Concerned Citizens presents:
Wellington fundraiser for the displaced people of Syria
Saturday 15 September 8pm @ 13 Garrett Street, Wellington
The Garret St party fundraiser is for the charitable foundation in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, now a shelter for many internally displaced families.
Featuring the amazing bands:
The Body Lyre
All Seeing Hand
Hutt Old Boys
$10 donation. All proceeds to Jafra Foundation in Yarmouk, Damascus.
The refugee camp’s hospital was heavily attacked by the government for ignoring the government order not to treat the wounded from all sides of the dispute.
What next? F15’s and F18’s against SU30’s over Syria perfecting their latest weapons and upgrades? Attack helicopters circling like vultures ready to rain death and destruction on some poor bastard on the ground , Oh yeah that’s already happening. New war, new chance to test out some really secret shit. Probably in the surveillance area from the Yanks and death from a robot overhead. Yep welcome to the world, If I was an Alien I’d just keep going.
France may break with Western policy by providing Syria’s rebels with artillery and anti-aircraft guns, a diplomat has said.
France is seeking to identify trustworthy rebel commanders controlling “liberated” territory in the provinces of Deir al-Zor, Aleppo and Idlib, the diplomat said.
“All of these elements explain the reason behind the imperialists’s (east and west) scramble, as well as the reactionary Arab regimes, Turkey and Iran and their local allies in working hystericaly to corrupt and diverge the revolution that has not been avorted. But counter-revolutionariy forces have only face failure so far.”
Statement of the Syrian revo left | The scramble by the imperialists (East and West) to abort the popular revolution | http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/how-can-we-read-the-current-dynamics-of-the-syrians-popular-revolution-and-its-perspectives/
CV since you have been claiming for months that the West have been supplying weapons to the rebels, an unnamed “diplomat said”, “France may…”, does not count as evidence. In fact it barely counts as rumour.
The Syrian people in open revolt against the thieving murderers and torturers of the Assad regime that is oppressing them, are aware of the accusations made by Assad and his supporters in the West that they are the “infiltrators”. This is what they sing:
Bashar you’re an ass and all those who support you.
“It’s time for you to go Bashar”
Syria wants freedom.
There you have it Colonial Viper, the people of Syria have officially labeled you as an ass.
*(Maher Assad’s brother in law. Known as Syria’s banker who oversaw the neoliberal looting of the state which privatised an estimated 60% of the nations wealth delivering it into the hands of the elite around Assad)
Actually the Syrian people aren’t in open revolt; it is likely that at least half the rebels are foreign fighters/foreign jihadists with very little support from locals. And very little interest in the wellbeing of Syria going forwards.
The huge Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, which has also become a haven for many internally displaced Syrians. Is being bombarded by regime artillery again.
Syrian army mortar and artillery shelling of an area of southern Damascus where Palestinian refugees live has killed at least 20 people, said residents and local emergency workers.
Among the dead were seven Palestinians killed on Thursday in a bombardment of Yarmouk refugee camp, reported sources in the camp.
Forces loyal to president Bashar Assad bombed Safad and al-Jaouna areas and the al-Basel Hospital, local Yarmouk media reported, adding that residents of the camp would protest the shelling outside the al-Waseem Mosque after evening prayers.
ACC is spending millions of dollars flying doctors around New Zealand to assess long-term clients who have already been assessed by other doctors.
The policy has been slammed by John Miller – one of the country’s top lawyers specialising in ACC legislation – who said the so-called “independence” of some assessors was a sham.
ACC lawyers, advocates and claimant groups know those doctors as “hatchet men and women”, Mr Miller said.
“They are not independent, as a substantial part of their income comes from ACC,” he said.
“Mr Miller said the solution would be for ACC to start using a group of trusted assessors who could “be used by both sides.””
That says it all really. That there are now two sides demonstrates the failure of ACC to look after people in need.
What worries me is the people that get shunted off ACC onto WINZ. In the past at least they could get Invalid’s Benefit, but I suspect with the tightening up of IB rules, many are being put on SB long term. SB rates are set because it is meant to be a short/med term benefit.
There is the huge disparity between disability that comes from accident and disability that comes from illness. Accident means you get substantially higher support (which is why ACC is so focussed on getting people rediagnosed as chronically ill). Illness means often you get bugger all support.
It’s also a concern that the role and culture of ACC has been being changed for so long that for many people what ACC do now will be considered normal. The situation we are in now is a result of the failure of our political system.
I wonder how long before a complaint is made to the medical council and they get suspended for malpractice? ACC provides their paycheck, but the MC provides their accreditation…
This is not something that I am “campaigning” for, it is about real issues that sadly the mainstream media simply do not raise and adress much at all. I just recently was told by a NZ Herald journalist, that they are simply not given the time to do any proper research of topics and issues, they do generally more rely on press releases and the likes.
That is why there is almost “zilch” in reporting on social and health issues of this type, and too much consideration and respect is given to medical “experts” and the people running ACC and WINZ.
This whole ACC saga only came into the headlines, because a former National Party hot-shot like Bronwyn Pullar involved the media, and especially since she also involved her other top Nat. Party friend to try and get a settlement – using also the leaked information to push her case.
There are many stories where ordinary people are affected, but little or NO attention is given to them.
I also did primarily focus on what has been going on at WINZ. How would anybody feel, if they have to go and see a so-called “designated doctor” for a “second opinion”, when the fact is, that they have been “trained” in special course sessions by the Ministry of Social Development since 2008. How “independent” is that???
Anyway re ACC, it pays to have a closer look at the board member Dr Des Gorman, who has a very chequered and questionable background as frequently used, former “advisor” to ACC on individual claims and cases.
Dr Des Gorman as new board member of ACC, working alongside the new head of ACC, who is Paula Rebstock (former business operator, Commerce Commissioner, senior Welfare Working Group member), does sent serious warning signs. It does show anything else but a supposed “change of culture” at ACC:
http://healthworkforce.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Discussion Paper – Workforce Requirements for New Models of Service Delivery.pdf
(see especially the already commenced training program to enable GPs to complete some additional modules in training, equipping them with basic “mental health” qualification, to be used for treating and assessing mental health clients, also of course, for WINZ)
This man now wields so much influence and power in the whole health sector, it is extremely worrying to have that man sit next to Rebstock on the ACC Board for the next 3 years. I do not for one moment believe there will be a “culture change”, except perhaps more stringent privacy policies and more secrecy about what they get up to at ACC. I am extremely concerned about what is going on at ACC and WINZ!
“Meanwhile the property market in Auckland is back on the tax loophole-driven rollercoaster, with double-digit price increases over the last year locking more young New Zealanders out of homes and syphoning capital away from job-creating businesses.
“How bad does it have to get before the Government wakes up?
“Just this morning Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce claimed ‘we are not seeing growth in unemployment’. He must be blind. The Household Labour Force Survey is crystal clear that unemployment has gone up.
“The National Government promised a brighter future, but nothing has changed from their hands-off-and-hope approach of the early 1990s. They have no economic policy beyond tax cuts and salary increases for the wealthy, and wishful thinking about commodity prices in milk powder and raw logs.
“Meanwhile the property market in Auckland is back on the tax loophole-driven rollercoaster, with double-digit price increases over the last year locking more young New Zealanders out of homes and syphoning capital away from job-creating businesses.
This is an important issue,as the AK property market is presently being driven mostly by investors using leverage and historical low interest rates.
The sell of the CGT by labour was problematic,and confounded by unnecessary policy distractions such as gst on veges etc.
If the demand was constrained by CGT a more sustainable regime of low interest would be available to all New Zealanders and housing affordability would be more ubiquitous,
Household debt affordability (as a % of disposable income) has reduced significantly of its peak of 2009 driven solely by interest rates.If interest rates corrected upwards,the many would again pay for the few.
If the demand was constrained by CGT a more sustainable regime of low interest would be available to all New Zealanders and housing affordability would be more ubiquitous,
Needs more than a CGT to achieve that. Don’t know what more though.
CGT is a mechanism that constrains price growth, eg bubbles,it would tend to smooth price bursts.
Would not a more sustainable future with low interest rates allow both households and business to have more manageable forecasts.
Labours sell of CGT failed to some extent on the premis it would raise little funds in the short term.It does have a number of positive feedbacks such as diversifying investment and reducing funding costs.
Much more transparency needs to be brought into the benefits and costs of the policy,it is not necessarily a silver bullet,so to speak but it is a start.
CGT is a mechanism that constrains price growth, eg bubbles,it would tend to smooth price bursts.
In theory. Most of the OECD have one and yet housing price bubbles still eventuated bringing down the entire global financial system.
I’m all for a CGT but we’re going to need more to achieve a viable society. Stopping the banks from creating debt based money would be another needed policy.
In theory. Most of the OECD have one and yet housing price bubbles still eventuated bringing down the entire global financial system.
The main reasons for the bubble, were deregulation of the financial systems in the US and too much liquidity eg Reavis 2012
At the same time that U.S. banking regulations were easing, the middle class in emerging markets such as China and India was growing at a phenomenal rate. As a result of this economic growth, the “global pool of money” doubled from $36 trillion in 2000 to $70 trillion in 2008. One economist observed, “The world was not ready for all this money. There’s twice as much money looking for investments, but there are not twice as many good investments.”What was once considered a safe and profitable investment, U.S. Treasury bonds, was no longer appealing as the federal funds rate that was 6.5% for much of 2000 dropped below 2% in 2003.35 Enter mortgage-backed securities.
As a result of this economic growth, the “global pool of money” doubled from $36 trillion in 2000 to $70 trillion in 2008.
This is assbackwards I’m afraid. Economic growth doesn’t ‘create money’. Central bank printing and investment bank debt creation creates money. Which in a real economy gets put to use for economic growth.
This suggests that the investment is not on fundamentals,such as a return on equity,but on future value ie speculation.This is more related to the AK market ,as say Wellington where housing inventory is around 1yr.retail and light commercial around 3 yrs and office around 5 years in surplus.(mostly due to strengthening requirements) and employment stagnation and uncertainty.
Clearly we need some innovative thinking,to redirect investment into sustainable and productive sectors.
Asset speculation bubbles are heavily predicated on access to ever increasing amounts of easy, cheap, bank debt.
A 15% CGT is going to do sweet FA if property speculators are anticipating that they can keep 85% of big gains from an overheating property market. And that those gains are better than what can be got from say, investing in a small business and hiring staff.
So much more needs to be done than just a CGT. A straight out asset tax is an option. As is Steve Keen’s idea – you limit the amount banks can lend for a property to a multiple of the rental income that property can generate.
So much more needs to be done than just a CGT. A straight out asset tax is an option. As is Steve Keen’s idea – you limit the amount banks can lend for a property to a multiple of the rental income that property can generate.
Indeed,not only in say property but in “revalued asset” returns as suggested by Gareth Morgan such as natural monopolies such as Energy generation,airports and ports etc.
The cost/plus mentality reduces the technological evolution for continuous improvement and efficiency.
If every poor person manages to get housed by HNZ, then it will be less tempting for a ‘mum and dad’ New Zealander to buy a block of flats on tick and rent it out at crippling prices to DPB mums and call it ‘saving for their retirement’.
Banks seems to be out of step with his focus groups such as The New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA) is encouraging political parties to support the RBNZ Amendment Bill to the select committee stage. The Bill proposes changing the wording on the primary function of the Reserve Bank.
This is the proposed wording:
“The primary function of the Bank is to formulate and implement monetary policy directed to the economic objective of maintaining stability in the general level of prices while maintaining an exchange rate that is conducive to real export growth and job creation.”
NZMEA Chief Executive John Walley says, “Across the political spectrum we have agreement that the New Zealand Dollar is too high and volatile. Supporting this Bill through to the select committee stage will create open debate on the issue and perhaps some action will follow. The world is a different place today than it was in2007 when monetary policy was last reviewed.”
“The changes to the Reserve Bank Act need to be debated – what are the targets, what are the mechanisms, how will the decisions be made, who will make those decisions and how will the Reserve Bank board be constituted. All political parties should support the Bill through to a select committee phase and front up to the arguments .What we have at the moment is not working.”
“A number of central banks around the world have taken action to prevent the overvaluation of their currency so there is now plentyof international evidence to call on. The United States Federal Reserve has just announced it is likely to have another round of quantitative easing, Canada has introduced loan to value ratios to prevent demand for household debt from pushing up their currency and Switzerland has been intervening for over a year to lower the value of their currency.”
“Lowering the exchange rate is the precursor to balancing the economy through export growth. Openly exploring options on how to achieve this has to start somewhere.”
Unfortunately toxic brands such as Banks (whose shelf life expired some time ago) still linger like a bad odour.
On a related note, I would like to see them spell out their intentions forthrightly. I would like to hear someone say something along the lines of, “We intend to divert investment away from property and into the kinds of productive industries that underpin employment. We intend to bring about affordable housing, whose affordability is not undermined by excessive travel costs. We intend that our cities are liveable cities, and that our provinces are not left to die from lack of investment. If our initial moves, like the capital gains tax etc, do not bring about the intended results, then we will try other methods, but we are absolutely determined to make real progress in these areas.”
In the 2000s, it was possible to believe that the market was maturing, and that incremental social gains could be made as it matured. That seems to be the thesis that underpinned the third way. Not any more. The market now stands revealed as a great predation machine. No progress can be made until it is treated as such.
If Procrustes had two iron beds upon which to stretch or truncate his victims, the current neoliberal establishment possesses two political parties to fend off any genuine ideological challenge. Both parties insist that New Zealand measures-up to the financial markets, and if it’s found wanting, both are ready to lop off a billion or two.
Over the last few centuries or so capitalism has been shown to be a failure and yet no parties seem willing to advocate for anything to replace it.
There has been evidence that the Scandinavian social democracies have been better positioned to survive the GFC. That is what is claimed in this article from 2009:
According to liberal thinkers, Scandinavian countries should have drowned in the current economic crisis with their bloated public sectors and a nanny-state mentality that stifles individual creativity.
But the opposite has happened. Sweden, Denmark and Norway, where many people pay 50% of their income in taxes – with some even paying 60% – are coping better than most, in particular better than Britain.
…
Not that these small, export-led economies have not been hit by the decline in global trade. All the Scandinavian governments have had to offer bank rescue plans and stimulus packages. Some manufacturers, such as the carmaker Saab, have gone bankrupt. Unemployment is on the rise too – 9.8% in Sweden, 3.8% in Denmark and 3.1% in Norway.
Overall, these countries’ high-tax, high-benefit welfare systems have been acting as stabilisers to their economies. If you lose your job in Sweden, you can expect to receive 80% of your wages for the first 200 days of inactivity, up to 680 kronor (£55) per day, dropping to 70% for the following 100 days. If you lose your job in Norway, you will receive 62% of your previous salary for up to two years.
But according to this piece of uni research from Denmark, the Scandinavian model is built on trust, that needs to be there before the development of a welfare state:
“Our research indicates the exact opposite,” says Bjørnson. “We’ve always had a great trust in other people in Scandinavia, and this trust is the cornerstone of our welfare state.”
Together with Andreas Bergh, of Lund University in Sweden, he has just published the article Historical Trust Levels Predict the Current Size of the Welfare State in the economic journal Kyklos.
…
Bjørnskov believes this trust can be explained with reference to the great internal stability in Denmark and Norway. These two nations have never really had any feuds, civil wars or general disagreements.
…
Bjørnskov argues that since the welfare state involves handing out money to people we don’t know, a general trust in our peers is essential.
…
The only other countries with the same trust levels are Canada and New Zealand. Bjørnskov thinks it would be impossible to introduce a welfare state in any other countries:
But in recent times we have seen both National and Labour (highlighted by Shearer’s roof painter story) doing their best to undermine and eradicate any such trust that still exists amongst Kiwis.
Interesting because the one that is having worse results than the other two, Sweden, has been praised recently by the Neo-Liberal right for abandoning “socialist” policies and becoming more economically “liberal” than the other Scandinavian countries.
Note the drop in Swedens OECD education rankings since they started charter schools, for example.
But according to this piece of uni research from Denmark, the Scandinavian model is built on trust, that needs to be there before the development of a welfare state:
And the entire neo-liberal system actively undermines that trust. People who are systematically exploited to benefit a few know that they’re being exploited and so trust is undermined in the normal working of the capitalist socio-economic system.
Roughly 100 years ago they discovered that particles smaller than atoms could be described in terms of a ‘quantum state’. A whole lot of characteristics which mainly apply to matter and energy on a tiny scale. Fairly easy to understand things like the frequency (colour to the human eye) of a photon of light and the voltage of an electron of electricity etc. but also many other characteristics.
What they also figured out is that two tiny particles which are associated (entangled) together somehow, like two photons of light (maybe they were from the same light source but you split them apart) stay somehow connected even when you physically separate them. In this case over 100km.
What these guys did, by using really sensitive detection equipment, is show that they could transfer the quantum state of one of the photons of light to the other one 143km away. With no known passing of information, signals or messaging between the two locations. Governments are interested in this stuff as it means that there is no known way to “intercept” such a transfer.
Or to use another example. It’s like one twin instantaneously knowing what the other is experiencing from the opposite side of the world.
Is the entanglement something that is known about in more detail, or is it assumed on the basis of the behaviour? ie what does entanglement mean?
Like typical scientific knowledge, its a theory which seems to fit and predict what has been observed over many decades. “Entanglement” to my mind means a connection via some past association. This is the kicker: the application of human consciousness can create and alter entanglement. In physics this is seen when the quantum state of a particle is set when – and only when – we decide to measure it.
But this happens in nature on its own too? (two entangled particles a distance apart).
Can they study it in nature, or are they looking solely at ones they create?
How can they separate two particles over a distance?
Yes it happens in nature too. If it is indeed a fundamental characteristic of matter and energy then in fact our universe is dependent on “entanglement”. I believe they can study naturally occurring instances of entanglement but the mere action of studying something, changes it.
As to how you can separate two particles over a distance. Its really quite easy in principle. I don’t know how they did it in the experiment but using a mirror, prism or diffraction grating to split a single light source up in different directions is totally standard practice.
Ok, but does that mean that they make changes in one and the changes happen in the other for reasons we don’t know yet?
Yes. For instance they can set up two entangled particles where their “spin” (not actual spin like a ball, just another crazy quantum characteristic they named that way) of the particles has to be opposite to each other.
They can then separate the two particles. When they force one of the particles to change its spin guess what happens to its entangled partner? Yep…it changes too, to remain its opposite…and does so instantaneously.
Its about here that considerations of universal cause and effect become very interesting.
Thanks CV, that’s given me a refresher on quantum physics, and added a few things.
” “Entanglement” to my mind means a connection via some past association. ”
Curious name to have been chosen. Anyone know what the reason was?
Are all these experiments being done with photons?
“Its about here that considerations of universal cause and effect become very interesting”
Indeed. It’s one of the few areas of very expensive science that I think isn’t a waste of money in the face of resource depletion and CC.
As an aside, are they teaching quantum physics in schools now? It must be so much easier to be able to think outside newtonian physics if one learns it as one grows up.
Photons are the easiest to do these experiments with because entangled pairs can be created through a process known as parametric down conversion. This generally consists of a laser at a certain frequency shone into a nonlinear crystal. Some of the photons will change to two photons of a lower frequency inside the crystal. The easiest case to imagine is where each of these is at half the frequency of the original photon. They will then exit the crystal in different directions, with momentum conserved, and can be measured at spatially separated locations.
If the measurements violate certain inequalities which are usually developed from the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the two photons are shown to be entangled. One of the ways of understanding this without violating Special Relativity is that the two photons are described by the same wavefunction before measurement and that the measurements lead to a collapse of the wavefunction. This will collapse in different ways depending on which measurements are made. This is the explanation of the Copenhagen interpretation, with others being possible.
There is no reason why atoms and other things cannot also be entangled. In fact, experiments have already been done with atoms and even Bose-Einstein condensates. What we need to remember is that information cannot be transferred instantaneously using this mechanism, because this would violate Special Relativity. This was one of the points that made Einstein unhappy about quantum mechanics, with his claiming that it was an incomplete theory. Experiments much later on, measuring some quantities defined by Bell, showed that it wasn’t.
As far as teaching it in schools goes, I think entanglement is generally introduced in the 3rd year of university physics. Some of quantum mechanics could be taught in schools and I remember learning about the orbitals of the hydrogen atom in the 7th form, but in general understanding stuff like entanglement properly requires a reasonably high level of mathematical sophistication, which I doubt many schoolteachers would have, let alone the students.
The name came from Erwin Schrödinger, who called it verschränkung.
We should also remember that entanglement was not a theory developed to explain observations. It is a physical effect predicted by a theoretical extension of Quantum Mechanics into what Einstein considered ridiculous, but Schrödinger and others defended. It was only observed experimentally many years later.
Scientific theories are sometimes developed to explain things which have been measured already, but they can also be used to predict things which have never been observed, such as the Higgs boson. In this sense, entanglement is as much a theory as the road outside my flat is.
These pages explain quantum entanglement by way of pictures, analogies, but without math.
To understand quantum entanglement, several ideas and words must be explained, especially the idea of a photon. The photon is a key concept in physics, and so critical to entanglement that its behaviours must be fully understood. But before delving into the details of photons, let’s take a look at the world of the tiny, beginning with waves and atoms.
Clearly the current regime of ACC specialists declining people’s claims without justification and often contradicting existing medical assessments isn’t in the best interest of people’s rehabilitation…
But there again if you are treated like shit, and made to think you are lower than every one else, then really what do they expect? And then if you are lucky to actually get a part time job, Winz are there yet again, just to remind you that you are lower then whale shit, and tax you to the extent that it’s just not worth trying to get ahead. So if they want to stop the fraud then stop treating people like third class citizens. But as usual Puddin Benefit is not listening .
Some of those cases aren’t minor, though. We’re only playing Bennett’s game if we equate major organised fraudsters with people struggling on the sickness benefit. Lumping them all together in the public mind is exactly what the right are aiming for. The left shouldn’t fall into that trap.
What the left (looking at you, Shearer) should do is talk MORE about fraud, like this …
So, to put that into context, one “respectable” white-collar crim ripped off 5 million bucks, which is more than 200 people managed in the Stuff article linked by David H.
The finance companies and associated scams (either failed or fraudulent) have cost thousands of Kiwis countless millions, there are people in court every week, and if we want to talk about fairness and greed, it’s all there, ready for Labour’s next Grey Power speech. If only they could see it.
Stop the press, Audrey Young makes unjustifiable assertions:
If Maoridom were to unite behind a single and reasonable response to the Waitangi Tribunal report and the Government unreasonably ignored it, it could develop into a crisis.
But the chances of that happening are slim to zero and the Government is banking on that.
Yeah, no. I suspect that nationwide hui that are happening will, as a matter of fact, produce a united and reasonable response from Iwi.
and that stupidity was followed by:
The Government does not have a strategy of divide and rule.
Um, Audrey, all the bene bashing that has been coming out of this government is part of their divide and rule strategy.
I didn’t get any further than that as the ignorance she was spouting just wasn’t worth reading.
Dear Russia and/or Mr Putin,
Please keep him.
He was going to “challenge” you. Now he’s only going to “ask”. So no need for the knife in the side.
But if you could see it in you – we’d rather nor see him back anyway.Perhaps a position as Syrian gauche – iator? Suit us just fine.
Bronah’s busy weighing he options but a one bedroom flat would do.
…..more to follow
I don’t have the brains (sleep debt for the win) to completely go over this, but it now appears the non-coding regions of the human genome are full of regulatory elements, regulatory elements which are actively expressed in cells at levels beyond mere basal level of expression. Sure, there’s still non-coding DNA with no damn function and various transposons and other such parasites such as LINES, SINES etc, but damn.
Uh, basically, this makes gene expression control in eukaryotes even more interesting and potentially complex, but also explains why we see so many major issues caused by the lose of major non-coding areas of chromosomes. Especially given that these regulatory elements are interspersed through out the genome…
Oh, and this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_DNA has some of the basics of gene expression, it’s not a nice simple binary process typically, but a glorious, multi-factor monster that would drive a computer programmer mental (blame evolution, elements tacked on and recruited via accident and pressed into service via selection and whole systems re purposed blindly) and turn an engineer into a gibbering husk.
As for analogy? It’s a bit like having a mostly dark sky due to an interstellar dust cloud blocking the view, only when you develop the visual and radio astronomy tools do you find the sky is full of fucking stars. Everywhere. Even the darkest parts are full of light (r.e. the Hubble Deep Field) if you look closely and long enough.
But now, the geneticists, cell and developmental biologists get to drive themselves nuts trying to work out just what’s going on. Me? I’ll have to ponder this until I’m mentally fit enough to go back into study and delve into it in post grad work. And damnit, from an evolutionary developmental biology perspective this is utterly glorious stuff that’s going to make things _very_ interesting in terms of understanding phenotypes and breeding barriers :3
I was taught that all this non protein coding stuff was just “junk DNA”. That’s what really smart, yet simultaneously dumb, scientists taught the rest of us muppets for years.
RedLogix: look up the “Central Dogma” of molecular biology. Yes, they really called it that.
The human genome project was a have. Genes are just design blue prints. They control fuck all.
It is also worthwhile to view HS’s defence of conventionally accepted cancer treatments, and his detraction of everything else, when absolutely NONE of those cancer treatments were designed or proved with any knowledge of epigenetics in mind. Sorta important for working with tumours, one would have thought. If those treatments work for some patients, great, but they work from the standpoint of significant ignorance.
Pro-tip, I’ll keep 🙄 at you if you keep abusing the term epigenetics, with cancers it’s all down to gene expression patterns and epigenetic specific issues don’t dominate anywhere near compared to ye olde random DNA mutations, inherited dodgy genes and mutagenic chemicals. At least from what I know of the science, but by all means feel free to go a hunting through the actual peer reviewed, published cancer research literature.
As for conventional cancer treatments vs “new” ones, cancer is a fucking mosaic of causation and phenotypes, and at present, the older methods have a much broader coverage (bar the untreatable cancer types…) as they hit the basic stuff that most cancers share, rapid, uncontrolled cell growth. As gene expression profiling becomes more common in a medical settings (and _if_ iRNA tech gets anywhere) we may see more targeted approaches, but until then some of the newer biotech drugs only work for a subset of sufferers. So yes, sticking with the older, well tested treatments is not entirely irrational.
Especially given the failure rate of new drugs and treatments in clinical trials.
Pro-tip, I’ll keep 🙄 at you if you keep abusing the term epigenetics
Since I’m not in your narrow field, and have no need to be published by the journals representing your narrow field, I don’t have a particular need to abide by your narrow field’s narrow definition of jargon terms. Especially when the term has been defined and used in multiple other ways for 70 odd years.
To put it another way, you don’t get to define and capture the language.
Your statement
with cancers it’s all down to gene expression patterns and epigenetic specific issues don’t dominate anywhere near compared to ye olde random DNA mutations, inherited dodgy genes and mutagenic chemicals.
and
cancer is a fucking mosaic of causation and phenotypes
seem to directly contradict each other
but I suppose that may be accounted for if you are using the phrase “epigenetic specific issues” in your narrow field’s particularly narrow way.
Well, that was because it had no known function at the time.
Thing is in science, until you have evidence something is X, claiming it’s X without any evidence ranges from mere conjecture, to reasoned scientific hypothesis and all the way to outright pseudoscience.
Thing is in science, until you have evidence something is X, claiming it’s X without any evidence ranges from mere conjecture, to reasoned scientific hypothesis and all the way to outright pseudoscience.
So these scientists had evidence showing that those vast stretches of nucleotides were junk? Doubtful.
Instead of saying “it’s likely that those areas of DNA are junk” why didn’t they say “it’s likely that our understanding of those areas of DNA are junk”? Scientists more willing to junk nature than to junk themselves. Imagine that.
A whole generation of molecular geneticists have come and gone and finally the cogs of science can advance one more turn, I suppose.
BTW one generation’s “pseudoscience” often turns out to be the next generations “scientific consensus”. DDT being harmful, artificial food colourings bad for kids etc.
So these scientists had evidence showing that those vast stretches of nucleotides were junk? Doubtful.
/sigh
I should have included a bit of history of the term, namely that it was picked up in the pop-sci press and became entrenched, but suffice to say, the null hypothesis always applies first until you have evidence it’s wrongzors.
And yes, until recently we haven’t had the molecular biology tools to the work ENCODE has done here. Hell, 10 years ago DNA arrays weren’t readily available and took a lot of work to prepare, so western blot and similar electrophoresis gel systems were still the norm, except for very well funded labs. And so working out what genes were being expressed was rather fun and involved a hell of a lot of grunt work, and we didn’t have anywhere as much background as we do now.
BTW one generation’s “pseudoscience” often turns out to be the next generations “scientific consensus”. DDT being harmful, artificial food colourings bad for kids etc.
🙄
I feel the need to cluebat you, as you haven’t bothered doing teh research on the history and critical thinking it seems on either of those. Because if you had, I wouldn’t be 🙄 at you.
What about the arrogance of looking stuff up on the internet and thinking you know more about it than people who have actually devoted years of their life to studying and advancing the field? How many friends does that win?
Not sure where I have been arrogant here. Perhaps arrogant in attempting to challenge the narrow outlook of a narrow academic field? Subject area experts must always expect and be prepared to respond to generalist challenge IMO. Not all can.
NickS uses the term “epigenetic” is a way which is very particular to his field, but does not accept that the term predates his field by decades and has other longstanding definitions.
I also mention various cases where the science ‘flip flopped’ (you could be kind and say “advanced”) where lay people once demonised by the professionals eventually turned out to be way ahead of the game.
BTW in my view physics and mathematics are the two true sciences. The third I might add is in complex systems.
“I also mention various cases where the science ‘flip flopped’ (you could be kind and say “advanced”) where lay people once demonised by the professionals eventually turned out to be way ahead of the game.”
Epigenetics refers to non-DNA inherited changes, stuff like micro RNA’s carried over and patterns of histone and DNA methylation.
Where as ENCODE is looking at the genome 😉
So while there’s some epigenetic aspects involved with methylation patterns vis gene expression, this deals with genes*.
_______________________________
*Gene – any sequence of DNA, seriously. Type of gene depends on where the sequence is, and what the sequence is.
This is the very definition from the scientific literature.
With cancers, if it’s not mutational (random, viral, or mutagenic chemicals), it’s usually caused by chemical-induced changes in gene expression that become locked in via methylation pattern changes initially, though I’m not quite up-to-date with cancer biology vis epigenetic cancers.
Ahhhh thanks. I see that “modern” science has decided to narrow the definition down severely from the 1942 introduction of the term into something convenient for research, although not something I’m confident is necessarily useful for much else.
To quote the wiki entry more fully:
Robin Holliday defined epigenetics as “the study of the mechanisms of temporal and spatial control of gene activity during the development of complex organisms.”[8] Thus epigenetic can be used to describe anything other than DNA sequence that influences the development of an organism.
The modern usage of the word in scientific discourse is more narrow, referring to heritable traits (over rounds of cell division and sometimes transgenerationally) that do not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence.
Thanks guys. This topic is way out of my zone, but it’s fascinating seeing science do what it eventually does best; building new insights on what has shown to be sound and discarding what is no longer useful.
I can only really speak about physics, but most of what we follow today is an extension of what went before. Good examples of this are Special Relativity, which extended Newtonian mechanics and classical electromagnetism to higher energies, and Quantum Mechanics, the development of which was necessary to understand the radiation emitted by hot bodies at high frequencies. Most theories develop from a need to understand nature in a regime where the old ones are inadequate. In that sense, Newtonian mechanics is perfectly adequate to design a car, but would be pretty hopeless at designing a GPS system.
When new theories do come up, the first thing they need to do is explain something better than the old ones, or they get rejected pretty quickly. In my view they should also be testable, and tested, by experiment.
In other disciplines, such as chemistry and medicine, for example, the systems worked with are not generally as “clean” or “simple” as in physics, so that absolute proof or disproof of a theory can be a bit harder.
Physics and medicine are not comparable types of science. At best, medicine is an applied science which has decided that sampling statistics will largely determine what it views as true and untrue.
Yeah right, given who the author is, I’d rather shove glass shards in my eyes…
Ignorant. You won’t read something because you don’t like the author? Seriously?
When we lived in Welly I read him regularly. Sometimes I agreed, sometimes I didn’t – but it’s juvenile to refuse to read a column by someone because they offended you once. (That being said, I don’t agree with this particular blog entry.)
An article by John Pilger where he expresses the logic that shows that liberalism is the most violent and warmongering ‘ism around.
In Anglo-American scholarship, influential theorists known as “liberal realists” have long taught that liberal imperialists – a term they never use – are the world’s peacebrokers and crisis managers, rather than the cause of a crisis.
They have taken the humanity out of the study of nations and congealed it with a jargon that serves warmongering power. Laying out whole nations for autopsy, they have identified “failed states” (nations difficult to exploit) and “rogue states” (nations resistant to western dominance).
Well, I have always seen “liberalism” as a fairly conservative philosophy – centrist. Its focus is on the individual’s rights & responsibilities. But, as far as I’m aware, it doesn’t include much analysis of power differences or they way some groups have more power or status than others.
US-ians refer to liberals as “left”, but that’s because several decades of reds-under-the-beds scaremongering has expunged socialism from the mainstream. Their “liberalism” promotes a (mythical) meritocracy, which is based on assumptions of a level playing field for all.
So, it doesn’t surprise me that liberalism opens the door to violent, and other forms of, dominance, conquest and suppression, by powerful elites.
Racist Islamaphobe Bruce Bawer declares his dismay that Anders Brevik is a great admirer of his. Brevik favorably cited Bawer’s name no less than 22 times in his racist anti-multicultural ‘manifesto’ justifying his massacre.
Bawer describes his anti-islamic policies as “liberal”, “leftist” even.
the classic liberalism has almost become an anachronism.
just like scientific marxism
it is time the world developed new philosophies to cope with the degradation of the planet and overpopulation.
just mouthing old words aint gonna do nothing.
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
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A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
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The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
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Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
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The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
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Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
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New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
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Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
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Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
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The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
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The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
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Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
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There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
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Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
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Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
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The Corrections Minister admits he "muddied the water" after he and the Prime Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about a $1.9 billion prison spend-up. ...
It took a post-post-cabinet statement to confirm that 810 new beds will be built at Waikeria, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. She’d been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Auckland’s Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
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Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
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Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event – the Universal Periodic Review – is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – H5N1, or bird flu – has been flying around the world since the late 1990s. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands are so far free of it, but now it’s been discovered in mainland Antarctica and scientists say it’s only a matter of time ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Stokan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. ...
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http://www.facebook.com/events/376891172379944/
Concerned Citizens presents:
Wellington fundraiser for the displaced people of Syria
Saturday 15 September 8pm @ 13 Garrett Street, Wellington
The Garret St party fundraiser is for the charitable foundation in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, now a shelter for many internally displaced families.
Featuring the amazing bands:
The Body Lyre
All Seeing Hand
Hutt Old Boys
$10 donation. All proceeds to Jafra Foundation in Yarmouk, Damascus.
http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/wellington-fundraiser-for-the-displaced-people-of-syria/
The refugee camp’s hospital was heavily attacked by the government for ignoring the government order not to treat the wounded from all sides of the dispute.
I hear France is now going to provide heavy artillery, other heavy arms, and financing directly to the rebels now.
This foreign powers proxy war is going to help the Syrian people no end.
pre scroll (scrabble to play)
ol’ FOX tele: chem weapons in 20 sites (U.S intell)
U.S personnel at Turkey/Syria border
FOX-what if, waht if, waht eef..weapons reach Hizbollah?
la la la la la…
What next? F15’s and F18’s against SU30’s over Syria perfecting their latest weapons and upgrades? Attack helicopters circling like vultures ready to rain death and destruction on some poor bastard on the ground , Oh yeah that’s already happening. New war, new chance to test out some really secret shit. Probably in the surveillance area from the Yanks and death from a robot overhead. Yep welcome to the world, If I was an Alien I’d just keep going.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9526239/France-may-send-anti-aircraft-guns-to-Syrian-rebels.html
“All of these elements explain the reason behind the imperialists’s (east and west) scramble, as well as the reactionary Arab regimes, Turkey and Iran and their local allies in working hystericaly to corrupt and diverge the revolution that has not been avorted. But counter-revolutionariy forces have only face failure so far.”
Statement of the Syrian revo left | The scramble by the imperialists (East and West) to abort the popular revolution | http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/how-can-we-read-the-current-dynamics-of-the-syrians-popular-revolution-and-its-perspectives/
CV since you have been claiming for months that the West have been supplying weapons to the rebels, an unnamed “diplomat said”, “France may…”, does not count as evidence. In fact it barely counts as rumour.
Indeed! It’s terrible…
The Syrian people in open revolt against the thieving murderers and torturers of the Assad regime that is oppressing them, are aware of the accusations made by Assad and his supporters in the West that they are the “infiltrators”. This is what they sing:
http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/syria-revolutions-mocking-bird-haunts-his-murderers/#more-19868
There you have it Colonial Viper, the people of Syria have officially labeled you as an ass.
*(Maher Assad’s brother in law. Known as Syria’s banker who oversaw the neoliberal looting of the state which privatised an estimated 60% of the nations wealth delivering it into the hands of the elite around Assad)
Actually the Syrian people aren’t in open revolt; it is likely that at least half the rebels are foreign fighters/foreign jihadists with very little support from locals. And very little interest in the wellbeing of Syria going forwards.
The huge Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, which has also become a haven for many internally displaced Syrians. Is being bombarded by regime artillery again.
http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/palestinian-area-of-damascus-blasted-by-assads-artillery/
If you are in Wellington next Saturday support the fundraiser for Yarmouk.
zetetic
Is this what xtasy @
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-05092012/#comment-517800
has been asking, or campaigning for? or at least a step on the way? or is xtasy referring more to WINZ and sickness and disabled beneficiaries?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7637014/ACC-pays-millions-to-send-its-hatchets
“Mr Miller said the solution would be for ACC to start using a group of trusted assessors who could “be used by both sides.””
That says it all really. That there are now two sides demonstrates the failure of ACC to look after people in need.
What worries me is the people that get shunted off ACC onto WINZ. In the past at least they could get Invalid’s Benefit, but I suspect with the tightening up of IB rules, many are being put on SB long term. SB rates are set because it is meant to be a short/med term benefit.
There is the huge disparity between disability that comes from accident and disability that comes from illness. Accident means you get substantially higher support (which is why ACC is so focussed on getting people rediagnosed as chronically ill). Illness means often you get bugger all support.
It’s also a concern that the role and culture of ACC has been being changed for so long that for many people what ACC do now will be considered normal. The situation we are in now is a result of the failure of our political system.
Agreed.
I wonder how long before a complaint is made to the medical council and they get suspended for malpractice? ACC provides their paycheck, but the MC provides their accreditation…
Would be interesting to know if any complaints are going to the HDC as well.
ATOS-“they come for ‘X’ “
Carol –
This is not something that I am “campaigning” for, it is about real issues that sadly the mainstream media simply do not raise and adress much at all. I just recently was told by a NZ Herald journalist, that they are simply not given the time to do any proper research of topics and issues, they do generally more rely on press releases and the likes.
That is why there is almost “zilch” in reporting on social and health issues of this type, and too much consideration and respect is given to medical “experts” and the people running ACC and WINZ.
This whole ACC saga only came into the headlines, because a former National Party hot-shot like Bronwyn Pullar involved the media, and especially since she also involved her other top Nat. Party friend to try and get a settlement – using also the leaked information to push her case.
There are many stories where ordinary people are affected, but little or NO attention is given to them.
I also did primarily focus on what has been going on at WINZ. How would anybody feel, if they have to go and see a so-called “designated doctor” for a “second opinion”, when the fact is, that they have been “trained” in special course sessions by the Ministry of Social Development since 2008. How “independent” is that???
Anyway re ACC, it pays to have a closer look at the board member Dr Des Gorman, who has a very chequered and questionable background as frequently used, former “advisor” to ACC on individual claims and cases.
Dr Des Gorman as new board member of ACC, working alongside the new head of ACC, who is Paula Rebstock (former business operator, Commerce Commissioner, senior Welfare Working Group member), does sent serious warning signs. It does show anything else but a supposed “change of culture” at ACC:
Dr Des Gorman’s appointment to the ACC Board, announcement National Party website:
http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?articleId=39319
Dr Gorman’s qualifications, summarised background and reference to his senior position at the Medical School of the University of Auckland:
https://www.alumni.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/af-des-gorman
Dr Des Gorman’s controversial assessments and recommendations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCecwuwCHb4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QknNdOhOkr8&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCecwuwCHb4&feature=relmfu
Dr Des Gorman’s involvement in the appointment of the Health and Disability Commissioner:
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/11451-des-gorman-involved-in-appointment-of-health-and-disability-commissioner/
Dr Des Gorman as Executive Chair of Health Workforce New Zealand (a new business focused organisation set up within the Ministry of Health in 2009, by Tony Ryall):
http://www.healthworkforce.govt.nz/about-us/board-members
Health Workforce NZ’s Annual Plan for 2011-2012:
http://www.healthworkforce.govt.nz/sites/all/files/HWNZ%20Annual%20Plan%202011-12.pdf
http://www.healthworkforce.govt.nz/sites/all/files/HWNZ Annual Plan 2011-12.pdf
Health Worforce NZ’s influence on GP training by the Royal NZ College of GPs:
http://www.healthworkforce.govt.nz/our-work/gp-training-review
http://healthworkforce.govt.nz/our-work/gp-training-review/discussion-paper-and-feedback
http://healthworkforce.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Discussion Paper – Workforce Requirements for New Models of Service Delivery.pdf
(see especially the already commenced training program to enable GPs to complete some additional modules in training, equipping them with basic “mental health” qualification, to be used for treating and assessing mental health clients, also of course, for WINZ)
Dr Gorman’s involvement with the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners:
http://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/home/SearchForm?Search=Des+Gorman
Dr Des Gorman as member of the National Health Board:
http://www.nationalhealthboard.govt.nz/who-we-are/our-members
Dr Gorman’s attendance NZ Healthcare Congress 2012:
http://www.healthcarecongress.org.nz/page.php?ref=programme
This man now wields so much influence and power in the whole health sector, it is extremely worrying to have that man sit next to Rebstock on the ACC Board for the next 3 years. I do not for one moment believe there will be a “culture change”, except perhaps more stringent privacy policies and more secrecy about what they get up to at ACC. I am extremely concerned about what is going on at ACC and WINZ!
David Cunliffe made a cutting state of the (deteriorating) nation statement yesterday:
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/back-to-the-future-as-job-crisis-deepens
“Meanwhile the property market in Auckland is back on the tax loophole-driven rollercoaster, with double-digit price increases over the last year locking more young New Zealanders out of homes and syphoning capital away from job-creating businesses.
This is an important issue,as the AK property market is presently being driven mostly by investors using leverage and historical low interest rates.
The sell of the CGT by labour was problematic,and confounded by unnecessary policy distractions such as gst on veges etc.
If the demand was constrained by CGT a more sustainable regime of low interest would be available to all New Zealanders and housing affordability would be more ubiquitous,
Household debt affordability (as a % of disposable income) has reduced significantly of its peak of 2009 driven solely by interest rates.If interest rates corrected upwards,the many would again pay for the few.
Needs more than a CGT to achieve that. Don’t know what more though.
CGT is a mechanism that constrains price growth, eg bubbles,it would tend to smooth price bursts.
Would not a more sustainable future with low interest rates allow both households and business to have more manageable forecasts.
Labours sell of CGT failed to some extent on the premis it would raise little funds in the short term.It does have a number of positive feedbacks such as diversifying investment and reducing funding costs.
Much more transparency needs to be brought into the benefits and costs of the policy,it is not necessarily a silver bullet,so to speak but it is a start.
In theory. Most of the OECD have one and yet housing price bubbles still eventuated bringing down the entire global financial system.
I’m all for a CGT but we’re going to need more to achieve a viable society. Stopping the banks from creating debt based money would be another needed policy.
In theory. Most of the OECD have one and yet housing price bubbles still eventuated bringing down the entire global financial system.
The main reasons for the bubble, were deregulation of the financial systems in the US and too much liquidity eg Reavis 2012
At the same time that U.S. banking regulations were easing, the middle class in emerging markets such as China and India was growing at a phenomenal rate. As a result of this economic growth, the “global pool of money” doubled from $36 trillion in 2000 to $70 trillion in 2008. One economist observed, “The world was not ready for all this money. There’s twice as much money looking for investments, but there are not twice as many good investments.”What was once considered a safe and profitable investment, U.S. Treasury bonds, was no longer appealing as the federal funds rate that was 6.5% for much of 2000 dropped below 2% in 2003.35 Enter mortgage-backed securities.
Nice link.
This is assbackwards I’m afraid. Economic growth doesn’t ‘create money’. Central bank printing and investment bank debt creation creates money. Which in a real economy gets put to use for economic growth.
Central bank printing and investment bank debt creation creates money. Which in a real economy gets put to use for economic growth.
The NZ market did not correct ,the real estate investments are still significantly higher then their income and rents eg Bollard.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/7426164/Accumulated-debt-stymied-economy-says-RB-governor
This suggests that the investment is not on fundamentals,such as a return on equity,but on future value ie speculation.This is more related to the AK market ,as say Wellington where housing inventory is around 1yr.retail and light commercial around 3 yrs and office around 5 years in surplus.(mostly due to strengthening requirements) and employment stagnation and uncertainty.
Clearly we need some innovative thinking,to redirect investment into sustainable and productive sectors.
Asset speculation bubbles are heavily predicated on access to ever increasing amounts of easy, cheap, bank debt.
A 15% CGT is going to do sweet FA if property speculators are anticipating that they can keep 85% of big gains from an overheating property market. And that those gains are better than what can be got from say, investing in a small business and hiring staff.
So much more needs to be done than just a CGT. A straight out asset tax is an option. As is Steve Keen’s idea – you limit the amount banks can lend for a property to a multiple of the rental income that property can generate.
So much more needs to be done than just a CGT. A straight out asset tax is an option. As is Steve Keen’s idea – you limit the amount banks can lend for a property to a multiple of the rental income that property can generate.
Indeed,not only in say property but in “revalued asset” returns as suggested by Gareth Morgan such as natural monopolies such as Energy generation,airports and ports etc.
The cost/plus mentality reduces the technological evolution for continuous improvement and efficiency.
Simple really. Increase state housing by 100 to 200% — if impractical to build, then properties should be purchased on the open market.
Flooding the market with low-rent, decently built, secure rentals will do more to dampen down housing speculation than any CGT ever will.
Look at what happened when the state housing system was first started…
You also need to control the availability of bank debt fuelling house price increases.
Can be controlled with my solution above.
If every poor person manages to get housed by HNZ, then it will be less tempting for a ‘mum and dad’ New Zealander to buy a block of flats on tick and rent it out at crippling prices to DPB mums and call it ‘saving for their retirement’.
How about we hear Cunliffe start addressing things such as the monetary supply in NZ, then perhaps real conversations can happen.
Until that is addressed, its nothing more than empty words!
How about we hear Cunliffe start addressing things such as the monetary supply in NZ, then perhaps real conversations can happen.
Indeed a more open discussion on monetary policy is important,especially if ACT disagree.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1209/S00081/nz-first-snake-oil-no-cure-for-high-dollar.htm
Banks seems to be out of step with his focus groups such as The New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA) is encouraging political parties to support the RBNZ Amendment Bill to the select committee stage. The Bill proposes changing the wording on the primary function of the Reserve Bank.
This is the proposed wording:
“The primary function of the Bank is to formulate and implement monetary policy directed to the economic objective of maintaining stability in the general level of prices while maintaining an exchange rate that is conducive to real export growth and job creation.”
NZMEA Chief Executive John Walley says, “Across the political spectrum we have agreement that the New Zealand Dollar is too high and volatile. Supporting this Bill through to the select committee stage will create open debate on the issue and perhaps some action will follow. The world is a different place today than it was in2007 when monetary policy was last reviewed.”
“The changes to the Reserve Bank Act need to be debated – what are the targets, what are the mechanisms, how will the decisions be made, who will make those decisions and how will the Reserve Bank board be constituted. All political parties should support the Bill through to a select committee phase and front up to the arguments .What we have at the moment is not working.”
“A number of central banks around the world have taken action to prevent the overvaluation of their currency so there is now plentyof international evidence to call on. The United States Federal Reserve has just announced it is likely to have another round of quantitative easing, Canada has introduced loan to value ratios to prevent demand for household debt from pushing up their currency and Switzerland has been intervening for over a year to lower the value of their currency.”
“Lowering the exchange rate is the precursor to balancing the economy through export growth. Openly exploring options on how to achieve this has to start somewhere.”
Unfortunately toxic brands such as Banks (whose shelf life expired some time ago) still linger like a bad odour.
How about we hear Cunliffe start addressing things such as the monetary supply in NZ, then perhaps real conversations can happen.
He’s not the Finance spokesman. He has to leave that to David Parker.
Don’t blame Cunliffe for the allocation of other portfolios, or the performances in them.
Parker, will utter no such words, he is as under control as Bill English, and any finance minister before him.
Cunliffe needs to break ranks and speak out, if he is to be a force for good, then at some stage, someone is going to have to break ranks!
Perhaps they don’t quite fancy the consequences of speaking against the money changers, can’t say I would blame them, given the track record….
The reality still remains, no convo about monetary control, makes everything else oxygen theft!
On a related note, I would like to see them spell out their intentions forthrightly. I would like to hear someone say something along the lines of, “We intend to divert investment away from property and into the kinds of productive industries that underpin employment. We intend to bring about affordable housing, whose affordability is not undermined by excessive travel costs. We intend that our cities are liveable cities, and that our provinces are not left to die from lack of investment. If our initial moves, like the capital gains tax etc, do not bring about the intended results, then we will try other methods, but we are absolutely determined to make real progress in these areas.”
In the 2000s, it was possible to believe that the market was maturing, and that incremental social gains could be made as it matured. That seems to be the thesis that underpinned the third way. Not any more. The market now stands revealed as a great predation machine. No progress can be made until it is treated as such.
Chris Trotter makes an interesting observation about economics and parties:
Over the last few centuries or so capitalism has been shown to be a failure and yet no parties seem willing to advocate for anything to replace it.
There has been evidence that the Scandinavian social democracies have been better positioned to survive the GFC. That is what is claimed in this article from 2009:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2009/aug/05/scandinavia-recession-welfare-state
But according to this piece of uni research from Denmark, the Scandinavian model is built on trust, that needs to be there before the development of a welfare state:
http://sciencenordic.com/trust-creates-welfare-state-%E2%80%93-not-vice-versa
But in recent times we have seen both National and Labour (highlighted by Shearer’s roof painter story) doing their best to undermine and eradicate any such trust that still exists amongst Kiwis.
Interesting because the one that is having worse results than the other two, Sweden, has been praised recently by the Neo-Liberal right for abandoning “socialist” policies and becoming more economically “liberal” than the other Scandinavian countries.
Note the drop in Swedens OECD education rankings since they started charter schools, for example.
And the entire neo-liberal system actively undermines that trust. People who are systematically exploited to benefit a few know that they’re being exploited and so trust is undermined in the normal working of the capitalist socio-economic system.
Google has as its feature the 46th anniversary of star trek.
ESA (The European space agency) has set a new record for “quantum teleportation”
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMLWO7YJ6H_index_0.html
Any chance someone could give a lay explanation of that article?
Roughly 100 years ago they discovered that particles smaller than atoms could be described in terms of a ‘quantum state’. A whole lot of characteristics which mainly apply to matter and energy on a tiny scale. Fairly easy to understand things like the frequency (colour to the human eye) of a photon of light and the voltage of an electron of electricity etc. but also many other characteristics.
What they also figured out is that two tiny particles which are associated (entangled) together somehow, like two photons of light (maybe they were from the same light source but you split them apart) stay somehow connected even when you physically separate them. In this case over 100km.
What these guys did, by using really sensitive detection equipment, is show that they could transfer the quantum state of one of the photons of light to the other one 143km away. With no known passing of information, signals or messaging between the two locations. Governments are interested in this stuff as it means that there is no known way to “intercept” such a transfer.
Or to use another example. It’s like one twin instantaneously knowing what the other is experiencing from the opposite side of the world.
Cool, thanks. More questions of course:
Is the entanglement something that is known about in more detail, or is it assumed on the basis of the behaviour? ie what does entanglement mean?
“maybe they were from the same light source but you split them apart)”
But this happens in nature on its own too? (two entangled particles a distance apart).
Can they study it in nature, or are they looking solely at ones they create?
How can they separate two particles over a distance?
” they could transfer the quantum state of one of the photons of light to the other one 143km away”
Ok, but does that mean that they make changes in one and the changes happen in the other for reasons we don’t know yet?
Like typical scientific knowledge, its a theory which seems to fit and predict what has been observed over many decades. “Entanglement” to my mind means a connection via some past association. This is the kicker: the application of human consciousness can create and alter entanglement. In physics this is seen when the quantum state of a particle is set when – and only when – we decide to measure it.
Yes it happens in nature too. If it is indeed a fundamental characteristic of matter and energy then in fact our universe is dependent on “entanglement”. I believe they can study naturally occurring instances of entanglement but the mere action of studying something, changes it.
As to how you can separate two particles over a distance. Its really quite easy in principle. I don’t know how they did it in the experiment but using a mirror, prism or diffraction grating to split a single light source up in different directions is totally standard practice.
Yes. For instance they can set up two entangled particles where their “spin” (not actual spin like a ball, just another crazy quantum characteristic they named that way) of the particles has to be opposite to each other.
They can then separate the two particles. When they force one of the particles to change its spin guess what happens to its entangled partner? Yep…it changes too, to remain its opposite…and does so instantaneously.
Its about here that considerations of universal cause and effect become very interesting.
Thanks CV, that’s given me a refresher on quantum physics, and added a few things.
” “Entanglement” to my mind means a connection via some past association. ”
Curious name to have been chosen. Anyone know what the reason was?
Are all these experiments being done with photons?
“Its about here that considerations of universal cause and effect become very interesting”
Indeed. It’s one of the few areas of very expensive science that I think isn’t a waste of money in the face of resource depletion and CC.
As an aside, are they teaching quantum physics in schools now? It must be so much easier to be able to think outside newtonian physics if one learns it as one grows up.
Photons are the easiest to do these experiments with because entangled pairs can be created through a process known as parametric down conversion. This generally consists of a laser at a certain frequency shone into a nonlinear crystal. Some of the photons will change to two photons of a lower frequency inside the crystal. The easiest case to imagine is where each of these is at half the frequency of the original photon. They will then exit the crystal in different directions, with momentum conserved, and can be measured at spatially separated locations.
If the measurements violate certain inequalities which are usually developed from the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the two photons are shown to be entangled. One of the ways of understanding this without violating Special Relativity is that the two photons are described by the same wavefunction before measurement and that the measurements lead to a collapse of the wavefunction. This will collapse in different ways depending on which measurements are made. This is the explanation of the Copenhagen interpretation, with others being possible.
There is no reason why atoms and other things cannot also be entangled. In fact, experiments have already been done with atoms and even Bose-Einstein condensates. What we need to remember is that information cannot be transferred instantaneously using this mechanism, because this would violate Special Relativity. This was one of the points that made Einstein unhappy about quantum mechanics, with his claiming that it was an incomplete theory. Experiments much later on, measuring some quantities defined by Bell, showed that it wasn’t.
As far as teaching it in schools goes, I think entanglement is generally introduced in the 3rd year of university physics. Some of quantum mechanics could be taught in schools and I remember learning about the orbitals of the hydrogen atom in the 7th form, but in general understanding stuff like entanglement properly requires a reasonably high level of mathematical sophistication, which I doubt many schoolteachers would have, let alone the students.
The name came from Erwin Schrödinger, who called it verschränkung.
We should also remember that entanglement was not a theory developed to explain observations. It is a physical effect predicted by a theoretical extension of Quantum Mechanics into what Einstein considered ridiculous, but Schrödinger and others defended. It was only observed experimentally many years later.
Scientific theories are sometimes developed to explain things which have been measured already, but they can also be used to predict things which have never been observed, such as the Higgs boson. In this sense, entanglement is as much a theory as the road outside my flat is.
😯
:we’re not worthy:
Diagrams:Richard Feynman
A simple analogy is Le Chatelier’s principle.
Any change in status quo prompts an opposing reaction in the responding system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chatelier%27s_principle
In the ESA case the measurement produced the anti correlation.
This bloke has a go at explaining it all.
http://www.davidjarvis.ca/dave/entanglement/
These pages explain quantum entanglement by way of pictures, analogies, but without math.
To understand quantum entanglement, several ideas and words must be explained, especially the idea of a photon. The photon is a key concept in physics, and so critical to entanglement that its behaviours must be fully understood. But before delving into the details of photons, let’s take a look at the world of the tiny, beginning with waves and atoms.
Thanks joe, nice site.
ACC’s corrupt specialists
Clearly the current regime of ACC specialists declining people’s claims without justification and often contradicting existing medical assessments isn’t in the best interest of people’s rehabilitation…
And here’s another thing for the Bene bashers to have a go at..
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/7638430/Welfare-fraud-exceeds-4m-in-five-years
But there again if you are treated like shit, and made to think you are lower than every one else, then really what do they expect? And then if you are lucky to actually get a part time job, Winz are there yet again, just to remind you that you are lower then whale shit, and tax you to the extent that it’s just not worth trying to get ahead. So if they want to stop the fraud then stop treating people like third class citizens. But as usual Puddin Benefit is not listening .
Some of those cases aren’t minor, though. We’re only playing Bennett’s game if we equate major organised fraudsters with people struggling on the sickness benefit. Lumping them all together in the public mind is exactly what the right are aiming for. The left shouldn’t fall into that trap.
What the left (looking at you, Shearer) should do is talk MORE about fraud, like this …
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/115320/former-director-admits-defrauding-investors
So, to put that into context, one “respectable” white-collar crim ripped off 5 million bucks, which is more than 200 people managed in the Stuff article linked by David H.
The finance companies and associated scams (either failed or fraudulent) have cost thousands of Kiwis countless millions, there are people in court every week, and if we want to talk about fairness and greed, it’s all there, ready for Labour’s next Grey Power speech. If only they could see it.
she too busy in her own pipe dream!
They won’t magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster.
Hell yeah, If only I had the courage or intellect to compose something similar to my local MP Lotu-Iiga.
Stop the press, Audrey Young makes unjustifiable assertions:
Yeah, no. I suspect that nationwide hui that are happening will, as a matter of fact, produce a united and reasonable response from Iwi.
and that stupidity was followed by:
Um, Audrey, all the bene bashing that has been coming out of this government is part of their divide and rule strategy.
I didn’t get any further than that as the ignorance she was spouting just wasn’t worth reading.
“Stop the press, Audrey Young makes unjustifiable assertions, again”
fify.
(she also wrote that crap about accommodation supplement a while back).
Yes I didn’t get much further than this quote:
Because it indicated her article had NO credibility!
Some amazing photos from battle in Syria
That’s the most awful thing I’ve seen. Most of the men in the first photo dead in the seconds afterwards.
More.
Syrian rebels: Too fragmented, unruly.
Al-Qaeda’s Specter in Syria.
The Prophet’s Curse: Islam’s Ancient Divide Fuels Middle East Conflicts.
ahhh..the Caliphate
Dear Russia and/or Mr Putin,
Please keep him.
He was going to “challenge” you. Now he’s only going to “ask”. So no need for the knife in the side.
But if you could see it in you – we’d rather nor see him back anyway.Perhaps a position as Syrian gauche – iator? Suit us just fine.
Bronah’s busy weighing he options but a one bedroom flat would do.
…..more to follow
Hard Case!
for Putin et al, the nz FTA is seen as a pilot project (u could not make this up-pilot)
Key-effectively “if it is what Putin wants, it will be what Putin gets” ffffftt.
yet
Romney-effectively “Russia is the U.S’s #1 Enemy, go figure…
RONS-“flat lining….provincial funding” Yep! over 50 tonnes on collapsing shoulders and rising water tables
Creative work: Hebrew ‘yosah’ -modelling from previous material, as a potter modelling clay
and ‘bara’ sans microns/macrons-event
‘eres a couple a comebacks for the fasci fissures
-mehr sein als scheinen-they will fall in love with that one
-endogenous retroviral insertion
-sans FOXP2 (even in the gut)
Holy Fucking Shit:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v489/n7414/pdf/nature11247.pdf
I don’t have the brains (sleep debt for the win) to completely go over this, but it now appears the non-coding regions of the human genome are full of regulatory elements, regulatory elements which are actively expressed in cells at levels beyond mere basal level of expression. Sure, there’s still non-coding DNA with no damn function and various transposons and other such parasites such as LINES, SINES etc, but damn.
Uh, basically, this makes gene expression control in eukaryotes even more interesting and potentially complex, but also explains why we see so many major issues caused by the lose of major non-coding areas of chromosomes. Especially given that these regulatory elements are interspersed through out the genome…
Oh, and this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_DNA has some of the basics of gene expression, it’s not a nice simple binary process typically, but a glorious, multi-factor monster that would drive a computer programmer mental (blame evolution, elements tacked on and recruited via accident and pressed into service via selection and whole systems re purposed blindly) and turn an engineer into a gibbering husk.
As for analogy? It’s a bit like having a mostly dark sky due to an interstellar dust cloud blocking the view, only when you develop the visual and radio astronomy tools do you find the sky is full of fucking stars. Everywhere. Even the darkest parts are full of light (r.e. the Hubble Deep Field) if you look closely and long enough.
But now, the geneticists, cell and developmental biologists get to drive themselves nuts trying to work out just what’s going on. Me? I’ll have to ponder this until I’m mentally fit enough to go back into study and delve into it in post grad work. And damnit, from an evolutionary developmental biology perspective this is utterly glorious stuff that’s going to make things _very_ interesting in terms of understanding phenotypes and breeding barriers :3
Is this epigenetics?
I was taught that all this non protein coding stuff was just “junk DNA”. That’s what really smart, yet simultaneously dumb, scientists taught the rest of us muppets for years.
RedLogix: look up the “Central Dogma” of molecular biology. Yes, they really called it that.
The human genome project was a have. Genes are just design blue prints. They control fuck all.
It is also worthwhile to view HS’s defence of conventionally accepted cancer treatments, and his detraction of everything else, when absolutely NONE of those cancer treatments were designed or proved with any knowledge of epigenetics in mind. Sorta important for working with tumours, one would have thought. If those treatments work for some patients, great, but they work from the standpoint of significant ignorance.
🙄
Pro-tip, I’ll keep 🙄 at you if you keep abusing the term epigenetics, with cancers it’s all down to gene expression patterns and epigenetic specific issues don’t dominate anywhere near compared to ye olde random DNA mutations, inherited dodgy genes and mutagenic chemicals. At least from what I know of the science, but by all means feel free to go a hunting through the actual peer reviewed, published cancer research literature.
As for conventional cancer treatments vs “new” ones, cancer is a fucking mosaic of causation and phenotypes, and at present, the older methods have a much broader coverage (bar the untreatable cancer types…) as they hit the basic stuff that most cancers share, rapid, uncontrolled cell growth. As gene expression profiling becomes more common in a medical settings (and _if_ iRNA tech gets anywhere) we may see more targeted approaches, but until then some of the newer biotech drugs only work for a subset of sufferers. So yes, sticking with the older, well tested treatments is not entirely irrational.
Especially given the failure rate of new drugs and treatments in clinical trials.
Since I’m not in your narrow field, and have no need to be published by the journals representing your narrow field, I don’t have a particular need to abide by your narrow field’s narrow definition of jargon terms. Especially when the term has been defined and used in multiple other ways for 70 odd years.
To put it another way, you don’t get to define and capture the language.
Your statement
and
seem to directly contradict each other
but I suppose that may be accounted for if you are using the phrase “epigenetic specific issues” in your narrow field’s particularly narrow way.
Well, that was because it had no known function at the time.
Thing is in science, until you have evidence something is X, claiming it’s X without any evidence ranges from mere conjecture, to reasoned scientific hypothesis and all the way to outright pseudoscience.
So these scientists had evidence showing that those vast stretches of nucleotides were junk? Doubtful.
Instead of saying “it’s likely that those areas of DNA are junk” why didn’t they say “it’s likely that our understanding of those areas of DNA are junk”? Scientists more willing to junk nature than to junk themselves. Imagine that.
A whole generation of molecular geneticists have come and gone and finally the cogs of science can advance one more turn, I suppose.
BTW one generation’s “pseudoscience” often turns out to be the next generations “scientific consensus”. DDT being harmful, artificial food colourings bad for kids etc.
Why is that?
/sigh
I should have included a bit of history of the term, namely that it was picked up in the pop-sci press and became entrenched, but suffice to say, the null hypothesis always applies first until you have evidence it’s wrongzors.
And yes, until recently we haven’t had the molecular biology tools to the work ENCODE has done here. Hell, 10 years ago DNA arrays weren’t readily available and took a lot of work to prepare, so western blot and similar electrophoresis gel systems were still the norm, except for very well funded labs. And so working out what genes were being expressed was rather fun and involved a hell of a lot of grunt work, and we didn’t have anywhere as much background as we do now.
🙄
I feel the need to cluebat you, as you haven’t bothered doing teh research on the history and critical thinking it seems on either of those. Because if you had, I wouldn’t be 🙄 at you.
Go read up grasshopper and think.
Funny how scientific arrogance (and being condescending/smarmy/superior) doesn’t seem to win many friends or influence many people.
What about the arrogance of looking stuff up on the internet and thinking you know more about it than people who have actually devoted years of their life to studying and advancing the field? How many friends does that win?
Not sure where I have been arrogant here. Perhaps arrogant in attempting to challenge the narrow outlook of a narrow academic field? Subject area experts must always expect and be prepared to respond to generalist challenge IMO. Not all can.
NickS uses the term “epigenetic” is a way which is very particular to his field, but does not accept that the term predates his field by decades and has other longstanding definitions.
I also mention various cases where the science ‘flip flopped’ (you could be kind and say “advanced”) where lay people once demonised by the professionals eventually turned out to be way ahead of the game.
BTW in my view physics and mathematics are the two true sciences. The third I might add is in complex systems.
“I also mention various cases where the science ‘flip flopped’ (you could be kind and say “advanced”) where lay people once demonised by the professionals eventually turned out to be way ahead of the game.”
What are some examples CV?
Already mentioned some. But NickS discounted them saying I didn’t know my history about them and he did.
Epigenetics refers to non-DNA inherited changes, stuff like micro RNA’s carried over and patterns of histone and DNA methylation.
Where as ENCODE is looking at the genome 😉
So while there’s some epigenetic aspects involved with methylation patterns vis gene expression, this deals with genes*.
_______________________________
*Gene – any sequence of DNA, seriously. Type of gene depends on where the sequence is, and what the sequence is.
No it doesn’t.
And who exactly here has teh experience in genetics? Right, that’s me.
And referring to teh wiki:
This is the very definition from the scientific literature.
With cancers, if it’s not mutational (random, viral, or mutagenic chemicals), it’s usually caused by chemical-induced changes in gene expression that become locked in via methylation pattern changes initially, though I’m not quite up-to-date with cancer biology vis epigenetic cancers.
Ahhhh thanks. I see that “modern” science has decided to narrow the definition down severely from the 1942 introduction of the term into something convenient for research, although not something I’m confident is necessarily useful for much else.
To quote the wiki entry more fully:
Science terminology is always refined via how it’s used in the published research 😛
Ain’t that the truth bro.
Thanks guys. This topic is way out of my zone, but it’s fascinating seeing science do what it eventually does best; building new insights on what has shown to be sound and discarding what is no longer useful.
I can only really speak about physics, but most of what we follow today is an extension of what went before. Good examples of this are Special Relativity, which extended Newtonian mechanics and classical electromagnetism to higher energies, and Quantum Mechanics, the development of which was necessary to understand the radiation emitted by hot bodies at high frequencies. Most theories develop from a need to understand nature in a regime where the old ones are inadequate. In that sense, Newtonian mechanics is perfectly adequate to design a car, but would be pretty hopeless at designing a GPS system.
When new theories do come up, the first thing they need to do is explain something better than the old ones, or they get rejected pretty quickly. In my view they should also be testable, and tested, by experiment.
In other disciplines, such as chemistry and medicine, for example, the systems worked with are not generally as “clean” or “simple” as in physics, so that absolute proof or disproof of a theory can be a bit harder.
Physics and medicine are not comparable types of science. At best, medicine is an applied science which has decided that sampling statistics will largely determine what it views as true and untrue.
Then you should probably go play games. 😈
http://karldufresne.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/one-in-eye-for-neo-wowsers.html
Interesting, food for thought…
🙄
Yeah right, given who the author is, I’d rather shove glass shards in my eyes…
Ignorant. You won’t read something because you don’t like the author? Seriously?
When we lived in Welly I read him regularly. Sometimes I agreed, sometimes I didn’t – but it’s juvenile to refuse to read a column by someone because they offended you once. (That being said, I don’t agree with this particular blog entry.)
An article by John Pilger where he expresses the logic that shows that liberalism is the most violent and warmongering ‘ism around.
Well, I have always seen “liberalism” as a fairly conservative philosophy – centrist. Its focus is on the individual’s rights & responsibilities. But, as far as I’m aware, it doesn’t include much analysis of power differences or they way some groups have more power or status than others.
US-ians refer to liberals as “left”, but that’s because several decades of reds-under-the-beds scaremongering has expunged socialism from the mainstream. Their “liberalism” promotes a (mythical) meritocracy, which is based on assumptions of a level playing field for all.
So, it doesn’t surprise me that liberalism opens the door to violent, and other forms of, dominance, conquest and suppression, by powerful elites.
The “leftist liberal” admired by Anders Brevik.
Racist Islamaphobe Bruce Bawer declares his dismay that Anders Brevik is a great admirer of his. Brevik favorably cited Bawer’s name no less than 22 times in his racist anti-multicultural ‘manifesto’ justifying his massacre.
Bawer describes his anti-islamic policies as “liberal”, “leftist” even.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903999904576465801154130960.html
Thanks, DtB – Pilger’s always good!
the classic liberalism has almost become an anachronism.
just like scientific marxism
it is time the world developed new philosophies to cope with the degradation of the planet and overpopulation.
just mouthing old words aint gonna do nothing.
Great work Viper and Draco
(u know my thoughts on specialization, credentialism and hubris) Rock On!
husk? yes; gibber? well that is in the eye of the beholder
(dude put me off my breeze)
there is always one, is there not