Open mike 09/08/2020
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- Govt announces review into PHARMACThe Government is following through on an election promise to conduct an independent review into PHARMAC, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Andrew Little announced today. The Review will focus on two areas: How well PHARMAC performs against its current objectives and whether and how its performance against these ...5 days ago
- Impressive response to DOC scholarship programmeSome of the country’s most forward-thinking early-career conservationists are among recipients of a new scholarship aimed at supporting a new generation of biodiversity champions, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. The Department of Conservation (DOC) has awarded one-year postgraduate research scholarships of $15,000 to ten Masters students in the natural ...5 days ago
- Speech to ANZLF Virtual Indigenous Business Trade and Connections EventI acknowledge our whānau overseas, joining us from Te Whenua Moemoeā, and I wish to pay respects to their elders past, present, and emerging. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you all today. I am very pleased to be part of the conversation on Indigenous business, and part ...6 days ago
- Main benefits to increase in line with wagesSocial Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced today that main benefits will increase by 3.1 percent on 1 April, in line with the rise in the average wage. The Government announced changes to the annual adjustment of main benefits in Budget 2019, indexing main benefit increases to the average ...7 days ago
- Deed of Settlement signed with Ngāti Maru (Taranaki)A Deed of Settlement has been signed between Ngāti Maru and the Crown settling the iwi’s historical Treaty of Waitangi claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little announced today. The Ngāti Maru rohe is centred on the inland Waitara River valley, east to the Whanganui River and its ...1 week ago
- Support in place for people connected to Auckland COVID-19 casesWith a suite of Government income support packages available, Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni is encouraging people, and businesses, connected to the recent Auckland COVID-19 cases to check the Work and Income website if they’ve been impacted by the need to self-isolate. “If you are required to ...1 week ago
- Statement on passing of former PNG PM Sir Michael SomarePrime Minister Jacinda Ardern has expressed her condolences at the passing of long-serving former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare. “Our thoughts are with Lady Veronica Somare and family, Prime Minister James Marape and the people of Papua New Guinea during this time of great ...1 week ago
- Speech to the National Māori Housing Conference 2021E te tī, e te tā Tēnei te mihi maioha ki a koutou Ki te whenua e takoto nei Ki te rangi e tū iho nei Ki a tātou e tau nei Tēnā tātou. It’s great to be with you today, along with some of the ministerial housing team; Hon Peeni Henare, the ...1 week ago
- Drone project to aid protection of Māui dolphinThe Government is backing a new project to use drone technology to transform our understanding and protection of the Māui dolphin, Aotearoa’s most endangered dolphin. “The project is just one part of the Government’s plan to save the Māui dolphin. We are committed to protecting this treasure,” Oceans and Fisheries ...1 week ago
- New water regulator board announced as major Government reform moves forwardMajor water reform has taken a step closer with the appointment of the inaugural board of the Taumata Arowai water services regulator, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says. Former Director General of Health and respected public health specialist Dame Karen Poutasi will chair the inaugural board of Crown agency Taumata Arowai. “Dame ...1 week ago
- North Auckland gets public transport upgradeThe newly completed Hibiscus Coast Bus Station will help people make better transport choices to help ease congestion and benefit the environment, Transport Minister Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said today. Michael Wood and Phil Goff officially opened the Hibiscus Coast Bus Station which sits just off the ...1 week ago
- Supporting work to protect Northland reserveNew funding announced by Conservation Minister Kiri Allan today will provide work and help protect the unique values of Northland’s Te Ārai Nature Reserve for future generations. Te Ārai is culturally important to Te Aupōuri as the last resting place of the spirits before they depart to Te Rerenga Wairua. ...1 week ago
- Critical step to new housing deal for Pacific communitiesToday the Government has taken a key step to support Pacific people to becoming Community Housing providers, says the Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio. “This will be great news for Pacific communities with the decision to provide Pacific Financial Capability Grant funding and a tender process to ...1 week ago
- Consultation opens on proposed Bay of Islands marine mammal sanctuaryConservation Minister Kiri Allan is encouraging New Zealanders to have their say on a proposed marine mammal sanctuary to address the rapid decline of bottlenose dolphins in Te Pēwhairangi, the Bay of Islands. The proposal, developed jointly with Ngā Hapū o te Pēwhairangi, would protect all marine mammals of the ...1 week ago
- Three District Court Judges appointedAttorney-General David Parker today announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges. Two of the appointees will take up their roles on 1 April, replacing sitting Judges who have reached retirement age. Kirsten Lummis, lawyer of Auckland has been appointed as a District Court Judge with jury jurisdiction to ...1 week ago
- Government announces list of life-shortening conditions guaranteeing early KiwiSaver accessGovernment announces list of life-shortening conditions guaranteeing early KiwiSaver access The Government changed the KiwiSaver rules in 2019 so people with life-shortening congenital conditions can withdraw their savings early The four conditions guaranteed early access are – down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Huntington’s disease and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder An alternative ...1 week ago
- Reserve Bank to take account of housing in decision makingThe Reserve Bank is now required to consider the impact on housing when making monetary and financial policy decisions, Grant Robertson announced today. Changes have been made to the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee’s remit requiring it to take into account government policy relating to more sustainable house prices, while working ...1 week ago
- Investment to reduce cochlear implant waitlistThe Labour Government will invest $6 million for 70 additional adult cochlear implants this year to significantly reduce the historical waitlist, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “Cochlear implants are life changing for kiwis who suffer from severe hearing loss. As well as improving an individual’s hearing, they open doors to ...1 week ago
- Māori wards Bill passes third readingThe Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill passed its third reading today and will become law, Minister of Local Government Hon Nanaia Mahuta says. “This is a significant step forward for Māori representation in local government. We know how important it is to have diversity around ...1 week ago
- Government delivers 1,000 more transitional housing placesThe Government has added 1,000 more transitional housing places as promised under the Aotearoa New Zealand Homelessness Action Plan (HAP), launched one year ago. Minister of Housing Megan Woods says the milestone supports the Government’s priority to ensure every New Zealander has warm, dry, secure housing. “Transitional housing provides people ...2 weeks ago
- Second batch of Pfizer/BioNTech doses arrives safely – as the first vaccinations take place in the...A second batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arrived safely yesterday at Auckland International Airport, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. “This shipment contained about 76,000 doses, and follows our first shipment of 60,000 doses that arrived last week. We expect further shipments of vaccine over the coming weeks,” Chris Hipkins said. ...2 weeks ago
- $18 million for creative spaces to make arts more accessibleThe Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni has today announced $18 million to support creative spaces. Creative spaces are places in the community where people with mental health needs, disabled people, and those looking for social connection, are welcomed and supported to practice and participate in the arts ...2 weeks ago
- Moriori Claims Settlement Bill passes first readingTreaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little today welcomed Moriori to Parliament to witness the first reading of the Moriori Claims Settlement Bill. “This bill is the culmination of years of dedication and hard work from all the parties involved. “I am delighted to reach this significant milestone today,” Andrew ...2 weeks ago
- Government action reduces child poverty22,400 fewer children experiencing material hardship 45,400 fewer children in low income households on after-housing costs measure After-housing costs target achieved a year ahead of schedule Government action has seen child poverty reduce against all nine official measures compared to the baseline year, Prime Minister and Minister for Child Poverty ...2 weeks ago
- Entries open for the 2021 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence AwardsIt’s time to recognise the outstanding work early learning services, kōhanga reo, schools and kura do to support children and young people to succeed, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins says. The 2021 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards are now open through until April 16. “The past year has reminded us ...2 weeks ago
- Jobs for Nature benefits three projectsThree new Jobs for Nature projects will help nature thrive in the Bay of Plenty and keep local people in work says Conservation Minister Kiri Allan. “Up to 30 people will be employed in the projects, which are aimed at boosting local conservation efforts, enhancing some of the region’s most ...2 weeks ago
- Improvements to the Holidays Act on the wayThe Government has accepted all of the Holidays Act Taskforce’s recommended changes, which will provide certainty to employers and help employees receive their leave entitlements, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood said the Government established the Holidays Act Taskforce to help address challenges with the ...2 weeks ago
- NZ’s credit rating lifted as economy recoversThe Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and faster than expected economic recovery has been acknowledged in today’s credit rating upgrade. Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) today raised New Zealand’s local currency credit rating to AAA with a stable outlook. This follows Fitch reaffirming its AA+ rating last ...2 weeks ago
- Speech to National Remembrance Service on the 10th anniversary of the Christchurch earthquakeTena koutou e nga Maata Waka Ngai Tuahuriri, Ngai Tahu whanui, Tena koutou. Nau mai whakatau mai ki tenei ra maumahara i te Ru Whenua Apiti hono tatai hono, Te hunga mate ki te hunga mate Apiti hono tatai hono, Te hunga ora ki te hunga ora Tena koutou, Tena ...2 weeks ago
- Government reaffirms urgent commitment to ban harmful conversion practicesThe Minister of Justice has reaffirmed the Government’s urgent commitment, as stated in its 2020 Election Manifesto, to ban conversion practices in New Zealand by this time next year. “The Government has work underway to develop policy which will bring legislation to Parliament by the middle of this year and ...2 weeks ago
- New creative service aims to benefit 1,000 peoples’ careersMinister for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Social Development Hon Carmel Sepuloni today launched a new Creative Careers Service, which is expected to support up to 1,000 creatives, across three regions over the next two years. The new service builds on the most successful aspects of the former Pathways to ...2 weeks ago
- Kia ora kuīni: Meet the contestants on Drag Race Down Under
Vroom vroom, beep beep, get in losers! Drag Race Down Under is coming to TVNZ later this year, and today the 10 Australian and New Zealand competitors have been revealed.The wiggiest show this side of Real Housewives is finally making its way to the southern hemisphere. That’s right, RuPaul’s Drag ...41 mins ago - Jordan Peterson is back with 12 more rules – and a thing for Harry PotterThree years ago clinical psychologist and culture warrior Jordan Peterson rode a bestseller to equal parts adulation and excoriation. Danyl Mclauchlan reviews a sequel that sprang from chaos. Since publishing his mega-bestselling self-help guide 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos in 2018, Jordan Peterson has led an existence ...2 hours ago
- PNG courts close for a week after judge tests covid positive
Asia Pacific Report Papua New Guinea’s Supreme and National Courts in Port Moresby will be partially closed for a week beginning yesterday after a judge has been tested positive for the covid-19, reports The National. Registrar Ian Augerea said in a statement the closure was to prevent any further infections ...12 hours ago - NZ the ‘unlucky shaky isles’, says Ardern after tsunami alertBy RNZ News Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says it is hard not to feel like New Zealand is having a run of bad luck, with residents waking up today to a tsunami alert amid the covid-19 restrictions. The tsunami alert was triggered after three quakes overnight – the first of ...12 hours ago
- Papua support group praises Meg Taylor for UN rights statementAsia Pacific Report The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) has called on the Australian government to stop trying to keep Papua off the agenda at the Pacific Islands Forum and “strenuously support” Pacific leaders in urging Jakarta to allow a PIF fact-finding mission to the territory. Congratulating the PIF Secretary-General ...12 hours ago
- More Aucklanders went to work and shops under current lockdown than in August, Google data showsDid you sense the roads were busier in this Auckland lockdown than previous ones? Google mobility data indicates that you’re right.More people were going to work, and more heading out shopping, during the current lockdown in Auckland than during the August equivalent, which also took place under alert level three ...13 hours ago
- Jami-Lee Ross behind company hawking anti-5G supplement
Politician Jami-Lee Ross is behind a company reportedly planning to sell a supplement that protects users from 5G radiation. ...14 hours ago - Report makes case for more money for our mental wellbeing (but it is presented in a maddening mix of...
The only statement to emerge from the Beehive in the past two days was cheery in tone but foreshadowed further increases in the funding devoted to mental health. The statement was issued by Health Minister Andrew Little, who welcomed the Initial Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission’s assessment that transformation ...16 hours ago - Wellington’s 13.5% Rate Hike Should See Library Sale Back On The Table
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is condemning Wellington City Council’s refusal to consult on the privatisation of the central library as undemocratic. “Wellingtonians threatened with a 13.5 percent rate hike deserve a full menu of cost-saving options ...17 hours ago - Māori Party New National ExecutiveThis morning the Māori Party confirmed their new National Executive including Che Wilson, Fallyn Flavell, John Tamihere and Kaiarahi Takirua: Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. Wilson returns for a second term as President and the two new members ...17 hours ago
- Border And MIQ Workforce Prioritised For Vaccine Rollout, Two Weeks InNew Zealand is now two weeks into the largest immunisation programme ever undertaken here, with border and managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) workers first in line. “We are so proud of our people for doing the right thing by stepping up and being ...19 hours ago
- Fruit bats are the only bats that can’t (and never could) use echolocation. Now we’re closer to ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Camilo López-Aguirre, PhD Candidate, UNSW Scientists have found another piece in the puzzle of how echolocation evolved in bats, moving closer to solving a decades-long evolutionary mystery. All bats — apart from the fruit bats of the family Pteropodidae (also called flying ...19 hours ago
- Why do women get paid less than men? Hours and commuting provide cluesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jordy Meekes, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, The University of Melbourne That Australian women earn less than Australian men is well-known. The latest calculation put the gap – the extent to which the average female full-time wage is ...21 hours ago
- Live updates, March 6: Last full day of lockdown for Auckland; remainder of NZ readies for level oneAll the major news events, which will hopefully not be too many. Get in touch at info@thespinoff.co.nz Help keep The Spinoff alive and kicking. Click here to learn how you can support The Spinoff from as little as $1.8.00am: The day aheadThere are a couple of things we’ll be looking out ...23 hours ago
- A dark anti-Jacinda
In this week's Critic's Choice review, Guy Somerset watches I Care a Lot on Amazon Prime and wonders if kindness has its limits Do you think Jacinda Ardern has been watching I Care a Lot? It would explain a lot, As Newsroom political editor Jo Moir wrote earlier this week, ...23 hours ago - Ready To Work With Netanyahu: Mansour Abbas Splinters Arab Vote In IsraelBy Ramzy Baroud At a glance, it may appear that the split of Arab political parties in Israel is consistent with a typical pattern of political and ideological divisions which have afflicted the Arab body politic for many years. This time, however, the ...1 day ago
- Ice with red wine: is it ever OK?Discovering that her favourite summer drink is apparently an offence against wine, Charlotte Muru-Lanning sets out to uncover whether it’s actually so awful to serve red wine on the rocks.After many summers spent pouring red wine over ice without much thought, it recently struck me that maybe this combination was, ...1 day ago
- Can Silver Ferns finally seize Con Cup?
LISTEN: Extra Time examines two big issues in women's sport this week - postponing the Rugby World Cup and the Silver Ferns' battle for the crown that eludes them. Poised at one game a piece, can the Silver Ferns overcome a spirited young Australian Diamonds side and end a nine-year drought without netball's ...1 day ago - Short story: The Feud, by Shani Naylor
"If Maggie said she was going to bake a cake, Lois always turned up with one that was bigger, more chocolatey and with fancier icing": a shaggy cake story by Shani Naylor. It was 2am. Maggie opened her eyes and lay still in bed. She could hear her husband Ken's ...1 day ago - The future is here, and it’s $450,000 gifs of Nyan CatThe art world is being bombarded with something called ‘non-fungible tokens’. We asked artist and crypto expert Simon Denny to help us explain what they are.At first glimpse, a gif of Nyan Cat is nothing special. It’s a bit cute, a bit nostalgic. So why did one sell for US$450,000? ...1 day ago
- An interview with the most feared man in New Zealand mediaJournalists avoid his calls, editors loathe it when he highlights mistakes. But he reckons he’s not scary at all. Chris Schulz meets RNZ’s Mr Mediawatch, Colin Peacock. Over his summer holidays, Colin Peacock tried to switch off. For much of the previous 12 months, the 52-year-old host of Radio ...1 day ago
- All the things Michael Bassett got wrong in his hideous, noxious articleWhile it has since been deleted and apologised for, an op-ed by former Labour MP Michael Bassett published by the Northland Age and the NZ Herald this week caused an uproar for its racist cherry-picking and false reporting of historical facts. Historian Scott Hamilton sets the record straight.Michael Bassett is ...1 day ago
- Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Covid-19: Europe still a matter of concern, one year onAnalysis by Keith Rankin. Deaths, West Europe still not “out of the woods”. Chart by Keith Rankin. Deaths, East Europe remains a major concern. Chart by Keith Rankin. At first glance through our rear-vision mirror, western Europe had a substantial spring outbreak of Covid19, and further outbreaks in spring and ...1 day ago
- The most cursed objects in New Zealand sportA starter’s list for the national Aotearoa museum of the sporting damned. Richard Irvine confronts the demons.The sunGenerally it’s hard to make an argument against the giver of all life, as it provides photosynthesis, vitamin D and enables a wide range of recreational activities. But when it runs rampant around ...1 day ago
- Government looks to plug holes in Covid response
Auckland can breathe a sigh relief knowing at 6am on Sunday the region will move down to Alert Level 2 after another seven long days in lockdown. Government and health officials are now turning their minds to lessons learnt, following a week of mixed messaging, rule-breaking and blame and shame, writes political ...2 days ago - Three big quakes impacted NZ this morning. What are the risks in the hours and days ahead?Three future scenarios after today’s large offshore earthquakes.A trio of serious earthquakes saw parts of Aotearoa shaken, tsunami threats triggered, and tens of thousands of people heading inland after evacuation instructions.Of the magnitude-7-plus events, the first, shortly before 2.30am, was centered off East Cape. Measuring 7.1, it was felt across ...2 days ago
- Week in politics: Confusion and frustration over Covid-19 messagingAnalysis - The prime minister came down hard on lockdown rule-breakers but were they clearly told what they had to do? Peter Wilson looks into the reports as another crisis lurks in the background. ...2 days ago
- Yes, export bans on vaccines are a problem, but why is the supply of vaccines so limited in the firs...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Gleeson, Associate professor, La Trobe University News of the blockage of a shipment of 250,000 COVID-19 vaccines from Europe to Australia has caused concern and outrage. The immediate problem will probably be quickly solved through diplomatic channels. Even if it is ...2 days ago
- Following 3 major quakes off New Zealand, questions remain about how they might be linkedSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Stern, Professor of Geophysics, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The Tonga Kermadec subduction zone stretches between New Zealand and south of Samoa. USGS, CC BY-SA A sequence of three major offshore earthquakes, including a magnitude 8.1 quake near ...2 days ago
- VIDEO: Michelle Grattan on the royal commission into aged care, Christian Porter and Linda ReynoldsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and Director of the Institute for Governance & Policy Analysis Dr Laine Dare discuss the week in politics. This week the pair discuss some of the 148 recommendations ...2 days ago
- Threat to Christchurch mosques: Andrew Little defends security agenciesThe minister responsible for the country's spy agencies says they can't constantly monitor the internet to identify terror threats and instead rely on the public to raise the alarm. ...2 days ago
- Thinking about trying collagen supplements for your skin? A healthy diet is better value for moneySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle Celebrity testimonials abound for pills, potions and creams that purport to make you look younger. This time collagen supplements are in the spotlight, after Jennifer Aniston became the face of one ...2 days ago
- Getting the message through: How are South Aucklanders staying informed about Covid? Have the government’s Covid-related messages been getting through to Pacific and non-Pacific ethnic communities in South Auckland? Justin Latif tried to find out.John Pulu is one of the best-known television and radio personalities in New Zealand’s Pacific community. He not only fronts TVNZ’s Tagata Pasifika Saturday morning show, but also hosts ...2 days ago
- Hosking & Tamaki couldn't give a monkey's
James Elliott tries to work out what made Mike Hosking and Brian Tamaki tick everyone off this week. The week started with Aucklanders back under Alert level 3 and Mike Hosking on Alert Level 6. “Mike’s Minute” on NewstalkZB on Monday, which as usual lasted significantly longer than a minute, ...2 days ago - Fonterra milk price forecasts give a fillip to farmers and the regions – the co-op has become an N...
Fonterra has confirmed what most analysts had been predicting and lifted its 2020/21 forecast farmgate milk price range to $7.30 – $7.90 kg/MS, up from $6.90 – $7.50. This should send a further surge of confidence across NZ’s rural regions, hopefully in a wave strong enough to encourage farmers to ...2 days ago - Financial Times chips in with some advice to our Finance Minister on the folly of adding housing to ...A Financial Times leader delivers advice that Finance Minister Grant Robertson should (but probably won’t) consider. Essentially, the advice is to resist the temptation to involve the central bank in the challenge of slowing the rise in house prices. Changing regulation and reforming planning law is a smarter way to ...2 days ago
- NZ Super Fund drops Israeli banks for funding settlements in PalestineThe NZ Superannuation Fund has divested from five Israeli banks due to their suspected involvement in illegal settlement construction. Michael Andrew reports.The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, an autonomous crown entity and manager of the multi-billion NZ Super Fund, has divested from five Israeli banks due to their funding of ...2 days ago
- Bachelor NZ contestant ‘regrets’ calling mask wearing ‘slavery’, questioning Covid-19 scienc...A contestant on the new season of The Bachelor has apologised for ‘controversial’ social media posts comparing mask wearing to ‘slavery’ and for questioning the scientific consensus around Covid-19. Stewart Sowman-Lund reports.Shivani Pragji is – according to her LinkedIn profile – a solicitor working for the Ministry of Business, Innovation ...2 days ago
- NFTs explained: what they are, why rock stars are using them, and why they’re selling for millions...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, PhD, Media and Politics, Deakin University A couple of days ago, the musician Grimes sold some animations she made with her brother Mac on a website called Nifty Gateway. Some were one-offs, while others were limited editions of a few ...2 days ago
- Communities step up to tsunami threat, as authorities dither
Analysis: We are able to send a blaring alert to the phone of every New Zealanders to warn of Covid lockdowns, yet we still struggle to warn them of the danger of a tsunami This coming week, it will be 10 years since Japan was hit by the Tohoku earthquake, one ...2 days ago - The old marketing ‘made me sick’, says Moa’s new ownerMoa brewery sold in February for $1.9m, leaving behind an unsavoury legacy. Michael Andrew speaks to the new owner about how the brewery plans to move forward, while at the same time returning to its Marlborough roots.Moa Brewing Company’s new owner Stephen Smith has criticised the company’s old marketing strategy, ...2 days ago
- Major 8.0 quake at Kermadecs, NZ warning for people to move higherBy RNZ News An 8.0 earthquake has struck near the Kermadec Islands, hours after a 7.4 quake near the Kermadecs and a 7.1 off the North Island coast, A 7.4 quake struck near the Kermadec Islands earlier this morning. The islands are 800km to 1000km from New Zealand. National Emergency ...2 days ago
- Fallow Deer Being Bombarded With 1080 PoisonNational Parks are being closed off to allow fallow deer to be bombarded with 1080 poison. The proposal has drawn strong criticism from the Australian hunting public and also New Zealand’s Sporting Hunters Outdoor Trust. Laurie Collins, spokesman ...2 days ago
- Implausible deniability in Whale Oil case
In the fallout from the Dirty Politics defamation hearing, how can the Food and Grocery Council and its chief continue to deny involvement in attacks on public health academics? Tim Murphy explains its stance. The middleman has 'fessed up. So where does that leave the two prominent players on either side ...2 days ago - On two wheels through the Shaky Isles
Rod Oram sends dispatches from a bike trail through the regions. ...2 days ago - I watched three months of Mike’s Minute in a single day and this is what happenedMike Hosking is a king of breakfast radio, a lover of blazers, and deliverer of opinions via his long-running online video series, Mike’s Minute. José Barbosa absorbed three months’ worth of those opinions in one go, and lived to tell the tale. Just. To be honest, I hadn’t thought about ...2 days ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending March 5The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Bloomsbury, $25)This 2011 bestseller set during the Trojan War has ...2 days ago
- The Friday Poem: I have heard, by Grace YeeA new poem from Melbourne-based poet Grace Yee.I have heardthat the price of a pound of gold has gone grey over the last couple of monthsthat the first sovereign lord beheaded his grandsonthat chinese market gardeners in suburbia shipped out after decades of fastingand purificationthat evil-intentioned hooligans penetrated the palace ...2 days ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – March 05 2021Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Covid Chris Trotter: Atavistic urges Matthew Hooton (Herald): Lockdown 4 sparks Jacinda Ardern’s wrath (paywalled) Peter Dunne: The government urgently needs to upgrade its Covid19 strategy Michael Morrah (Newshub): Information contradicting Prime Minister ...2 days ago
- How would digital COVID vaccine passports work? And what’s stopping people from faking them?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dave Parry, Professor of Computer Science, Auckland University of Technology Although international travel restrictions for Australia have been extended to at least June, there may still be potential for a trans-Tasman bubble with New Zealand (and maybe some other countries), according to ...2 days ago
- Why we’ll get COVID booster vaccines quickly and how we know they’re safeSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jamie Triccas, Professor of Medical Microbiology, University of Sydney The United States’ drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said last week COVID vaccines updated for variants won’t need to go through full randomised controlled clinical trials. The booster shots will ...2 days ago
- 50% of Australians are prepared to pay more tax to improve aged care workers’ pay, survey showsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Milte, Matthew Flinders Senior Research Fellow, Flinders University The final report from the aged care royal commission this week was damning. Speaking of a system in crisis, it calls for an urgent overhaul. The Morrison government has been facing difficult questions ...2 days ago
- Dig this: a tiny echidna moves 8 trailer-loads of soil a year, helping tackle climate changeSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David John Eldridge, Professor of Dryland Ecology, UNSW After 200 years of European farming practices, Australian soils are in bad shape – depleted of nutrients and organic matter, including carbon. This is bad news for both soil health and efforts to address ...2 days ago
- Half of our unis don’t have bullying policies for students. This is what they need to protect themSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zoe Vaill, PhD Candidate Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology Students are heading off to universities around Australia, whether for the first time or as returning students, with expectations of a year of learning, making friends and enjoyable socialising. For some ...2 days ago
- Honouring Te Tiriti means ‘getting into the stream together’ — so this vice-chancellor has bec...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jan Thomas, Vice-Chancellor, Massey University As first-year students flooded onto campuses around the country this week, gripped with uncertainty and curiosity about their new lives, I too returned to university to learn. For the first time since what feels like forever, but ...2 days ago
- Vital Signs: In the battle over interest rates, it’d be unwise to bet against the RBASource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW After years of repeatedly missing its inflation target through too timid monetary policy, in the past week the Reserve Bank has decided to get tough. Not only did it hold its closely watched cash rate target ...2 days ago
- Friday essay: hidden in plain sight — Australian queer men and women before gay liberationSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney It’s Sydney Lesbian and Gay Mardi Gras festival time. LGBTQI people are enjoying what some call “gay or lesbian Christmas”. It’s not quite the same in the era of COVID, ...2 days ago
- Multiple challenges in mandating Covid-19 tracer app – tech expertA tech expert is warning the government could face multiple stumbling blocks if it makes QR code scanning mandatory - in particular when dealing with tech giants like Apple and Google. ...2 days ago
- Live: Tsunami alert issued after 7.4 quake near the Kermadec Islands
*This story first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. A tsunami alert has been issued after a 7.4 earthquake near the Kermadec Islands. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says it expects strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore. It says the threat is from ...2 days ago - Live updates, March 4: Two major earthquakes prompt tsunami warning for east coastLive coverage of the snap lockdown and the search for a source of the latest infection. Auckland is now at alert level three, NZ at level two. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.50am: Two major earthquakes strike; tsunami warning in placeTwo major earthquakes have struck off the coast of New Zealand ...2 days ago
- The Bulletin: Will lockdown lift this weekend?Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Cabinet to decide on lifting lockdown today, questions raised about the stability of the housing market, and people instinctively respond to tsunami threat after earthquake.A decision will be made today on whether or not Auckland will come out of level ...2 days ago
- Synlait shares drop as forward guidance withdrawn
Business & Investing: Synlait Milk won't make even half last year's profit, Plus Will My Food Bag bounce after its sharemarket listing today? ...2 days ago - Synlait shares drop as forward guidance withdrawnBusiness & Investing: Synlait Milk won't make even half last year's profit, Plus Will My Food Bag bounce after its sharemarket listing today? ...2 days ago
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Dennis!!??
Where are you?
a fair question
People can sleep in on Sundays. There is no requirement to be here. This is a voluntary participation.
Quite why I am here is a question. I have code for work that isn't coming out and a partially written post.
But my partner is about to do a international zoom next to me – and one sided conversations about writing are so tedious.
I'm replaying Dungeon Siege 1 on steam on Ubuntu 20.04 when I have a spare half-hour. I think I might take a half hour with headphones and do some small group tactics rather than working.
Rust never sleeps 🙂
Or just old age. I find I like some old games on newer machines. DS1 came out in 2002. Running it on wine in on a 16 core linux server with 64GB RAM and a AMD RX480 video may seem like overkill. Especially in 2560×1200 video mode (the original only went up to 1280px). But it is a pleasant change.
Also way more stable on linux than playing it on windows XP.
Having a life beyond this blog.
There seems to be a lot of talk about the use of face masks of late, hence I thought (being a Sunday an all) some here may want to have a look at this clip below.
[lprent: You have provided no explanation about why you think it is worth anyone expending time to watch this.
If you can’t be bothered to expend time to write a few sentences or paragraphs explaining why you think that others should give up their time, then you’re not expressing your opinion – you’re merely astro-turfing without putting your own skin in the game.
Most people who read on this site won’t watch link spam without a explanation. All you will get are barbed comments about how much of a dickhead you are being. I don’t consider that fosters ‘robust debate’ – perhaps you’d like to disagree? To do so, you’re going to have to carefully explain your opinion and the reasons why you think we should put up with this kind of gutless crap behaviour.
But in the meantime I’d strongly suggest that you don’t waste moderator this way ever again. Weka gave you a pretty clear direction about it yesterday. Your choice and I going to insist that you make it immediately. ]
The Chair's here instead, touting for a dodgy-looking guy in a mask.
And a showy
godgold cross around his neck. Not gonna watch.*sigh* More random blathering from random dude posted by another random dude on da webz.
For those that prefer to get factual evidence-based information from actual experts that takes a lot less than 25 minutes to get across:
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-general-public/covid-19-use-masks-community
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html
Thanks Andre – those Ministry of Health guidelines are excellent – succinct and clear.
…those Ministry of Health guidelines are excellent – succinct and clear.
No.
If you've been following the MOH Guidelines since this shit kicked off, they have been anything but.
But of course…previous versions of The Guidelines disappear from their site so it makes it difficult to call them out on their inconsistencies.
But…if it makes y'all feel cumfy-cosy and well looked after by the Misery..all good.
Not living in NZ, I haven't had cause to look at the MoH website with respect to that, but conflicting/changing guidelines on CoVid 19 from people in authority are certainly not restricted to ministries of health, nor to NZ.
Altering guidelines according to latest best-available information is a good thing.
Altering guidelines according to latest best-available information is a good thing.
And I have no issue with the Misery of Health changing their guidelines. What I did, and still do have a problem with is them failing to adopt a precautionary approach from Day 1 when it came to the use of PPE for front line health workers. Despite some experts recommending this.
What I did, and still do have a problem with is the Mystery assuming(despite no evidence) that Te Virus could only be transmitted by people with symptoms. Quite possibly a significant error considering 40% of infected people are asymptomatic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/08/08/asymptomatic-coronavirus-covid/
I have no problem with the asymptomatic Covid 19 infected free -ranging, such is the way of communities acquiring natural herd immunity. What I do have a problem with is the unnecessary risk that was taken with the health and lives of our most vulnerable by our Government choosing to follow the 'experts' who most supported the reality of our own dismal pandemic preparedness. https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/nz-35th-pandemic-preparedness
What they could have, should have done early on was to be honest and transparent with us and admit stocks of kit were dangerously low. Admit that they had no idea whether asymptomatic people could pass on infection and advise all front line health workers to take all possible precautions until the science had been done. We would have made our own fucking masks. Oh, that's right. Some of us did.
But they didn't. Did they? There have been deaths of vulnerable people and there have been cases of front line workers becoming infected. I know the precautions I took, and still take, and I know the same applied to others in the disability community. We are a resilient bunch, we've had to be, and without actually having made an OIA request for the data I suspect that many disabled people requiring care turned in number to their family bubbles. Which is why we're now being paid…somewhat ironic after a twenty year battle… to have a virus get us over the line.
We will remember though. Again, the Ministry of Health abandoned those at the coalface with near callous disregard and again they claim to have been acting according to 'best advice.'
They were caught short. They had failed to prepare for the inevitable. They denied. They obfuscated. They behaved exactly how those of us who have been unfortunate enough to have to have dealt with them expected.
Pisses me off somewhat that some folks sing their praises.
The advice I've seen from the ministry over this period has always been couched in terms of "available evidence" or "no significant evidence", and prioritisation of resources.
As for singing their praises, 100+ days of zero community transmission is pretty much the best result in the world so far. If the MoH were a sports team, they'd have a goddamned parade down Queen St. And deserve it.
Would you prefer we discuss the video exposing Labour that is doing the rounds on youtube?
Go on then.
Cool.
I think it brings into question why one would support them. What do you think?
Where's the video (which I won't watch)?
We went through this yesterday. I don't want to get into bold mode, so let me spell it out. If *you want to post videos at the top of OM, you will need to explain what the video is about. If you don't I will consider it spam and remove it.
If *you want to make claims about serious or controversial things (eg yesterday it was covid treatments, today it's exposing Labour), then you have to link to something useful to the debate. I explained what useful means yesterday.
You've been here long enough to get how things work here, and when I spend my Saturday taking the time to explain things and then see them ignored on Sunday it irritates me. The closer we get to the election the more likely I am to just ban people who have form.
You're good a provoking discussion here, I'd just like to see you make it more constructive and less flamey. Links and explanations would go a long way.
You Tube? Are you serious? I'm sure anything verifiable & of importance &interest would make into media somewhere. I've recently had a conversation getting their "information" from Youtube & Facebook they were seriously on another planet
Pinnng! Pwang!
…actual evidence-based information from actual experts…
Dontcha actually mean today's actual evidence-based information from today's actual experts?
Because, like, not so long ago we were told 'you don't need masks, or only if you have the symptoms of The Virus (because, like, only those with symptoms are infectious) or only if you have to get close to someone who has symptoms of the virus, and disabled people and their home based carers don't need masks..' et bleeding cetera…
And then there was the 'wearing masks is DANGEROUS, because, like, non -scientists are too thick to don and doff them properly, and the latest…'we only said "NO MASKS!!!" because (despite claims to the contrary from the wonderfully efficient Ministry of Health) there were not enough of them in the country for everyone who needed them.
A little white lie…no harm done. Right?
So hard for we mere mortals to keep up.
Good points. Thanks Rosemary.
Actual experts respond to new information and changing circumstances with updated recommendations and strategies. Misinformation artists choose their position and cherry-pick, misrepresent, and distort information to try to support their predetermined position.
One of the changed circumstances that led to the change to recommend wearing masks was better understanding and weight on the way masks reduce the likelihood an infected mask-wearer will spread their infection to others. This is particularly important given Covid's long period of pre-symptomatic infectiousness.
The reasons for the previous recommendation that masks weren't recommended remain valid. But they were based on the relative ineffectiveness of masks in protecting an individual from being infected by others, particularly when not correctly used. But now the strong collective benefit of everyone wearing masks is weighted much more heavily than the lack of personal individual benefit.
So. "Actual Experts" are those who have the Andre Tick of Approval and "Misinformation artists" don't.
Have I got that right?
SSDD
SSDD
Indeed.
Remember this… from March 27? https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/03/27/1103341/protective-gear-guidelines-released-amidst-supply-concerns
" Home care workers and other healthcare professionals have been crying out for access to protective gear – but the Ministry of Health boss says there are plenty in reserve.
And this…https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/413206/covid-19-41-million-additional-face-masks-coming-for-frontline-health-workers
" There is plenty of PPE available in New Zealand "
and this….https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120981315/coronavirus-new-national-ppe-distribution-system-introduced-after-faults-and-shortages
ad fucking nauseum?
And all this time they're holding the line that asymptomatic people won't be infectious so unless they're a confirmed or suspected case you don't need the kit…even if you are in close contact with vulnerable people…the sick, the disabled, the immune compromised.
The petition the nurses ran…https://www.change.org/p/ministry-of-health-make-sure-all-staff-in-hospital-have-face-masks?recruiter=68551421&recruited_by_id=8a50ea80-6976-432c-bdea-90e51e7f9dee&share_bandit_exp=message-21065010-en-GB&share_bandit_var=v2
…when not only were masks not being supplied, nurses wearing self-funded masks were ordered to remove them so as 'not to create panic.'
If The Virus is as deadly as we are told…and were told from practically Day 1…why was the Precautionary Principle not applied and have everyone treated as potential carriers?
SSDD
2020/08/09 at 10:46 am
what does SSDD mean
Slang Umm… defined here.
https://www.slang.org/ssdd-meaning-definition/
Google is your friend.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=ssdd
If you're still struggling to choose between the answers given, well, it's not the single-sided, double-density one.
Cool cat. How did you accomplish the insertion? I couldn't see instructions for that onsite here when I looked a while back.
Instructions at https://thestandard.org.nz/faq/gravatar/#GravatarSignup
Basically you sign up with your email and a password, then upload an image from your confuser or the web. It gets you to crop your image as part of the upload process and then it deals with downsizing it for the avatar.
And it is even retroactive – it changes it everywhere on the site, including all of your old comments.
Try the old Andre at page 10
Thanks for the tip. I'll have to mull it over awhile due to the complexity involved – and do some tech learning to get the result.
Powerful design for that tech, LP, time travel automatised! 🙂
It's not complex. No more so than attaching a photo to an email. The instructions on the Gravatar site are ok-ish.
The email address needs to be the one you use for commenting here, and it needs to be a live email address you can still get into since it sends a confirmation email you need for finishing the sign-up.
Comes with wordpress. It is trying to do it the other (timestamped) way that gets hard.
I think Andre is saying that experts are characterised by their methodology, not by their actual stance/opinion at any given point in time. And moreover, it's a methodology that to execute properly requires a fair bit of prior slog in just learning things about that knowledge domain. Propagandists operate quite differently. It's an important point.
Hmm…what stood out to me (a front line, hands-on disability support provider) was that the 'experts' taking the stance that PPE was not needed unless Infection was confirmed or suspected (during the time that only symptomatic people could pass on Te Virus) were not actually the people at risk of catching the disease or worse…passing the disease onto a vulnerable person in their care.
These 'experts' might have been doing the 'hard slog', theoretically, but they were not at the actual coalface. Worse, they often treated those at the actual coalface like so much disposable shit.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/416590/nurses-infected-with-covid-19-union-calls-for-external-investigation-after-review-s-findings
Perhaps I missed the public apology to made by The Ministry, the DHBs and Uncle Ashley to those who fronted the battle and whose calls for practical support in the form of PPE and clear guidelines based on a precautionary approach were met with dismissal, denial and confusion.
From the 'experts'.
https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal-articles/covid-19-the-frontline-a-gp-perspective
My rule of thumb is that experts can be wrong from time to time and still be experts. But they cease to be experts when they don't follow their professed methodology. I have seen the latter from some in the medical profession in my experience with disability services.
Not just medicos either; much disability policy and delivery does not meet professional standards or logic.
Are you suggesting that the likelihood a mask would reduce the risk that an infected wearer could spread the infection to others was only recently discovered?
And what exactly was the evidence that increased the weight that led to the change in stance being taken?
The piece below talks about some of the epidemiological studies done this year since the start of the pandemic, as well as droplet and flow emission studies. It also touches on some of the cultural factors.
https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent
I for one appreciate your public spiritedness and eagerness to share crucial information. Do you have views on the efficacy of prayer in the fighting of viral infection?
Or any on the correct pronunciation of the modern-day name for Old Siam?
Actually I think you'll find that's Old Thiam.
Sounds like somewhere a senile orange pig might go to grab a …
Gabby, I think you're being a bit neglectful of the potential efficacy of thoughts as well as prayers.
Thoughts and prayers, Andre, thoughts and prayers…
That is a stunningly powerful ad!!
Yes. But remember the Lincoln Project are Republicans. And they know that intellectually, and in policy terms, Joe Biden is an empty vessel waiting to be filled. I imagine they will be right in the queue ready to do that filling via positions in his administration.
Biden's team have cooperated very closely with the Sanders team and adopted a number of their positions.
Biden has outsourced some policy formation to the Sanders' team – our own Labour party has done this even more strongly from the Greens.
And you shouldn't expect a Biden victory to mean a cabinet full of Democrats. He will be seeking to isolate the extremes of Trump's Senate support, by including moderate Republicans.
You get that sense easily here:
The depth of the decay and disorder in Washington from the Trump regime will require a Biden team to focus on a few core areas for the first year. Spreading too thin is a recipe for major embarassment. Biden needs a very steady course in 2021 (should he win), in order that he sets up a smooth transition to the VP for the second term.
We'll see. Or at least I hope we will. It seems that Biden will be open to influence, but to an extent that is constrained by what his donors will permit.
Absolutely – I've been following the Lincoln project crowd and Biden. I would disagree with them on many things and am no fan of either, but I agree with them on the efficacy of the orange loon.
I prefer The Mask of Zorro.
Please check my note on your comment about your behaviour.
But I did. As I stated, there has been a lot of talk about the use of face masks of late. And the clip is about the use of face masks.
Whether people want to watch it is up to them. It's no big deal to me if they don't.
It seems those that don't want to watch it, yet want to come on here and make barbed comments are the problem your attention should be focused on opposed to the person that put up a relevant and interesting clip. Don't you think?
[6 month ban. For wasting moderator time after multiple warnings and basically ignoring what we are saying, also previous bans. You’re probably lucky I haven’t gone and looked up your ban history. The big thing for me here is that despite all your years here you still think you get to dictate how the site should operate instead of taking guidance from the mods including one of the people that owns the site. – weka]
FFS! Your opinion is this: ‘I post this 25-min video because in my opinion some people might be interested in watching it’.
In other words, you have no interest in debate and/or other opinions. In my opinion, that’s describes the behaviour of a cowardly astroturfing troll.
So, here we are again, ‘discussing’ the same old same old behaviour of you here and you have now attracted the attention of three Moderators 🙁
I think I have a solution for this 🙂
It's quite common in social media for people to post links to things they think may be of interest to others. I do it a lot to provide a variety of information and to promote discussion on various things.
You can obviously demand what you like here, but it seems odd to me, unless perhaps you don't like the content at the link.
O see that others have posted links with little or no comment without reprimand.
it's been a longstanding premise here to not spam the site. Not a hard guideline to follow. If you want to post youtubes at the top of OM esp, then introduce the vid. Likewise other content. You will notice that it's the people that post spam a lot and ignore what people are saying about it that get moderator attention.
and you know, I have no idea what the content of the video is. Seriously, none. We went through this yesterday and with some prompting TC provided some useful links that explained things (introduce the vid, back up claims of fact). If he'd done that today he wouldn't be on a six month ban now. In other words, it's zero to do with the content.
Posts of possible interest to others and conservation starters are spam?
"irrelevant or unsolicited messages sent over the Internet, typically to a large number of users, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware"
– https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/spam
no, on this site, videos with no explanation of what they are about are spam when posted regularly by the same person who has been asked to provide explanations.
See the comment just below yours @ 2.6.2
Trolling is probably a better description than spam: not behaving in ways that match intent to have an actual discussion. Destructive to any conversation space. Brings out the worst in others.
Pete flies in, like an enraged hen, feathers flying, scaly legs akimbo, to defend The Chairman!
No Pete, I cannot, and you should know this. So, please stop making BS assertions about Moderation and particularly my Moderation here. FYI, Moderation is rarely about contents, rather lack of content/opinion and behaviour are the most common triggers.
Right now, there's already around 30 comments in the thread and no-one's the wiser as to whether video dude argues for masks being a good thing or a hoax, nor any of the reasons why.
That's something you could have easily put in a sentence or two if you wanted to start an informative discussion. And may have given people a reason to actually watch the video. Maybe.
quite.
God you’re a self involved, pompous, arrogant dick LPrent. Why are you such a wanker all the time? A little self reflection might do you some good.
[lprent: I do that all of the time. It is part of doing the work of a moderator. And I’d get hell at the back end from the other moderators if I do it in such a way that made their lives harder.
But from your comment, I have no idea what exactly you’re getting wound up about unless it is The Chairman ignoring previous warnings.
However I don’t really need a fool incoherently trying to advise me of my responsibilities and especially when they manage to
Perhaps you should reflect on the fact that you read like a complete self-entitled dimwit who couldn’t put together anything apart from a spluttering and completely meaningless indignation. Perhaps you should model yourself on Pete George. I might disagree with his indignation, but at least he is capable of framing an objection that is coherent. Clearly you’ve never been personally reflective enough to even achieve that. ]
Heh. A cock to the end you are
[lprent: As I implied above – you really are a stupid lazy and bumbling idiot – you somehow neglected to make the effort to deal with any of the points that I listed. I’m presuming that you’re just trying for the troll equivalent of death by cop. But so far all you’re managing to do is to look as stupid as the machines that service you. ]
You’re so utterly up your own ass. Tell us again about your MBA, earth sciences degree And how great you are at coding.
Just a pompous old git dripping with self importance.
John, you seem desperate for a holiday, but are being left hanging.
Can't be comfortable.
I’m just amazed at what little insight LPrent into himself. And I’m fine with copping a ban. I have great insight into my failings and success. LPrent struts around with such and unearned self importance – throwing his belief into his own masterful intellect as if he were the first person in the world to get an MBA.
its really pathetic
Ok, then. But rather than being fine with a ban you seem hell-bent on one.
It is churlish and ignorant for you to claim LPrent has 'unearned' anything regarding this forum. As far as I can tell he funds and operates the entire show for our benefit with little or no recompense for time and hardware.
For a long time I have thought you are a complete and utter toss-pot. You apparently agree.
Well, he does run this site quite successfully and has done so for years and it comes with certain bragging rights that only small troll egos cannot handle. I’ve a little more insight in what goes on behind the scenes and I’m impressed and grateful for his efforts.
Many people read this site for free and those who like to comment or even write Guest Posts get support from Lprent and other volunteers. Yet there are a few who seem to think that because this is a free platform they have a natural right to whinge and whine about how things are done here and criticise the people who (help) run this site with indemnity. Their attitude is wrong at so many levels and it is extremely frustrating having to listen to and deal with those misguided self-entitled and ungrateful small minds.
John, I’m sure you’re a decent kind of bloke, but if you cannot stand this site and/or its SYSOP, I’d suggest you leave and don’t come back.
I’m a very decent person. But I can’t stand arrogance of which LPrent is dripping it. He injects his “expertise” into nearly every post and comment. “Oh, I code”, “something something my MBA”, “earth science degree”. Well done you’ve succeeded…. like many many other people.
then the constant use of the term “dick heads”. Jesus man, get the fuck over yourself. I know I’m a nobody but I’ve carved a happy life for myself and wanks like Prent hey no truck from me. I can’t believe no one else sees it
I can’t believe no one else sees it
Perhaps it's more a case of seeing merit in not pissing on the shoes of one of the people, actually the person most responsible for providing this playground that the rest of us get to use for free.
Of the thousands of comments and Posts, you tend to focus on Lprent’s knowing full well that it winds you up and it shows. Please get a grip and if you cannot get over it, please leave; you’re spoiling it for others and only thinking about your own feelings and even asking (for) others to ‘see it’. Please stop it now and please don’t do this ever again, thank you.
If you're concerned about language, then I am sure that I can find a few other languages to say the same thing in – octal perhaps. But frankly if you don't like the way that I express myself, then perhaps you should look at the way that you use it. A couple of your comments further up for instance.
Most people on the site simply don't care that much. They're interested in debate rather than paragraph punctuation.
I, like most people here, talk about things we have experience with, that includes family, work experience, education, dealings with WINZ, the material read, and sometimes things that we research. Most will usually state how confident they are with whatever they're saying and provide a reason for that or a link or a source.
I realise that you don't do that kind of typically just make bald assertions of usually challenged 'fact'. I can understand that the comparison between makes you uncomfortable. But I really don't care.
Personally I'm writing for the people whose opinion I actually care about – those who can tell me that I'm wrong, why they think that, and where they got that piece of shit idea from. This is robust debate – ideas get challenged. Assertions get destroyed. And long held beliefs may need a bit of quiet adjustment.
Robust debate is what the site was started for. It is in the first paragraph of our policy. Defending that basic principle for the site is the most common reason for moderation. If you want to have something different, then I suggest that you follow the advise in the last part of the About. Find another site or start your own
But you've been bitching about the same thing for most of a decade under one name or another. Perhaps you should get off the fence again and try it.
Ok, I'm going to put my spoke in too.
So, John Selway – the fellow who claims he's decent – has been commenting here for years under different names? That's enough to ring alarm bells for me. If you're a decent person you don't use different names. You stick with the same name and people can get to know you and choose to trust you or otherwise.
And I might add it is only the trolls, trouble makers and the really stupid who feel the lash of the lprent tongue. He's remarkably kind to the rest of us. 😎
It's cute you think what you do is 'robust debate'.
You don't debate, you use this forum as your fiefdom to show how much better than everyone you think you are.
People with different opinions or politics to you are dick heads (jesus man, get a better insult – it's always dick heads), you like to feel better and more important than other people and have no problem making sure everyone knows what an amazingly smart and well educated person you are compared to everyone else.
Fuck sake man, get some perspective.
I think John needs self-isolation more than anything.
Or has had a bit much, and wants to receive a virtual spanking just for the variation in sensation.
Not for the first time a politic journo assumes that what they want is what we all want.
“At some point we could all use a little less triangulation and bit more of an ideological clash.“
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300077606/election-2020-labour-launch-an-extremely-centrist-campaign
Cooke has an agenda. He asked a loaded question during the stand up. Jacinda said she knew where that was going and answered briefly. He was plainly miffed.
“There is only one logical conclusion given where we are now: we have no alternative but to commit to more radical political action. To get as many people as possible involved in campaigning activities just as often as possible. To bring such pressure to bear on our political systems, while we still have time, to shift from today’s wholly inadequate incrementalism to full-on emergency response. The case for civil disobedience is now overwhelming.”
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/oram-how-we-can-confront-the-climate-crisis
Is anyone listening?…..it appears that perhaps 5 or 6% of kiwis may have half an ear attuned.
This local body politician is and I've emailed the article to my fellow regional councillors. Yesterday, I did a video-interview on the topic of climate change that will be broadcast somewhere later this year. Some of the questions were around the issue of conservative thinking and the response from the agricultural sector.
It astounds me that although there is quite some amount of coverage via media, public speaking events, academic research/statements the apparent impact on public opinion when it comes time for political action is just not there. Labour (or any broadly supported political party) will not move on meaningful action on CC policy until such time as they see their support disappearing to the likes of the Greens.
Homo Sapiens my arse.
Agreed. They will cherry-pick suitable policies and massage and water them down to make them more palatable for the not-so-radical middle. In doing this, they will remove the vital oxygen and lifeline from other minor parties. Labour is just window dressing CC because of: Covid now, something else next. In the near future, we’re likely to experience more natural disasters and pandemics and they’re going to become more and more costly to our society and economy. Short-termism kills in the long-term, just look at smoking, poor diet, or alcohol and other substance abuse: a slow wearing and grinding down of one’s health and immune system till the body (and mind) can no longer cope and shit hits the fan, literally.
The real shame is seeing way too many politicians and party officials across the spectrum prepared to squander decades of future funding right now propping up yesterdays' priorities in the face of increasing threats (the 2022 global financial crash, 2023 foot and mouth outbreak, 2024 drought, Covid-25, the 2027 algal bloom..) – rather than on the fundamental changes to reduce the harm of climate change and severe economic and social dislocation.
Representing cowardly voters and lobbyists can't be a satisfying career. Yet here we are.
I’d call it the Watercare mentality.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
Upton Sinclair
Why do you think that politicians, from both National and Labour, are always going on about jobs?
People don't have the time or energy to get riled up about the damage the present system is causing and they're dependent upon the system continuing to 'work'.
Even when politicians do go on about transformation they're not talking about changing the system. They're there to keep the same failed system in place for the rich.
Oops NZF
Jones on 15%!!!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12354862
A 1 News Colmar Brunton poll has Jones on just 15 per cent support, with National's Matt King, the incumbent, on 46 per cent and Labour candidate Willow Jean-Prime on 31 per cent.
And Peters wants the elderly to get out and work
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300077570/your-country-needs-you–winston-peters-pitch-to-baby-boomers-and-older-kiwis
That sounds like a winner!!!
Massive vote splitting:
King 46% National 35%
Prime 31% Labour 41%
You could assume this will be repeated in safe blue seats all over the country.
I thought I heard the figure on Q&A that approx 400 people were called on a landline.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/q-poll-sees-nz-first-s-shane-jones-in-third-place-crucial-northland-seat
So a Stuff political journalist thinks voters deserve a contest of ideas.
Well, a Stuff journalist thinks the people deserve something substantial to challenge their minds and promote considered discussion?
Excuse me? This is 2020, this is New Zealand. They've moved us on to other ways of operating. We don't do that any more. They want to turn on the 'serious' tap when they took out all the plumbing for it years ago.
Nice analogy. The media made politics about personality over policy. Bit late for them to be crying foul now.
this guy
What I love is that the repugs are acting like the shitgibbon habitually uses Australian-English pronunciations, rather than Jersey Thuggese.
So very "christian". When will charitable status be removed from these rabid sects? https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300063194/former-exclusive-brethren-members-hit-with-dawn-raids-legal-suits-after-speaking-out-against-the-secretive-christian-sect
Considering the reports of their abuse of others we should probably be jailing them.
That's pretty scary. I assume this is a civil case and to issue a no notice warrant ( instead of discovery?) or in the case of reputation concerns – external evidence – I would have though the potential financial losses would have to be pretty high and pretty certain because reputation damage loss relies on external spread so can be otherwise proved.
To go further and run it over a dwelling which may contain other people who may be absolutely unrelated to the issue in question is appalling. I see the court appointed a lawyer so at some level they were not happy but still – at that level it's treating it more like a criminal offence. Would be interesting to hear from a few lawyers on this.
I mean could you see say whaleoil or kiwi blog or here being issued with a no notice warrant.
It has been requested for here at least once (by Dermot aka Dimwit Nottingham in 2015) on what was technically a criminal charge. He’d run a private prosecution against APN NZ, ODT, Pete George and me. His claim was that ODT had reprinted, and that PG and myself had quoted from a court report article by the NZ Herald. He claimed that the original NZH article had caused contempt of court by violating the court orders on identity suppression (they hadn’t in my view).
The judge turned down the search warrant request and I only found that it’d be requested with a published judicial decision made against Dimwit complaining about the judge turning it down amongst other matters.
Needless to say, Dimwit lost the case because he managed a number of days in court as a private prosecution without establishing that APN NZ owned the NZ Herald (they didn’t directly – it is directly owned by NZME). He also managed to somehow not establish that I had anything to do with this site. I subsequently helped bankrupt him for unpaid court ordered costs from both the original trial and the appeal.
However since 2009, this site has always encrypted the entirety of the site including its logs and backups. While I could eventually be forced to divulge access in a criminal trial, I’d really need to establish in a court that I’d actually need to as well – since it’d also open up access to other confidential information.
Not good for you.
I'd have thought judges would be pretty careful about issuing warrants without notice when it may be no more than civilian vigilantism. It also is likely to involve the party being ambushed having to pay legal fees which can multiply at the rate of … without any opportunity to answer in a less expensive situation or to get their costs and damages. It would be really interesting to see the judicial reasoning- otherwise they are facilitating some pretty extreme bullying
Mask V No Mask.
The 15 counties where masks are mandatory have had new infections drop by 40%; the 90 counties where masks are optional had no fall.
https://www.ottawaherald.com/news/20200805/norman-kansas-has-become-natural-experiment-in-mask-mandate-battle
That is a telling graph.
Deceiving graph. Mask-wearing counties (n=15) have cases drop from ca. 20 to 16 cases per 100,000 and in non-mask-wearing counties (n=90) cases stay around 9 per 100,000.
Incognito, any chance you could edit the image ref so that the second y-axis scale on the right for the blue line shows up?
It's also worth noting the mask-mandate counties are the high-population counties, so the higher population density could well account for the higher initial infection rate:
I’ve adjusted the image size; it did show up fine in the back-end, you see, and I rarely visit the front-end.
I think the graph is tantalising but without knowing anything about confounding factors, I would not take it at face value. It reminds me of early comparisons between lock-down and non-lock-down regions/states/countries. The non-lock-down places looked they were doing quite well but this was largely because people were self-isolating at home. Mask-wearing may be an easy metric but it is likely to be a surrogate of a whole raft of behavioural differences and changes. That said, Dr Norman might genuinely believe that data.
Thank you.
Yeah, taken alone that data is just a whisper of a hint. But it is still something that's useful to help fill in a bigger picture.
Urban V rural; the denser the population, the higher the transmission rate.
Manipulation via murdoch's media outlets in Aussie (Sky News etc) and the USA (FOX etc).
But what's really interesting is Richard Gizbert's interview with Malcolm Turnball. The ex Aussie PM is now condemning the Murdoch's, even though malcolm was happy to rise to power on the coat tails of murdochs narratives. True to form turnball attempts to turn it around at the end and blame the murdochs control on Labour
Opinions drive media sales far more than facts. Murdoch's so called news outlets should be labeled as opinion outlets.
Victoria’s Chief Medical Officer has reported today that the state’s Reproduction Rate of the virus has dropped below 1 for the first time since June, signs that the lockdown and mask wearing is working.
I have been wonderin', especially after seeing plum in the mouth Bolger on Q +A, just when are they going to dig up the bones of (another plum in the mouth) Holyoake, wire them together and put him on TV to lend a hand to the National cause.
Burying themselves in plums?
At least Bolger wasn’t insisting on opening the borders. He seemed to disagree with Key and co.
Louisa Wall profiled by Andrea Vance: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122339382/why-labour-mp-louisa-wall-refuses-to-know-her-place
None of Louisa Wall's beliefs match any of mine so I won't be voting for her or, I suspect, any Party that has her in their fold.
Good to know.
I wonder why you chose not to quote her abuse story? Inasmuch as it reflects negatively on Labour's credibility, it is more relevant to the election campaign.
Goff would have been the leader when it happened. Perhaps the Labour patriarchs were in a post-Helen resurgent phase? Anyway, the moral of the story is that senior Labour male parliamentarians swearing at junior Labour female parliamentarians was okay nine years ago.
I found her comment about not being 'political' more revealing about why she may have run into trouble with her career choice. Someone else was bound to find allegations of abuse more appealing and here we are.
Fair enough. Must be a generational perspective – it would never have occurred to me to use political in the narrow sense she apparently used it.
I see her stance as admirable, moral and political in the wider sense. Someone who acts politically on the basis of principle is actually the ideal politician!
Anti-Netanyahu/corruption protests in Israel.
Israelis despise Yair Netanyahu.
This Jacinda worship is getting a bit childish, scary and ridiculous. I doubt whoever was in charge would really have responded differently, likewise who ever wins I doubt Covid strategy will be much different going forward, hence an election on Covid only does nz a disservice
Soimun was going to cut taxes and have a bonfire of regulations as the response. Don't you remember that?
Since then we've had all kinds of stories about opening the border sooner and quicker for students and other various and sundries. So yeah, nah, National have persuaded me their Covid strategy would be quite different to the current strategy.
What one does and says in opposition and what one does in power are 2 different things. Labour are surly an example of that over the last 3 years Ignoring who would have done Covid better, I hope this election is not just a contest and swinging purses at 20 paces on Covid
What one does and says in opposition and what one does in power are 2 different things.
Well, yeah, but the usual pattern of that is to promise really difficult stuff that most people want, and then actually do at best half-assed renditions of something not quite what was promised that hardly anyone is happy with.
The Nats went straight into promising half-assed renditions of obvious fuckups that hardly anyone wants right from the get-go.
surly is right!! Surely!!
Jacinda worship gives power to Jacinda and if Labour wins the election her power will continue until something in the media that worshipers believe undermines it. As for what she will do with the power apart from controlling caucus and drugging the populace with kindness and compassion who knows ? I hope I live to see the corruption her power is leading to, as in the days of Muldoon and Lange. And the sequel.
The National Party would have implemented limited restrictions instead of a full lockdown. They would have put business and wealth creation above everything else. Yes those things are important, but not at the expense of sickness and death. If National had power when Covid-19 hit, NZ would now be like Melbourne or worse. National were pushing for travel bubbles and the return of international students months ago and that would have been a total disaster. Looking to the future, I simply don't trust the National Party to manage the borders and keep NZ safe from Covid-19.
The Labour-led government has worked through the complex issues of managed isolation and reacted quickly to address problems. Now is not the time to give that crucial responsibility to an inexperienced National/ACT government. The majority of voters understand this.
The MOH and WHO give advice and recommendations, but the government makes the decisions and implements the heath response. Our PM and government made the correct decisions, protected people from Covid-19 and saved lives. They continue to do so. I trust Jacinda Ardern to keep us safe.
1000%
I mean, the proportion of world leadership that went hard at it from the get-go is close to fuckall, so good on you for assuming that NZ had not one but two main political parties prepared to do the hard yards early on and go for elimination.
We need more optimists in the world.
It was stated National policy to bring in international students and open a bubble to Australia, months ago. National called for level 4 to be less strict, to move to level 3 earlier, and level 2 earlier. All well documented. It was even – crazy, but it's true – the view of National's current front bench that we should be out panic buying (see David Bennett). So … if we’re going to pretend they would have done the same, let's not rewrite history so soon, give it a year or two before we play that game.
Yup. But I like Red's optimism that they was only politicking, and that if the nats had been in government the NZ covid response would have been as good as what we actually did. No shortcuts on lockdown, no loosening of the borders, none of that.
lol the world needs naive dreamers sometimes 🙂
Try Trump's USA. Bridges?
You don’t mention Bloomfield’s admiration group?
The wonderful, wonderful Elizabeth Ardern.
Blimey, might have to vote Green this time. There's some great stuff in here targeting what I believe is the most fixable part of the intergenerational inequality spiral. It will reduce crime and increase NZ’s productivity.
You'd never see Twyford doing this sort of work for low-income and vulnerable communities.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/08/nz-election-2020-green-party-reveals-homes-for-all-plan.html
Impressive stuff. Well thought out and totally achievable.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/423110/green-party-plans-to-clear-record-high-social-housing-list-in-five-years
Do you think Labour are deliberately allowing the Greens to fill this policy space?
Both for the benefit of the Greens vote, and because any housing policy by Labour runs the risk of being laughed at?
Don't know but that does make sense. Also keeps Lab focused on middle-class priorities for their new Nat voters; easier to communicate in campaign.
it's certainly a more attractive theory than Labour deciding to run centrist policy of its own sake.
Oh I'd say that's going on as well, along with careful positioning statements by the PM so as not to scare off the Nat voters who have come across seeking stability and continuity.
they seem contradictory, Labour wanting a centrist position because they value it, Labour wanting the Greens to pull NZ left.
It is a low risk strategy for Labour.
It doesn't seem accidental to me.
If co-ordinated, Labour and the Greens are together wanting to span the space between full left and the dreaded centre or swing vote. A truely broad church of appeal.
If deliberate this marks a very sophisticated and powerful collaboration and use of the MMP environment.
Don't forget James Shaw and Jacinda Ardern have a personal friendship that goes back a long way. They will be talking privately.
I'd say that you're right overall.
The core of getting a persistent re-electable vote in NZ is to occupy the centre. Centre-left or centre-right. It means that you have in a MMP environment, enough mass in the house to push policies through. It is hard to do that if you're (say) the Alliance or Act. All that happens is that the people voting against you.
But National is pretty clearly moving further right and away from the centre and was all the way through the Key years. That was why they allowed social issues with low investment like housing and immigration related issues of infrastructure to pile up using the GFC as an excuse.
However it has become more explicit now with Bridges, Collins, and shortly Luxton. More of a property owners party as the actual number of property owners diminish and housing becomes more affordable. The number of economic 'liberals' identifiable in the party are diminishing as their MPs resign and the conservative side are steadily gaining influence.
But Labour get creamed when they start trying to do anything that is too different or too experimental. More radical change has to come from the coalition parties who can cop the blame if it all turns to custard. The Centre party will concentrate on pushing through policy that deals with extant problems like finishing the CRL, fixing the court system, shifting immigration policies, fixing hospitals, and paying for super.
I suspect that if we lose NZF (populist and centrist) then that will become the pattern.
Yes yes yes yes, that is exactly what is happening, Labour = "extreme centrist" (according to the media, ha!!) & Greens get to be "left", ironically it's only the anti Greens who so far have seen this, everyone else is hassling Labour for being 'meh', the RW are voting Labour to oust Greens, & Green supporters (Like me!) are quite happy with it all. I've never seen Labour as Left, I've said before, they are the only 'centrist' party.
I actually want the Green Party to stay in parliament, albeit without any real influence. My reasoning more so for democracy, just as the rwnj need some where to go and deserve representation as do the lwnj to keep them off the streets. One day however I would like to see a new real Green Party ( not watermelons) unhindered by square dancing and SJWs go into coalition with a national government as mused by county Jim is his latest book
how insulting, it was Morris Dancing no Square Dancing.
I stand corrected Weka and apologise to the square dancing community and the Green Party 😊
[Fixed typo in e-mail address]
The Greens and "square"?
You must be new to politics, Red!
Its hip to be square as the song goes Robert
[Fixed typo in e-mail address]
Quite what value single issue parties are to government I will never understand. You and the other blue-greens seem to want a green party having absolutely no position on anything other than the environment.
Not at all, our beef is the high jacking of the green label to mean you must be a socialist and overly woke This does more harm than good as it keeps the green agenda at the margins
Not that I've been that close to the Green party since the start but I can't remember them without a social conscience alongside their environmental conscience. They say the two are not separable.
Also, you said 'woke' which immediately raises alarm bells with me as to your agenda.
That’s the issue the argument that to have social conscience you must be a socialist and similarly to be green you must be socialist as though it is some self evident truth or axiom
Greens will never hook up with the Nats, forget about it. Labour are more likely to. For the Greens to hook up with Nats, they'd have to get their supporters support, & basically be a patsy party like what happened to MP & ACT. Nats still don't get MMP, & long may that continue. (Look at Bergen, their Green Party leader became PM, with the equivelants of Labour & National (the 2 biggest parties) negotiating portfolios (the RW take finance, the LW social stuff, & all co operate). Hard work of course! But maybe we will mature in time. & fuck your 'woke' bullshit, look where it's got Shane Jones, hyuck!!!
"Not that I've been that close to the Green party since the start"
Well I have and red is correct IMHO. What the greens attempt to ram thru as social justice is along way away from just and is not founded on environmental wisdom. They have poisoned the brand and we all are paying the price of not having a coherent voice for the environment.
I do not see a way forward for the Greens at this time
That's fine xanthe, social issues are not a priority for you, but they are for the Green Party and have been for some time.
They are a stronger voice in parliament because of this.
You view social issues as "poison". I have to say that is a real shame and it makes me wonder what this forum offers you if that is truely the case.
dont be a wanker mutts
No where do i say or imply that social issues are not a priority to me!
Social issues are in fact very important to me. I am deeply offended when i see them leveraged in ignorance in a polarizing manner for political gain.
Anyone who goes into this area needs to do so in a careful, informed manner.
Your bullying response to me founded on misrepresentation fairly sums up where the greens went off the rails.
There is a non-left "green" party to vote for. They got a whole heap of publicity when they were launched. Their leader was all over the media. Remember?
The only problem is that absolutely nobody wants to vote for them. They register zero in the polls. Not 1%. Absolute zero.
So where are these mystery "green" voters?
They are in the centre , National and Labour, but can’t say they are green The Green Party should be ashamed of itself they have appropriated the word green with a hard left agenda, a big no no in this day and age. As a result green issue are pushed to the margin
[Fixed another typo in your e-mail address. Please be more careful next time, thanks]
[Fixed another typo in your e-mail address. Please be more careful next time, thanks]
"Hard Left", ha!!! Extreme Centre, eye roll. The RW may have a social conscience, they just don't wanna pay for it. Whereas the LW (hard or soft), want to socialise the cost, because we all pay in the long run. Nothing wrong with a bit of Morris Dancing or photos with unicorns, BFD.
That is completely false. National MPs have been rushing to call themselves "Blue-Green", and they signed up to the zero carbon bill. Now, they are nowhere near green enough for me personally, but that's beside the point: they claim to be green.
https://www.politik.co.nz/2019/11/11/how-bridges-letthe-blue-greens-redefine-national/
I don't think I'd describe the Greens as hard anything, except perhaps hardworking – certainly not hard Left – perhaps Te Papa must run a sample gulag exhibit so that the ignorant may learn to distinguish truth from rhetorical excess.
People are part of the environment. It is your idiotic reductionist thinking that is the problem here.
Nah, Red is just angling for another long/permanent ban; it didn’t take long at all.
While I want the Greens in parliament with power hence being a member.
No, its a denial of democracy. Having people without power is, ipso facto, preventing those people being able to engage in the democratic process.
No you don't. You want a Green Party that does as its told.
We have a real green Party – one that's willing to stand on its principles. And a party that stands on its principles will never go into coalition with National because they have none.
I look forward to a party of the right that is worthy of a coalition with the Greens. Maybe liberal remnants of the Nats after they shed the rural rump.
With solar panels, perhaps?
To
Leighton Baker, New Conservative Leader
© New Conservative, Authorised by Kevin Stitt, 35 Lenore Rd, Mangere
During the early morning of Saturday 8th August 2020, two political billboards for your political party, New Conservative were illegally attached on our properties roadside fence.
The fence is more than two metres inside our surveyed boundary.
Landowner permission to display your election signage was not requested.
You or your agents not only erected your party’s billboards illegally on our private property, you/they interfered with and then actually relocated existing signage on our fence to maximise your party billboards visibility and field of vision.
We are taking legal action against the New Conservative Party on the following counts:
New Conservative Party trespassed onto our property.
New Conservative Party illegally attached two political billboards onto our fence.
New Conservative Party by illegally attaching two political billboards onto our fence have insinuated by association that we are supportive of your Party’s philosophy.
New Conservative Party by illegally attaching two political billboards onto our fence have embarrassed, tarnished and diminished our reputation and standing in our community.
Your promotional material states that the New Conservative Party believes in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional family values and a strong national identity.
By trespassing, erecting obnoxious political billboards, interfering and rearranging existing signage, insinuating our beliefs are similar to your party’s and embarrassing and blemishing our standing and reputation in our community hardly adheres to your claimed beliefs.
In the last 24 hour period since the New Conservative Party illegally attached the two political billboards onto our fence, we have had numerous people who have aggressively enquired about our political and moral beliefs.
We have a full range of photographic evidence which we will be supplying our legal council.
We are taking legal action and will be suing New Conservative accordingly.
170-174 Stafford Drive
Ruby Bay, Mapua
Nelson 7005
[lprent: I’m letting this comment through despite our usual policy on open contact via the page. At least it doesn’t have any email addresses of phone numbers in it. If someone knows the the New Conservatives, I’d suggest letting them know this ASAP because the Electoral Commission will appreciate this about as much as the fence owners do. ]
I am on the fence on this one
The NCs billboards ask a question, then answer, "No Thanks". I'm looking for a way to easily change it to read:
New conservative, ain't that an oxymoron
And the reason why conservatives like those things is because what they really don't like are rules that hold them to account, rules that prevent them doing whatever they like no matter how much damage it does to anything or anyone else.
And the proof of that lies in their illegal and immoral actions as stated above.
test
https://image.spreadshirtmedia.com/image-server/v1/compositions/T949A5PA1998PT25X7Y0D1012778558S27/views/3,width=500,height=500,appearanceId=5,backgroundColor=000000/nonplussed-black-cat-filing-nails-full-color-mug.jpg
An image for Judith Collins with a message about kinder messages?
the cat is way too cool for Collins.
Newshub is reporting that Brownlee claims the Nats are on ‘about’ 40%. Nothing to back the claim up of course. He also says he doesn’t trust polls anymore and then goes on to say that TVNZ’s poll in Northland is really bad news for NZFirst. You couldn’t make it up!
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/08/nz-election-2020-gerry-brownlee-claims-national-is-on-about-40-percent.html
Gerry spreads himself like lard across the bread political.
He started using "about" with that level of error as a teenage boy because he thought the six inch ruler was way too long.
Gerry’s got his tinfoil hat on again…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12354991
… well if the unthinkable happened and the Nats got back in I guess it wouldn't be long before we'd need those masks …
Evidently Gerry only looks at the local news and ignores the news from the outside of NZ. How else could you explain this…
There are about 3 other statements he made just in that one article (several of which appeared to be repeats) that tend to indicate that he knows nothing about Auckland politics and has a possible symptoms of a disease of age.
He certainly repeated Judith’s assertion that Ngaro will beat Twyford in Te Atatu. But along with that came a tacit admission that they are unlikely to get enough of a party vote to get their 30th ranked candidate into parliament?
From time to time the Atlantic has rather good long form articles – this one's on policing in America – though the observation on incremental change is not without merit. Where change is needed, it is often urgent for somebody.
I been seeing little bits of this story popping up, protests in Labanon, call for early elections, pissed off people sick of inept leadership, a developing story I'd imagine
http://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2020/08/hundreds-protesters-injured-anger-simmers-beirut-live-200808234355971.html
Public and shared transport is the future. So glad this money isn’t going to More Lanes™️
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12355143