Russia is said by the west to have incited the war in Ukraine, others that the US engineered a coup that was resisted by the eastern Ukrainians .
But some are far-right extremists who have set their gaze on Ukraine, a place that has become a destination and training ground for such types in the West. As far-right extremism has risen in the US, so has the interest among American white supremacists in militarized right-wing Ukrainian groups that have had success in growing and mainstreaming their organizations and movements. They include violent neo-Nazis like those from the Rise Above Movement who have gone to Ukraine to meet and train with some of the groups — and then export what they learnedto the US.
Felling trees contributes to climate change because it depletes forest cover, which is vital for absorbing carbon dioxide. Forests are, it’s said, being cleared at a rate of 30 football pitches’ worth a minute.
An agreement to call a halt to this staggering level of deforestation – reached on Tuesday – was one of the high points of Cop26’s first week.
As part of the deal, more than 100 world leaders agreed to reverse deforestation by 2030. Crucially, Brazil –which has cut down huge stretches of the Amazon rainforest in recent years – was among the signatories. However, observers have pointed out that a previous international agreement, in 2014, failed to slow deforestation in any way.
Hard to trust the current Brazilian government on anything that they say at present. Especially bearing in mind the increased rate of Amazon clear felling in the last 4 years.
It is like trusting the Australian Federal government to deal with international and bilateral commitments in a manner that doesn’t simply reflect their idiotic and ineffective political system.
tell the bastards I’ll never be arrested,” the former army captain told the roaring crowd at the September 7 rally. “Only God can take me from the presidency.” It was music to the ears of Bolsonaro’s hardcore supporters, many of whom had travelled hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres to cheer on the politician they believe is saving Brazil from its corrupt institutions: in their eyes a deceitful media, a venal Congress and, most importantly, an imperious Supreme Court. For others, including the nearly 65 per cent of Brazilian voters who now disapprove of the Bolsonaro administration — in power since January 2019 — the comments were a clear warning of the president’s growing radicalism and the risk that he may try to undermine, or even abandon, elections scheduled for October 2022…
The president’s anti-democratic rhetoric has done little to endear him to voters beyond his 20 per cent core support. In addition, he has alienated large parts of Brazil’s influential business community, which backed the former paratrooper as the dark horse candidate in the 2018 race but is now losing faith.
The Freedom and Rights Coalition goes to the Auckland / Northland border to impinge on the freedom and rights of others to go about their lawful business.
"At 8am, many protesters had dropped away, leaving 12 to 15 at the border." (Stuff)
They cast themselves as the great freedom marchers. As we all know, campaigners for Civil Rights in Montgomery and Selma won their battles because they hung around for an hour and then got bored and buggered off.
So about 15000 people in NZ protested today about mandates and govt over reach. Nothing like Jan 6 in America. Politians over reacted and Whipped up fear about over running parliament. Who is crazy, the peaceful protesters or the fear mongers? Get a grip, disagreeing does not make you an enemy of the state.
Now do some reading. It wasn't "disagreeing", was it?
If you genuinely believe we live in a dictatorship then you have a right – no, a duty – to revolt. If you don't believe we live in a dictatorship, don't be an apologist for those who say we do.
Peaceful protesters? We have harrassment, intimidation, threats online and in person and violence in general. I note someone bit a policeman today who was just doing his job. And then there is the racism. A few days ago someone smashed the windows of a vaccination centre for our South Pacific peoples.
Fear mongers? Who is doing the fear mongering and over reacting? The protesters. Spreading crazy conspiracy theories, disinformation, calling people – who are trying to save lives and put their fellow NZers first – Communists, Nazis, Stalinists and a further assortment of highly offensive names.
There's a name for those who transpose their own misconduct onto other people but have forgotten what it is.
What rubbish. Peaceful protest about govt mandates and control. Nothing like Jan 6. It is scary that there is a need to demonise or minimise people who disagree with the populist thinking. If your vaccine works then there is nothing to be afraid of. What has happened that we can't cope with differing voices.
"What has happened that we can't cope with differing voices."
Part of what has happened is the Prime Otherer saying many times a week, the unvaccinated are responsible for; Christmas being threatened, your freedoms being impacted, businesses going to the wall, your safety being jeopardised, travel being curtailed.
This is what othering and scare-mongering does.
The responsibility for our health system being so brittle, vulnerable and understaffed lies at the feet of every centrist Finance, Health and Prime Minister for the last 35 years, not the wary, the contrarians, the reluctant, the immuno-compromised or full-blown anti-vax.
Only just noticed this – to be crystal clear no it's not. I'd hope the cops track this one down and have a talk with the perpetrator. As a starting point.
Otherwise all protests attract idiots on the fringe. The trick is keeping them there and hopefully away from the media.
In usual times I'd probably agree completely with you Ad. A healthy democracy can sustain a fair bit of verbal biffo without much harm.
But it's my sense that many people have been psychologically activated by COVID, by the uncertainty, the social isolation and above all the chronic state of low-grade fear being pumped at them. In these circumstances I'd want to be extra cautious around inflammatory language – especially if it's political.
I recall you're a fan of World War Z – well I've always imagined zombies to be a metaphor for the mind-killed, unthinking mob.
All those protests we went in our tens of thousands in the mid-eighties armed with lots of weapons and shields and heavily orchestrated moves and taking on the state,
in our many thousands in the '90s against union-crushing and benefit reductions and privatisations,
in our lower thousands in the early noughties, …
… look at them now in their hundreds.
WE used to have that same fire. We inflamed wholesale.
We used to forge whole new political movements on it.
All of those leftie marches looked like anarchistic unthinking undead to the majority and to the government.
But probably the Tooth Fairy will get the shits and call in the Minister for SIS for a chat, because actually she's the biggest flake we have. Spare us from brittle authoritarians.
I would normally agree, but the threats on the internet are downright scary. Thanks Observer.
“The tooth etc” Get a grip Ad .You sound flaky. Saying stuff like that at this time is unhelpful.
I think the casual references to lynching etc. that I see and hear across Facebook, among people who have till recently posted interesting, heart-warming things, is very worrying indeed. They seem unaware of the sinister tone of their words. I believe their world-view has been contaminated by the American situation and the influencers who whipped that up.
The UN has assigned Climate Minister James Shaw a key negotiating role in this final week of the CO26 meeting in Glasgow.
He will co-facilitate the Transparency workstream with Sir Molwyn Joseph, Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment of Antigua and Barbuda, a Caribbean nation. “Since the Paris Agreement does not have compliance and enforcement measures, transparency is a critical component for enabling accountability and trust,” Chatham House, a leading UK policy institute, wrote in a paper shortly before the start of the negotiations. Progress on the workstream is considered vital to ensure comparability of nations’ climate pledges and integrity in measuring and reporting their implementation. It is also vital for the trustworthiness of carbon markets, both regulatory and voluntary.
For the record, the largest single “delegation” of officially registered attendees at COP26 is the 503 people with links to fossil fuel interests, Global Witness, an NGO reported today.
By comparison, Brazil is largest country delegation, with 479 members. The UK, as hosts, has the 10th largest delegation, with 230, and the US has 135 official delegates. New Zealand’s is likely the smallest from a developed country, numbering fewer than 10.
And I bet they're all wearing suits. The visual signal that one is actually part of the control system whilst pretending to be part of the solution is obligatory. I predict only Lab/Nat voters will be fooled by the simulation.
Blah? APEC has managed what the UN couldn't; an online conference.
The largest piece of work facing APEC leaders is putting the finishing touches on an implementation plan for the “Putrajaya Vision” agreed to in 2020, a high-level outline of the organisation’s priorities for the next two decades. “We are working on a set of individual and collective actions that will be measurable, that will be concrete, and that will be dynamic: in other words, this will be a living document that we will be able to review every five years to ensure that it genuinely is fit for purpose for our region,” Vitalis said.
Kiwi diplomat Vangelis Vitalis anticipates "the time for actual action, to actually do something."
18 & 10 Years ago we had a couple of opportunities for the government at the time to buy this gem. Hopefully someone will attract the attention of Hon Kiritapu Allan to IMO.
I posted support to purchasing this way back in 2011, and back then the Labour blog and the then leader Phil Goff urged National to purchase had a post to support such an acquisition !!!
I have seen beaches in the area inundated with balls of jelly, a little offsetting in the area where the waves break but once you get beyond that, the water is perfect for beach activities. Not nice for toddlers playing on the waters edge.
I will say that New Chums/Wainuiototo beach has some dangers attributed to it, that those who are even familiar with the beach can be caught out. A short challenging walk that opens up to a great place that IMO for a small amount can be totally protected for the publics benefit, and with no overseas travel perhaps we should be enhancing local spots to be available for all.
Small school in limbo as all staff refuse mandatory Covid-19 vaccine.
"She said she was not opposed to getting the vaccination herself, but as the only fully registered teacher she had not been able to take time off to get her shot."
A school teacher I know took time off to get her shot recently – in the school holiday break. It was two weeks long.
The principal wants the Ministry of Education to waive the vaccination mandate and instead require weekly testing. I'm not sure how they'll able to "take time off" for that every week.
It's sort of funny when teachers who force people to do things they mightn't want to do rail against being told to do something.
Central King Country Principals' Association chairwoman Maria Gillard said convincing those not wanting to vaccinate to change their minds was tough. Like it being tough to get kids to change their minds I suppose except that in the school environment power rules. Those with the power deem that they know best and the kids should bow to that 'superiority' of knowledge.
Do you think any teacher who wanted to get vaccinated would dare to do so in the face of the display by the Board of Trustees? On your bike would I expect to be their response.
As for the Principal who "hadn't been able to take time off to get vaccinated". There were school holidays from the second to the seventeenth of October. She couldn't find any single day on which to get a vaccination?
I'm trying to think how or why the principal would know the vaccination status of the members of the board and what relevance it would be to her past any requirements made on the non-vaccinated not being accepted in the school.
A board can't get rid of a staff member because they choose to be vaccinated. Members of a board setting out to make sure a principal in such circumstances is unwelcome and seeking to force them out would be showing they are fuckwits who should not have anything to do with a school. That is the sort of stuff for employment courts.
In such a situation if the locals are on about individual choice and no compulsion they would be be taking the choice away from the principal and in some senses forcing the principal to not get a vaccination.
Can't staff the school? No problem. Close it. Bus the kids into Taumarunui or Ongarue. Can't staff those schools because they're backwaters and no-one would want to be there? Some might say the attitude of the locals suggests it is a backwater.
Many people have rightly noted how challenging the logistics of policing Auckland's border will be at Xmas – as 30,000 people a day leave in their cars. I think some of those same people were less convinced of the logistical challenges of doing some other things – such as stopping Covid leaks from MIQ, or rolling out millions of vaccine doses.
Rule of thumb seems to be: if I do want something to happen, the logistics aren't an issue and someone else just needs to do it; if I don't want something to happen, the logistics are impossible and the idea should be abandoned.
People's supposed principles and their logic seem to align uncannily well with their self-interest. Who wouldn't be a misanthrope at times like this?
Everyone needs a plan B every day from now on when it comes to travelling, shopping for non essentials and entertaining. People need to consider being unwell with Covid or having a person unwell with Covid in your household.
It is about doing the right thing for yourself, your home and your neighbourhood.
Protesters are not considering the households of the police, some have babies and young children in the home and are on the frontline. No pay rise and the work conditions would be terrible when it comes to managing groups breaking the rules.
What are the three flags? I recognise a Trumpist banner, a Tino Rangatiratanga flag, but the red-crossed white flag with the top right quadrant infilled?
That knowledge would help identify the influences in this coalition of the silly.
Only a matter of time and an MP will be a Covid case. Probably already cases in the police as they do get deployed around the country. The viral load an infectious protester or an agro person at a check point has would be an additional risk.
Thanks for that…I stumbled across an 'independent reporter's report' earlier when the group was gathering…he was busy scanning the assembled for the white supremacists MSM said were in charge of these anti- vaxxers. Good times.
The hangers on are those people who are using this cause to promote another. AFAIK people from Destiny have been involved in anti-lockdown protests for some time. The hangers on are the pro-trumpites, the anti-1080 crowd etc.
Tamaki is an opportunist using the covid situation. Covid is just an excuse.
Unfortunately there are plenty of morons running here to join in. Here they don't necessarily wear red caps.
Destiny/Tamaki has been involved in being peed off for a long time.
May 1919
"Destiny Church and its leaders Brian and Hannah Tamaki have announced a new political party – Coalition New Zealand.
"You're going to see politics with teeth," Brian Tamaki said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, "you'll see a party led by leaders as leadership is what is lacking right now.
"Labour has been taking us in the wrong direction. Our freedom is endangered due to harmful politics coming from the Government."
Tamaki may well be 'using' Covid for his own agenda, but then so are politicians. My point was he isn't a 'hanger on' in the context of earlier comments. He's made his position on the core issues very clear some time ago. Opponents of 1080 and supporters of Trump are certainly there for very different causes.
In short: It’s a fact we love American stuff. American food, TV and celebrity.
So maybe it should come as no surprise that in New Zealand’s Telegram channels, there’s a love of capitol riots.
“NEXT TUESDAY” they announce in all caps: “There is going to be THE STAND OF ALL STANDS in Wellington at Parliament grounds!”
“It’s time to get Bill Gates and Jacinda. We need to concentrate on physically arresting her.”
“Fuck me” is all I could think. It was a combination of alarming and tragic. It’s alarming because we’re already seeing violence towards the media in New Zealand. Mihingarangi Forbes tweeted about it last week:
“As a journo I have always felt safe at protests, most understand we have a job to do but the “Freedom and Choice” protests feel different. “Fuck the Media” is the new catch phrase. It’s dangerous. Kia kaha te hunga pāpaho.”
Oh, but they're not the real protesters, the real ones are salt of the earth Kiwis (etc, etc … repeat denial ad nauseam).
And if anyone is in any doubt, you can find plenty more of this crap on their social media, which I won't link to or platform (NSFW) but you all have Google too.
He has put his entire credibility on its success with this article, and essentially requests that the GreaterAuckland activists hold off criticising for fear of killing the project as the Auckland Cycle Path was.
This is an unusual move for a Minister to make on multiple counts. In political terms it is pretty bold.
once we hit the magic 90% number and restrictions ease, the community could still be looking at 20 cases of infection arriving in its midst from offshore every week. Hopefully, home isolation will screen some of those out. Or as indicated above, this could just mean that the family/whanau home will become a potential incubator for the disease. Well, the marriage vows did say through sickness and health.
our handling of the Covid threat coming at us from offshore seems out of sync with our handling of the internal threat – if that’s the right word – that Auckland will pose to the rest of the country once the three Auckland region DHBs have hit their magical 90% full vaccination target.
The joke is on… whoever God's will decides. I wonder if the govt will force Aucklanders to wear an identification symbol so we can see them coming and keep our distance?? The yellow star worked well a while back, eh?
At some point it will dawn on the GOP they will have to cast votes for those who died to win elections – I wonder how they will enable this for white voters only, or do they expect SCOTUS to rubber stamp everything put up?
It seems Wellington (on a good day) has flushed out those of profoundly anti-democratic sentiments. From those with throbbing power between their legs (a hint of SA with overtones of ambition to be King Bishop Brian's blackshirts) to those who would like it all to go away and think appeasing the coronavirus will set them free from any resistance struggle (leaving the burden to health workers).
The elitism of the bare-faced contempt for majority opinion and the public good … the uber-romanticisation of social media minority echo chambers displayed … from a self-appointed governing aristocracy of no bodies in the Maori world claiming to represent its sovereignty to affluent PMC (the neo-liberal corporate regime enabling corporate and capitalist dominance ) ideologues manipulating discontent for their political purposes (and we await National waking up their inner Mr Orewa to take advantage of the chaos).
I say prescribe them all ivermectin to be on the way – rid the capitol hill of that small party worm.
"This aligns with an increasing use of Māori voices,narratives, and imagery for agendas of white supremacist individuals and groups," the study noted – the goal being to make Māori as a population appear to be anti-vaccination, which results in "the intensification of anti-Māori racism" and makes them more susceptible to future disiformation campaigns
the goal being to make Māori as a population appear to be anti-vaccination,
Which when they had the lowest vaccination rates was kind of easy to do. And given that this time the usual 'it's all the fault of a racist health system' doesn't quite fly – they're reduced to blaming 'white supremacist people' again.
This constant ethnic power struggle narrative will lead NZ nowhere good.
Maori has a younger age demographic – so were a larger proportion of those who could not vaccinated till September (go to MOH vaccination stats and check the vaccinations by age).
Maori advocated for Maori to be vaccinated earlier so their vaccination rate would not be slower because of their age and because Maori had poorer health. The government chose otherwise (possibly influenced by the He Puapua issue NACT raised) – Maori are saying told ya so.
There are more younger Maori in the provincial NI, these HB's were behind the rest in September and are doing catch up – and in areas where the population is quite spread out.
All good and fair points SPC. They underline my contention that the best explanation for different outcomes is not always racism.
I was equally scathing of Reti's attempt to use the ethnic card on vaccines as well. I'm vividly conscious that in a pandemic there is real potential for the kind of mass psychosis that leads very directly to violence.
Yes racism and ethnic fault lines are real – but using them as a power play is unbelievably dangerous. Sometime in the 90's I remember listening to a 30 min BBC "Foreign Correspondent" report on Yugoslavia and the hell that got unleashed in that country after the fall of the dictators.
The reporter led with a simple question. Why is it that a relatively modern nation fall apart so fast and dramatically? If you had visited the place before these horrors you might have come home and said what warm and friendly people they are. After exploring this question and setting the social and political background the narrative shifted from the general to the specific.
It moved to a small town that had seen some of the worst violence. I still cannot bring myself to type out the atrocity that was described in graphic detail by the correspondent. But the point was – the people who did this to each other were neighbours, they knew each other, as had their families for generations. How the fuck had this happened?
The answer is this. Every society has a small fraction of psychopathic, resentful damaged individuals who will commit horrors for the sheer pleasure and gratification of it. Normally they're kept in check by social boundaries and institutional norms. But they lurk.
But when that leash is loosened by public figures exploiting divisions within any society for their own political purposes – during a period of instability, uncertainty and fear – that first these dangerous people will feel emboldened to act. And then very rapidly – one atrocity upon another – the Yugoslavian nation unraveled into hell.
The irony being that Croat, Serb and Bosnian Moslem probably had the same ancestral group – carving out separate borders occurs by acceptance of then then regional arrangements or by plebiscite or by war (also Pakistan and India and say the land west of the Jordan). Apparently events in Bosnia are worsening, the Serb and Croat political leadership are seeking to divide up the Bosnian military and form their own.
Don't worry the white race God is going to rapture its mammalian Greek brotherhood …
The middle ear contains three tiny bones:
Hammer (malleus) — attached to the eardrum.
Anvil (incus) — in the middle of the chain of bones.
Stirrup (stapes) — attached to the membrane-covered opening that connects the middle ear with the inner ear (oval window)
As they say beware defenestration (1618), Des Gorman would know very well that coming out of a flood of judgment has to be done carefully or there may be consequences.
Northern Ireland's health minister is suing Van Morrison after the singer called him "very dangerous" for his handling of coronavirus restrictions. Morrison, 76, who was knighted in 2016, has dismissed the coronavirus pandemic – the death toll for which surpassed 5 million people last week – as media hype and has criticised Covid-19 restrictions though his music.
He denounced Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann during a gathering at Belfast's Europa Hotel in June after a Morrison concert was canceled at the last minute because of virus restrictions. The defamation suit relates to three incidents in which Morrison criticised Swann, calling him "a fraud" and "very dangerous."
Swann responded in an article for Rolling Stone magazine, calling the "Moondance" singer's claims "bizarre and irresponsible." Swann's lawyer, Paul Tweed, said proceedings "are at an advanced stage with an anticipated hearing date early in 2022."
This is the language used by a main speaker at today's Wellington protest. (Note – not some random drunken vox pop, not a fringe freeloader, but the chosen speaker from "Freedoms and Rights", the Brian Tamaki group).
Ardern trying to create a Communist nation. Auckland "the largest concentration camp in the world". "This is our 9/11 in New Zealand… people have come to signal the collapse of the Government … a dictatorship".
"We are not standing here waiting for another three years when the next election rolls down … We will roll this place and take them out with a revolution of the people."
Standard right wing position. Probably a Dirty Politics memo.
Auckland "the largest concentration camp in the world".
I've seen centre left Aucklanders on TS say similar (with a somewhat more retrained rhetoric)
"This is our 9/11 in New Zealand…
Kind of true. Big even that shifts political and social culture, and includes given the government more powers to control the population.
people have come to signal the collapse of the Government … a dictatorship".
"We are not standing here waiting for another three years when the next election rolls down … We will roll this place and take them out with a revolution of the people."
That will be in the SIS and police files, and it's part of the dangerous that Mihi Forbes is naming. It ties into the right's use of Trumpian politics (also dangerous). It's why we should be concerned and looking at the deeper reasons for the mix of dynamics rather than just framing it as US imports. Those three flags.
At its core it’s the language of fascism – mob activity on the street as the source of political legitimacy.
9/11 – as a pretext to posit "overthrow" of a government.
It's one small step from DT boasting he could shoot and kill and get away with it, to legitimising those serving his empowerment being able to do the same.
The protests today are another downside of wide spread manadates. They pushing what were previously productive members of society into the margins and arms of existing fringe groups emboldened by an influx of numbers and the camouflage they provide.
Add today's lot to groundswell who will be invigorated by three waters reforms its potentially going to get very messy. Especially if Police are mandated and all of a sudden we find ourselves 1200 short in the face of increasingly angry protest groups.
We'll get to 90% vaxxed so for long term societal benefit and to diffuse things a bit we should back away from the wide spread mandates and move towards a rapid testing focused approach as well as recent pcr testing to activate a short term passport.
Not so sure the PCR test passports would reduce angst. Some of these protestors have some pretty weird theories about the tests too…and are against any sort of social cooperation requirement generally.
Yes. One of the demands from the "Freedoms and Rights Coalition" is to shut down testing stations.
The gov't could either a) waste time and energy trying to reason with people who have already decided the gov't are commies/nazis/apartheid/Voldemort.
or b) just carry on with all the public health measures and let the ranters rant.
None of this is uncharted territory. The playbook was written in the USA. Some had deathbed conversions, some didn't. They have to get there in their own time – or not.
It wont make the hard core anti vax conspiracy theorists happy.
But the numbers have built due to unhappiness with mandates. Plenty of people find that a step to far. Get rid of mandates and the crowd will be 100s not thousands. I really feel we need to get some heat out of this having it get ugly isnt good for anyone in the end.
"The protests today are another downside of wide spread manadates."
"We'll get to 90% vaxxed so for long term societal benefit and to diffuse things a bit we should back away from the wide spread mandates and move towards a rapid testing focused approach…"
Thanks for pointing this out.
A bit like current job site drug testing. The P freak can be fried all day and will test negative the next day, the midnight toker will be positive, even if not impaired while at work.
Akin to Paula Bennett's meth hysteria in state housing and the upset that caused to so many. But they were in state housing so 'nothing to see here'.
shopping will cure most of the protests – another free market miracle is it?
You know, I think I'd rather see them run headlong into the rule of law. Waiting for shopping to cure things is how you get an enduring Trumpist movement – screw that. There's incitement going on there, with their Nuremberg and citizens arrest bullshit. Throw the (deleted expletives) in prison and let them out through the courts, where they can get a full measure of the scorn in which they are held.
80 hour weeks at a bakery turned into sub-minimum wage was the opener a day or two back.
Now it includes:
copious threats of detailed harm;
intimidation by associates of the employer;
wage theft from employees to pay for food and accommodation in "appalling conditions"; and
some decisions delayed until the court of appeal rules on "another relevant case".
My coffee card for their cafe is half used. And will remain that way. That's fucking disgusting. I know hospo tends to use wage theft and bullying as a business model, but even for that industry this is pretty extreme.
Good to see some of these cases making it through the ERA, but I would guess there are more we and they just don't know about. And the original complaint was in 2017.
Do we still have a Labour department? Is that who the inspectors were?
Yep. The Labour Inspectorate conducts an investigation and can take a case to the ERA.
With the amount of issues involved, this case would have taken a lot of time, especially as some of the issues apparently occurred during the investigation, so would have needed further examination.
Then there are the complicated financial arrangements, reviewing of documents like timesheets and employees' personal records, then the accounts to see how much gain their might have been.
Throw in a covid delay or two, timeframes for right of response and consultation with lawyers, staff workloads at the inspectorate, an xmas break or three… But the wheels turned inexorably, if slowly, to deliver some justice.
It's almost as if the power structures of the state treat the same crime differently according to the class of the offender… but but that's just crazy talk…
Well, no, a party formed within structural inequality is by nature an incrementalist platform for worker representation, rather than a revolutionary one.
But then revolutionary organisations tend to be self-corrupting.
I guess before the government makes any decision about anything, on any issue, they are meant to ask the population what should happen. I'm not sure whether that's by way of referenda.
Imagine it, February last year the announcement:
"There's a weird new flu-like virus. It looks like it's going to be a pandemic affecting just about every country in the world. It seems probable that many millions will get the virus and many hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, will die.
What do you think we should do? We are inviting written submissions. You have three weeks to get your ideas in. Note: we are inviting submissions from epidemiologists, immunologists and other scientists.
From the submissions we will formulate a plan. The intention is to repeat this exercise each month after implementation so that everyone is involved on our journey."
Apparently too, we had an election not so long ago. A government was elected, to govern.
Malcontents pissed off that their favourites were slaughtered at the ballot booth are throwing their toys out of the cot. For the noisy minority, a rabble including professionals piqued the mass of experts didn't pick their game plan, joined by an assortment of toerags, the terminally disaffected and out and out fruit loops, it's party time.
As COP 26 concludes, one can remember when the last Maunder minimum occurred.
It coincided with the 30 Years War, the English Civil War and the Fronde in France. It got colder and so less agricultural production. Discontent was expressed in printed pamphlets (the bible was weaponised in the social media of the day).
Then there was the period of the Sea Peoples, a century or so of of regional drought and people migrating … with force.
Environmental factors, incl weather, can destablise civil society.
Movement into Greece, the Hittites lost control of western Anatolia, movement out of Greece … the arrival in Gaza … the attacks on Egypt. Peak c 1200BCE.
Circa 1500 BC, maybe a century earlier, according to sources I've read. Dating it is via circumstantial evidence only. But he was referring to a separate climate trigger for those invasions, not the Maunder.
It was the Maunder that killed off the viking settlements in Greenland which had done okay for around five or so centuries. Inuit in Greenland survived due to their more resilient economy. I've even seen it asserted authoritatively that the Greenland vikings died because they refused to catch fish!!
Note how they refuse to ascribe a causal inference to the Maunder even though it looks suspiciously so. They frame it as correlative only: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age
One event impacting economic life c1600-1500BCE would have been the Santorini/Thira eruption.
(Egypt was overun by the Hyksos shortly before this).
As I said, the Sea peoples migrations were consequence of drought.
The interesting thing about the Maunder minimum period 1600's CE, was its coincidence with an early form of social media (printing pamphlets to disseminate dissent).
Environmental factors, incl media transforming the social environment can destablise civil society.
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How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
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Blowback .
Russia is said by the west to have incited the war in Ukraine, others that the US engineered a coup that was resisted by the eastern Ukrainians .
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/craig-lang-ukraine-war-crimes-alleged
You might be interested in the deployment of migrants by the Russia-backed Belarus regime. EU accuses Belarus of 'gangster' methods as migrants shiver at Polish border | Reuters
On the blah blah blah front we have blah:
Thank blah for that!
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/07/so-what-has-cop26-achieved-so-far
Hard to trust the current Brazilian government on anything that they say at present. Especially bearing in mind the increased rate of Amazon clear felling in the last 4 years.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55130304
It is like trusting the Australian Federal government to deal with international and bilateral commitments in a manner that doesn’t simply reflect their idiotic and ineffective political system.
"Hard to trust the current Brazilian government "
Yet James Shaw wants to tax kiwis and send the money over there as carbon credits, !! What could go wrong??
The Freedom and Rights Coalition goes to the Auckland / Northland border to impinge on the freedom and rights of others to go about their lawful business.
Love this bit:
"At 8am, many protesters had dropped away, leaving 12 to 15 at the border." (Stuff)
They cast themselves as the great freedom marchers. As we all know, campaigners for Civil Rights in Montgomery and Selma won their battles because they hung around for an hour and then got bored and buggered off.
Aren't they storming the "wasp hive" today? Arresting the PM etc? It's hard to keep up.
Yep, there are anti-1080 flags, trump flags, jeebus flags, something about the Nuremberg trial flags, nazi flags….
They sure want their idea of Freedum, but what the fuck?
It seems so American, like storming the Capitol, we've been swamped by American culture, firstly Hollywood, now the internet and social media
Nov 9, 2021 12:52 PM
RNZ Live
Yep. They're trying to emulate the Capitol Hill riots. Not surprising given the Trump Brigade seem to have taken over the "Freedom" movement.
It is just not the safety of the MPs, people work there, salaried or on contract.
Emboldened fools are chucking these at the press.
Tennis balls were thrown earlier this year during an anti lock down protest – "with not very nice messages on them".
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/london-parliament-government-metropolitan-police-houses-of-parliament-b942797.html
So about 15000 people in NZ protested today about mandates and govt over reach. Nothing like Jan 6 in America. Politians over reacted and Whipped up fear about over running parliament. Who is crazy, the peaceful protesters or the fear mongers? Get a grip, disagreeing does not make you an enemy of the state.
Disagreeing doesn't.
Now do some reading. It wasn't "disagreeing", was it?
If you genuinely believe we live in a dictatorship then you have a right – no, a duty – to revolt. If you don't believe we live in a dictatorship, don't be an apologist for those who say we do.
16,000 people got their second dose yesterday.
A lot of nooses in the crowd for a peaceful protest.
Peaceful protesters? We have harrassment, intimidation, threats online and in person and violence in general. I note someone bit a policeman today who was just doing his job. And then there is the racism. A few days ago someone smashed the windows of a vaccination centre for our South Pacific peoples.
Fear mongers? Who is doing the fear mongering and over reacting? The protesters. Spreading crazy conspiracy theories, disinformation, calling people – who are trying to save lives and put their fellow NZers first – Communists, Nazis, Stalinists and a further assortment of highly offensive names.
There's a name for those who transpose their own misconduct onto other people but have forgotten what it is.
What rubbish. Peaceful protest about govt mandates and control. Nothing like Jan 6. It is scary that there is a need to demonise or minimise people who disagree with the populist thinking. If your vaccine works then there is nothing to be afraid of. What has happened that we can't cope with differing voices.
"What has happened that we can't cope with differing voices."
Part of what has happened is the Prime Otherer saying many times a week, the unvaccinated are responsible for; Christmas being threatened, your freedoms being impacted, businesses going to the wall, your safety being jeopardised, travel being curtailed.
This is what othering and scare-mongering does.
The responsibility for our health system being so brittle, vulnerable and understaffed lies at the feet of every centrist Finance, Health and Prime Minister for the last 35 years, not the wary, the contrarians, the reluctant, the immuno-compromised or full-blown anti-vax.
Is "Hang Ardern" ok? or do want us to believe it is just "a bit of slang".
Only just noticed this – to be crystal clear no it's not. I'd hope the cops track this one down and have a talk with the perpetrator. As a starting point.
Otherwise all protests attract idiots on the fringe. The trick is keeping them there and hopefully away from the media.
Anyone who takes that as a threat needs their head read.
If they get a little chat afterwards from the Police well OK.
Otherwise it's a metaphor. I've seen plenty of effigies of Bolger and Shipley burnt with fireworks and tyres on the street.
Anyone who takes that as a threat needs their head read.
If you can't even be bothered to read the reporting (and there's plenty) then why bother discussing something you choose not to know about?
All over social media, all over news media. Inform yourself.
Just one example:
https://twitter.com/henrycooke/status/1457840568428482562
If someone gets a talking to, I'll believe it's a threat. The Police can assess that better than anyone.
The PM can't handle being shouted at in a media conference.
At the Foreshore and Seabed march the Labour Ministers who fronted were spat at and and abused far worse.
In usual times I'd probably agree completely with you Ad. A healthy democracy can sustain a fair bit of verbal biffo without much harm.
But it's my sense that many people have been psychologically activated by COVID, by the uncertainty, the social isolation and above all the chronic state of low-grade fear being pumped at them. In these circumstances I'd want to be extra cautious around inflammatory language – especially if it's political.
I recall you're a fan of World War Z – well I've always imagined zombies to be a metaphor for the mind-killed, unthinking mob.
All those protests we went in our tens of thousands in the mid-eighties armed with lots of weapons and shields and heavily orchestrated moves and taking on the state,
in our many thousands in the '90s against union-crushing and benefit reductions and privatisations,
in our lower thousands in the early noughties, …
… look at them now in their hundreds.
WE used to have that same fire. We inflamed wholesale.
We used to forge whole new political movements on it.
All of those leftie marches looked like anarchistic unthinking undead to the majority and to the government.
But probably the Tooth Fairy will get the shits and call in the Minister for SIS for a chat, because actually she's the biggest flake we have. Spare us from brittle authoritarians.
Someone sing me Rage Against the Machine.
I would normally agree, but the threats on the internet are downright scary. Thanks Observer.
“The tooth etc” Get a grip Ad .You sound flaky. Saying stuff like that at this time is unhelpful.
I think the casual references to lynching etc. that I see and hear across Facebook, among people who have till recently posted interesting, heart-warming things, is very worrying indeed. They seem unaware of the sinister tone of their words. I believe their world-view has been contaminated by the American situation and the influencers who whipped that up.
Probably only the ones on benefits left!!😏
Rod Oram, economist gone Green:
And I bet they're all wearing suits. The visual signal that one is actually part of the control system whilst pretending to be part of the solution is obligatory. I predict only Lab/Nat voters will be fooled by the simulation.
Blah? APEC has managed what the UN couldn't; an online conference.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/politics/nzs-digital-apec-time-for-actual-action
Beyond blah? I'll believe that if I ever see it…
18 & 10 Years ago we had a couple of opportunities for the government at the time to buy this gem. Hopefully someone will attract the attention of Hon Kiritapu Allan to IMO.
I posted support to purchasing this way back in 2011, and back then the Labour blog and the then leader Phil Goff urged National to purchase had a post to support such an acquisition !!!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tide-turning-on-coastal-property-prices/46VLFYEZAOT2CICJQ3WLSXMMLY/
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2111/S00079/new-chums-headland-for-sale-needs-permanent-protection-says-eds.htm
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/4509605/Message-to-protect-New-Chums-Beach
. https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14102011/#comment-385591
ps great to be able to search for posts 10+ years ago well done to the administrators who manage this site 👍🏾
Yes New Chums is a must to preserve. We have been supporting its preservation from development for a good while now as well.
God I was dismayed to see the amount of small plastic pellets all over the beach when I visited last year
I have seen beaches in the area inundated with balls of jelly, a little offsetting in the area where the waves break but once you get beyond that, the water is perfect for beach activities. Not nice for toddlers playing on the waters edge.
I will say that New Chums/Wainuiototo beach has some dangers attributed to it, that those who are even familiar with the beach can be caught out. A short challenging walk that opens up to a great place that IMO for a small amount can be totally protected for the publics benefit, and with no overseas travel perhaps we should be enhancing local spots to be available for all.
https://mymykerikeri.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/balls-of-jelly-all-over-matauri-bay/
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/2018676118/salps-a-surprising-jelly-like-relative
Kiri is on Facebook.
Small school in limbo as all staff refuse mandatory Covid-19 vaccine.
"She said she was not opposed to getting the vaccination herself, but as the only fully registered teacher she had not been able to take time off to get her shot."
A school teacher I know took time off to get her shot recently – in the school holiday break. It was two weeks long.
The principal wants the Ministry of Education to waive the vaccination mandate and instead require weekly testing. I'm not sure how they'll able to "take time off" for that every week.
It's sort of funny when teachers who force people to do things they mightn't want to do rail against being told to do something.
Central King Country Principals' Association chairwoman Maria Gillard said convincing those not wanting to vaccinate to change their minds was tough. Like it being tough to get kids to change their minds I suppose except that in the school environment power rules. Those with the power deem that they know best and the kids should bow to that 'superiority' of knowledge.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300449404/small-school-in-limbo-as-all-staff-refuse-mandatory-covid19-vaccine
The problem starts at the top:
"None of the school's board of trustees were vaccinated either."
Do you think any teacher who wanted to get vaccinated would dare to do so in the face of the display by the Board of Trustees? On your bike would I expect to be their response.
As for the Principal who "hadn't been able to take time off to get vaccinated". There were school holidays from the second to the seventeenth of October. She couldn't find any single day on which to get a vaccination?
I'm trying to think how or why the principal would know the vaccination status of the members of the board and what relevance it would be to her past any requirements made on the non-vaccinated not being accepted in the school.
A board can't get rid of a staff member because they choose to be vaccinated. Members of a board setting out to make sure a principal in such circumstances is unwelcome and seeking to force them out would be showing they are fuckwits who should not have anything to do with a school. That is the sort of stuff for employment courts.
In such a situation if the locals are on about individual choice and no compulsion they would be be taking the choice away from the principal and in some senses forcing the principal to not get a vaccination.
Can't staff the school? No problem. Close it. Bus the kids into Taumarunui or Ongarue. Can't staff those schools because they're backwaters and no-one would want to be there? Some might say the attitude of the locals suggests it is a backwater.
Crazy that these are the people we are mandated to trust with our childrens education
Many people have rightly noted how challenging the logistics of policing Auckland's border will be at Xmas – as 30,000 people a day leave in their cars. I think some of those same people were less convinced of the logistical challenges of doing some other things – such as stopping Covid leaks from MIQ, or rolling out millions of vaccine doses.
Rule of thumb seems to be: if I do want something to happen, the logistics aren't an issue and someone else just needs to do it; if I don't want something to happen, the logistics are impossible and the idea should be abandoned.
People's supposed principles and their logic seem to align uncannily well with their self-interest. Who wouldn't be a misanthrope at times like this?
Everyone needs a plan B every day from now on when it comes to travelling, shopping for non essentials and entertaining. People need to consider being unwell with Covid or having a person unwell with Covid in your household.
It is about doing the right thing for yourself, your home and your neighbourhood.
Protesters are not considering the households of the police, some have babies and young children in the home and are on the frontline. No pay rise and the work conditions would be terrible when it comes to managing groups breaking the rules.
In case anyone missed it, Daniel Ellsberg was on Kim Hill. He said he believes that JA is the best PM in the world. High praise indeed.
(around 25mins)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018819433
Good interview.Ellsberg was interesting and very sharp @90.
Hill has little sympathy for Assange as she showed once again.
Yes I heard that. The young don't listen to Kim hill or a ninety year old guest, no matter what they say.
Remarkable photo, those three flags at a protest outside of parliament.
https://twitter.com/writeonleah/status/1457793131533856770?s=21
What are the three flags? I recognise a Trumpist banner, a Tino Rangatiratanga flag, but the red-crossed white flag with the top right quadrant infilled?
That knowledge would help identify the influences in this coalition of the silly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Tribes_of_New_Zealand
Predates Te Tiriti.
Trump, independent tribes, strange bedfellows.
I know people who believe in both.
Thanks, weka.
Well there goes Wellington covid free'
And at the same time excited shoppers are waiting for Sylvia Park shopping mall to open, queuing up ahead of opening time 9am tomorrow
Freedom's just another word to shop until you drop
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/covid-19/covid-19-delta-outbreak-people-already-queuing-outside-auckland-shopping-mall-ahead-of-level-3-2/
As long as you do not drop because you queued to shop.
Only a matter of time and an MP will be a Covid case. Probably already cases in the police as they do get deployed around the country. The viral load an infectious protester or an agro person at a check point has would be an additional risk.
That photo was taken at 8.30. Here's the scene later in the morning:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300449296/covid19-live-thousands-descend-on-parliament-in-protest-of-vaccine-mandates
Good to see lots of NZ flags amongst the collection.
Thanks for that…I stumbled across an 'independent reporter's report' earlier when the group was gathering…he was busy scanning the assembled for the white supremacists MSM said were in charge of these anti- vaxxers. Good times.
I'm sure there will be hangers on, that's normal for any protest. But the numbers at this march look to be substantial. Even granny herald are reporting the large numbers.
So who are the "hangers-on" and who are the protesters who aren't?
The organisers are linked to Brian Tamaki and Destiny Church. Are they hangers-on or the regular good guys?
We've been here before, and how did it work out for them?
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0408/S00233/images-enough-civil-unions-is-or-isnt-enough.htm
The hangers on are those people who are using this cause to promote another. AFAIK people from Destiny have been involved in anti-lockdown protests for some time. The hangers on are the pro-trumpites, the anti-1080 crowd etc.
Tamaki is an opportunist using the covid situation. Covid is just an excuse.
Unfortunately there are plenty of morons running here to join in. Here they don't necessarily wear red caps.
Destiny/Tamaki has been involved in being peed off for a long time.
May 1919
"Destiny Church and its leaders Brian and Hannah Tamaki have announced a new political party – Coalition New Zealand.
"You're going to see politics with teeth," Brian Tamaki said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, "you'll see a party led by leaders as leadership is what is lacking right now.
"Labour has been taking us in the wrong direction. Our freedom is endangered due to harmful politics coming from the Government."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/112938679/destiny-church-launches-political-party-promising-politics-with-teeth
Brian Tamaki is a deluded egoist on a personal mission.
Remember this? "In 2004, Tamaki predicted the Destiny Church would be "ruling the nation" before its tenth anniversary in 2008."
I didn't know Tamaki was over 100 y.o. Whats his secret to longevity?
Tamaki may well be 'using' Covid for his own agenda, but then so are politicians. My point was he isn't a 'hanger on' in the context of earlier comments. He's made his position on the core issues very clear some time ago. Opponents of 1080 and supporters of Trump are certainly there for very different causes.
Hang on, is that the a set of Russian flags?
I wonder why
Russian kiwi's?
Samuel Johnson
probably came over with the dolt45 flags.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."
Mark Twain
I guess we're there.
https://twitter.com/byroncclark/status/1457857272109879296
https://twitter.com/nealejones/status/1457842894312599552
In short: It’s a fact we love American stuff. American food, TV and celebrity.
So maybe it should come as no surprise that in New Zealand’s Telegram channels, there’s a love of capitol riots.
“NEXT TUESDAY” they announce in all caps: “There is going to be THE STAND OF ALL STANDS in Wellington at Parliament grounds!”
“It’s time to get Bill Gates and Jacinda. We need to concentrate on physically arresting her.”
“Fuck me” is all I could think. It was a combination of alarming and tragic. It’s alarming because we’re already seeing violence towards the media in New Zealand. Mihingarangi Forbes tweeted about it last week:
As if to prove Mihi correct, a OneNews camera operator was attacked by an anti-vax protestor over the weekend.
“Do you want this camera fucking smashed, you c—t?” the man said, before physically assaulting the camera operator.
https://www.webworm.co/p/capitolriots
Oh, but they're not the real protesters, the real ones are salt of the earth Kiwis (etc, etc … repeat denial ad nauseam).
And if anyone is in any doubt, you can find plenty more of this crap on their social media, which I won't link to or platform (NSFW) but you all have Google too.
YEP, MUST BE WHAT THEY MEAN WHEN THEY ORGANISE A CAPITAL RIOT. AN ALL-CAPITAL RIOT.
Normally they would just barricade the doors with planks, this time they were using barriers to prevent entry via the windows.
Minister Wood opines in a long article on the GreaterAuckland blog about the preferred mode for Auckland light rail.
The Minister's View on Light Rail – Greater Auckland
He has put his entire credibility on its success with this article, and essentially requests that the GreaterAuckland activists hold off criticising for fear of killing the project as the Auckland Cycle Path was.
This is an unusual move for a Minister to make on multiple counts. In political terms it is pretty bold.
Surprise!! Gordon Campbell has a sense of humour.
The joke is on… whoever God's will decides. I wonder if the govt will force Aucklanders to wear an identification symbol so we can see them coming and keep our distance?? The yellow star worked well a while back, eh?
"The yellow star worked well a while back, eh?"
How about a Jaffa jammed up each nostril?
… if we can still find those
We will ride by the tens of thousands, swathed in black cloaks, holding our credit cards aloft.
Fascinating story on change in the demographics of Covid 19 deaths in the USA. Compared to the first 100k deaths (no vaccines), the most recent 100k deaths (Delta + vaccines available) are:
Vaccination rates seem to be driving most of it.
Differences in the Covid-19 death rate by political affiliation are also rapidly widening, with Trump-supporting counties suffering three times higher death rates than Biden-supporting counties. Vaccination rates again seem to be key, with 40% of Republican adults unvaccinated compared to only 10% of Democratic adults.
At some point it will dawn on the GOP they will have to cast votes for those who died to win elections – I wonder how they will enable this for white voters only, or do they expect SCOTUS to rubber stamp everything put up?
It seems Wellington (on a good day) has flushed out those of profoundly anti-democratic sentiments. From those with throbbing power between their legs (a hint of SA with overtones of ambition to be King Bishop Brian's blackshirts) to those who would like it all to go away and think appeasing the coronavirus will set them free from any resistance struggle (leaving the burden to health workers).
The elitism of the bare-faced contempt for majority opinion and the public good … the uber-romanticisation of social media minority echo chambers displayed … from a self-appointed governing aristocracy of no bodies in the Maori world claiming to represent its sovereignty to affluent PMC (the neo-liberal corporate regime enabling corporate and capitalist dominance ) ideologues manipulating discontent for their political purposes (and we await National waking up their inner Mr Orewa to take advantage of the chaos).
I say prescribe them all ivermectin to be on the way – rid the capitol hill of that small party worm.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/11/coronavirus-100-fold-increase-in-kiwis-following-disinformation-groups-online-study.html
the goal being to make Māori as a population appear to be anti-vaccination,
Which when they had the lowest vaccination rates was kind of easy to do. And given that this time the usual 'it's all the fault of a racist health system' doesn't quite fly – they're reduced to blaming 'white supremacist people' again.
This constant ethnic power struggle narrative will lead NZ nowhere good.
The explainer
There are more younger Maori in the provincial NI, these HB's were behind the rest in September and are doing catch up – and in areas where the population is quite spread out.
All good and fair points SPC. They underline my contention that the best explanation for different outcomes is not always racism.
I was equally scathing of Reti's attempt to use the ethnic card on vaccines as well. I'm vividly conscious that in a pandemic there is real potential for the kind of mass psychosis that leads very directly to violence.
Yes racism and ethnic fault lines are real – but using them as a power play is unbelievably dangerous. Sometime in the 90's I remember listening to a 30 min BBC "Foreign Correspondent" report on Yugoslavia and the hell that got unleashed in that country after the fall of the dictators.
The reporter led with a simple question. Why is it that a relatively modern nation fall apart so fast and dramatically? If you had visited the place before these horrors you might have come home and said what warm and friendly people they are. After exploring this question and setting the social and political background the narrative shifted from the general to the specific.
It moved to a small town that had seen some of the worst violence. I still cannot bring myself to type out the atrocity that was described in graphic detail by the correspondent. But the point was – the people who did this to each other were neighbours, they knew each other, as had their families for generations. How the fuck had this happened?
The answer is this. Every society has a small fraction of psychopathic, resentful damaged individuals who will commit horrors for the sheer pleasure and gratification of it. Normally they're kept in check by social boundaries and institutional norms. But they lurk.
But when that leash is loosened by public figures exploiting divisions within any society for their own political purposes – during a period of instability, uncertainty and fear – that first these dangerous people will feel emboldened to act. And then very rapidly – one atrocity upon another – the Yugoslavian nation unraveled into hell.
None are immune. Guard against this.
The irony being that Croat, Serb and Bosnian Moslem probably had the same ancestral group – carving out separate borders occurs by acceptance of then then regional arrangements or by plebiscite or by war (also Pakistan and India and say the land west of the Jordan). Apparently events in Bosnia are worsening, the Serb and Croat political leadership are seeking to divide up the Bosnian military and form their own.
I think we have to take it, from the photo, that the COP 26 outcome is a failure and that the dolphins are all leaving.
Can't you hear it whistling "So long and thanks for all the fish"?
I was going for Florida man mulitplying via social media.
The dolphin is only observing.
Cant say I blame them the stupid going on is just getting to much.
Although if I self identify as a cetacean I wonder if they'll take me withim??
Don't worry the white race God is going to rapture its mammalian Greek brotherhood …
The middle ear contains three tiny bones:
Hammer (malleus) — attached to the eardrum.
Anvil (incus) — in the middle of the chain of bones.
Stirrup (stapes) — attached to the membrane-covered opening that connects the middle ear with the inner ear (oval window)
As they say beware defenestration (1618), Des Gorman would know very well that coming out of a flood of judgment has to be done carefully or there may be consequences.
so long and thanks for all the fish…………..
Van the Man lacks a fan:
This is the language used by a main speaker at today's Wellington protest. (Note – not some random drunken vox pop, not a fringe freeloader, but the chosen speaker from "Freedoms and Rights", the Brian Tamaki group).
Ardern trying to create a Communist nation. Auckland "the largest concentration camp in the world". "This is our 9/11 in New Zealand… people have come to signal the collapse of the Government … a dictatorship".
"We are not standing here waiting for another three years when the next election rolls down … We will roll this place and take them out with a revolution of the people."
(citation: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/11/live-updates-latest-on-covid-19-community-outbreak-tuesday-november-9.html)
Now imagine somebody at a leftie demo talking about a National government in those terms. The SIS would be watching them like a hawk. And did.
The cossacks are dancing.
Cannot find image of Massey's Cossacks on quad bikes
You can be confident all those speakers have files on them already.
Anyway, as of tomorrow the shopping will cure most of the protests.
They have body bags on special at Kmart?
Standard right wing position. Probably a Dirty Politics memo.
I've seen centre left Aucklanders on TS say similar (with a somewhat more retrained rhetoric)
Kind of true. Big even that shifts political and social culture, and includes given the government more powers to control the population.
That will be in the SIS and police files, and it's part of the dangerous that Mihi Forbes is naming. It ties into the right's use of Trumpian politics (also dangerous). It's why we should be concerned and looking at the deeper reasons for the mix of dynamics rather than just framing it as US imports. Those three flags.
At its core it’s the language of fascism – mob activity on the street as the source of political legitimacy.
9/11 – as a pretext to posit "overthrow" of a government.
It's one small step from DT boasting he could shoot and kill and get away with it, to legitimising those serving his empowerment being able to do the same.
Some at the rally are soldiers for the endarkenment.
Like the OTT debacle of the Tuhoe Raids. Who can forget the cow catapult.
not the reference you were thinking of, I'm guessing. But still a goodie,
Still enjoy that show.
I'd forgotten how groundbreaking it was.
Yes the words from a megalomaniac, Brian Tamaki.
The protests today are another downside of wide spread manadates. They pushing what were previously productive members of society into the margins and arms of existing fringe groups emboldened by an influx of numbers and the camouflage they provide.
Add today's lot to groundswell who will be invigorated by three waters reforms its potentially going to get very messy. Especially if Police are mandated and all of a sudden we find ourselves 1200 short in the face of increasingly angry protest groups.
We'll get to 90% vaxxed so for long term societal benefit and to diffuse things a bit we should back away from the wide spread mandates and move towards a rapid testing focused approach as well as recent pcr testing to activate a short term passport.
The presence of patched bodgies should raise concerns.
Good points.
Not so sure the PCR test passports would reduce angst. Some of these protestors have some pretty weird theories about the tests too…and are against any sort of social cooperation requirement generally.
Yes. One of the demands from the "Freedoms and Rights Coalition" is to shut down testing stations.
The gov't could either a) waste time and energy trying to reason with people who have already decided the gov't are commies/nazis/apartheid/Voldemort.
or b) just carry on with all the public health measures and let the ranters rant.
None of this is uncharted territory. The playbook was written in the USA. Some had deathbed conversions, some didn't. They have to get there in their own time – or not.
It wont make the hard core anti vax conspiracy theorists happy.
But the numbers have built due to unhappiness with mandates. Plenty of people find that a step to far. Get rid of mandates and the crowd will be 100s not thousands. I really feel we need to get some heat out of this having it get ugly isnt good for anyone in the end.
"The protests today are another downside of wide spread manadates."
"We'll get to 90% vaxxed so for long term societal benefit and to diffuse things a bit we should back away from the wide spread mandates and move towards a rapid testing focused approach…"
Thanks for pointing this out.
A bit like current job site drug testing. The P freak can be fried all day and will test negative the next day, the midnight toker will be positive, even if not impaired while at work.
Akin to Paula Bennett's meth hysteria in state housing and the upset that caused to so many. But they were in state housing so 'nothing to see here'.
shopping will cure most of the protests – another free market miracle is it?
You know, I think I'd rather see them run headlong into the rule of law. Waiting for shopping to cure things is how you get an enduring Trumpist movement – screw that. There's incitement going on there, with their Nuremberg and citizens arrest bullshit. Throw the (deleted expletives) in prison and let them out through the courts, where they can get a full measure of the scorn in which they are held.
On a separate note, this Dunedin story keeps getting worse and worse.
80 hour weeks at a bakery turned into sub-minimum wage was the opener a day or two back.
Now it includes:
My coffee card for their cafe is half used. And will remain that way. That's fucking disgusting. I know hospo tends to use wage theft and bullying as a business model, but even for that industry this is pretty extreme.
Good to see some of these cases making it through the ERA, but I would guess there are more we and they just don't know about. And the original complaint was in 2017.
Do we still have a Labour department? Is that who the inspectors were?
Yep. The Labour Inspectorate conducts an investigation and can take a case to the ERA.
With the amount of issues involved, this case would have taken a lot of time, especially as some of the issues apparently occurred during the investigation, so would have needed further examination.
Then there are the complicated financial arrangements, reviewing of documents like timesheets and employees' personal records, then the accounts to see how much gain their might have been.
Throw in a covid delay or two, timeframes for right of response and consultation with lawyers, staff workloads at the inspectorate, an xmas break or three… But the wheels turned inexorably, if slowly, to deliver some justice.
Imo this should be in criminal court.
Theft as a servant is a criminal matter so should delibrate wage theft. This sort of shit deserves criminal conviction.
It's almost as if the power structures of the state treat the same crime differently according to the class of the offender… but but that's just crazy talk…
If only we had a party started by the workers with its hand on the levers of power, surely then such discrepancies would be urgently addressed…
Well, no, a party formed within structural inequality is by nature an incrementalist platform for worker representation, rather than a revolutionary one.
But then revolutionary organisations tend to be self-corrupting.
so damned either way?
It's a stairway to heaven, but there's a highway to hell.
Funny, watching the bikies in the protest today, more highway to hell than stairway to heaven I think.
The album cover of Bat out of Hell.
https://trademe.tmcdn.co.nz/photoserver/plus/1364390831.jpg
@SPC: Brian Tamaki's never looked that good lol
"Theft as a servant is a criminal matter so should delibrate wage theft. This sort of shit deserves criminal conviction."
One thing I have learned is violence travels down the hierarchy, if it ever travels up, it is viewed as abhorrent.
Apparently we have a "dictatorship."
I guess before the government makes any decision about anything, on any issue, they are meant to ask the population what should happen. I'm not sure whether that's by way of referenda.
Imagine it, February last year the announcement:
"There's a weird new flu-like virus. It looks like it's going to be a pandemic affecting just about every country in the world. It seems probable that many millions will get the virus and many hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, will die.
What do you think we should do? We are inviting written submissions. You have three weeks to get your ideas in. Note: we are inviting submissions from epidemiologists, immunologists and other scientists.
From the submissions we will formulate a plan. The intention is to repeat this exercise each month after implementation so that everyone is involved on our journey."
Apparently too, we had an election not so long ago. A government was elected, to govern.
Malcontents pissed off that their favourites were slaughtered at the ballot booth are throwing their toys out of the cot. For the noisy minority, a rabble including professionals piqued the mass of experts didn't pick their game plan, joined by an assortment of toerags, the terminally disaffected and out and out fruit loops, it's party time.
As COP 26 concludes, one can remember when the last Maunder minimum occurred.
It coincided with the 30 Years War, the English Civil War and the Fronde in France. It got colder and so less agricultural production. Discontent was expressed in printed pamphlets (the bible was weaponised in the social media of the day).
Then there was the period of the Sea Peoples, a century or so of of regional drought and people migrating … with force.
Environmental factors, incl weather, can destablise civil society.
Weren't the Sea Peoples ancient Greece, like 1000bc?
Movement into Greece, the Hittites lost control of western Anatolia, movement out of Greece … the arrival in Gaza … the attacks on Egypt. Peak c 1200BCE.
Ah, so not the little ice age. My history order has been a bit off lately, thought this was another instance lol
Circa 1500 BC, maybe a century earlier, according to sources I've read. Dating it is via circumstantial evidence only. But he was referring to a separate climate trigger for those invasions, not the Maunder.
It was the Maunder that killed off the viking settlements in Greenland which had done okay for around five or so centuries. Inuit in Greenland survived due to their more resilient economy. I've even seen it asserted authoritatively that the Greenland vikings died because they refused to catch fish!!
Note how they refuse to ascribe a causal inference to the Maunder even though it looks suspiciously so. They frame it as correlative only: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age
One event impacting economic life c1600-1500BCE would have been the Santorini/Thira eruption.
(Egypt was overun by the Hyksos shortly before this).
As I said, the Sea peoples migrations were consequence of drought.
The interesting thing about the Maunder minimum period 1600's CE, was its coincidence with an early form of social media (printing pamphlets to disseminate dissent).
Environmental factors, incl media transforming the social environment can destablise civil society.