‘Don’t let anyone tell you different. Yes, extreme heat is the trigger but, Lake Taupo’s problem is years of phosphorous and nitrogen build-up from dairy farming.’
wondering if it would have an effect on the volcano, am not a scientist, but would the phosphorous and nitrogen blend via water tables/routes with other chemicals/elements found only around volcanoes? Will climate change light the fuse (ie hot weather)?
Hope that makes sense, am alarmed at the news about the lake.
35 years of neoliberalism are we are reduced to this.
A country owned and being destroyed by corporations.
‘Minister warned of critical pressure on natural resources.
‘In its briefing to Minister David Parker the ministry said pressure from the primary sector was exacerbated by population growth, increasing visitor numbers, and urban growth.
It said the evidence showed environmental constraints and pressure points were being reached, adding from a Māori perspective, the mauri, or life force, of land and water was being compromised.
The ministry said the scale of change needed was significant, and would require co-ordinated government activity across a number of portfolio areas including managing resource use, planning, housing, infrastructure, transport, and local government.
It outlined three priority areas the minister should take action on: climate change resilience, freshwater management, and improving the liveability of New Zealand’s cities.
“These issues are of such magnitude that their impacts are being felt across New Zealand,” said the briefing.
“They contribute to wider impacts (eg, on housing affordability, tourism revenue and health), which means more than one benefit can be achieved if the right actions are taken – for example, the potential for significant emissions reductions through improved urban design.”
i was hoping for something that backed Stewart’s claim . There is bugger all dairy around taupo and over half it’s rivers would barely touch a farm and many non at all
yeah I know – I was trying to help out. I think you know the answer.
Anyway, maybe this/these
“Lake Taupō is under threat from increasing nitrogen leaching from land uses in the catchment. In order to maintain the lake’s water quality, we need to reduce the amount of nitrogen reaching the lake from farmland and urban areas by 20 per cent.”
Dunno about “… over half it’s rivers would barely touch a farm…”. Looking at the google satellite images it’s pasture for quite a way inland for roughly 3/4 of the way around Lake Taupo.
Been a while since I’ve driven that back road from Turangi through Kuratau up to Whakamaru, but it was definitely pasture most of the way. Didn’t pay attention to what was grazing it though.
i think it’s on Stewart or her supporters to back her ranting up , i was on a station there recently and large chunks have been taken out of stock and planted , they operate under some stiff nitrogen rules in the taupo catchment. is it enough i don’t know.
Yes OAB,
It seems that the farmers took the mobney and ran is they must have been John Key clones to eh?
Steven Joyce must know more paid out clones did the some as this as his $11.7 Billion hole is now emerging, after Labour is now finding that lot’s of National’s promises made before the election were left without funding too??????
National = criminal gang
Also very wise man has advised yesterday, that there is a inquiry going on now in the US and here, into a case where John Key apparently gave $13 million of NZ taxpayer money to Hillary Clinton’s election campaign.
This was illegal also without notifying NZ taxpayers of the NZ or US Government, and John Key had been forced to resign after being warned of the illegal move to spend unlawful Government money to swing a foriegn county election.
Seems like it will all come out in the wash in months I and guessing.
Just a question.
Why were they not saying this to Smith and the rest of the National gansters in the past 9 years.
Or were they?
And being ignored?
‘The Environment Ministry has warned its minister that pressures on New Zealand’s natural resources are reaching a critical point.
It said the country’s economic reliance on primary sector exports was starting to show its environmental constraints.
In its briefing to Minister David Parker the ministry said pressure from the primary sector was exacerbated by population growth, increasing visitor numbers, and urban growth.
It said the evidence showed environmental constraints and pressure points were being reached, adding from a Māori perspective, the mauri, or life force, of land and water was being compromised.
The ministry said the scale of change needed was significant, and would require co-ordinated government activity across a number of portfolio areas including managing resource use, planning, housing, infrastructure, transport, and local government.
It outlined three priority areas the minister should take action on: climate change resilience, freshwater management, and improving the liveability of New Zealand’s cities.’
And in fact, too. The charities that have been given repeated bills of health by independent charity-watch organisations. If you have some evidence (not assertions) to the contrary please share.
“One Anonymous Bloke” states, in apparent high seriousness, that the notorious Clinton charity racket has “been given repeated bills of health by independent charity-watch organisations.”
His faith-based assertion stands in stark contrast to the evidence presented so clearly in that item. Could “One Anonymous Bloke” tell the rest of us exactly how the following “good works” carried out by the Clinton “charities” actually did any good?….
It was also been revealed the Clinton charities utilised the devastating Haiti earthquake to implement disaster capitalism, funneling funds into Haiti under the pretense of aid but only for the funds to flow away from the Haitians desperately in need and instead to companies who had made previously large donations to the Clinton Foundation.
Then there is the $145 million ‘pay for play’ contributions made to the Clinton Foundation by shareholders of Canadian company Uranium One, a mining company with concessions in Kazakhstan and the US. Uranium One sought to sell these concessions to the Russians, but the deal had to be approved by a government committee due to the implications to national security.
On this beautiful summer day I won’t inflict Standardisti with any offensive footage of the Old Groper, but here’s a clip of his wife speaking with her characteristic “charity” about black people….
1. If you could post the evidence (rather than the assertions) that would be choice. I said ‘please’.
2. I have zero regard for your opinion, Morrissey. You bring nothing substantive to this or any other discussion other than your entertainment value.
3: Get a clue: you can post a billion videos of Hillary Clinton saying things I disagree with and none of them will be evidence against the employees of the Clinton Foundation. Got that?
1. If you could post the evidence (rather than the assertions) that would be choice. I said ‘please’.
I posted the evidence. Bill and Hillary Clinton’s involvement in predatory “disaster capitalism” has been exhaustively documented. Are you trying to suggest they have not been exposed repeatedly?
2. I have zero regard for your opinion, Morrissey.
Ooohh, that’s a bit mean, isn’t it?
You bring nothing substantive to this or any other discussion other than your entertainment value.
Mean—and more than a bit extreme. I bring “nothing substantive” to discussions? Never?
Still, on the bright side, you’ve paid tribute to my “entertainment value”, so that’s a positive.
3: Get a clue: you can post a billion videos of Hillary Clinton saying things I disagree with and none of them will be evidence against the employees of the Clinton Foundation. Got that?
I didn’t just post a video of her saying things you or I disagree with: I posted a video of her unleashing a cynical, horrible, racist rant that could have been delivered by Donald Trump at his most deranged. The point of my posting that horror was to underline the point that the very idea of the Clintons and “charity” is an absurdity.
All charity is obscene. That is not the same as saying, as dv did and you implied (“racket”), that Clinton diverts money from the CF for her own gain.
I note that the POTUS does exactly that with his own “charities”. The accusations you are so eager to mindlessly sponge and parrot are motivated by projection.
As for your smear against the CF’s employees, just chuck them under a bus eh.
The contributions made by this “One Anonymous Bloke” are becoming more bizarre. Let’s inspect his latest offering….
1.) So that’s no evidence then. Exactly as expected.
This is what is known as “attempting to brazen it out” of an awkward situation. This writer, i.e., moi, had pointed out to him that the Wake Up NZ site referenced by “dv” in 1.3.2 had shown clearly that the Clinton “charities” racket is little more than a brutal exercise in disaster capitalism. This presentation of evidence was not good enough for dear old O.A.B., however; he apparently thinks closing his eyes and stubbornly insisting he can’t see what is shown to him is enough to win his point.
2.) All charity is obscene.
????? Would I be the only person to think that is one of the stupider statements to be posted on this forum in all of 2017?
3.) The accusations you are so eager to mindlessly sponge and parrot are motivated by projection.
???? Again, what the HELL is this fellow trying so ineptly to say?
4.) As for your smear against the CF’s employees, just chuck them under a bus eh.
Anybody who works for the Clintons is either inordinately ambitious, and unscrupulous, or simply bewildered—kind of like the poor sods who worked for their election campaigns.
dv that was never told us before thhe election was it and here is another site claiming Key was guilty of using taxpayer fuds to put into a foriegn election, ad this is highly a crime againt international law and NZ law.
You are really intense about this.
As a point you are the one that have implied that mfat , Clinton association are corrup.
I have not used those words, or close.
This is a direct result of our current industrial farming methods which not only are destroying our soils but also killing our water ways, lakes, and coastal waters.
At the present time the destruction of our soils by tillage and chemical fertilisers is occurring at the alarming rate of around 24bn tonnes per year, and according to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) the planet can only employ current practice for another 60 years before the situation is so bad that the dirt remaining will not support plant life. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/
The situation that is now occurring in our largest lake is something that has been happening in the Great Lakes of North America since the early 2000’s. This year has been no different for the residents of Toledo. 3 million people are dependent upon their drinking water from Lake Eire and for at least 3 years now their water supply has been so toxic that they have had to truck in water from elsewhere yet they live in the edge of one of the largest “freshwater” lakes on the planet.
The mayor of Toledo, Paula Hicks-Hudson, wrote a letter to President Donald Trump on Sept. 26, calling on the federal government to declare Lake Erie impaired, which would allow for the lake’s nutrient loads to be regulated under the Clean Water Act.
“There is something very wrong with our country when our rivers and lakes turn green,” Hicks-Hudson wrote in her letter. “As I look out my office at a green river, I can tell you one thing: The status quo is not working.”
The causes of soil destruction include chemical-heavy farming techniques, deforestation which increases erosion, and global warming. The earth under our feet is too often ignored by policymakers, experts said.
“Soils are the basis of life,” said Semedo, FAO’s deputy director general of natural resources. “Ninety five percent of our food comes from the soil.”
Unless new approaches are adopted, the global amount of arable and productive land per person in 2050 will be only a quarter of the level in 1960, the FAO reported, due to growing populations and soil degradation.
Soils play a key role in absorbing carbon and filtering water, the FAO reported. Soil destruction creates a vicious cycle, in which less carbon is stored, the world gets hotter, and the land is further degraded.
“We are losing 30 soccer fields of soil every minute, mostly due to intensive farming,” Volkert Engelsman, an activist with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements told the forum at the FAO’s headquarters in Rome.
One of the fastest, cleverest, most exciting football players of his generation, Colin Kaepernick led San Francisco to the 2013 Super Bowl, the first time the 49ers had made it in twenty years.
But it’s as a moral leader that he has really made his mark. To register his disgust at police killings of black citizens and the war crimes of the United States overseas, Kaepernick refused to stand for the militarised national anthem ceremony before games. He has carried on the proud tradition of Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and countless other black athletes who have refused to be bullied into silence by politicians and their media accomplices.
To the fury of the flag-idolating right wing, Kaepernick’s leadership has inspired hundreds of athletes in many sports, from professional to high school level, to refuse to participate in state-sponsored obedience ceremonies before their games.
So influential, and so threatening, has Kaepernick’s moral stature become that he provoked the Groper-in-Chief to unleash a public tirade against him, hilariously urging NFL owners to “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!”
“He’s one of the brightest, most articulate and committed people that I have ever come across. I knew Muhammad Ali. I most certainly worked with Carlos and Smith. Bill Russell, Jim Brown, some of these people from the 1960s, Arthur Ashe—I put him in that class. And I’m pushing him. I hope that he’ll become a person of the year—all of the athletes collectively—and I personally am pushing him for a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, even if he doesn’t get it, because I think he’s going to have that impact as we look back 20 years from now, 30 years from now. And I think it should be recognized.”–Dr. Harry Edwards https://www.democracynow.org/2017/9/25/dr_harry_edwards_nominate_football_player
“Heroes” is a series devoted to those courageous and brilliant people who show us that, in a world seemingly run by flag-fetishists, cowards, conformists, crooks, abusers, scoundrels, mass murderers and liars, there are still reasons for optimism.
It also seems “The Intercept has exclusive publishing rights and an exclusive hold on the content of the Snowden leaks, of which this newly released document is a part. Indeed, the Intercept was founded after the Snowden leaks were made public and its first hires were Glenn Greenwald and Lauren Poitras, the only journalists possessing the full Snowden cache. Those documents now belong to the Intercept’s founder — billionaire eBay founder, — and his for-profit media company, First Look Media.”
“His (Omidyar) investments with USAID have continued since the Intercept’s founding, helping fund the NGO’s more recent overseas programs aimed at “advancing U.S. national security interests” abroad.”
What do we do when we can’t even trust The Intercept?
I think we can trust Glenn Greenwald and the rest of the brilliant and principled writers there. But, as with all owners of media outlets—like the Kochs, the Murdochs, the Russian, Australian and British governments—Omidyar needs to be scrutinized.
We can only hope National’s “legacy” of Child poverty, Homelessness, Degraded lakes and waterways, degraded public health system, idiotic education “reform”, and general gifting of money in large amounts to ones friends and oneself, will quickly disappear to be replaced by a far more equitable, caring and environmentally friendly society. That is a legacy one would hope would endure.
‘A Hong Kong businessman’s plan to build a $3 million lodge on Crown land bordering a scenic South Island lake has raised the hackles of the Acting Commissioner of Crown Lands. But there are strong signals the lakeside land will be offered up for sale, David Williams reports.
A massive lodge could be built on what is now Crown land, just 40 metres from the shore of pristine Lake Pukaki.
Why a sale’s even being considered isn’t clear. LINZ’s consent says “there are no applicable offer-back provisions” and Blue Lake “is not entitled to the benefit of any offer back”. But the Crown considered it had a “moral duty” to offer the land back to Guide Hill’s former owners, the Gould family, and the new allotment should “logically” be amalgamated with the rest of the station. Forest & Bird’s Canterbury/West Coast regional manager Jen Miller says the whole situation “stinks” and appears murky. She also believes a neighbouring landowner might be disputing the potential sale.
Revealed: who bought NZ’s most expensive home of 2017
‘State-owned enterprise Quotable Value records show that the buyer was Lichun Gao. A check on other titles shows he has been active since 2015, buying a number of properties across the city, valued collectively at more than $56m. Most of his properties are on the North Shore and some have big development potential.
Companies Office records show Gao is the sole director and shareholder of New Zealand-registered company Far East NZ Investment and gives his address as 17 O’Neills Ave, Takapuna.
‘Far East is listed in one business directory as a milk products manufacturing business.
Titles which QV lists as those Gao owns are:
• 19 O’Neills Ave: a residential dwelling on a 4396sq m site, three separate titles of 19, 21 and 23 O’Neills Ave. Two homes were built there by Sky TV founder Craig Heatley who had a helipad on the property. Gao bought it in July, QV records showed.
• 84 Trig Rd, Whenuapai: Auckland Council says is valued at $9.8m. A 4.04ha lifestyle property which is now bare land with subdivision potential, sold to Gao last year;
• 62 Paritai Dr, Orakei: a residential dwelling built between 1914 and 1929 on a 1173sq m site. This is in one of Auckland’s best streets, home to the $39m property which set the national record in 2013 as New Zealand’s most expensive residential property, sold by agent Graham Wall. Auckland Council valued this place at $7.4m. QV records the place as being sold to Gao last April.
• 11 Spedding Rd, Whenuapai: a 4.9ha lifestyle property now bare land but with subdivision potential, sold to Gao last year. Auckland Council has this property valued at $7,170,000.
• 52 Dairy Stream Rd, Dairy Flat: a 3.2ha site listed as a lifestyle property, being bare land with subdivision potential which Gao bought in April, 2015.
New Zealand’s immigration system “lacks integrity” and is so financially hamstrung it can’t investigate fraud and exploitation cases, its new Minister says.’
Typical of how national views immigration. They just wanted more immigrants to dilute the Maori vote an put us on the bread line I’m working my ass off going nowhere because of keys immigration policy and now we find another state organisation in a mess we will never let national back in government the corrupt money worshipers Ana to kai
Yep, very much doubt that Maori will be the 2nd largest ethnicity in NZ anymore after National’s immigration policy. National have prospered vote wise by importing in votes and moving poorer people out of main cities and making them homeless.
For sale.
Our assets, our environment, our sovereignty.
35 years of neoliberalism.
‘A Chinese-owned corporation is converting a former wool scouring factory in the Christchurch area into a water bottling factory, and it has consent to extract more than 4.5 million litres of water per day. Environment Canterbury is among the groups expressing concern about the new neighbour.’
The private rental market is forcing low-income Kiwis to move too often, the human rights watchdog has told the new Government.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford has promised new legislation by the end of 2018 that would get rid of no-cause terminations and limit rent increases to once per year.
But the Human Rights Commission suggest more than just new rental laws: officials within the document suggest that for the most vulnerable the security provided by state housing is the best option.
With almost 6000 thousand on the waiting list for a state home, it shows what Labour are currently offering is vastly insufficient, thus the pressure is mounting on Labour to build more state homes. The question is, will they?
Apart from your bizarre Labour bashing stance (you never criticised National on housing policy), that’s a valuable article you link to which describes an awful problem in NZ where low income families are forced to move often on the say so of amateur landlords. This transience creates fractured communities where children struggle to feel valued and struggle to form important long term social connections.
I myself don’t think a massive social housing drive is the answer. I think much more needs to be done to make anyone involved in rental investments know that they are first providing a social service and second providing for their own benefit.
I went mowing lawns today an the idiots were playing all sorts of dum ass games they think they are going to break me YEA RIGHT. I will keep going hard for my family and this is why I won’t back down. I no if I move they will chase me were ever I go so_______them.
I’m at the farm relief milking and mowing my lawns in between milking I get to spend time with our moko my youngest granddaughter is a paua to her Papa when ever she sees me she has her hands out for me to pick her up she has just started crawling she is away into everything lol she has beautiful blue eyes and I call her my prime minister lol I want her to have a very secsessfull long happy life and I will do what it takes for all our children and mokos to give them a good life. Kia kaha
“…From 2018, as the new look takes final shape, shop owners and landlords may be encouraged by more pleasant surrounds to spruce up their acts; and developers heartened by a new vitality may be drawn to further breathe life into a town centre that otherwise may have died.
Where we now have some run-down premises, we could in the future find medium-rise developments (the Unitary Plan allows for four-to-eight storeys in town centres – logically with shops below and apartments and perhaps offices above) and a more appealing retail and food mix.
…”
First – remove the parking – kill small businesses so property developer$ can buy these buildings, and help drive customers to the multi-national run malls?
Not only clear out small business but increase the risk of flooding with the amount of paving. Who knows why Auckland Transport and their overpaid band of consultants hates trees so much? Never mind it can all be sold cheap and converted with overseas money to apartments for new residents not bankrupted by government and council policy and lowered wages.
MATAURA RIVER
Yesterday the river made 1 news in Gore as the river has low flows and the town is running out of water
What could be the problem low rainfall or maybe a combination of low rainfall and the loss of our wetlands for recharging the river or the hundreds of km of drains under ground to stop the land holding water or the never-ending expansion of the center pivots which are running flat out today in the upper Mataura and the planting of pine forist on land that uesd to be tussock lands and this is all allowed by Environment Southland. This is looking more like It could end up like the disaster in Canterbury
You no how I told you that my MAMA die of a heart attack when I was 9. Well here’s the hole story. About a week before that event my mama an one of her grand sons that lived with us he is the one who named me honky they were arguing
about him not being a good father to his child he was still going out an shaging around and she wanted him to put his child first I remember her saying to him you all are getting nothing it is all going to eco. So a week goes by and mama and I were watching TV he comes home she goes into the kitchen to talk to him she closed the door to the sitting room and the argument started they were arguing about her will shouting she said no of use are getting my estate it is all going to eco than I heard her fall and he was over her as when I heard her fall I went it the kitchen at that time one of her son came in and they started arguing about what to do in stead of giving her angina pill. Next the ambulance came and they said she was dead So she had a will draw up and it was in her room. They burnt it and this story can be verified by my extended whano the ones who never called me honky there mother told them about the will and they told me she had a lot of shear in land up the east coast. The person that caused her death ripped me later on to I sold him my lawn run I set up his $20.000 loan as his bank manager was mine as well and the years before I had $100.000 going into my bank from forestry I gave him my business accounts so he could get the loan I had a loan of $10.000 so when his loan came through that got paid as we were walking out the bank he said that the other $10.000 of his loan was going to pay off his credit card. I was blown away but I was still submissive and had to start working in Hamilton in 3 days he had not paid me a cent of that money in 13 years. Did he give a______about my children missing out because of his actions no. The business was worth $30.000 WTF.
When my wife grandfather died he left me all his tools my wife’s brothers were pissed about that so was her 1 uncle he got the rife as I did not have a gun licence.
While we were planning his funeral his bank accounts were frozen and no one had any money to pay for it so my wife and I wrote out a check to pay for his funeral
We got our money back 12 months later we were just happy that his funeral went down with out any problems There are other story’s of me an my wife helping her family with other events like that to. That idiot who ripped me off had abandoned his first family of 2 children and to what a__________. That’s all for now Ka pai
I no that the Gisborne man is in the top command of the cops top 10 so he will have his boys spread any shit he can to save his religious self righteous ass but no ECO WILL WIN IN THE END Kai kaha
Speechless.“Forty years ago in Alabama, there’s a lot of mamas and daddies that’d be thrilled that their 14-year-old was getting hit on by a district attorney.” pic.twitter.com/Q6SUJzSBgF— Holly O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) December 8, 2017
Trump campaigning hard for Moore shows how confident he is of identifying and turning out his base, because FFS Obama is more popular than Trump in Alabama:
Moore will have no problem on the day getting over the line.
It’s lovely that the Dems are going for long-shots, but Alabama was wayyy too much of a long-shot to hit its target. You have to go back to you-know-who to remember a Democrat really making it there. Hint: it’s a little place called Hope.
Yeah, Jones is still a long shot. But if he pulled it off there’d be so many D.C. Repugs shitting themselves the sewers would erupt.
*There’s a New Hope and a Good Hope in Alabama, but no actual Hope. Perhaps you mean nearby Arkansas? The last Dem pres to win ‘bama was Carter. The last Dem to win statewide office was Shelby for his second term in 92, but even he decided life would be easier as a Repug so he switched in 94. I wonder if the Chump realized he was rallying for Moore in Florida, but the election is the next state over?
@CleanGreen.
I was thinking about the Gisborne line and the wash-out (both the real one and the gNat wash-out attitude), and thought you might be interested in this:
Yes we have an Indian Manager of a large Gisborne exporter and his home town has far worse geographical areas where rail goes and believes the washouts on the Gisborne section is minor compared to what he has seen.
We also have a ex rail manager from Kiwirail who kept the l;ine in top shape before the washouts and said it was caused by clearing of scrub in the hillside above the track ad heavy rail that blocked the old culverts and washed that section out again as this was the third time in 39yrs.
During Bola the Ministry of Works came along and fixed the washouts in 6 weeks after March 1988, we are advised when it was washed out during bola so you are right iit can be repaired within just weeks jnot months so we cant see why they just dont get it fixed and allow us to incease our rail freight as we proved durug the eight months before the washouts as we had inceased the freight three times higher then after a flat rail freight recorded prior when Toll had it.
A fellow Gisbornite supports you. There are a lot of us whisperers here
— we whisper because’ the few’ are very few here, and we speak because we are humans and NZers.
Long story short: I chatted last night with ’s on the substack app about the appointment of Chris Bishop to replace Simeon Brown as Transport Minister. We talked through their different approaches and whether there’s much room for Bishop to reverse many of the anti-cycling measures Brown adopted.Our chat ...
Last night I chatted with Northland emergency doctor on the substack app for subscribers about whether the appointment of Simeon Brown to replace Shane Reti as Health Minister. We discussed whether the new minister can turn around decades of under-funding in real and per-capita terms. Our chat followed his ...
Christopher Luxon is every dismal boss who ever made you wince, or roll your eyes, or think to yourself I have absolutely got to get the hell out of this place.Get a load of what he shared with us at his cabinet reshuffle, trying to be all sensitive and gracious.Dr ...
The text of my submission to the Ministry of Health's unnecessary and politicised review of the use of puberty blockers for young trans and nonbinary people in Aotearoa. ...
Hi,Last night one of the world’s biggest social media platforms, TikTok, became inaccessible in the United States.Then, today, it came back online.Why should we care about a social network that deals in dance trends and cute babies? Well — TikTok represents a lot more than that.And its ban and subsequent ...
Sometimes I wake in the middle of the nightAnd rub my achin' old eyesIs that a voice from inside-a my headOr does it come down from the skies?"There's a time to laugh butThere's a time to weepAnd a time to make a big change"Wake-up you-bum-the-time has-comeTo arrange and re-arrange and ...
Former Health Minister Shane Reti was the main target of Luxon’s reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short to start the year in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate: Christopher Luxon fired Shane Reti as Health Minister and replaced him with Simeon Brown, who Luxon sees ...
Yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a cabinet reshuffle, which saw Simeon Brown picking up the Health portfolio as it’s been taken off Dr Shane Reti, and Transport has been given to Chris Bishop. Additionally, Simeon’s energy and local government portfolios now sit with Simon Watts. This is very good ...
The sacking of Health Minister Shane Reti yesterday had an air of panic about it. A media advisory inviting journalists to a Sunday afternoon press conference at Premier House went out on Saturday night. Caucus members did not learn that even that was happening until yesterday morning. Reti’s fate was ...
Yesterday’s demotion of Shane Reti was inevitable. Reti’s attempt at a re-assuring bedside manner always did have a limited shelf life, and he would have been a poor and apologetic salesman on the campaign trail next year. As a trained doctor, he had every reason to be looking embarrassed about ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 12, 2025 thru Sat, January 18, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
After another substantial hiatus from online Chess, I’ve been taking it up again. I am genuinely terrible at five-minute Blitz, what with the tight time constraints, though I periodically con myself into thinking that I have been improving. But seeing as my past foray into Chess led to me having ...
Rise up o children wont you dance with meRise up little children come and set me freeRise little ones riseNo shame no fearDon't you know who I amSongwriter: Rebecca Laurel FountainI’m sure you know the go with this format. Some memories, some questions, letsss go…2015A decade ago, I made the ...
In 2017, when Ghahraman was elected to Parliament as a Green MP, she recounted both the highlights and challenges of her role -There was love, support, and encouragement.And on the flipside, there was intense, visceral and unchecked hate.That came with violent threats - many of them. More on that later.People ...
It gives me the biggest kick to learn that something I’ve enthused about has been enough to make you say Go on then, I'm going to do it. The e-bikes, the hearing aids, the prostate health, the cheese puffs. And now the solar power. Yes! Happy to share the details.We ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Can CO2 be ...
The old bastard left his ties and his suitA brown box, mothballs and bowling shoesAnd his opinion so you'd never have to choosePretty soon, you'll be an old bastard tooYou get smaller as the world gets bigThe more you know you know you don't know shit"The whiz man" will never ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Numbers2024 could easily have been National’s “Annus Horribilis” and 2025 shows no signs of a reprieve for our Landlord PM Chris Luxon and his inept Finance Minister Nikki “Noboats” Willis.Several polls last year ...
This Friday afternoon, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced an overhaul of the Waitangi Tribunal.The government has effectively cleared house - appointing 8 new members - and combined with October’s appointment of former ACT leader Richard Prebble, that’s 9 appointees.[I am not certain, but can only presume, Prebble went in ...
The state of the current economy may be similar to when National left office in 2017.In December, a couple of days after the Treasury released its 2024 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HEYFU24), Statistics New Zealand reported its estimate for volume GDP for the previous September 24 quarter. Instead ...
So what becomes of you, my love?When they have finally stripped you ofThe handbags and the gladragsThat your poor old granddadHad to sweat to buy you, babySongwriter: Mike D'aboIn yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed sadness at seeing Golriz Ghahraman back on the front pages for shoplifting. As someone who is no ...
It’s Friday and time for another roundup of things that caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans. If you’d like to support our work, you can join ...
Note: This Webworm discusses sexual assault and rape. Please read with care.Hi,A few weeks ago I reported on how one of New Zealand’s richest men, Nick Mowbray (he and his brother own Zuru and are worth an estimated $20 billion), had taken to sharing posts by a British man called ...
The final Atlas Network playbook puzzle piece is here, and it slipped in to Aotearoa New Zealand with little fan fare or attention. The implications are stark.Today, writes Dr Bex, the submission for the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill closes: 11:59pm January 16, 2025.As usual, the language of the ...
Excitement in the seaside village! Look what might be coming! 400 million dollars worth of investment! In the very beating heart of the village! Are we excited and eager to see this happen, what with every last bank branch gone and shops sitting forlornly quiet awaiting a customer?Yes please, apply ...
Much discussion has been held over the Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB), the latest in a series of rightwing attempts to enshrine into law pro-market precepts such as the primacy of private property ownership. Underneath the good governance and economic efficiency gobbledegook language of the Bill is an interest to strip ...
We are concerned that the Amendment Bill, as proposed, could impair the operations and legitimate interests of the NZ Trade Union movement. It is also likely to negatively impact the ability of other civil society actors to conduct their affairs without the threat of criminal sanctions. We ask that ...
I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?And I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?Song: The Lonely Biscuits.“A bit nippy”, I thought when I woke this morning, and then, soon after that, I wondered whether hell had frozen over. Dear friends, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Asheville, North Carolina, was once widely considered a climate haven thanks to its elevated, inland location and cooler temperatures than much of the Southeast. Then came the catastrophic floods of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a stark reminder that nowhere is safe from ...
Early reports indicate that the temporary Israel/Hamas ceasefire deal (due to take effect on Sunday) will allow for the gradual release of groups of Israeli hostages, the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails (likely only a fraction of the total incarcerated population), and the withdrawal ...
My daily news diet is not what it once was.It was the TV news that lost me first. Too infantilising, too breathless, too frustrating.The Herald was next. You could look past the reactionary framing while it was being a decent newspaper of record, but once Shayne Currie began unleashing all ...
Hit the road Jack and don't you come backNo more, no more, no more, no moreHit the road Jack and don't you come back no moreWhat you say?Songwriters: Percy MayfieldMorena,I keep many of my posts, like this one, paywall-free so that everyone can read them.However, please consider supporting me as ...
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...
Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...
Hi,If you’ve been reading Webworm for a while, you’ll be familiar with Anna Wilding. Between 2020 and 2021 I looked at how the New Zealander had managed to weasel her way into countless news stories over the years, often with very little proof any of it had actually happened. When ...
It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob HensonFlames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
The 45th president becomes the 47th, while the 46th had one final trick up his sleeve. The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund explains what just happened. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
There are about to be a whole lot more older folks in New Zealand.Data from Stats NZ suggests the country’s population pyramid is set to look more like a rectangle in coming decades, with a greater proportion of Kiwis living into the upper reaches of a century due to a ...
The doctor who patiently waited for his dream role, then lasted barely a year in it. If you’ve ever lived in Whangārei, chances are you’ve seen Shane Reti out and about in the city. Whether it was at Jimmy Jack’s on a Friday night, or Whangārei Growers Market on Saturday ...
How a big sign on the Wellington waterfront exposed a problem with local news. Cringeworthy. Childish. Trashy. Embarrassing. Tacky. Encouraging illiteracy. Stupid. Piece of junk. Unimpressive. Hideous. Trite. Frivolous. Unimpressive. Pathetic. Ugly. Dumb. An eyesore. The biggest waste of money yet. Those are all direct quotes from mainstream media coverage ...
Comment: Most of the reading I did over the summer holiday was relaxing – detective stories set in Paris and the like. I’d already written a submission on the Treaty principles bill, and like most of us, needed a break from the stresses and strains of 2024.But then I started ...
The rise of mega solar in the coming decade offers our best opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and create a sustainable renewables economy to replace the age of fossil fuels. New Zealand cannot afford to be left behind.To see how that can happen requires a strategic forecast on the state ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 21 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...
I’ve been bookish for as long as I can remember, having been raised by writers and readers in a home where books lined the walls. Where words were important and ideas were everything. Where literary luminaries regularly came to visit. In Hamilton.At first glance, Aotearoa’s largest inland city (and the ...
With six of their 10 Super Smash round-robin matches now completed, the Canterbury Magicians have travelled from Alexandra to Auckland, as well as to Napier and Hamilton, but for one of their overseas signings, home is far, far away from our shores.Shikha Pandey is the first Indian international to take ...
It’s fair to say that starting 2024 with an unexpected, week-long hospital stay wasn’t on my vision board for the year. It was just four weeks before launching our new start-up, Taxi and I was left with constant head pain and a piratical eye patch that I had to wear ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mathew Marques, Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology, La Trobe University Public trust in scientists is vital. It can help us with personal decisions on matters like health and provide evidence-based policymaking to assist governments with crises such as the COVID pandemic or ...
Women’s Rights Party Co-leader Jill Ovens says the questions are odd, given there are no safety measures currently in place, and the use of puberty blockers (GnRH) to treat conditions related to “gender distress” is not a registered use of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Mason, PhD candidate in Conservation Biology, Deakin University Milosz Maslanka/Shutterstock Around the world, humans routinely kill carnivores to protect livestock and game, increase human safety and conserve native wildlife. Unfortunately, killing carnivores often creates new problems including population booms of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher, Digital Literacy and Digital Wellbeing, Western Sydney University According to the latest reports, TikTok has restored services in the United States after “going dark” on Saturday evening US time. The company turned off its services ahead of a nationwide ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Bellanta, Professor of Modern History (Australian Catholic University), Visiting Professor of Australian Studies (Seoul National University), Australian Catholic University New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive, Justice and Police Museum, Museums of History New South Wales With almost all menswear ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Blazevich, Professor of Biomechanics, Edith Cowan University Watch any match at this year’s Australian Open and you’ll see balls curving in the air or bouncing higher or lower than expected. Players such as Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Ogden, Associate Professor in Global Studies, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images On the eve of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, the world is braced for more of what has been described as his instinct for “weaponised chaos”. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Freshwater poll for The Financial Review, conducted January 17–19 from a sample of 1,063, gave the Coalition a 51–49 lead, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Diana Piantedosi, Sociology PhD Candidate, School of Humanities and Social Sciences (La Trobe University); Honorary Fellow, School of Health and Social Development (Deakin University), La Trobe University MS Australia/tompaulbyrnes.com Laura (Radha Mitchell) is an ambitious investment banker living in London with ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you love thought-provoking locally-made documentaries: M9 Season 2 (TVNZ+, January 20) The second season of the groundbreaking M9 sets out to inspire, empower and entertain by asking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Barton, Senior lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University Studio Nut/Shutterstock When British TV doctor Michael Mosley died last year in Greece after walking in extreme heat, local police said “heat exhaustion” was a contributing factor. Since than ...
Shane Reti’s demotion is a reminder that the best experience for being a minister is being a minister, writes Henry Cooke. First published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. Shane Reti – or “Doctor Shane”, as Judith Collins would always call him – is a lovely man. The first time ...
An Al-Jazeera Arabic special report translated by The Palestine Chronicle staff details how Israel’s military strategy in Gaza, aimed at dismantling Hamas and displacing Palestinian civilians, has failed after 470 days of conflict.ANALYSIS:By Abdulwahab al-Mursi On May 5, 2024, nearly seven months into Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on ...
If there’s one thing this country loves, it’s holding onto stopgap structures for decades past their original use-by date. Mat Brown takes a look at 10 of his favourites. Auckland’s Te Wero Bridge has endured (more or less) for over a decade, yet it was only supposed to be a ...
From matcha IPAs to koshu wines, sake making classes and brewery resorts, there’s plenty to try if you know where to look. Japan’s food is famous everywhere, but the country’s drinks culture is a bit of a hidden gem. There’s a whole world here beyond what you might expect – ...
Sometimes a long drop is just the beginning of a turd’s journey.When you’re sitting on a loo with a view, with slow mosquitoes bumbling around your cheeks and someone outside testing the integrity of the door’s latch and hinges, it may not occur to you that this particular hole ...
"I'm looking forward to sitting down with Minister Watts to work through how best we collaborate and build an authentic and enduring partnership - to make a positive difference for all New Zealanders," LGNZ President Sam Broughton said. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rochelle Steven, Lecturer in Environmental Management, Murdoch University Home gardens can provide vital habitat for Australian birds. But there’s more to it than just planting certain types of shrubs and flowering trees. After decades of encouragement to include native plants in ...
A major demotion for one minister saw several others pick up new roles, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Lake Taupo is toxic.
Dr. Mike Joy on Facebook.
I see Mike Joy also refers to this story today.
‘And down south…#soldtothehighestbidder’
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/99659135/hong-kong-billionaire-businessman-plans-to-build-3m-pukaki-lakeside-lodge-on-crown-land
Rachel Stewart.
‘Don’t let anyone tell you different. Yes, extreme heat is the trigger but, Lake Taupo’s problem is years of phosphorous and nitrogen build-up from dairy farming.’
wondering if it would have an effect on the volcano, am not a scientist, but would the phosphorous and nitrogen blend via water tables/routes with other chemicals/elements found only around volcanoes? Will climate change light the fuse (ie hot weather)?
Hope that makes sense, am alarmed at the news about the lake.
35 years of neoliberalism are we are reduced to this.
A country owned and being destroyed by corporations.
‘Minister warned of critical pressure on natural resources.
‘In its briefing to Minister David Parker the ministry said pressure from the primary sector was exacerbated by population growth, increasing visitor numbers, and urban growth.
It said the evidence showed environmental constraints and pressure points were being reached, adding from a Māori perspective, the mauri, or life force, of land and water was being compromised.
The ministry said the scale of change needed was significant, and would require co-ordinated government activity across a number of portfolio areas including managing resource use, planning, housing, infrastructure, transport, and local government.
It outlined three priority areas the minister should take action on: climate change resilience, freshwater management, and improving the liveability of New Zealand’s cities.
“These issues are of such magnitude that their impacts are being felt across New Zealand,” said the briefing.
“They contribute to wider impacts (eg, on housing affordability, tourism revenue and health), which means more than one benefit can be achieved if the right actions are taken – for example, the potential for significant emissions reductions through improved urban design.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/345805/minister-warned-of-critical-pressure-on-natural-resources
did Stewart back her claim up with facts you can link to?
https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21731435-government-data-suggests-60-rivers-and-lakes-are-unswimmable-dairy-farming-polluting-new
i was hoping for something that backed Stewart’s claim . There is bugger all dairy around taupo and over half it’s rivers would barely touch a farm and many non at all
yeah I know – I was trying to help out. I think you know the answer.
Anyway, maybe this/these
“Lake Taupō is under threat from increasing nitrogen leaching from land uses in the catchment. In order to maintain the lake’s water quality, we need to reduce the amount of nitrogen reaching the lake from farmland and urban areas by 20 per cent.”
https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/community/your-community/for-farmers/taupo/
https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Community/Your-community/For-Farmers/Taupo/Nitrogen-management-in-the-Lake-Taupo-catchment/
Dunno about “… over half it’s rivers would barely touch a farm…”. Looking at the google satellite images it’s pasture for quite a way inland for roughly 3/4 of the way around Lake Taupo.
https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/Lake+Taupo/@-38.745358,175.602133,78903m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x6d6b93694c18b70b:0x2a00ef6165e1d880!8m2!3d-38.791557!4d175.9150389
Been a while since I’ve driven that back road from Turangi through Kuratau up to Whakamaru, but it was definitely pasture most of the way. Didn’t pay attention to what was grazing it though.
i think it’s on Stewart or her supporters to back her ranting up , i was on a station there recently and large chunks have been taken out of stock and planted , they operate under some stiff nitrogen rules in the taupo catchment. is it enough i don’t know.
if you look at the catchment map in mm s 1st link (cheers mm) you will see easily haif is non farmed
Yes OAB,
It seems that the farmers took the mobney and ran is they must have been John Key clones to eh?
Steven Joyce must know more paid out clones did the some as this as his $11.7 Billion hole is now emerging, after Labour is now finding that lot’s of National’s promises made before the election were left without funding too??????
National = criminal gang
Also very wise man has advised yesterday, that there is a inquiry going on now in the US and here, into a case where John Key apparently gave $13 million of NZ taxpayer money to Hillary Clinton’s election campaign.
This was illegal also without notifying NZ taxpayers of the NZ or US Government, and John Key had been forced to resign after being warned of the illegal move to spend unlawful Government money to swing a foriegn county election.
Seems like it will all come out in the wash in months I and guessing.
Just a question.
Why were they not saying this to Smith and the rest of the National gansters in the past 9 years.
Or were they?
And being ignored?
‘The Environment Ministry has warned its minister that pressures on New Zealand’s natural resources are reaching a critical point.
It said the country’s economic reliance on primary sector exports was starting to show its environmental constraints.
In its briefing to Minister David Parker the ministry said pressure from the primary sector was exacerbated by population growth, increasing visitor numbers, and urban growth.
It said the evidence showed environmental constraints and pressure points were being reached, adding from a Māori perspective, the mauri, or life force, of land and water was being compromised.
The ministry said the scale of change needed was significant, and would require co-ordinated government activity across a number of portfolio areas including managing resource use, planning, housing, infrastructure, transport, and local government.
It outlined three priority areas the minister should take action on: climate change resilience, freshwater management, and improving the liveability of New Zealand’s cities.’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/345805/minister-warned-of-critical-pressure-on-natural-resources
“Ostensibly”.
And in fact, too. The charities that have been given repeated bills of health by independent charity-watch organisations. If you have some evidence (not assertions) to the contrary please share.
“One Anonymous Bloke” states, in apparent high seriousness, that the notorious Clinton charity racket has “been given repeated bills of health by independent charity-watch organisations.”
His faith-based assertion stands in stark contrast to the evidence presented so clearly in that item. Could “One Anonymous Bloke” tell the rest of us exactly how the following “good works” carried out by the Clinton “charities” actually did any good?….
On this beautiful summer day I won’t inflict Standardisti with any offensive footage of the Old Groper, but here’s a clip of his wife speaking with her characteristic “charity” about black people….
1. If you could post the evidence (rather than the assertions) that would be choice. I said ‘please’.
2. I have zero regard for your opinion, Morrissey. You bring nothing substantive to this or any other discussion other than your entertainment value.
3: Get a clue: you can post a billion videos of Hillary Clinton saying things I disagree with and none of them will be evidence against the employees of the Clinton Foundation. Got that?
1. If you could post the evidence (rather than the assertions) that would be choice. I said ‘please’.
I posted the evidence. Bill and Hillary Clinton’s involvement in predatory “disaster capitalism” has been exhaustively documented. Are you trying to suggest they have not been exposed repeatedly?
2. I have zero regard for your opinion, Morrissey.
Ooohh, that’s a bit mean, isn’t it?
You bring nothing substantive to this or any other discussion other than your entertainment value.
Mean—and more than a bit extreme. I bring “nothing substantive” to discussions? Never?
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aQ5mmM8WJCE/Vibu-dE103I/AAAAAAAAMDM/xVnXNLNDcg4/s1600/man_despair.jpg
Still, on the bright side, you’ve paid tribute to my “entertainment value”, so that’s a positive.
3: Get a clue: you can post a billion videos of Hillary Clinton saying things I disagree with and none of them will be evidence against the employees of the Clinton Foundation. Got that?
I didn’t just post a video of her saying things you or I disagree with: I posted a video of her unleashing a cynical, horrible, racist rant that could have been delivered by Donald Trump at his most deranged. The point of my posting that horror was to underline the point that the very idea of the Clintons and “charity” is an absurdity.
So that’s no evidence then. Exactly as expected.
All charity is obscene. That is not the same as saying, as dv did and you implied (“racket”), that Clinton diverts money from the CF for her own gain.
I note that the POTUS does exactly that with his own “charities”. The accusations you are so eager to mindlessly sponge and parrot are motivated by projection.
As for your smear against the CF’s employees, just chuck them under a bus eh.
The contributions made by this “One Anonymous Bloke” are becoming more bizarre. Let’s inspect his latest offering….
1.) So that’s no evidence then. Exactly as expected.
This is what is known as “attempting to brazen it out” of an awkward situation. This writer, i.e., moi, had pointed out to him that the Wake Up NZ site referenced by “dv” in 1.3.2 had shown clearly that the Clinton “charities” racket is little more than a brutal exercise in disaster capitalism. This presentation of evidence was not good enough for dear old O.A.B., however; he apparently thinks closing his eyes and stubbornly insisting he can’t see what is shown to him is enough to win his point.
2.) All charity is obscene.
????? Would I be the only person to think that is one of the stupider statements to be posted on this forum in all of 2017?
3.) The accusations you are so eager to mindlessly sponge and parrot are motivated by projection.
???? Again, what the HELL is this fellow trying so ineptly to say?
4.) As for your smear against the CF’s employees, just chuck them under a bus eh.
Anybody who works for the Clintons is either inordinately ambitious, and unscrupulous, or simply bewildered—kind of like the poor sods who worked for their election campaigns.
In a nutshell:
McFlock.
From the link at 1.3.2.2.2:
Good on you, O.A.B. Quoting the noted scholar and eminence grise McFlock is always a sound option.
http://www.ender.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Well-done.jpg
If I were quoting him as an authority, you’d have a point. But I’m not, so you don’t.
He just summed the argument up succinctly. That’s what “in a nutshell” indicates.
From the link at 1.3.2.2.2:
McFlock is a legend here. He’s an authority, whether we admit it or not.
The bloke is a sensitive soul M
dv that was never told us before thhe election was it and here is another site claiming Key was guilty of using taxpayer fuds to put into a foriegn election, ad this is highly a crime againt international law and NZ law.
https://investmentwatchblog.com/new-zealand-prime-minister-resigns-after-getting-caught-giving-13-7-million-in-taxpayer-money-to-the-clinton-foundation-merkel-gave-5-million-to-the-clinton-foundation-during-our-election/
Yes there seems to be enough murk for an investigation.
OAB
Re the clinton charities donation.
Why overseas US ‘charities’, and not our own charities!!! by Key.
If they are genuine charities are some what secondary.
The money in question was already earmarked for foreign affairs.
So?
No evidence there either. You’ve had your “turn” (pity you wasted it); now refute this.
Please try not to trash-talk the employees of Charity Watch the way you have the employees of the Clinton Foundation. If you can.
Yes if is such a trash talk word.
Why did key give money to the clintons charity?
MFAT gave the money to the CF. I daresay you can Google their stated reasons for doing so yourself.
Ah so it wa Mcully!
He has history.r
So you didn’t even bother to check eh. Lazy.
Obviously that means MFAT employees are all corrupt agents of the Clintons too 🙄
Get a grip.
You are really intense about this.
As a point you are the one that have implied that mfat , Clinton association are corrup.
I have not used those words, or close.
Your words.
So how the hell does the cash end up in HC’s campaign fund if the employees of the CF aren’t corrupt?
Looks pretty close to me.
As for intense, if no harm were being done that’s one thing. But political smears do real harm, and that’s before we even get to the shooting.
Well tha escalated quickly
This is a direct result of our current industrial farming methods which not only are destroying our soils but also killing our water ways, lakes, and coastal waters.
At the present time the destruction of our soils by tillage and chemical fertilisers is occurring at the alarming rate of around 24bn tonnes per year, and according to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) the planet can only employ current practice for another 60 years before the situation is so bad that the dirt remaining will not support plant life.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/
The situation that is now occurring in our largest lake is something that has been happening in the Great Lakes of North America since the early 2000’s. This year has been no different for the residents of Toledo. 3 million people are dependent upon their drinking water from Lake Eire and for at least 3 years now their water supply has been so toxic that they have had to truck in water from elsewhere yet they live in the edge of one of the largest “freshwater” lakes on the planet.
http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/lake-erie-is-covered-by-a-growing-and-dangerous-algae-bloom-that-can-poison-drinking-water
Fat chance of the Vandal doing anything.
Expect this to be a regular feature of Lake Taupo into the future until such time as our farmers wake up to the realisation that not only are they trashing our rivers and lakes but they are ultimately trashing their own livelihood as they constantly degrade and rundown the fertility of the land they think they farm so diligently.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/
Heroes
No. 3: COLIN KAEPERNICK
One of the fastest, cleverest, most exciting football players of his generation, Colin Kaepernick led San Francisco to the 2013 Super Bowl, the first time the 49ers had made it in twenty years.
But it’s as a moral leader that he has really made his mark. To register his disgust at police killings of black citizens and the war crimes of the United States overseas, Kaepernick refused to stand for the militarised national anthem ceremony before games. He has carried on the proud tradition of Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and countless other black athletes who have refused to be bullied into silence by politicians and their media accomplices.
To the fury of the flag-idolating right wing, Kaepernick’s leadership has inspired hundreds of athletes in many sports, from professional to high school level, to refuse to participate in state-sponsored obedience ceremonies before their games.
So influential, and so threatening, has Kaepernick’s moral stature become that he provoked the Groper-in-Chief to unleash a public tirade against him, hilariously urging NFL owners to “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!”
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2748262-laila-ali-its-wonderful-colin-kaepernick-got-si-muhammad-ali-legacy-award
“Heroes” is a series devoted to those courageous and brilliant people who show us that, in a world seemingly run by flag-fetishists, cowards, conformists, crooks, abusers, scoundrels, mass murderers and liars, there are still reasons for optimism.
No. 1 Edward Snowden, No. 2 Gideon Levy
Speaking of Snowden, this is rather alarming
http://www.mintpressnews.com/intercept-withheld-nsa-doc-that-may-have-altered-course-of-syria-war/233757/
It also seems “The Intercept has exclusive publishing rights and an exclusive hold on the content of the Snowden leaks, of which this newly released document is a part. Indeed, the Intercept was founded after the Snowden leaks were made public and its first hires were Glenn Greenwald and Lauren Poitras, the only journalists possessing the full Snowden cache. Those documents now belong to the Intercept’s founder — billionaire eBay founder, — and his for-profit media company, First Look Media.”
“His (Omidyar) investments with USAID have continued since the Intercept’s founding, helping fund the NGO’s more recent overseas programs aimed at “advancing U.S. national security interests” abroad.”
What do we do when we can’t even trust The Intercept?
I think we can trust Glenn Greenwald and the rest of the brilliant and principled writers there. But, as with all owners of media outlets—like the Kochs, the Murdochs, the Russian, Australian and British governments—Omidyar needs to be scrutinized.
Thanks for that, Brigid, it’s very interesting.
It seems Tracey Watkins might be in the 5th phase of grief: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/99674132/going-going-gone-national-and-its-legacy
(maybe).
Not so many of the commenters
We can only hope National’s “legacy” of Child poverty, Homelessness, Degraded lakes and waterways, degraded public health system, idiotic education “reform”, and general gifting of money in large amounts to ones friends and oneself, will quickly disappear to be replaced by a far more equitable, caring and environmentally friendly society. That is a legacy one would hope would endure.
There’s an organization called “Exit” she might like to contact.
Must have piss Gisborne man off his people are going hard today they are put up all the dum ass tactics into play today. Kia kaha
New Zealand.
For sale.
To the highest bidder.
$3m lakeside lodge planned for Crown land
‘A Hong Kong businessman’s plan to build a $3 million lodge on Crown land bordering a scenic South Island lake has raised the hackles of the Acting Commissioner of Crown Lands. But there are strong signals the lakeside land will be offered up for sale, David Williams reports.
A massive lodge could be built on what is now Crown land, just 40 metres from the shore of pristine Lake Pukaki.
Why a sale’s even being considered isn’t clear. LINZ’s consent says “there are no applicable offer-back provisions” and Blue Lake “is not entitled to the benefit of any offer back”. But the Crown considered it had a “moral duty” to offer the land back to Guide Hill’s former owners, the Gould family, and the new allotment should “logically” be amalgamated with the rest of the station.
Forest & Bird’s Canterbury/West Coast regional manager Jen Miller says the whole situation “stinks” and appears murky. She also believes a neighbouring landowner might be disputing the potential sale.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/12/07/66498/3m-lakeside-lodge-planned-for-crown-land
Revealed: who bought NZ’s most expensive home of 2017
‘State-owned enterprise Quotable Value records show that the buyer was Lichun Gao. A check on other titles shows he has been active since 2015, buying a number of properties across the city, valued collectively at more than $56m. Most of his properties are on the North Shore and some have big development potential.
Companies Office records show Gao is the sole director and shareholder of New Zealand-registered company Far East NZ Investment and gives his address as 17 O’Neills Ave, Takapuna.
‘Far East is listed in one business directory as a milk products manufacturing business.
Titles which QV lists as those Gao owns are:
• 19 O’Neills Ave: a residential dwelling on a 4396sq m site, three separate titles of 19, 21 and 23 O’Neills Ave. Two homes were built there by Sky TV founder Craig Heatley who had a helipad on the property. Gao bought it in July, QV records showed.
• 84 Trig Rd, Whenuapai: Auckland Council says is valued at $9.8m. A 4.04ha lifestyle property which is now bare land with subdivision potential, sold to Gao last year;
• 62 Paritai Dr, Orakei: a residential dwelling built between 1914 and 1929 on a 1173sq m site. This is in one of Auckland’s best streets, home to the $39m property which set the national record in 2013 as New Zealand’s most expensive residential property, sold by agent Graham Wall. Auckland Council valued this place at $7.4m. QV records the place as being sold to Gao last April.
• 11 Spedding Rd, Whenuapai: a 4.9ha lifestyle property now bare land but with subdivision potential, sold to Gao last year. Auckland Council has this property valued at $7,170,000.
• 52 Dairy Stream Rd, Dairy Flat: a 3.2ha site listed as a lifestyle property, being bare land with subdivision potential which Gao bought in April, 2015.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11948282
More issuers caused by years of nglect.
‘Immigration NZ broke, new Minister says
New Zealand’s immigration system “lacks integrity” and is so financially hamstrung it can’t investigate fraud and exploitation cases, its new Minister says.’
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/11/30/64436/immigration-nz-broke-new-minister-says
Typical of how national views immigration. They just wanted more immigrants to dilute the Maori vote an put us on the bread line I’m working my ass off going nowhere because of keys immigration policy and now we find another state organisation in a mess we will never let national back in government the corrupt money worshipers Ana to kai
Yep, very much doubt that Maori will be the 2nd largest ethnicity in NZ anymore after National’s immigration policy. National have prospered vote wise by importing in votes and moving poorer people out of main cities and making them homeless.
For sale.
Our assets, our environment, our sovereignty.
35 years of neoliberalism.
‘A Chinese-owned corporation is converting a former wool scouring factory in the Christchurch area into a water bottling factory, and it has consent to extract more than 4.5 million litres of water per day. Environment Canterbury is among the groups expressing concern about the new neighbour.’
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/concern-brewing-chinese-owned-water-bottling-plant-sets-up-shop-in-christchurch
A huge growth in demand for social housing will not be met by the current pipeline of new social houses, officials have told the new Government.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99631678/Social-housing-demand-not-met-by-homes-in-the-pipeline-Officials
The private rental market is forcing low-income Kiwis to move too often, the human rights watchdog has told the new Government.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford has promised new legislation by the end of 2018 that would get rid of no-cause terminations and limit rent increases to once per year.
But the Human Rights Commission suggest more than just new rental laws: officials within the document suggest that for the most vulnerable the security provided by state housing is the best option.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99660758/insecure-rentals-mean-kiwis-move-too-much-and-its-a-human-rights-issue-commission
With almost 6000 thousand on the waiting list for a state home, it shows what Labour are currently offering is vastly insufficient, thus the pressure is mounting on Labour to build more state homes. The question is, will they?
Apart from your bizarre Labour bashing stance (you never criticised National on housing policy), that’s a valuable article you link to which describes an awful problem in NZ where low income families are forced to move often on the say so of amateur landlords. This transience creates fractured communities where children struggle to feel valued and struggle to form important long term social connections.
I myself don’t think a massive social housing drive is the answer. I think much more needs to be done to make anyone involved in rental investments know that they are first providing a social service and second providing for their own benefit.
Nyttonbird
That is a really important housing issue that needs fixing as you say.
“I myself don’t think a massive social housing drive is the answer”
Really?
So where do you think the massive shortfall in low cost rentals are going to come from?
Why do you think my initial post was bashing Labour? I merely highlighted what was reported and asked a question. Is that bashing them in your eyes?
Russian band Little Big. Adult themes, dance music – one hell of a funny video.
A certain chubby North Korean dictator with an amusing haircut is not going to be happy. I laughed. Hard.
I went mowing lawns today an the idiots were playing all sorts of dum ass games they think they are going to break me YEA RIGHT. I will keep going hard for my family and this is why I won’t back down. I no if I move they will chase me were ever I go so_______them.
I’m at the farm relief milking and mowing my lawns in between milking I get to spend time with our moko my youngest granddaughter is a paua to her Papa when ever she sees me she has her hands out for me to pick her up she has just started crawling she is away into everything lol she has beautiful blue eyes and I call her my prime minister lol I want her to have a very secsessfull long happy life and I will do what it takes for all our children and mokos to give them a good life. Kia kaha
NZ WHISTLE-BLOWER ALERT!
(Saturday 9 December 2017)
IF YOU THOUGHT WHAT AK TRANSPORT (AT) HAD DONE TO WEST LYNN WAS BAD – CHECK OUT MT ALBERT!
Killing small businesses in town centres – by removing parking.
“No parking – no stopping – no shopping.”
Have YOU seen what’s happened to the Mt Albert shopping centre?
If you think what’s happened in West Lynn is bad – you need to see for yourselves what’s happened to Mt Albert!
Concrete everywhere – no parking!
How pushing cycle lanes in town centres – by removing parking – helps property developers?
How suburban cycleways in town centres help corporate shopping at the multi-national malls?
http://www.mtalbertinc.co.nz/mt-albert-town-centre-upgrade-long-path-turning-things-around/
“…From 2018, as the new look takes final shape, shop owners and landlords may be encouraged by more pleasant surrounds to spruce up their acts; and developers heartened by a new vitality may be drawn to further breathe life into a town centre that otherwise may have died.
Where we now have some run-down premises, we could in the future find medium-rise developments (the Unitary Plan allows for four-to-eight storeys in town centres – logically with shops below and apartments and perhaps offices above) and a more appealing retail and food mix.
…”
First – remove the parking – kill small businesses so property developer$ can buy these buildings, and help drive customers to the multi-national run malls?
Penny Bright
Anti-Corruption whistle-blower.
Not only clear out small business but increase the risk of flooding with the amount of paving. Who knows why Auckland Transport and their overpaid band of consultants hates trees so much? Never mind it can all be sold cheap and converted with overseas money to apartments for new residents not bankrupted by government and council policy and lowered wages.
From freshwater 111
MATAURA RIVER
Yesterday the river made 1 news in Gore as the river has low flows and the town is running out of water
What could be the problem low rainfall or maybe a combination of low rainfall and the loss of our wetlands for recharging the river or the hundreds of km of drains under ground to stop the land holding water or the never-ending expansion of the center pivots which are running flat out today in the upper Mataura and the planting of pine forist on land that uesd to be tussock lands and this is all allowed by Environment Southland. This is looking more like It could end up like the disaster in Canterbury
You no how I told you that my MAMA die of a heart attack when I was 9. Well here’s the hole story. About a week before that event my mama an one of her grand sons that lived with us he is the one who named me honky they were arguing
about him not being a good father to his child he was still going out an shaging around and she wanted him to put his child first I remember her saying to him you all are getting nothing it is all going to eco. So a week goes by and mama and I were watching TV he comes home she goes into the kitchen to talk to him she closed the door to the sitting room and the argument started they were arguing about her will shouting she said no of use are getting my estate it is all going to eco than I heard her fall and he was over her as when I heard her fall I went it the kitchen at that time one of her son came in and they started arguing about what to do in stead of giving her angina pill. Next the ambulance came and they said she was dead So she had a will draw up and it was in her room. They burnt it and this story can be verified by my extended whano the ones who never called me honky there mother told them about the will and they told me she had a lot of shear in land up the east coast. The person that caused her death ripped me later on to I sold him my lawn run I set up his $20.000 loan as his bank manager was mine as well and the years before I had $100.000 going into my bank from forestry I gave him my business accounts so he could get the loan I had a loan of $10.000 so when his loan came through that got paid as we were walking out the bank he said that the other $10.000 of his loan was going to pay off his credit card. I was blown away but I was still submissive and had to start working in Hamilton in 3 days he had not paid me a cent of that money in 13 years. Did he give a______about my children missing out because of his actions no. The business was worth $30.000 WTF.
When my wife grandfather died he left me all his tools my wife’s brothers were pissed about that so was her 1 uncle he got the rife as I did not have a gun licence.
While we were planning his funeral his bank accounts were frozen and no one had any money to pay for it so my wife and I wrote out a check to pay for his funeral
We got our money back 12 months later we were just happy that his funeral went down with out any problems There are other story’s of me an my wife helping her family with other events like that to. That idiot who ripped me off had abandoned his first family of 2 children and to what a__________. That’s all for now Ka pai
I no that the Gisborne man is in the top command of the cops top 10 so he will have his boys spread any shit he can to save his religious self righteous ass but no ECO WILL WIN IN THE END Kai kaha
This is why they are spending millions wasting their time chasing ECO Maori. Ana to kai
Alabama/Afghanistan.
Thanks for that link Joe. That is the age that Gisborne man would have realed my relation into his Webb of deceit and lies Ka pai
Ivanka’s words put in an appearance outside daddy’s rally to support Moore. Daddy will not be pleased.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ivanka-ad-trolls-trump-rally_us_5a2b63fbe4b0a290f050ed75
Trump campaigning hard for Moore shows how confident he is of identifying and turning out his base, because FFS Obama is more popular than Trump in Alabama:
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign-polls/360807-fox-news-poll-obama-has-higher-favorability-in-alabama-than-trump
Moore will have no problem on the day getting over the line.
It’s lovely that the Dems are going for long-shots, but Alabama was wayyy too much of a long-shot to hit its target. You have to go back to you-know-who to remember a Democrat really making it there. Hint: it’s a little place called Hope.
There’s no Hope in Alabama.*
Yeah, Jones is still a long shot. But if he pulled it off there’d be so many D.C. Repugs shitting themselves the sewers would erupt.
*There’s a New Hope and a Good Hope in Alabama, but no actual Hope. Perhaps you mean nearby Arkansas? The last Dem pres to win ‘bama was Carter. The last Dem to win statewide office was Shelby for his second term in 92, but even he decided life would be easier as a Repug so he switched in 94. I wonder if the Chump realized he was rallying for Moore in Florida, but the election is the next state over?
Great correction!
I was awash in Bill Clinton Hope Arkansas nostalgia for a moment!
@CleanGreen.
I was thinking about the Gisborne line and the wash-out (both the real one and the gNat wash-out attitude), and thought you might be interested in this:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/indian-railway-restores-andhra-pradesh-mountain-bridge-araku-valley-region-in-record-58-days-4974972/
I’m fairly sure no one died and also no one had HiViz fluros either – they just looked out for one another.
OnceWasTim, Thanks for the Indian story,
Yes we have an Indian Manager of a large Gisborne exporter and his home town has far worse geographical areas where rail goes and believes the washouts on the Gisborne section is minor compared to what he has seen.
We also have a ex rail manager from Kiwirail who kept the l;ine in top shape before the washouts and said it was caused by clearing of scrub in the hillside above the track ad heavy rail that blocked the old culverts and washed that section out again as this was the third time in 39yrs.
During Bola the Ministry of Works came along and fixed the washouts in 6 weeks after March 1988, we are advised when it was washed out during bola so you are right iit can be repaired within just weeks jnot months so we cant see why they just dont get it fixed and allow us to incease our rail freight as we proved durug the eight months before the washouts as we had inceased the freight three times higher then after a flat rail freight recorded prior when Toll had it.
Common Labour lets do this.
A fellow Gisbornite supports you. There are a lot of us whisperers here
— we whisper because’ the few’ are very few here, and we speak because we are humans and NZers.
6th mass extinction well underway….
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/08/starving-polar-bear-arctic-climate-change-video