capture it as an educational resource is invaluable and it’ll enhance not only our Māori kids and mokopuna, but contribute to the local history of this region.”
From the “Tory Bastards are all the Same” file Doug Ford, the recently elected Conservative Premier of Ontario has been accused of covering up sexual misconduct allegations against a senior minister by saying he was taking leave to deal with addiction/medical issues.
“But in an unusual move, some ministers were assured Friday by a senior official that the “public story” would be the drinking, which is what was shared with the media, while the “real story” was the complaint by the male staffer.“
lol. The rail proposal for hamilton Auckland. They are planning the 99% rail connection. You’d think they take it the last hundred meters and connect it with the bus terminal. You know actually create a integrated public service. There is a empty plot of land between the cricket ground and hamilton school. just next to the kmart and over tge road, yes, of the main bus terminal. Its not rock science, its catchment area, Look i get that future stations in e.hamilton, Nawton, the base, are priorities, but really, 99% of the way. Why bother if your not serious?
They need a new trunk line for the heavy stuff to bypass Hamilton, and use the existing lines, a stop in east hamilton, one at central, one at nawton, one at the base. but someone wants the train to goto the wasteland that is the old station.
@Soddenleaf, sounds like a good idea to get the trains 100% into integrated public transport. Why is public transport run and designed by imbeciles in NZ who fail to understand any concept of customer experience?
Easy. Middle managers run nz, they churn rent for themselves by distorting best practice. Oh, Look how much extra money I’ve just made varying price, quality, availability, service, consistency, and thus creating a on paper debt that is immediately fill by the new plan that exports rent, and thus bonuses.
I think it’s to with the lack of carrying capacity ie, the lack of a double track in places from Hamilton to to the outer Suburbs of Auckland, the lack of the 3rd and 4th mainline on the Southline within Auckland itself and the main Auckland station being rather on the small size doesn’t help either.
Then is the rolling stock as well, is there going to be Wifi on broad? refreshments on broad? And a luggage Van for those going to Auckland Airport or those that want to carry their bicycle?
Yes the whole setup has too be integrated with other public transportation like the bus connection to Auckland Airport etc etc.
In Auckland the officials spend all their money on buildings like Britomart then fail to put enough care into the design of the actual transport. They are more interested in spending the money on construction of the building terminal itself than what the money is for, aka well designed train services.
Auckland is an example of what not to do with public transport. But the council and government keep giving AT and others more money even though they have proven they are incompetent. Even the AT’s own chairman has his own speech written for him and released without him reading it.
More money ain’t going to create any better outcomes on public transport when our biggest problem is bad leadership and appalling decision making, poor benefits to customers, poor long term planning and risk management and toxic culture.
Public transport incompetence is spreading to Wellington with their screwed up decision making coming through with diesel buses and a new bus service it sounds like people are not happy with.
Possibly to do with extensive lobbying by private sector developers on everything in NZ,. Had to laugh when seeing the unasked for Auckland Stadium developers on TV stating it would not cost ratepayers a cent, (just billions in free MT Eden land) and then next sentence saying they wanted funding from the council for a feasibility study! It’s laughable but the officials and MSM lap it up.
Greedies are so enabled now, that they don’t even wait for the council but just get ‘an idea’ then lobby the crap out of it, which remarkably seems to work here and we get white elephant after white elephant, not fit for purpose because it’s all designed around greed and giving away public money to private interests and networks, not what is needed.
If you think Wellywood’s public transport system a mess, then CHC’s is a shit fight atm thanks to ECAN who couldn’t organise a piss up in the local brewery with a fistful of fifties let alone organising root at the Atami Bath House.
There busses aren’t coordinated, with long term vision and let alone long term planning. The Suburban and InterCity Rail has been kicked into touch without any thought at reserving, de-conflicting or preserving the RoW which is mad given current tends atm around Canterbury Region.
I thought they’d, in their genius decide to increase the walking distance from the ferries to the track in brutamart in the new plan. Geez, why not site the intercity bus stop up the top of the hill away from any significant… …oh, wait, they did already. Hey, instead of worrying about public transport, coz they are on top of all that so badly, let’s pedestrianize Queen street. Final a good idea, totally off the cuff and without any actual pressure. The fact that a dual highway hasn’t decreased the public transit time between auckland and hamilton is astonishing, like they don’t plan. Just wet tgeir pants with some bug idea. The solution is simple, Run a bus down the Waikato highway tgat makes minimum time stopping, so no round the one way system. I.e To get future customer, Run a bus from the side of the te raps highway one, walking distance from the base bus terminus (plus put a walkway in) and have the bus stop briefly by coming off the state highway, connect to local buses near on ramps etc. Then time it, avoid the airport, create a regular timetable, advertize it, set the price, not 1 dollar nonsense so nobody knows the real price. You know what competitive economies do to reduce costs for everyone and drive growth. Rent seeking behavior is the problem with the nz economy.
Start with using buses to create Patrons for the corridor, cut out the time lost and use the new highway to cut the direct time from the large town, to the large city.
I realise this is the Labour government and they have little interest in value for taxpayers dollars.
But before anyone forks out 80 million has there actually been any market research or feedback on how many people will use this train service to travel to Auckland for work or if it’s even remotely what commuters want?
I was going to write why this service will be a complete flop but saw this comment which summed up what I was going to write.
Who goes to Papakura? No one., 2hrs 29m to downtown Auckland, plus the time to get to the station and park. Let’s allow another 30m. that’s 3 hrs.
Then what do I do when I get there? wait for a bus, pay for a cab, get on another train? Whichever, allow a further 30m to get to my first destination.
Then how do I get to my next destination? Pay for another cab and allow another hour at least.
Then get my way back to the train station, in getting close to 5.00pm traffic and do it all again in reverse?
Apparently there is a record boom for home alterations and extensions creating “high-quality larger dwellings”… so record building does not necessarily equate to affordable housing or energy efficiency, in fact, I’d guess the opposite…
Sounds like basic standards like lead levels in tap ware are not being inspected or any interest in scams like counterfeit building materials. Wonder how long it is before the rate payers and government and health workers will be called upon to rectify the latest building scandal and health effects, while the businesses bringing in dodgy materials get away scott free by liquidating their companies.
“Nearly a quarter of consented alterations in the June quarter, 1,437 in total, were carried out in the Auckland region where the average value of nearly $134,000 per project was more than two-thirds above the average project spend nationally.
The second highest number of alterations were carried out in Wellington, where 846 building consents were issued in the June quarter, the highest quarterly number since 2004. At a combined value of $62 million, alteration projects account for 20 percent of all residential building work in the region – well above the percentage nationwide.
In Canterbury, 829 consents were granted for alterations worth a total of $44 million. The average project value of less than $53,000 is well below the national average, and the scale of alterations has eased up significantly since averaging up to $85,000 per project as recently as three years ago.
Meanwhile, Otago is in the grip of its own record-breaking home do-up craze. Both the 594 alterations consented in the June quarter, and the combined project value of $27 million, far surpassed anything seen since the Statistics NZ records began in 1990.”
Treasury calls to review a subsidy scheme that has seen $1 billion paid out to Hollywood producers since 2004 were over-ruled by Economic Development Minister David Parker.
Documents released under the Official Information Act show Treasury officials considered that a long-delayed evaluation of the high-profile scheme was flawed. They believed its claimed return of $2.50 for every government dollar spent might actually be a 10c loss, and the scheme was spurring investments that would be better directed elsewhere.
Surprise, surprise.
Government subsidies to foreign multi-national corporations costs us more than we get back.
But this government is going to keep them.
So, who’s this government ruling for? Us or the corporations?
The neo-liberal ‘free-market’ hypothesis that the 4th Labour government brought in and every government since has kept specifically rules out government subsidies for business.
Film is an industry that is now pretty big in New Zealand. It touches a whole bunch of trades.
We really only broke into it with Xena Warrior Princess 20 years ago, and carefully sustained it after the great Jackson boom began.
They are the most mobile of industries, who scoop subsidies from any country they can find, so we really will lose them if we don’t keep subsidising them. Note: if your studio is in Wellington, it’s a tax efficiency. If it’s anywhere else it’s a subsidy. Not fair and almost true.
We subsidise most industries, some more than others, some more directly than others.
Would still be good to see the Cabinet paper that rolled the subsidy scheme over.
I’m not really against subsidising film production (Or anything as long as doing so is in the national interest) in NZ but I’d make the subsidy only available to NZ firms with NZ content. I see no point in subsidising already successful foreign multi-nationals.
I also happen to think that subsidising local talent would do more for the nation.
Screen entertainment broadly is one of the most subsidized industries we have.
Those subsidies apply both locally and internationally.
Locally, we have the whole of TVNZ, Maori TV, NZ On Air and its equivalent maori agency, NZ Film Commission, as well as smaller enterprises such as the 24 Hour Film Competition, and bunches of others. Throwing millions and millions per year at it, as they have for decades. Then of course there’s public sponsorships for all those film festivals, particularly the main one.
These subsidies generate massive studio houses, particularly in Auckland for tv. They include scriptwriters, grips, producers, set designers, catering, logistics and travel, actors, scouts, wardrobe, jewelers, the whole 9 yards.
Internationally, we have tax breaks that have helped form Wellywood and the entire world-beating empire in Miramar, who win work from around the world and bring it here in partnership with others. And no, we’re never going to have the capacity to write, produce, direct, market, and distribute all by ourselves. We are always going to be a small slice of bigger deals.
Then of course there’s the tax-and ratepayer funding that gets poured into publicly-owned film studios, such as the one operated in Henderson.
Tote all of that up. I can’t say Im comfortable when I start setting out the taxpayer $$ per actor. But then, I do see it as an industry worth supporting.
LIke I support dump trucks of taxpayer $$ being poured into totally unprofitable industries like rail and public transport.
I see the Reserve Bank is keeping the official cash rate at 1.7% because, ” However, core consumer price inflation remains below our 2 per cent target mid-point, necessitating continued supportive monetary policy. ”
What an utter load of fucking BULLSHIT we all know prices are increasing like 5 of the grocery items we bought this week had between a 15-20% price increase then our rates are going up by 10% and insurance had just increased by 25%
These neoliberal fucking prats in the Reserve Bank are not even putting their heads out the window to see if it is raining. They just regurgitate the Neo crap amongst themselves and believe it as fact
Get the arseoles off their aresoles to walk around a few supermarkets and then they will see the REAL and TRUE inflation rate.
This so-called inflation rate is designed to let the banks justify paying low-interest rates on savings and also to keeps the wages low
Utter fucking crap, it is about time that sewer had a great sort out.
One of the reasons why I think going cashless is necessary is because it would give an accurate rate of inflation right down to the local level. Would be able to measure inflation in each individual shop.
The OCR will remain low, because raising it will lead to ‘severe outcomes’…
RBNZ, along with most (all) Central Banks, are making decisions using a failed and flawed set of policy and guidelines… They are stuck with the limited changes and levers they have available between the proverbial rock and hard place….the problems are systematic…..they will not change….indeed they cannot change….
Central bank decisions will become further divorced from what the ‘real economy’ is experiencing and living through….
Southern cross fail. The truth is it is ALL about profit.
“Just six days before Auckland mum Anna Jobsz was due to have her ovaries removed she was told her insurer wouldn’t pay.”
Southern Cross Health Society chief marketing officer Chris Watney said “Once the lifetime allowance was reached, any further procedures would not be funded, This would place too much of a burden of cost on the collective membership of our society – raising premiums significantly.”
“Southern cross fail. The truth is it is ALL about profit”
I might be wrong but the way i understand it Southern cross is NOT for profit.
Southern cross is pretty good, they are much better than the shit company i have medical insurance with.
It may not be about profit but it is about keeping costs down.
Jobsz has been insured with Southern Cross Insurance since 2001, with a $120 monthly premium. The plan originally provided unlimited surgical treatment for cancer.
In 2016 Southern Cross created the cap of between $30,000 and $50,000 per lifetime, depending on the member’s plan, for preventative operations.
Proof positive that private insurance doesn’t work. For profit private insurance is even worse because of the dead-weight loss of profit.
1) didn’t read the full file
2) made the decision the same day he was told about it
3) apparently spoke with the PM because he was so conflicted over it
4) relied on the advice of Immigration NZ staff
5) now has in inquiry into the INZ process around it
6) but had the information there to read himself
7) limitation of deportation liability didn’t need to be made right away considering Sroubek is still in prison.
The whole thing is a clusterfuck.
Still though, doesn’t mean he should resign. He should admit he fucked up and explain what he’s going to do to ensure that INZ don’t cause Ministers to fuck up in the future, rectify the matter, and then resign.
And yet people say that NZ1st was going to send NZ to hell in a handcart. Seems like Labour is doing that pretty well on their own.
I will be accused of being a “Jacinda fan”. So be it!! I am. Why ? go to her facebook page.
There is a brilliant video of children”s responses to her request for a Christmas card design showing a NZ Christmas. WOW and WOW!!
What a great idea and person she is.
Overseas people, especially Aussies compared her with Scomo in his bus seeking votes.
She radiates her love of Children, and a wonderful ability to connect, especially with the Mum who missed the deadline and sent a photo of her child’s efforts.
Jacinda’s comments were so supportive. “Don’t beat yourself up as a Mum.” And doing a screen shot of their effort. She is indeed gold. She is genuine.
Now some will say “What about …..?” You fill the gap. But guess what, everyone of those parents know her as special.
“the election would be about the dangerous situation created by Washington that has caused two militarily powerful countries to prepare for war with the US. This is the most serious development of my lifetime.”
If the U.S. had an independent media….
“the election would be about the American police state that, based on the 9/11 lie, the weapons of mass destruction lie, the use of chemical weapons lie, the Iranian nukes lie, the Russian invasion of Ukraine lie, was accepted by the insouciant Americans. Those responsible for these lies, which have caused massive war crimes, for which US administrations should be indicted, are feted and rich. The rest of us have experienced the loss of civil liberty and privacy. Any individual in the way of the police state is mowed down.”
If the U.S. had an independent media….
“the election would be about the de-industrialization of the United States. Today the offshoring of American manufacturing and industry has reduced the US military to dependence on Chinese suppliers.”
If the U.S. had an independent media….
“the election would be about the 20 years of US and NATO/EU war crimes against Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen, and US and NATO support for Israel’s war crimes against the remnants of the Palestinian people, and US and NATO/EU support for the neo-nazi regime established by the Obama regime in Ukraine to commit war crimes against the breakaway Russian provinces, the populations of which refuse to become victims of Washington’s overthrow of the democratic elected Ukrainian government and installation by “America’s first black president” of a neo-nazi regime.”
If the U.S. had an independent media……
“the election would be about the orchestrated demonization of Iran. The completely stupid dope that Trump appointed Secretary of State just declared (the utter fool should not be permitted to open his mouth) that Washington was going to drive Iran into the ground unless the government agreed to behave like a normal state.”
Roberts is one of the most readable righties, but mostly only if you squint and pretend its satire. On economics, he’s very similar to Don Brash. Politically, he pitches himself as being an independent conservative, with a sideline in left hate and wacky conspiracy theories, including that the CIA owns all the media.
The reason I find him interesting is that he’s been around a long time. He was working for Reagan during the rise of the neo Cons and seems to vaguely resent that the modern right don’t give him the props he thinks he deserves. This means he does occasionally put a good shot across the bows of his fellow conservatives.
As I wrote at the time, Trump vastly over-estimates the power of the president.
And so do most people. When the President is “in tune” with institutional power, then stuff is on steroids.
And as I’ve pointed out before on numerous occasions, the “take down” of Trump would have been attempted on Sanders too. I think people miss the point.
Kia ora The Am Show
There you go the gun control laws in America are not protecting the people that the LAW Maker’s are elected to do. Not line the rifle association pocket’s there you go money over live’s alcohol was a factor to the shooting happened in a bar .
Well O that’s correct the most important issue that will cause the most damage to OUR society Global Warming and Nothing from the media the WestCoast heavy rains and floods who is suppressing this reality .
I agree that most farmers pro a healthy environment and clean water ways and a better future for the descendants.
The only problem with the smoking in car’s ban is the police will have another tool to hit the poor common person on the head with at there discretion Its not like they are all Honorable people .
The Maori AllBlacks are playing in Brazil ka pai lets hope they are hosted well I think its good getting Aotearoa’s presents known in Brazil .
There you go Andrew Becroft alcohol the damage it does to people and the unborn child is a tragedy .
judy is full of it she will dig as deep as she could to get into power no matter who she walk’s on.
Ka kite ano
Eco Maori is pro wind and solar its cheaper and safer that nuclear
UK nuclear power station plans scrapped as Toshiba pulls out
Here is a excerlint opportunity to use solar and wind power generation to full the gap in the power sector in the UK
Firm’s nuclear arm to wind up next year and scrap Cumbria plant leaving big hole in UK energy plans
Some industry watchers said the collapse of the scheme should be seen as an opportunity rather than a risk, for the UK to prioritise renewables instead.
Jonathan Marshall, an analyst at the ECIU thinktank, said: “Shifting away from expensive, complicated technology towards cheaper and easier to build renewables gives the UK the opportunity to build an electricity system that will keep bills for homes and businesses down for years to come.”
The government’s infrastructure advisers recently urged ministers to rethink their nuclear plans and focus on renewables instead.
Ka kite ano link below
This crab could save your life – if humans don’t wipe it out first few people in the world are aware their wellbeing may one day depend on a blue-blooded crab that looks like a cross between the facehugger from Alien and a gigantic louse. Fewer still realise this ancient creature now faces its greatest threat in more than 450m YEAR’s .
This is one reason why I say we have to protect OUR biodiversity all creatures should be treated like Dimonds Ka kite ano links below.
IT was a good start to Equality for all with Wahine and minority cultures who have won power in the American mid term election’s THIS IS JUST the start we have to keep fighting for Equality for all people and mother earth creatures ka kite ano.
P.S You no I say Wahine are more humane and intelligent than men
This is what I call innovation and thinking out side the square the new generation who wont let the old generation stop OUR world’s progress to a better future for all .
A underground road tunnel it save’s the environment no vital land use big + there is heaps of room underground and electric vehicles also it limits the weather damage that roads get from bush fires tornadoes hurricanes in theory less maintenance cost
Ka kite ano Link below
Elon Musk says his first tunnel will open in December
Here is how the Crown treated Tangata Whenua Sir Āpirana Ngata proposed the Crown set apart a portion of the lands it acquired from Māori for settlement by Māori veterans or that it purchase land from Māori explicitly for the purpose of rehabilitation. But the government, including the prime minister, refused to change any of its policies to support the needs of Māori
In some cases, Māori made gains, while others expressed frustration the sacrifices made for the price of citizenship never came to pass .For his book, Soutar says it was difficult to get the families of veterans to talk about what life was like growing up with someone who was probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition more widely considered now but ignored during and after World War I
In the place they called “Hell”, the Somme in France, Soutar say the pioneers worked in harrowing conditions.
Bodies had been lying on the ground, shells exploding. So the bodies are getting blown up again and again..
“A skull would just appear while they were digging out the wall of a trench, bones everywhere.
The smell of the place, bodies that had rotted. They became so used to it.”
The pioneers performed grim tasks as they made their way across France and Belgium.
They were going up two ridge lines with a valley in between, trying to take out the Turkish trenches. One lot started a haka on one ridge, the Māori on the other side heard it. So when they were going to take a trench they’d do a haka also.
“It was during the night and if you’ve never heard a haka before, like the Turks, how frightening it must have been.” There is a need for the wrong’s that was dish out to Maori and Pacific tangata after World WAR 1 & 2 to be acknowledged apologized & compensation for there unfair treatment . Brown people were not aloud to drink in the same pub as white people . Ka kite ano link below. P.S I Know a lot of my tipuna Whano went to both War’s https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/108363904/maori-soldiers-great-war-battle-for-equality
Black girl magic’: 19 black women ran for judge in Texas county – and all 19 won Democrats won all 59 judicial races in Harris county in Tuesday’s midterm elections. In one of the most eye-catching and significant results, the long-time incumbent Republican county judge, Ed Emmett – in effect, the county’s chief executive – lost to Lina Hidalgo, a 27-year-old first-time candidate who immigrated from Colombia as a teenager Ka kite ano link below Mana Wahine
Kia ora Tekaea It was cool watching the pepei waiata and haka .
I don’t like talking about War as I don’t want to give the act any oxygen and hopefully it will drift into our history book’s
Uawa Awa tuna are sweet its good to see there are a few tuna in the Awa and to see the Wahine teaching the tamariki facts about tuna.
The new Wellington Hospital being built from the good donor and the government is going to benefit the people ka pai
Ka kite ano P.S I have tau toko the Maori AllBlacks in Eco Maori yesterdays post
Kia ora Newshub West Coast flood’s= Global Warming
Tragic that shooting in America condolences to the people who lost love one .
There you go Chris Finlayson I can see right through him he thinks people in jail don’t have rights and is using the topic of voters right as a political missile and he made the new laws to block the rights to vote for prisoners.
judey looks like you will have to find another way to line your pockets the Ancient Kauri export ban of unfinished Kauri products that law being upheld is going to save alot our wetlands .
That forest fire in Northen California is a shame condolences to the people who lost love ones and property .
There you go Prince Charles thinks about his and our grandchildren future ka pai .
I agree with the German man we should educate the youth about the tragedies of war
the way I see it the common poor suffered great losses .
Good on the Russian adventure for setting sail around the world from Aotearoa I liked watching the Royal albatross gliding above the water to .
Ka kite ano
What a big spin its the Banks & business that have most the wealth from OUR fast rising house prices that have being artificially inflated over the last 10 years.
national increased immigration sold off the state houses to private enterprises and ignore the fact of a housing shortage and you create a banker & real estate agents wealthy person’s DREAM land making billion’s mean while we have a tsunami of people living under a bridge and our personal dept is huge did this researcher take that out of the equation we were at the top of the list in the 60 70’s .Some did not like a country that had better living standards per person that them so they decided to throw a spanner in the works an what do you know we have heaps of people underthe bridge
Feeling wealthy? New Zealand ranks sixth in global wealth report Ka kite ano.
link below.
Kia ora Newshub Nation I have already said the made my view’s on the teachers strike .
Yes I agree with that statement that employee’s should be the focus it the people the people but I say people should not expect corrections in inequality of pay to happen over night I see some people using this phenomenon as a political missile .
Technology is going to change the employment landscape and Maori & Pacific people will be displaced the most from this technology that’s why I back a Universal wage so we will be able to survive on part time seasonal work. Robots are coming on fast.
Michel I agree Auckland needs a night shelter like the one that Tini is running in Rotorua called the Hub it is working good to.
Ka kite ano
sandflys thank’s for the Vip escort when I went to pick up the mokopuna’s I smelt them as soon as I got on the state highway .
I have eased up on the factual stories about there bad behavior’s as it can affect other’s
But they keep using every dirty lying cheating trick in there book to damage my whano name and my good character. There are many story about there bad behavior’s I’m holding back till the time is correct .
I had one car at the back and 2 in front they plant a cop car were it can not be seen by a over taking lane and the driver in front slows down to get me to over take them an on goes the cop cars lights given me a speeding ticket for being 3 km over the speed limit while over taking the slow car . They have pulled once on me before but I won’t fall at trick for that trick twice . Muppets ka kite ano
I see the sandflys puppets all over the place they are lapping up the sandflys lies and cheating way’s . These people are jealous of Eco Maori sweet truthful music from my Flute Muppets. Ka kite ano
The sandfly’s will lock up a brown person as soon as look at them convicted as far as the law can see bounse more putea .
The sandflys will never give up there false harassment suppression and smear campaign of Eco Maori and his immediate whano.
Why because I have let the whole world know that the policing force around the whole world is corrupt can’t have a Brown person get away with that .
They will protect there false image links below.
Why won’t they put tracking devices in cop cars it will make them more accountable for there action’s it will make there job safer and safer for the public .
But know they cant be caught with there pant;s down at a crime seen at the same place and point in time that could be tracked and traced the data would be stored and can be retrieved at a later date who cares about safety protecting there image is what counts first to the NZpolice. https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2018/10/revealed-no-gps-trackers-in-nz-police-fleet.html.
The sandfly’s have cost me jobs they have cost my son jobs and are still giving my children underarm bowls me and my SON would have been managing Farm;s if the sandflys did not play God and spread lie’s about my family $70.000 +each I will be raging on there ASS from now on they don’t give a shit about what they are doing to my kid;s so they can go get————————————————————————— .
ECO MAORI will win this WAR Bob Marley was one of the worlds greatest Prophets
every thing he said is TRUE
New Zealand Council of Civil Liberties lawyer Michael Bott said “surveillance creep” is a worry and that people risked accepting being monitored “24 hours a day, seven days a week”. Ka kite ano This is what the sandflys are doing to me and my whano and worse they are adding lies and spinning this propagandize to anyone they can sell it to.
Kia ora R&R I had my plans changed I was not going to comment today .
Transport is a good topic .
Eco Maori back’s Electric car and trains charged by renewable energy as hydrogen has to many losses when making the gas and storing it .
You lose %7 to %10 making the gas and more when its used for energy making electricity out of it. so I say stick with electricity and battier power storage’s .
The efficiency of electric is gaining every year and so is battier technology is advancing fast. Hydrogen will have its place in our transport mix but I predict that electricity will be the main stay .
The oil baron’s have suppressed electric transport tec for many year’s The total efficiency % losses will be about %20 to %30 thats way to high to waste
Ka kite ano P.S hope my post did not show you our scary reality
Kia ora The Hui this is a good topic its is cool to get the facts out about FetalAlcohol syndrome is a big problem for the unborn child .
Its worest than PEE coke a lot of man made substances as the story is being told on the show.
The big picture to our reality is the Booze baron have being suppressing this knowledge of the evil affects alcohol has on the human body’s systems .
Ka kite ano. Yes this will affect Maori tamariki more than other cultures.
Kia ora Jenny from Marae Sir Ngatta Love was a tool that was used as a missile to damage Tangata Whenua O Aotearoa Mana and image .I bet if it was a old European leader it would have been white washed the justice system protects ITS OWN .
And worst still he died in Jail he should not have been put in Jail .
This is going to change and we are going to change it .
It was a week after he was buried before we found out he had died .
Yes I say the system does not respect and understand Tangata Whenua Culture
Ka kite ano P.S Kia kaha
2018 was a WAY better election for Democrats than most people seem to think.
Bernie Did say don’t count your chickens and he was correct It was a big blue wave Ka pai for the Socialist Democrats for a big effort on the trumexit it look’s like he has a blue——-banned on now Ka kite ano link below
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I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
MONDAYSheriff Seymour rode slowly down the main street of Dodge on his faithful white horse Atlas Network.He liked what he saw.Children were being fed free lunches prepared by kind people who collected the scraps from an offal rendering plant.“Very strongly flavoured liver, such as ox liver, can be soaked overnight ...
Once upon a time it was all about being an astronaut, a firefighter or doctor; but these days kids have their sights set on becoming vloggers or YouTubers.That’s according to a 2019 study by Lego that surveyed 3000 children between the ages of eight to 12 from the US, the ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. From the moment I started high school and realised almost every other girl in my year was at least partially interested in what the boys were up to, I realised that I would be single for life. The feeling wasn’t one of ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Selina Alesana Alefosio.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.On a bright Sunday morning from her grandparent’s home in Pito-one, I spoke with ...
The White Lotus star reflects on her life in TV, including the local ad reference that doesn’t work in Australia, and her bananas co-star on Neighbours.Morgana O’Reilly was scrolling her phone next to her sleeping son on an idle Saturday morning when she got the call confirming that she ...
Claire Mabey explores the pros and cons of puff quotes on book covers.In January, Publishers Weekly put out an article by Sean Manning – publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship US imprint – in which he said he’d “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.The ...
New Zealand’s Entomological Society is hosting its annual bug of the year contest. Here are some of the insects in the running. For some reason – perhaps humans’ inherent competitiveness, the idealisation of democracy, the need to demarcate winners and losers – one of the best ways to get people ...
A journey along the border, with words and illustrations by Bob Kerr.The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.The Sunset Limited leaves Union Station New Orleans on time at nine in the morning. We ...
Neville Peat is the 2024 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in nonfiction. He’s written 56 books, mostly on natural history; this excerpt is from The Falcon and the Lark: A New Zealand High Country Journal, first published in 1992. The falcon wintering on the Rock and ...
It was a light-hearted gesture Greta Pilkington will be forever grateful for – thanks to an Aussie rival who jumped in when the Olympic sailor couldn’t be at her own graduation.Pilkington, then 20, had been leading a double life – while qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the ILCA ...
I was born in the back of my grandfather’s ute, by an overgrown windbreak in a remote place called Wahi-Rakauyou can’t find on a map. I was born a girl but given the man’s name Harvey, as my dad always wanted a violent-minded boy to one day help him ...
“We’re not here to interfere in people’s property rights,” Ngāi Tahu’s Te Maire Tau has told the High Court.Tau, a historian, Upoko (traditional leader) of Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and a university professor of history, is the lead witness in a case designed to force the Crown to recognise the tribe’s rangatiratanga ...
Pacific Media Watch Trump administration officials barred two Associated Press (AP) reporters from covering White House events this week because the US-based independent news agency did not change its style guide to align with the president’s political agenda. The AP is being punished for using the term “Gulf of Mexico,” ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific Presenter/Bulletin editor France’s top diplomat in the Pacific region says talks around the “unfreezing” of New Caledonia’s highly controversial electoral roll are back on the table. The French government intended to make a constitutional amendment that would lift restrictions prescribed under the Nouméa Accord, which ...
By bringing these global voices to the fight for free expression in New Zealand, we’ll continue to protect and expand our culture of free speech, says Nathan Seiuli, the Free Speech Union's Events Manager. ...
The issue is no longer a hypothetical one. US President Donald Trump will not explicitly suggest death camps, but he has already consented to Israel’s continuing a war that is not a war but rather a barbaric assault on a desolate stretch of land. From there, the road to annihilation is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cecelia Cmielewski, Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University To be selected as the artist and curator team to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale is considered the ultimate exhibition for an artistic team. To have your selection rescinded, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia is bearing down on the northwest coast of Australia and is likely to make landfall early Friday evening. It’s a monster storm of great concern to Western Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Ireland-Piper, Associate Professor, ANU National Security College, Australian National University A Victorian government decision to allow dingo culling in the state’s east until 2028 has reignited debate over what has been dubbed Australia’s most controversial animal. Animals Australia, an animal welfare ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University Overnight, Robert F. Kennedy Jr was confirmed as the secretary of the US Health and Human Services Department. Put simply, this makes him the most influential figure in overseeing the health and wellbeing of more ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard eight hours of submissions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.It was another work from home day for the Justice Committee, the only people in Room 3 being security guards, committee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne Juris Teivans/Shutterstock In Australia, fatal road crashes are climbing again, especially since the pandemic, and despite years of attempts to reduce road trauma, the numbers ...
In its eagerness to appease supporters of Israel, the media is happy to ride roughshod over due process and basic rights. It’s damaging Australia’s (and New Zealand’s?) democracy.COMMENTARY:By Bernard Keane Two moments stand out so far from the Federal Court hearings relating to Antoinette Lattouf’s sacking by the ...
“The reality is we’re getting poorer. The government this year is leaning heavy on chasing economic growth, which is absolutely the right thing to do.” ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 The Vegetarian by Han Kang (Granta, $28) Han Kang’s astounding novel was based on an ...
This new docuseries about two single comedians looking for love is also a joyful celebration of female friendship. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. “How many people do you think are boning right now?” Kura Forrester asks Brynley Stent as the bright ...
A new poem by Freya Turnbull. Hunger Song – After Kaveh Akbar (Untitled With Hunger And Matcheads) I hold my age in ripped fishnet hold an empty vessel oldyoung body cracks like gunshot like killa i was a father ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominik Koll, Honorary Lecturer, Australian National University View of the Pacific Ocean from the International Space Station.NASA Earth must have experienced something exceptional 10 million years ago. Our study of rock samples from the floor of the Pacific Ocean has found ...
Troy Rawhiti-Connell reviews Kia Tupu Te Ara, a documentary chronicling the meteoric rise of Aotearoa’s groundbreaking metal band. “Two brothers attempt to storm the world of thrash metal with the Māori language, despite the fact they’re both still teenagers,” reads the synopsis of Kent Belcher’s documentary, Kia Tupu Te Ara. ...
Three freelance writers have been awarded grants to work on their ambitious journalism projects. In January, The Spinoff announced the Vince Geddes In-Depth Journalism Fund, supported by the Auckland Radio Trust (ART). The fund was established to provide much-needed financial and editorial support to talented freelance journalists, empowering them to ...
Hosking: Banks aren’t crooks.
NZ Herald: New Zealand’s fastest growing real estate listings site, OneRoof.co.nz, today announced a strategic partnership with Bank of New Zealand (BNZ).
This marks the beginning of a long-term relationship that will enable both organisations to achieve a joint vision of helping more New Zealanders into their own homes.”
Housing crisis solved! Thanks BNZ and NZH, with NZ in both your names I know you have NZ as your core interest. How much do you think you can get for it?
More zeros on an Australian bank’s profits….if they had partnered with Kiwibank I would have been impressed.
“The easy fix … is to look at further engineering marvels or medical approaches and more technology to counter the root cause, when all we need is to go back to basics.”
This business has certainly identified a need. Quite sure that advice (go back to basics) applies to adults too. Possibly prohibitively expensive: “relatively low fees” but time will tell.
Anyway, hats off for trying. I recommend gardening and walking in parks for adults with tech malaise who are probably not allowed to attend this pre-school, it helps.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12156192
If you can change your sex – why not age?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6363439/Pensioner-69-identifies-45-year-old-tries-change-age.html
Haha. I like this I thought of the same idea but as a service for a laugh; and to wind up those lefties in the pronoun debate. Like there’s not enough BS to contend with. I reckon he’s having a bit of a wind up himself. Bit of a creep though.
I thought I might identify as a black, handicap, gay, female: for funding purposes. It’d certainly help if I was also younger.
Now watch very boring people lose their shit over this non issue in a world gone mad.
Why don’t you try it then if it’s so easy to get funding, bet you don’t coz reality is not what’s imagined in your head. And no, I’m not wound up, I just find you idiotic.
That’s what I was going for.
They have a point though you are idiotic based on the crap you wrote.
Seeing as you interjected yourself….proving WTB’s final sentence to have been, let’s face it, predictably accurate
Such low hanging fruit. I will mock stupidity in a stupid manner. The irony is never lost on myself. 😉
Whoops talking in 3rd person about yourself is a sure sign of puffed upness 😂
Lol dims like you two make taking the piss so much fun 🤣
Did I miss something there Marty? Where did he write/talk about himself in the third person? (I am not going to go into all the female pronouns for that question, either….)
You have replyed to the wrong comment to myself.
It was the one where you mentioned 3rd person, Marty. But I accept your flippant reply as an admission..
I bow to your expertise. I’m nicked, fair cop.
Aw shucks…
Your frequent foot-shooting might qualify you as disabled.
That’s sharp, and funny.
I do have a disability, part of that being a lack of filter. I also possess the capacity to be wrong and say so, which can be rare round these parts.
Some users also fail to understand a piss-take, while others are clever indeed. I’m not gonna dumb it down or censor myself into mediocrity.
Neither gay nor disabled nor minority folk in general have asked to be the poster children of bored PC pushers. It’s patronizing and separating.
Neither gay nor disabled nor minority folk in general have asked to be the poster children of bored PC pushers.
I would be fascinated to know what that actually means.
Fascinated, or hoping for something to pick at?
I guess the subject of my satirical ire was not made clear as it cropped up in a response to James comment concerning a man trying to change to the age he ‘identifies with’.
This guy is likely taking the piss out of the Canadian debate on new laws enforcing the use of a persons preferred pronoun e.g. he, she, shim (there’s a list out there); the debate which subsequently saw Jordan Peterson’s rise to fame in that he opposed this law.
Now the mere mention of this man’s name get’s people howling for blood round these parts only attack articles and regurgitating all sorts of reviews and articles hating on him seem allowed. They call him transphobic.
I like to know what people are saying, he is an interesting enough fellow who popped up on the youtube radar.
What fascinated me the most was the amount of hate generated towards a man who, agree with him or not, tried to make a rational debate about free speech. Rallies were organised, speeches disrupted, anger vented!
With Peterson’s fame came lots of correspondence. Not all hate mail. Persons in the LGBT community were expressing to him that the issues radicals were taking him to task for were not their issues at all and they wanted to be left alone not thrust in the spotlight.
This rang bells re: disabilities, tokenism, et. al… being patronized.
So, we can have 5 year olds voting and going to the pub?
Provided they genuinely feel that they have been born into the body of an 18-year-old and can convince counsellors and facilitators of that fact, why on earth not? We must endeavour to be inclusive, and encourage diversity in our Brave New World…
“A deceased brothel owner and reality television star has won a state assembly seat in Nevada in the midterm elections. Dennis Hof, who owned seven legal brothels in the state, died last month during his 72nd birthday celebrations.”
“Hof ‘crushed his opponent from the great beyond’ says campaign manager”. Just goes to show that spiritual leadership can produce political success, eh? “Nevada is the only state in the US where prostitution remains legal in some areas.” Must be a hot-bed of liberalism!
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/midterms-2018/midterm-election-results-denis-hof-dead-wins-nevada-assembly-seat-brothel-a8621461.html
Repugs are real big on forgiving the sinner. As long as he’s their kind of sinner. Recently getting indicted in an ongoing criminal investigation with the risk of substantial jail time is no obstacle to re-election.
https://thinkprogress.org/four-of-last-nights-house-republican-winners-may-not-even-serve-their-full-terms-fb1a487dc00f/
Dennis Frank
A dead man wins a political place in the USA. Priceless. As WeTheBleeple says ‘a world gone mad’. Though WTB don’t be so cynical about everything that you’re putting down systems and people using them, trying to struggle on will you.
Yeah good point I’m just realizing I’m on the offensive too much lately. Balance required.
I am am a fan of the rant. Usually the ranter is saying what many are thinking. There is a feeling of solidarity and that somebody in the world can see things from one’s own POV. And sometimes having said or written it, the whole matter becomes clearer and one can see where the logical points are missing or a new line to take that is as cunning as a Backadder joke!
Edmund: Oh, please, please tell me what your plan is, please tell me, please tell me.
Percy: All right: I go along to the Infanta’s room and tell her that you’ve gone mad.
She comes to the door, and you meet her disguised as a little pig.
Then — and this is the cunning bit — instead of saying `oink oink’,
you say `mooooo’!
http://blackadderquotes.com/i-have-a-cunning-plan
As long as we can think up ideas like that, we can go forward with confidence,
and regain our balance (after we have rolled around laughing).
German Greens seem to be resurgent at long last, and social democrats are heading down the gurgler: “The social democratic SPD has been the biggest loser in recent years. Once dominant, it has struggled to attract voters. Its 13 per cent score in the Forsa poll is the lowest recorded by the party since it was banned by the Nazis.”
“One survey by pollsters Forsa found the CDU/CSU on 27 per cent, while the Greens were on 24 per cent, up three. The far-right AfD trailed on 13 per cent, the same score as the centre-left social democrats. The leftist Die Linke and centre-right liberal FDP were both on 9 per cent each.”
“Another poll by Emind told a similar story, with Ms Merkel’s Christian Democrats on 25 per cent, the Greens on 21 per cent, the AfD on 15 per cent, the SPD on 14 per cent, Die Linke on 10 per cent, and the FDP on 9 per cent.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/green-party-conservative-angela-merkel-germany-polls-latest-a8618846.html
End of an era in Germany, when Merkel departs in a few weeks. Here’s a voter analysis from Oct 1st that outlines the emerging political terrain. One graph depicts an already-established populist majority – dramatically illustrating Fukuyama’s thesis that identity politics are now playing out on the political right (more than on the left):
https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-political-center-sways-toward-populist-fringes-study/a-45696487
“One in three voters now sympathizes with populist policies, according to a new study by the Bertelsmann Foundation.” The writer is only referring to one portion of the three-way split shown in the graph. Not mentioning the third of voters that self-identify as `partially populist’ seems as likely to be willful misrepresentation as incompetence. What’s wrong with popularity anyway?? Why so scared?
Commentators routinely dismiss populism as banal or a bizarre trend. Winston, our local exemplar, has proven consistently that it ain’t so. Google’s definition: “In politics, populism refers to a range of approaches which emphasise the role of “the people” and often juxtapose this group against “the elite”. There is no single definition of the term, which developed in the 19th century”.
“The survey, which sampled 3,400 voters in May and August, measured populist attitudes around an individual’s tendency to sympathize with three core factors: anti-establishment attitudes, anti-pluralism and the desire for more sovereignty.”
Interesting insight to the trend here: ” women are increasingly supporting right-wing populist parties, and they are often more radical than their male peers.”
https://www.dw.com/en/women-increasingly-drawn-to-right-wing-populist-parties-study-shows/a-45284465
Boxing is a barbaric spectacle and should be banned.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/108410999/fight-for-christchurch-boxer-kain-parsons-dies-after-charity-match
RIP Kain.
You were trying to help by doing this and sadly you have paid the ultimate price. It must be very hard for your family and friends at this time – kia kaha
Ed I couldn’t agree more. I find boxing repugnant. It’s not just the risk of significant head injury which can lead to death, second one recently. It’s that fighting is regarded as sport/entertainment.
Rugby and soccer are ritualised fighting also. Ban them to?
‘Soccer’ is a non contact sport. Rugby has changed rules in attempting to deal with head injuries.
You or I can freely play ‘soccer’ or rugby on the street or over at the park. But we don’t get to play boxing. That’s called “arrested and up in court”.
Just an observation.
KJT………………..I can’t agree with that. You are not allowed to hit someone on the rugby or soccor field. The whole point of boxing is to hit someone, actually to knock them out. Boxing condones hurting someone………………… so the psychological message it sends people is that this is acceptable. The aim of rugby etc is to score points through running, kicking a ball etc. Of course they are contact sports so there will be injuries, but there are rules to minimize these injuries.
I agree about head injuries in those sports, and in an ideal world I probably would ban them, particularly rugby , but realize there is little or no chance of that.
Bit of hair splitting going on here.
I am not sure what you mean by hair splitting kit. The whole aim of boxing is to hit your opponent hard with the view to knocking them out. Sports such as rugby there is no intention to hit your opponent ideally to knock them out. In fact if you did this you would likely be sent off……..
None of the other sports people list down this thread include physical violence……….archery as someone mentioned is about hitting a target, not a person.
I am not saying we should ban sports cause of risk. For me it’s that I find fighting ie hitting another person, actually aiming to punch them in the head and knock them out vile and repugnant……………..it is the one sport I would ban if I could…….
I don’t think boxing is the problem here
It’s a bunch of non-trained novices trying to box that is the problem
Agree.
That would be true if no pros ever died or where damaged seriously.
I love a good boxing match though
Maybe all charity fights should have big helmets as a rule and thicker gloves.
That’s one of the suggestions floating around, and should have been done years ago. The other suggestion a couple of trainers came up with was longer training requirements before the bout, licensed trainers, and better attention to matching competitors.
The Eds of the world just don’t seem to get how much of an art there is to most of the pugilistic sports. It really is just as much chess as thumpythumpy.
I watched an early Tyson training vid with Kevin Rooney the other day – it was scarey and beautiful at the same time.
And yes to compulsory headgear and bigger gloves.
This was my favourite knockout
Insane hand speed and power.
And by that stage in the fight Boyd was already out of attack ideas for quite some time.
That’s the real thing about Tyson – nobody could figure out how to hit him without getting thumped themselves.
Yeah, He ruled the heavyweight division for a good 5+ years.
Tyson was my favourite boxer by far, loved his speed, power, quickness, movement combined with tremendous balance.
Lennox Lewis was about the only guy who could deal with Tyson, height and reach and a really controlled game plan.
Awesome, intelligent boxer, just a bit mechanical for me.
The thing is that pugilistic sports are sports, not combat. So put in the protective gear, so mistakes aren’t fatal. And minimise those mistakes with comprehensive training.
The one I’ve not usually been partial to is cage-fighting – they remove most of the safety measures, but still ban things that would give a quick end to a real fight. And sometimes it just becomes a gross-out contest, too. So it’s sport, but between beavis and butthead. And no, this is not something I would say to their faces, as I’m not looking for injury 😉
I might have guessed you’d be a fan.
https://youtu.be/t7ZwMVLMezI
yeah I’ve heard of that. Never been a chess man, myself 🙂
Chris T – 100%
So should horse riding, tramping, mountaineering, rugby, cricket, walking across the road, surfing ,swimming, cycling, long distance running, helicopter flying, parachuting, hanggliding , wind surfing, driving anything, working , eating, drinking, swimming, drug taking of any kind, lying on the couch for hours, basicly anything you can think of.
They all kill people one way or another, the only solution is to end it all right now.
Or grow up and get some perspective.
Utter nonsense.
These things are not comparable.
Rubbish. Of course they are. Many sports are based on former military necessities. Archery, Judo, Karate, Rugby.
Rugby has a higher injury rate than boxing. And like most ball sports, designed to increase agility and fitness for warfare.
Let’s ban that also.
So tramping is comparable to assault.
Of course….
If it was really about that, you would also be demanding an end to any sport which is ritualized warfare, which may cause injury, . I.E. all team sports, for one.
Ed, they are directly comparable
I just find it vile that there is a sport that is about deliberately hitting someone.
ankerawshark (6.3.1.3) … Absolutely agree 100%. How people can sit there and cheer as someone gets beaten is beyond me!
Abhorrent authorised violence I call it.
Worth noting which posters approve of and enjoy violence.
Not nice…..
Actually, it’s about two people making a conscious decision to engage in a form of hand to hand combat. I would not refer to it as sport, as such… nor would I refer to it as vile…that is overly dramatic…
As a point of reference, for my opinion…..’vile’ is waging warfare around the globe murdering, maiming and displacing hundreds of millions of people in relatively short time-frame….
Vile (not exhaustive or exclusive)
Economic/financial warfare
Conventional warfare
Guerilla warfare
Covert warfare
Weather warfare
Space warfare
Environmental warfare
Legal warfare
Political warfare
Ideological warfare
Ad Nauseum
, basically anything you can think of. You could add a surgical procedure/operation to the list.
An alternative other than boxing to raise funds is worth serious consideration.
I’m strongly left and have been since I took my first breath when I hit the ground ,
(thanks Bruce ), but the main thing that fucks me off about a large section of the overly concerned ” left ” is that they want to STOP things, all sorts of things that actually do not personally affect them.
Sure people tragicly die doing stuff that they freely want to do but that is their choice. Or we could ban Free Choice, now there’s the permanent political wilderness right there.
Hear hear
Tummy pat for you.
To the point, I agree a lot with the sentiment.
Adrian. No to banning those sports…..they don’t involve intentionally hurting someone else.
My husband and I saw a group of young guys in an organised fight in Brisbane. We stepped in because there was concrete beneath them and it could have been a tradgey. I am proud that we did. They said to us that they knew they shouldn’t be doing it.
If boxing is ok, why is hitting another person not? Just curious about the rationale
Time to stop using a boxing match to raise money for charity. There are better alternatives. The personal cost is to high when a death occurs.
Time to stop using a rugby match/ Marathon/ yacht race, to raise money for charity. There are better alternatives. The personal cost is to high when a death occurs.
Fixed it for you.
The academic lefts biggest problem with boxing is us, the “great unwashed”, like it.
Just the same as we like yacht racing, Rugby and Beer drinking.
Simple snobbery.
You didn’t just describe Eb as the “academic left” did you?
But he does so much “Research”
Lol
Hell yeah, I forgot about yachting and boating and fishing and gardening ( that compost is a killer) and don’t even start me on lawnmowing. All these things are comparable they are sports or pastimes. They all kill far more people than boxing, which incidently I don”t even like. you’ve got to have a screw loose if you want to get the shit thumped out of you, but much like free speech ( which incidently also gets you killed ) I will defend others right to freely do what they want.
Adrian does that include parents hitting their kids? Two adults having a fist fight over an issue hurting each other cause that is their right? Oh wait that is breaking the law
You did not fix it.
If you think punching someone in the head (a probable way to get a head injury) is a good way to fund raise I don’t.
As for simple snobbery, seeing an amateur/unskilled boxer get punched in the head to raise money is not worth the risk.
If you are going to quote me, do not add in extra words.
That’s the one.
Actually, considering how charity tilts the economy from supplying what is needed we should probably be banning charity.
https://www.vox.com/2015/6/10/8760199/gates-foundation-criticism
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/24/no-such-thing-free-gift-gates-foundation-philanthropy-review
Yes!
Charity and advertising, I am in agreement with you…
banning isn’t the answer.
prohibition never works.
in this example, training for a year is a way to mange risk.
When you look at pro footballers who have received brain injuries causing all manner of residual problems…
“Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disease caused by repetitive hits”
“There’s a range of CTE symptoms, from forgetfulness to violent behavior”
“Of the 202 [footballers] brains, 177, or nearly 90 percent, were diagnosed with CTE”
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/2/2/16956440/concussion-symptoms-cte-football-nfl-brain-damage-youth
The case is clear. About 90% of our contact sports people will develop CTE.
And please note: The above stats were from a sport wearing helmets.
That !@#$%@#$% Chch counsellor Mike Davidson calling for better boxing match-ups. What, so they can punch each other indefinitely?
“The case is clear that about 90% of our contact sports people will develop CTE”?
Which are the contact sports?
You can work that out Pete, unless you played sports a long time; then working stuff out might be more difficult.
I think that’s an idiotic smart-arse response. I watch enough netball and basketball to note the physical clashes, the contact in ‘non-contact’ sports. I watch a lot of football (soccer) to see the perpetual heading of the ball as well as the collisions, often involving heads.
So if the case is “so clear” with about 90% of our contact sports people developing CTE be clear and tell us if you’re including netball, and basketball, and football and judo and whatever other sports?
Yes OK, I was being a jerk. But I think you borrowed calling me idiotic from the ironically named ‘i feel love’ and that’s plagiarism buddy.
So your point is the term contact sport does not encompass enough activities where players are at risk of CTE. Agreed.
I’m not butting heads about how many people are out there butting heads, I don’t know the extent of it.
Did I “wind you up” buddy?
Footballs ignoring it also. Sterling uni in Scotland did a study where they had a machine flight corners in and 20 footballers took I think 10 headers each
Then cognitive testing showed more than 75% of them suffered a loss of function.
One small exercise…..imagine a life of it from childhood up.
Hi Ed
Do you know if the Boxing Event Promoters in Christchurch had insured the life of each contestant ? Or did the dead boxer die penniless ?
Are all those involved in the event, including the contestants, just there for the excitement of the destruction of Heads and Brains ?
Bashing Heads and Brains should be a serious crime – and never a sport.
OK. Ban rugby, Ice hockey and yachting.
Education of parents concerning the extremely high risks involved would be a good start. This would get the ball rolling on government interest via the noise parents might then make. I’m all for (informed) freedom of choice; but minors are also involved in vast numbers and so probably need some Government oversight for the benefit of their safety.
The popularity of contact sports is undeniable.
Do Yachties get hit in the head a lot?
“Do Yachties get hit in the head a lot?”
Not as often as rugby players, say, but when they do cop a whack it’s often quite a solid one from a boom or pole or flying pulley block. Not to mention losing appendages to taut ropes going around hard things.
I guess we got this far by being energetic using violence. It can only be contained with some protections properly policed. The world is coming to an end anyway, as we know it, we face floods, fires, starvation. Why do you still think along 20th century lines? Let people go for it, as I say with limitations. Soon we won’t have the range of jobs that are already lower than around 1970s. Earning money by physical sport will be an accepted career even with risks. As Auden says
“Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.”
Living is an option in a damaged world and society without much love. People must be able to support themselves, and boxing and physical sports are ways of necessity, as well as personal advancement even with the risks.
Practically it is foolish to go on about banning them, just try and protect those involved from egregious harm, and provide suitable care for the injured.
Thinking about the replacement of mental, sedentary work and pasttimes in place of the manual, hands-on, physical reminds me how recent and wide-ranging this change has been. It has destroyed the society we had and I don’t think we will recover from the damage.
I am getting discursive here thinking about the love-hate relationship we have with this technology. I note that computers became mainstream with PCs around 1980. My sons played around with Amigas which were great but never got the breakthrough in the competitive world of tech.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_computers#VIC-20_and_Commodore_64
And this is where the most bruising fighting is going on, in the machine and ether world, rather than the physical. Now physicality of anything is up in the air so to speak, physical labour, books and knowledge, everything being downgraded by use of ‘clouds’. And we can only watch this fighting, large corporations battling for the dominance of the world’s everything.
(A memory of the Amiga RIP. Commodore’s later product line, the Amiga platform, ran a GUI operating system by default. The Amiga laid the blueprint for future development of personal computers with its groundbreaking graphics and sound capabilities. Byte called it “the first multimedia computer… so far ahead of its time that almost nobody could fully articulate what it was all about.”[56]
Observer Tokoroa 100 +++++
It is beyond me that anyone would want to watch such stuff.
You might be onto something Greywarshark, my prediction is that E-Sports, computer gemes etc are going to kill more people than all other adventurous pastimes combined. The indolence, lack of exercise and fitness will all have a heavy cost in lower life expectantcy.
What indolence?
All the gamers I’ve ever known have been seriously into sports and keeping fit.
Think Kim Dotcom.
KDC is one person. I know more than one person into gaming that do serious sports and exercise.
Your problem is your stereo-typical BS beliefs founded on nothing.
Sorry mate not looking good.
“The average gamer, far from being a teen, is actually a 35-year-old man who is overweight, aggressive, introverted and … often depressed, according to a report (.pdf) out this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/2009/08/gamers-are-sad/amp
I not saying I think it is true but it is something.
That’s a really good point. Exercise not only improves physical health, but mental health as well. It probably benefits society far more than the downsides. Love to see that study.
I’d rather get out in the garden or bush than a boxing ring myself. If I get gored by a pig or a thistle it’s my own stupid fault. I know the risks.
But this (sport related brain injury) does seem like one of those things it’s more comfortable not to talk about in ‘polite society.’ Like Israel, China, and the 80’s.
You can make everyone play, risk free, computer games instead. The lack of exercise will probably fuck up more people, than boxing ever has.
Kit it’s not just about risk for me. Punching someone in the head is deeply repugnant to me.
There is no other sport I know of that is violence
One of the reasons I don’t like rugby was getting kneed in the face at school, because that was how it was played.
TKD, muy thai, karate, judo, kung fu, tai chi, wrestling… the list of pugilistic arts is long.
Kickboxing, Judo, Karate, Ice Hockey?
I don’t think children should be allowed to play rugby and similar contact sports BTW.
The risks of head and back injury is very high.
Lead in our water and our standards which are double those of China and Scandinavia, aren’t being policed by MoBie. High lead in our drinking water is not coming from old pipes in the ground which one might think would be the source, but uncontrolled standards on taps especially the mixer ones, I have one to be installed that I bought earlier on special, so how do I know that it is up to standard. Is there any authoritative and responsible body that I can ring?
/sarc
The thing is that the government regulations have placed the responsibility on the working plumber to be installing product that is lawful (and I don’t know if it mentions health). But where is the screen and list of tested, reliable product that a plumber could refer to for a check as to lawful brands?
Lab testing has found taps that leach a lot of lead into drinking water. The Master Plumbers industry group says theses are just some of the many dangerous products on the shelves and the Government must act urgently.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018670288/lab-tests-find-taps-leaching-lead-into-drinking-water
+1 greywarshark
Great link. There are so many worries for government and opposition MP’s like Stadiums, conventions centres, defending the rights of drug lords, it seems that poisoning with fake products (children in particular are effected by lead) does not seem to be high on the agenda.
Know someone who was nearly killed by an incorrect fitting off an imported gas oven. Probably widespread but not much interest in addressing anything at source.
But hey, products come from companies and often overseas made and NZ has been the poster child for neoliberalism and trade for decades now and against any regulations on ‘trade’ you know like stopping bad or incorrect products coming in and poisoning unsuspecting consumers.
Synthetics-contaminated cooking utensil poisoned Porirua children
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12142693
More on this – NZ ‘voluntary’ regulation standards…
“Currently New Zealand adherence to standard is voluntary. Products are not being tested and as a result, there is a high risk that unsafe products are readily available to consumers both instore and online,” Wallace said.
“We believe that there will be other tapware and pipe systems out there that will also fail this standard.”
A mandatory water mark on all plumbing products was implemented in Australia following several high-profile cased of poor-quality products in its public water systems.
Wallace said he believed New Zealand should have a compulsory third-party testing and verification process for all plumbing products sold on the market.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12156494
That didn’t take long. The moment King Con gets confident he can get a compliant replacement confirmed, Attorney General Sessions is gone. Watch out for attempts to end the Mueller investigation.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/07/politics/sessions-resign/index.html
And please don’t talk about my tax return.
I don’t want to talk about his returns. I just want to look at them. Better yet, I want a group of deeply cynical financial experts to spend however long it takes for a thorough look at them, Fortunately, the new Dem-majority House is about to do that for me.
Gawd I’m sick of popcorn. Any suggestions for an alternative?
But, but, but…… *shredder machine sounds in the background* …nothing to see here, move along please, lmao.
Popcorn alternatives? Pics Peanut Butter, that stuff tastes amazing.
Deepest condolences to Texas.
Popcorn alternatives?
Roasted garlic chickpeas, Marakku chickpea snacks – any form of chickpea snacks IMO!
Plus nuts, pretzels, etc … New World loose bulk snacks and mixes are wonderful. LOL
Pretzels? Little hard crunchy things? Ugh. If you’re ever in Philadelphia, be sure to get a big old genuine soft pretzel. With some mustard. After that, those little hard ones will forever just seem wrong.
“But during a testy news conference, he vowed to adopt a “warlike posture” if Democrats investigated him.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46132054
Sounds like a challenge worth taking up. Investigate.
I’m guessing that the new Democrat majority in the House means it now has the option of establishing its own investigation in case Mueller’s becomes a fizzer? If so, sending a macho signal akin to the Maori haka is understandable. I agree it would be entertaining to call his bluff and see how his 70 year old frame performs!
But really, the offer of bipartisan legislation is intended to break gridlock, so the Democrats will look churlish & petty if they fail to reciprocate. All he’s doing is signalling pragmatism, and the return to traditional politics. Seems a mutual-benefit scenario to me. Why not make democracy work for a change?
Nah investigate. I think t.rump is scared and probably rightly so.
I have to say that I sorta want gridlock and his policies and plans stopped – I really have zero time for t.rump – I’d monkey wrench every single thing he wants to do.
And I understand your sentiment – you may be a better, kinder man than me I think.
Doubt it, just non-partisan. I rarely approve of his messaging and behaviour. But I remember him hosting fund-raisers for the Clintons. He’s an opportunist more than anything, I reckon.
The Herald has analysis from “Timothy J. Lynch, Associate Professor in American Politics, University of Melbourne” onsite, but here’s where it first appeared: https://theconversation.com/the-us-midterms-show-the-power-of-trumps-divisive-messages-106161
“The bad news: he now looks to have a better chance at staying in office until 2025. This year’s midterm elections broke for Trump much more than expected.” “Also, the midterms should make it a near-certainty that no serious Republican will challenge Trump for the presidential nomination in 2020. He has proven once again that he is an impressive electoral campaigner with a crude but effective grasp of strategy.”
This all hinges on whether the Republican establishment has a better option than Trump. Given that he has outperformed Obama at this stage of the cycle (roughly half the swing against), they may well read it as evidence that he’s not as flaky as he seems.
Victim mentality. I caught a brief excerpt from a piece on Radionz – a woman, sounds young, outlining some supposedly sexist behaviour, like ‘He shook the hand of my male colleague but didn’t shake mine’. Women who acted to advance the feminist wishes for respect in the world for women did not suggest that they should wait to be given it. Women need to learn to be assertive and put themselves forward when appropriate, not just whinge.
It has not been common for men and women to shake hands, and if this man did not and she wanted to be greeted and establish a friendly basis to their interaction, then she should have put her hand forward, and nodded or smiled to him which would have indicated that she had agency and was going to be a person who would be involved and responsible. Problem solved, established standing indicated in a small gesture. He would not have refused to shake her hand unless he was a moron and a weird, patriarchal-cult type.
Perhaps he was scared that touching her uninvited would have him accused of assault?
Possible or maybe was attracted and his muppet boy brain shut him down like a rabbit in the spot light . Been known to happen to me.
Perhaps he didn’t acknowledge her. I didn’t hear the piece though and maybe she used a bad example. I have experienced plenty of times when I have been ignored or apparently have been invisible owing to gender.
On the other hand social niceties are a peculiar thing. I always offer my hand and although sometimes the other party looks briefly surprised, we shake hands and get on with business.
Hit the banks with a $100m annual levy, says Shane Jones after review
“Banking strategists in this country and overseas are conscious that New Zealand is one of the few developed countries that do not have a banking levy. Aussie banks pay it in their own country, but they get a free good in our country. Make them pay for it.”
Australia has introduced a bank levy of 0.06 per cent on the liabilities of major banks, expected to raise about A$1.5b annually.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12155528
And hit all those that live or profit from NZ a micro financial tax for all moneys (aka profits) going in and out of this country.
Might make current players invest more in NZ if they have to pay a bit more tax to take their profits or legal money laundering debt deals, out.
Bloody hell.
“A police officer “drove dangerously” at 200kmh during a pursuit in which two people died, an official review has found.
The officer drove at speeds reaching 200kmh in an 80kmh area during the pursuit which ended in a crash which left two dead and three injured on October 23.”
https://i.stuff.co.nz/auckland/108261240/police-officer-was-driving-dangerously-during-fatal-pursuit-says-ipca
Since when have police sat down and reviewed this car chasing behaviour. Ever? Why are they so concerned about cars being stolen? Caring about property before people?
Do they take the malicious attitude that ‘There’s another no good useless young crim off our books’ when the joy-riders get over-excited and scared and try to flee, like they have seen shown on reality tv? These people are being incited to suicide, and the police should be made culpable. Stopping this would not be going soft on crime, the work of crime prevention would continue, but it should not extend to enticing police to what is a murderous response, assymetric to the crime they are facing. (We have seen this before in the case where a dedicated graffitist was knifed to death by a householder defending his fence and aggravated by this vandalism.)
The whole car chase thing and unrealistic targets for proactive prevention of crime is monstrous and brings the police into bad repute and they disgrace themselves by continuing this unacceptable behaviour.
Awesome initiative.
“Ngāi Tāmanuhiri has worked alongside the Ministry of Education to create an educational resource, targeted at 9-11-year-old te reo Māori learners, called ‘He Putanga nō Uki’, which is a story about the discovery of the Horouta waka.
Ngāi Tāmanuhiri Chief Executive Robyn Rauna says they are delighted to have been given the opportunity to tell their story, their way.
“He Putanga nō Uki is one of those stories we were raised on. To be able to capture it as an educational resource is invaluable and it’ll enhance not only our Māori kids and mokopuna, but contribute to the local history of this region.”
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/ngai-tamanuhiri-launches-horouta-waka-resource
From the “Tory Bastards are all the Same” file Doug Ford, the recently elected Conservative Premier of Ontario has been accused of covering up sexual misconduct allegations against a senior minister by saying he was taking leave to deal with addiction/medical issues.
“But in an unusual move, some ministers were assured Friday by a senior official that the “public story” would be the drinking, which is what was shared with the media, while the “real story” was the complaint by the male staffer.“
https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2018/11/06/tories-go-to-ground-amid-swirling-scandals-at-queens-park.html
Last day for welfare /winz submissions is tomorrow. Don’t miss it!
http://weag.govt.nz
Here’s an early look at whether it was better to run as a moderate or progressive Democratic when trying to flip a district held by a Republican.
Spoiler: the moderates did better. A lot better. The time and place for progressives to win is in the primaries of solidly Democrat districts.
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/7/18071700/progressive-democrats-house-midterm-elections-2018
1.5 BILLION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was the money spent on the midterms, and funny enough in some cases it just didn’t matter.
https://apps.publicintegrity.org/where-money-mattered/
lol. The rail proposal for hamilton Auckland. They are planning the 99% rail connection. You’d think they take it the last hundred meters and connect it with the bus terminal. You know actually create a integrated public service. There is a empty plot of land between the cricket ground and hamilton school. just next to the kmart and over tge road, yes, of the main bus terminal. Its not rock science, its catchment area, Look i get that future stations in e.hamilton, Nawton, the base, are priorities, but really, 99% of the way. Why bother if your not serious?
Isn’t there already an unused underground rail station in central Himilton?
Yes there is.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/103342252/politicians-unlock-doors-to-new-zealands-first-underground-train-station
They need a new trunk line for the heavy stuff to bypass Hamilton, and use the existing lines, a stop in east hamilton, one at central, one at nawton, one at the base. but someone wants the train to goto the wasteland that is the old station.
@Soddenleaf, sounds like a good idea to get the trains 100% into integrated public transport. Why is public transport run and designed by imbeciles in NZ who fail to understand any concept of customer experience?
Easy. Middle managers run nz, they churn rent for themselves by distorting best practice. Oh, Look how much extra money I’ve just made varying price, quality, availability, service, consistency, and thus creating a on paper debt that is immediately fill by the new plan that exports rent, and thus bonuses.
I think it’s to with the lack of carrying capacity ie, the lack of a double track in places from Hamilton to to the outer Suburbs of Auckland, the lack of the 3rd and 4th mainline on the Southline within Auckland itself and the main Auckland station being rather on the small size doesn’t help either.
Then is the rolling stock as well, is there going to be Wifi on broad? refreshments on broad? And a luggage Van for those going to Auckland Airport or those that want to carry their bicycle?
Yes the whole setup has too be integrated with other public transportation like the bus connection to Auckland Airport etc etc.
In Auckland the officials spend all their money on buildings like Britomart then fail to put enough care into the design of the actual transport. They are more interested in spending the money on construction of the building terminal itself than what the money is for, aka well designed train services.
Auckland is an example of what not to do with public transport. But the council and government keep giving AT and others more money even though they have proven they are incompetent. Even the AT’s own chairman has his own speech written for him and released without him reading it.
More money ain’t going to create any better outcomes on public transport when our biggest problem is bad leadership and appalling decision making, poor benefits to customers, poor long term planning and risk management and toxic culture.
Public transport incompetence is spreading to Wellington with their screwed up decision making coming through with diesel buses and a new bus service it sounds like people are not happy with.
Possibly to do with extensive lobbying by private sector developers on everything in NZ,. Had to laugh when seeing the unasked for Auckland Stadium developers on TV stating it would not cost ratepayers a cent, (just billions in free MT Eden land) and then next sentence saying they wanted funding from the council for a feasibility study! It’s laughable but the officials and MSM lap it up.
Greedies are so enabled now, that they don’t even wait for the council but just get ‘an idea’ then lobby the crap out of it, which remarkably seems to work here and we get white elephant after white elephant, not fit for purpose because it’s all designed around greed and giving away public money to private interests and networks, not what is needed.
If you think Wellywood’s public transport system a mess, then CHC’s is a shit fight atm thanks to ECAN who couldn’t organise a piss up in the local brewery with a fistful of fifties let alone organising root at the Atami Bath House.
There busses aren’t coordinated, with long term vision and let alone long term planning. The Suburban and InterCity Rail has been kicked into touch without any thought at reserving, de-conflicting or preserving the RoW which is mad given current tends atm around Canterbury Region.
I thought they’d, in their genius decide to increase the walking distance from the ferries to the track in brutamart in the new plan. Geez, why not site the intercity bus stop up the top of the hill away from any significant… …oh, wait, they did already. Hey, instead of worrying about public transport, coz they are on top of all that so badly, let’s pedestrianize Queen street. Final a good idea, totally off the cuff and without any actual pressure. The fact that a dual highway hasn’t decreased the public transit time between auckland and hamilton is astonishing, like they don’t plan. Just wet tgeir pants with some bug idea. The solution is simple, Run a bus down the Waikato highway tgat makes minimum time stopping, so no round the one way system. I.e To get future customer, Run a bus from the side of the te raps highway one, walking distance from the base bus terminus (plus put a walkway in) and have the bus stop briefly by coming off the state highway, connect to local buses near on ramps etc. Then time it, avoid the airport, create a regular timetable, advertize it, set the price, not 1 dollar nonsense so nobody knows the real price. You know what competitive economies do to reduce costs for everyone and drive growth. Rent seeking behavior is the problem with the nz economy.
Seems to me the smart way would be to do the hubs and integrative planning first then.
Start with using buses to create Patrons for the corridor, cut out the time lost and use the new highway to cut the direct time from the large town, to the large city.
I realise this is the Labour government and they have little interest in value for taxpayers dollars.
But before anyone forks out 80 million has there actually been any market research or feedback on how many people will use this train service to travel to Auckland for work or if it’s even remotely what commuters want?
I was going to write why this service will be a complete flop but saw this comment which summed up what I was going to write.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/108292102/hamilton-to-auckland-passenger-rail-service-takes-another-step-closer
Apparently there is a record boom for home alterations and extensions creating “high-quality larger dwellings”… so record building does not necessarily equate to affordable housing or energy efficiency, in fact, I’d guess the opposite…
Sounds like basic standards like lead levels in tap ware are not being inspected or any interest in scams like counterfeit building materials. Wonder how long it is before the rate payers and government and health workers will be called upon to rectify the latest building scandal and health effects, while the businesses bringing in dodgy materials get away scott free by liquidating their companies.
“Nearly a quarter of consented alterations in the June quarter, 1,437 in total, were carried out in the Auckland region where the average value of nearly $134,000 per project was more than two-thirds above the average project spend nationally.
The second highest number of alterations were carried out in Wellington, where 846 building consents were issued in the June quarter, the highest quarterly number since 2004. At a combined value of $62 million, alteration projects account for 20 percent of all residential building work in the region – well above the percentage nationwide.
In Canterbury, 829 consents were granted for alterations worth a total of $44 million. The average project value of less than $53,000 is well below the national average, and the scale of alterations has eased up significantly since averaging up to $85,000 per project as recently as three years ago.
Meanwhile, Otago is in the grip of its own record-breaking home do-up craze. Both the 594 alterations consented in the June quarter, and the combined project value of $27 million, far surpassed anything seen since the Statistics NZ records began in 1990.”
A scramble to spend capital gains on repairs and improvements?
Treasury warnings over billion-dollar film subsidies ignored
Surprise, surprise.
Government subsidies to foreign multi-national corporations costs us more than we get back.
But this government is going to keep them.
So, who’s this government ruling for? Us or the corporations?
The neo-liberal ‘free-market’ hypothesis that the 4th Labour government brought in and every government since has kept specifically rules out government subsidies for business.
Film is an industry that is now pretty big in New Zealand. It touches a whole bunch of trades.
We really only broke into it with Xena Warrior Princess 20 years ago, and carefully sustained it after the great Jackson boom began.
They are the most mobile of industries, who scoop subsidies from any country they can find, so we really will lose them if we don’t keep subsidising them. Note: if your studio is in Wellington, it’s a tax efficiency. If it’s anywhere else it’s a subsidy. Not fair and almost true.
We subsidise most industries, some more than others, some more directly than others.
Would still be good to see the Cabinet paper that rolled the subsidy scheme over.
I’m not really against subsidising film production (Or anything as long as doing so is in the national interest) in NZ but I’d make the subsidy only available to NZ firms with NZ content. I see no point in subsidising already successful foreign multi-nationals.
I also happen to think that subsidising local talent would do more for the nation.
Yes.
We have an amazing talent pool. Let’s support them.
Screen entertainment broadly is one of the most subsidized industries we have.
Those subsidies apply both locally and internationally.
Locally, we have the whole of TVNZ, Maori TV, NZ On Air and its equivalent maori agency, NZ Film Commission, as well as smaller enterprises such as the 24 Hour Film Competition, and bunches of others. Throwing millions and millions per year at it, as they have for decades. Then of course there’s public sponsorships for all those film festivals, particularly the main one.
These subsidies generate massive studio houses, particularly in Auckland for tv. They include scriptwriters, grips, producers, set designers, catering, logistics and travel, actors, scouts, wardrobe, jewelers, the whole 9 yards.
Internationally, we have tax breaks that have helped form Wellywood and the entire world-beating empire in Miramar, who win work from around the world and bring it here in partnership with others. And no, we’re never going to have the capacity to write, produce, direct, market, and distribute all by ourselves. We are always going to be a small slice of bigger deals.
Then of course there’s the tax-and ratepayer funding that gets poured into publicly-owned film studios, such as the one operated in Henderson.
Tote all of that up. I can’t say Im comfortable when I start setting out the taxpayer $$ per actor. But then, I do see it as an industry worth supporting.
LIke I support dump trucks of taxpayer $$ being poured into totally unprofitable industries like rail and public transport.
I see the Reserve Bank is keeping the official cash rate at 1.7% because, ” However, core consumer price inflation remains below our 2 per cent target mid-point, necessitating continued supportive monetary policy. ”
What an utter load of fucking BULLSHIT we all know prices are increasing like 5 of the grocery items we bought this week had between a 15-20% price increase then our rates are going up by 10% and insurance had just increased by 25%
These neoliberal fucking prats in the Reserve Bank are not even putting their heads out the window to see if it is raining. They just regurgitate the Neo crap amongst themselves and believe it as fact
Get the arseoles off their aresoles to walk around a few supermarkets and then they will see the REAL and TRUE inflation rate.
This so-called inflation rate is designed to let the banks justify paying low-interest rates on savings and also to keeps the wages low
Utter fucking crap, it is about time that sewer had a great sort out.
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/news/2018/11/official-cash-rate-unchanged-at-1-75-percent
You obviously don’t buy the same basket that the Reserve Bank uses
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary-policy/about-monetary-policy/explaining-new-zealand-s-monetary-policy/what-is-inflation
“This records the change in the price of a weighted ‘basket’ of goods and services purchased by an ‘average’ New Zealand household. The percentage change of this index is typically referred to as ‘CPI inflation’.”
halfcrown, you need to take a few overseas holidays and buy a few large TV’s then you will achieve a life that will mirror the CPI inflation 🤑
http://archive.stats.govt.nz/survey-participants/survey-resources/cpi-resource.aspx
There are about 690 goods and services included in the basket. They are classified into 11 groups:
One of the reasons why I think going cashless is necessary is because it would give an accurate rate of inflation right down to the local level. Would be able to measure inflation in each individual shop.
The OCR will remain low, because raising it will lead to ‘severe outcomes’…
RBNZ, along with most (all) Central Banks, are making decisions using a failed and flawed set of policy and guidelines… They are stuck with the limited changes and levers they have available between the proverbial rock and hard place….the problems are systematic…..they will not change….indeed they cannot change….
Central bank decisions will become further divorced from what the ‘real economy’ is experiencing and living through….
Southern cross fail. The truth is it is ALL about profit.
“Just six days before Auckland mum Anna Jobsz was due to have her ovaries removed she was told her insurer wouldn’t pay.”
Southern Cross Health Society chief marketing officer Chris Watney said “Once the lifetime allowance was reached, any further procedures would not be funded, This would place too much of a burden of cost on the collective membership of our society – raising premiums significantly.”
https://i.stuff.co.nz/auckland/108419837/mum-told-six-days-before-ovarian-surgery-that-insurance-wont-cover-it
“Southern cross fail. The truth is it is ALL about profit”
I might be wrong but the way i understand it Southern cross is NOT for profit.
Southern cross is pretty good, they are much better than the shit company i have medical insurance with.
I stand corrected and withdraw and apologise.
Should always check these things twice. Thanks.
It may not be about profit but it is about keeping costs down.
Proof positive that private insurance doesn’t work. For profit private insurance is even worse because of the dead-weight loss of profit.
So now Iain Lees-Galloway
1) didn’t read the full file
2) made the decision the same day he was told about it
3) apparently spoke with the PM because he was so conflicted over it
4) relied on the advice of Immigration NZ staff
5) now has in inquiry into the INZ process around it
6) but had the information there to read himself
7) limitation of deportation liability didn’t need to be made right away considering Sroubek is still in prison.
The whole thing is a clusterfuck.
Still though, doesn’t mean he should resign. He should admit he fucked up and explain what he’s going to do to ensure that INZ don’t cause Ministers to fuck up in the future, rectify the matter, and then resign.
And yet people say that NZ1st was going to send NZ to hell in a handcart. Seems like Labour is doing that pretty well on their own.
Sounds like someone gave him shite advice, one would think one could trust ministry staff, especially those who have been doing it for years.
How many desks would an application like that cross?
Am still concerned national allowed pedos to remain in the country. Did the same staff give advice on that as well?
Sounds like someone told Galloway, that Sroubek should get permanent residency and he was only doing what he was told.
Rubbish BM.. You are surmising.
No, I’m reading between the lines.
I surmise that you cannot read the lines.
I will be accused of being a “Jacinda fan”. So be it!! I am. Why ? go to her facebook page.
There is a brilliant video of children”s responses to her request for a Christmas card design showing a NZ Christmas. WOW and WOW!!
What a great idea and person she is.
Overseas people, especially Aussies compared her with Scomo in his bus seeking votes.
She radiates her love of Children, and a wonderful ability to connect, especially with the Mum who missed the deadline and sent a photo of her child’s efforts.
Jacinda’s comments were so supportive. “Don’t beat yourself up as a Mum.” And doing a screen shot of their effort. She is indeed gold. She is genuine.
Now some will say “What about …..?” You fill the gap. But guess what, everyone of those parents know her as special.
If the U.S. had an independent media….
“the election would be about the dangerous situation created by Washington that has caused two militarily powerful countries to prepare for war with the US. This is the most serious development of my lifetime.”
If the U.S. had an independent media….
“the election would be about the American police state that, based on the 9/11 lie, the weapons of mass destruction lie, the use of chemical weapons lie, the Iranian nukes lie, the Russian invasion of Ukraine lie, was accepted by the insouciant Americans. Those responsible for these lies, which have caused massive war crimes, for which US administrations should be indicted, are feted and rich. The rest of us have experienced the loss of civil liberty and privacy. Any individual in the way of the police state is mowed down.”
If the U.S. had an independent media….
“the election would be about the de-industrialization of the United States. Today the offshoring of American manufacturing and industry has reduced the US military to dependence on Chinese suppliers.”
If the U.S. had an independent media….
“the election would be about the 20 years of US and NATO/EU war crimes against Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen, and US and NATO support for Israel’s war crimes against the remnants of the Palestinian people, and US and NATO/EU support for the neo-nazi regime established by the Obama regime in Ukraine to commit war crimes against the breakaway Russian provinces, the populations of which refuse to become victims of Washington’s overthrow of the democratic elected Ukrainian government and installation by “America’s first black president” of a neo-nazi regime.”
If the U.S. had an independent media……
“the election would be about the orchestrated demonization of Iran. The completely stupid dope that Trump appointed Secretary of State just declared (the utter fool should not be permitted to open his mouth) that Washington was going to drive Iran into the ground unless the government agreed to behave like a normal state.”
If the U.S. had an independent media….
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/11/05/what-this-election-is-about/
Roberts is one of the most readable righties, but mostly only if you squint and pretend its satire. On economics, he’s very similar to Don Brash. Politically, he pitches himself as being an independent conservative, with a sideline in left hate and wacky conspiracy theories, including that the CIA owns all the media.
The reason I find him interesting is that he’s been around a long time. He was working for Reagan during the rise of the neo Cons and seems to vaguely resent that the modern right don’t give him the props he thinks he deserves. This means he does occasionally put a good shot across the bows of his fellow conservatives.
As I wrote at the time, Trump vastly over-estimates the power of the president.
And so do most people. When the President is “in tune” with institutional power, then stuff is on steroids.
And as I’ve pointed out before on numerous occasions, the “take down” of Trump would have been attempted on Sanders too. I think people miss the point.
Kia ora The Am Show
There you go the gun control laws in America are not protecting the people that the LAW Maker’s are elected to do. Not line the rifle association pocket’s there you go money over live’s alcohol was a factor to the shooting happened in a bar .
Well O that’s correct the most important issue that will cause the most damage to OUR society Global Warming and Nothing from the media the WestCoast heavy rains and floods who is suppressing this reality .
I agree that most farmers pro a healthy environment and clean water ways and a better future for the descendants.
The only problem with the smoking in car’s ban is the police will have another tool to hit the poor common person on the head with at there discretion Its not like they are all Honorable people .
The Maori AllBlacks are playing in Brazil ka pai lets hope they are hosted well I think its good getting Aotearoa’s presents known in Brazil .
There you go Andrew Becroft alcohol the damage it does to people and the unborn child is a tragedy .
judy is full of it she will dig as deep as she could to get into power no matter who she walk’s on.
Ka kite ano
Here you go a link to back up my word’s about the shooting ka kite ano
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46135459
Eco Maori is pro wind and solar its cheaper and safer that nuclear
UK nuclear power station plans scrapped as Toshiba pulls out
Here is a excerlint opportunity to use solar and wind power generation to full the gap in the power sector in the UK
Firm’s nuclear arm to wind up next year and scrap Cumbria plant leaving big hole in UK energy plans
Some industry watchers said the collapse of the scheme should be seen as an opportunity rather than a risk, for the UK to prioritise renewables instead.
Jonathan Marshall, an analyst at the ECIU thinktank, said: “Shifting away from expensive, complicated technology towards cheaper and easier to build renewables gives the UK the opportunity to build an electricity system that will keep bills for homes and businesses down for years to come.”
The government’s infrastructure advisers recently urged ministers to rethink their nuclear plans and focus on renewables instead.
Ka kite ano link below
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/08/toshiba-uk-nuclear-power-plant-project-nu-gen-cumbria
This crab could save your life – if humans don’t wipe it out first few people in the world are aware their wellbeing may one day depend on a blue-blooded crab that looks like a cross between the facehugger from Alien and a gigantic louse. Fewer still realise this ancient creature now faces its greatest threat in more than 450m YEAR’s .
This is one reason why I say we have to protect OUR biodiversity all creatures should be treated like Dimonds Ka kite ano links below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/03/horseshoe-crab-population-at-risk-blood-big-pharma
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/03/stop-biodiversity-loss-or-we-could-face-our-own-extinction-warns-un
IT was a good start to Equality for all with Wahine and minority cultures who have won power in the American mid term election’s THIS IS JUST the start we have to keep fighting for Equality for all people and mother earth creatures ka kite ano.
P.S You no I say Wahine are more humane and intelligent than men
This is what I call innovation and thinking out side the square the new generation who wont let the old generation stop OUR world’s progress to a better future for all .
A underground road tunnel it save’s the environment no vital land use big + there is heaps of room underground and electric vehicles also it limits the weather damage that roads get from bush fires tornadoes hurricanes in theory less maintenance cost
Ka kite ano Link below
Elon Musk says his first tunnel will open in December
https://www.euronews.com/2018/10/23/elon-musk-says-his-first-tunnel-will-open-december-n922726
Here is how the Crown treated Tangata Whenua Sir Āpirana Ngata proposed the Crown set apart a portion of the lands it acquired from Māori for settlement by Māori veterans or that it purchase land from Māori explicitly for the purpose of rehabilitation. But the government, including the prime minister, refused to change any of its policies to support the needs of Māori
In some cases, Māori made gains, while others expressed frustration the sacrifices made for the price of citizenship never came to pass .For his book, Soutar says it was difficult to get the families of veterans to talk about what life was like growing up with someone who was probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition more widely considered now but ignored during and after World War I
In the place they called “Hell”, the Somme in France, Soutar say the pioneers worked in harrowing conditions.
Bodies had been lying on the ground, shells exploding. So the bodies are getting blown up again and again..
“A skull would just appear while they were digging out the wall of a trench, bones everywhere.
The smell of the place, bodies that had rotted. They became so used to it.”
The pioneers performed grim tasks as they made their way across France and Belgium.
They were going up two ridge lines with a valley in between, trying to take out the Turkish trenches. One lot started a haka on one ridge, the Māori on the other side heard it. So when they were going to take a trench they’d do a haka also.
“It was during the night and if you’ve never heard a haka before, like the Turks, how frightening it must have been.” There is a need for the wrong’s that was dish out to Maori and Pacific tangata after World WAR 1 & 2 to be acknowledged apologized & compensation for there unfair treatment . Brown people were not aloud to drink in the same pub as white people . Ka kite ano link below. P.S I Know a lot of my tipuna Whano went to both War’s
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/108363904/maori-soldiers-great-war-battle-for-equality
Black girl magic’: 19 black women ran for judge in Texas county – and all 19 won Democrats won all 59 judicial races in Harris county in Tuesday’s midterm elections. In one of the most eye-catching and significant results, the long-time incumbent Republican county judge, Ed Emmett – in effect, the county’s chief executive – lost to Lina Hidalgo, a 27-year-old first-time candidate who immigrated from Colombia as a teenager Ka kite ano link below Mana Wahine
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/08/black-women-texas-judge-harris-county
Kia ora Tekaea It was cool watching the pepei waiata and haka .
I don’t like talking about War as I don’t want to give the act any oxygen and hopefully it will drift into our history book’s
Uawa Awa tuna are sweet its good to see there are a few tuna in the Awa and to see the Wahine teaching the tamariki facts about tuna.
The new Wellington Hospital being built from the good donor and the government is going to benefit the people ka pai
Ka kite ano P.S I have tau toko the Maori AllBlacks in Eco Maori yesterdays post
Kia ora Newshub West Coast flood’s= Global Warming
Tragic that shooting in America condolences to the people who lost love one .
There you go Chris Finlayson I can see right through him he thinks people in jail don’t have rights and is using the topic of voters right as a political missile and he made the new laws to block the rights to vote for prisoners.
judey looks like you will have to find another way to line your pockets the Ancient Kauri export ban of unfinished Kauri products that law being upheld is going to save alot our wetlands .
That forest fire in Northen California is a shame condolences to the people who lost love ones and property .
There you go Prince Charles thinks about his and our grandchildren future ka pai .
I agree with the German man we should educate the youth about the tragedies of war
the way I see it the common poor suffered great losses .
Good on the Russian adventure for setting sail around the world from Aotearoa I liked watching the Royal albatross gliding above the water to .
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Wairangi and Anna got to go pick up te mokopuna’s ka kite ano
Eddy Jone’s and Coach lol
What a big spin its the Banks & business that have most the wealth from OUR fast rising house prices that have being artificially inflated over the last 10 years.
national increased immigration sold off the state houses to private enterprises and ignore the fact of a housing shortage and you create a banker & real estate agents wealthy person’s DREAM land making billion’s mean while we have a tsunami of people living under a bridge and our personal dept is huge did this researcher take that out of the equation we were at the top of the list in the 60 70’s .Some did not like a country that had better living standards per person that them so they decided to throw a spanner in the works an what do you know we have heaps of people underthe bridge
Feeling wealthy? New Zealand ranks sixth in global wealth report Ka kite ano.
link below.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/108487187/feeling-wealthy-new-zealand-ranks-sixth-in-global-wealth-report
Kia ora Newshub Nation I have already said the made my view’s on the teachers strike .
Yes I agree with that statement that employee’s should be the focus it the people the people but I say people should not expect corrections in inequality of pay to happen over night I see some people using this phenomenon as a political missile .
Technology is going to change the employment landscape and Maori & Pacific people will be displaced the most from this technology that’s why I back a Universal wage so we will be able to survive on part time seasonal work. Robots are coming on fast.
Michel I agree Auckland needs a night shelter like the one that Tini is running in Rotorua called the Hub it is working good to.
Ka kite ano
sandflys thank’s for the Vip escort when I went to pick up the mokopuna’s I smelt them as soon as I got on the state highway .
I have eased up on the factual stories about there bad behavior’s as it can affect other’s
But they keep using every dirty lying cheating trick in there book to damage my whano name and my good character. There are many story about there bad behavior’s I’m holding back till the time is correct .
I had one car at the back and 2 in front they plant a cop car were it can not be seen by a over taking lane and the driver in front slows down to get me to over take them an on goes the cop cars lights given me a speeding ticket for being 3 km over the speed limit while over taking the slow car . They have pulled once on me before but I won’t fall at trick for that trick twice . Muppets ka kite ano
I see the sandflys puppets all over the place they are lapping up the sandflys lies and cheating way’s . These people are jealous of Eco Maori sweet truthful music from my Flute Muppets. Ka kite ano
The sandfly’s will lock up a brown person as soon as look at them convicted as far as the law can see bounse more putea .
The sandflys will never give up there false harassment suppression and smear campaign of Eco Maori and his immediate whano.
Why because I have let the whole world know that the policing force around the whole world is corrupt can’t have a Brown person get away with that .
They will protect there false image links below.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=152016
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/paterson-press/2018/04/20/feds-arrest-paterson-cop-drug-dealing-charges/536253002/
https://nypost.com/2018/04/20/fbi-busts-cop-for-allegedly-dealing-drugs-out-of-his-cruiser/
Why won’t they put tracking devices in cop cars it will make them more accountable for there action’s it will make there job safer and safer for the public .
But know they cant be caught with there pant;s down at a crime seen at the same place and point in time that could be tracked and traced the data would be stored and can be retrieved at a later date who cares about safety protecting there image is what counts first to the NZpolice.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2018/10/revealed-no-gps-trackers-in-nz-police-fleet.html.
The sandfly’s have cost me jobs they have cost my son jobs and are still giving my children underarm bowls me and my SON would have been managing Farm;s if the sandflys did not play God and spread lie’s about my family $70.000 +each I will be raging on there ASS from now on they don’t give a shit about what they are doing to my kid;s so they can go get————————————————————————— .
ECO MAORI will win this WAR Bob Marley was one of the worlds greatest Prophets
every thing he said is TRUE
Eco Maori Music fo the minute .
New Zealand Council of Civil Liberties lawyer Michael Bott said “surveillance creep” is a worry and that people risked accepting being monitored “24 hours a day, seven days a week”. Ka kite ano This is what the sandflys are doing to me and my whano and worse they are adding lies and spinning this propagandize to anyone they can sell it to.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/108380437/councils-eye-up-realtime-satellite-monitoring-for-compliance-matters
Kia ora R&R I had my plans changed I was not going to comment today .
Transport is a good topic .
Eco Maori back’s Electric car and trains charged by renewable energy as hydrogen has to many losses when making the gas and storing it .
You lose %7 to %10 making the gas and more when its used for energy making electricity out of it. so I say stick with electricity and battier power storage’s .
The efficiency of electric is gaining every year and so is battier technology is advancing fast. Hydrogen will have its place in our transport mix but I predict that electricity will be the main stay .
The oil baron’s have suppressed electric transport tec for many year’s The total efficiency % losses will be about %20 to %30 thats way to high to waste
Ka kite ano P.S hope my post did not show you our scary reality
Kia ora The Hui this is a good topic its is cool to get the facts out about FetalAlcohol syndrome is a big problem for the unborn child .
Its worest than PEE coke a lot of man made substances as the story is being told on the show.
The big picture to our reality is the Booze baron have being suppressing this knowledge of the evil affects alcohol has on the human body’s systems .
Ka kite ano. Yes this will affect Maori tamariki more than other cultures.
Kia ora Jenny from Marae Sir Ngatta Love was a tool that was used as a missile to damage Tangata Whenua O Aotearoa Mana and image .I bet if it was a old European leader it would have been white washed the justice system protects ITS OWN .
And worst still he died in Jail he should not have been put in Jail .
This is going to change and we are going to change it .
It was a week after he was buried before we found out he had died .
Yes I say the system does not respect and understand Tangata Whenua Culture
Ka kite ano P.S Kia kaha
2018 was a WAY better election for Democrats than most people seem to think.
Bernie Did say don’t count your chickens and he was correct It was a big blue wave Ka pai for the Socialist Democrats for a big effort on the trumexit it look’s like he has a blue——-banned on now Ka kite ano link below
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/09/politics/2018-democrats-midterms/index.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/09/politics/democrats-midterm-statehouse-gains/index.html