This interview shows the frightening reality of what the neo-libs of our National government want to roll out here. It has already begun in two big ways – NCEA/National Standards, and the promotion of charter schools.
Governments of this ilk want docility and compliance. They want narrowness of thinking and standards that leave little room for depth of thought, or breadth of understanding. People schooled like that swallow propaganda and do what they are told (1984) and authorities can easily push through agendas to suit themselves and their cronies.
We need to stand up and defeat this pernicious agenda.
Schools need the arts – music, dance, painting, drama. They also need proper programmes that promote awareness of the world and the implications for the environment of certain activities, so that alternatives are looked at.
If we do not push back against this crappy approach to what is cynically called a ‘good’ education, then we are doomed to become bots in a neo-lib world of crushingly oppressive monotony. An overstatement? I don’t think so!
It’s worse than that, my point is shown up rather well by what Gosman put up as a question.
Exceptionalism, and ideology become the replacement for critical thinking , the engagement of ones brain to solve complex issues, and creativity.
People keep banging on a bout a golden age of television, but all I’m seeing is some fancy film trick transferred to the small screen, without much in the way of engaging people to think. A reflection or a reality in the face of a population whose education is in perpetual decline? Time will tell.
Except the evidence for your hypothesis is seriously lacking. We are currently living in the greatest age of innivation and creativity and the US is at the forefront of much of this.
Neoliberalism has invaded our thinking and has all but taken over the education of our children, which means that a whole generation has been impregnated and will grow up with neoliberal indoctrination. We raise and educate our children to become self-managers or “entrepreneurs of the self” (Foucault) and teach them that everything has a price and thus anything can be had/owned if one is willing (and able, because of the ‘right’ choices) to pay that price.
Education is seen as a means to an end, an investment, and each customer-student will need to extract as much value from his/her education as possible, to better him/herself so that (economic) success is (almost) secure in future. Of course, this breeds individualism and diminishes respect for others – who are oft viewed as competitors – and (thus) for authority; all success is only for and because of one self and his/her own efforts. NB The irony is that neoliberals frequently cry out a lot about Law & order
Even The Kiwi Dream is steeped in neoliberalism and corresponding economic benchmarks with its emphasis on home ownership, a stronger economy with more jobs and higher wages, and world-class education (!) and the success of our kids, for example.
No (automatic) respect for authority is an excellent place to start with education.
An understanding that respect is to be earned and not given.
An understanding that respect must have a moral and intellectual justification.
So, I watched the first 20 seconds, and here’s an activist who looks like he left school yesterday listing the complaints that young activists have had about every country’s education system since at least the 1960s. Didn’t fill me with the urge to watch any further, but I have to say it is pretty funny to see RT, of all possible TV channels, berating the American education system for inculcating obedience and deference to authority. Oh, the irony…
As I said about Gosman, you seem to be in the same ilk. Going for exceptionalism, putting your prejudices first, and repeating the party line – rather than engaging your brain. Ironic enough for you…
If you engaged with the material, rather than just pontificate – I’d have somthing to work with. The above case is a classic example, you watch for 20 seconds, then pass judgement.
According to my sister, a teacher, the best educated people are people who have been home schooled. They’re more stable, have better artistic and creative capability, and they even do better in maths and science. And the parents also become better educated.
Given this perhaps we should be closing schools altogether and giving full support to home schooling.
Oh, great – a return to stay-at-home parenting. Which parent do you figure would be most likely to get saddled with the staying at home to be a teacher?
Ask Betty Friedan. Also, if both parents have careers they don’t fancy shelving, there’s plenty wrong with it.
At a more general level, there’s also lies, damned lies and statistics. Home schoolers tend to be intelligent and well-educated people highly-motivated to educate their kids to a high standard – and the results reflect that. If home schooling was instead something preferred by people at the bottom ends of the intelligence and education bell curves who didn’t really give a shit about education, your sister would be telling you how the worst-educated people are the ones who’ve been home schooled.
Plenty of families would like to try it. However, many are held back by the assumption that one parent (likely Mom) would have to stop working. But talk to homeschooling parents and you find that a number are attempting the ultimate “second shift”: building a career while running a small school operation at the same time.
It sounds crazy, but it’s doable for people committed to the approach. Catherine Gillespie, a marketing consultant, says that combining the two means she earns a good living while “getting to give my kids individualized educations that really meet their needs.”
Home schoolers tend to be intelligent and well-educated people highly-motivated to educate their kids to a high standard – and the results reflect that.
To some degree but, IMO, the results more reflect the environment that the children learn in one component of which is that their teacher is actually taking an interest in them.
And the parents will have to learn as well so even if they start off uneducated they won’t be by the time they’ve got a 10 year old child.
Lol 2: is it my responsibility to home doctor my kids as well, or is it OK to outsource that one?
And I feel real sorry for people who think their careers are all that matters. They have such a limited view of life.
Well, sure, they sound like terrible people to be around. Fortunately, not wanting to give up your career != thinking your career is all that matters.
And then there’s this:
Yep. And, funnily enough, all the parents they talk to who are home schooling their kids and working part-time are women. I’m picking the number of women who’d be enthusiastic about the prospect of having teaching added to their existing child-minding, housework and paid employment jobs would be a fairly small one.
Why are you so insistent that everybody has to work? Think about that one really hard because that is actually what you’re saying.
Why are you so insistent that only women can stay home to home school the kids? Perhaps having the men do it will help change the rape culture we have.
And, yes, having children is a responsibility. I think it’s a responsibility shared between society and the parents but the parents do hold a lot of that responsibility.
And then consider: How many parents with both working could find a couple of hours each day to teach their kids? Yeah, that’s all it takes. All that creativity that home schooled kids have comes from the fact that they spend most of their time playing. Using their minds in a creative manner all the time rather than having it regimented in a box.
Why are you so insistent that everybody has to work?
I am? And here I was thinking I was replying to your comment suggesting we should do away with the public education system so that parents have no choice but to educate their children themselves. I’m saying everybody who wants to work should be able to – there’s a difference.
But, since you asked – what is the case for people working for a living and contributing to their society beyond simply producing more humans? Because we’re not rabbits, that’s why. If the sum achievement of your life is that you made a few more like yourself, any bacterium or even virus could regard itself as superior. A human should aspire to something a little higher.
Why are you so insistent that only women can stay home to home school the kids?
It ain’t me that’s insisting, I’m just pointing out the society we have in the real, actually-existing world, as opposed to the one you’d prefer us to have in the realms of ideology.
How many parents with both working could find a couple of hours each day to teach their kids?
I get the feeling that child-rearing for you is a strictly theoretical concept. For what it’s worth, parents who both work spend the majority of their time caring for and, yes, educating their children. That 45 hours of the week they outsource it is a fraction of the total – even if you just count the awake hours it’s a lot less than half.
And I am sure that the innovative “Number 8 wire ” approach to things came out of the little country schools which have mostly been closed down now … vanishing with it the “Number 8 wire” innovators.
I recall a physics experiment that required some shielding: MIT grad students used titanium and all sorts of exotic materials, at great cost and delay.
Otago replicated the results with cardboard painted black. They might have required two layers of it, though…
Yeah, you don’t number 8 wire a bridge construction. People die. But it can be appropriate and quicker than conventional solutions. That’s the benefit of diversity.
The “number 8 wire ” mentality is the ability to think outside the square. Lateral thinking like this is on the wan and is something that our modern schools have noted and that they are trying to find ways to nurture. With Home schooling there is more opportunity because there is more time to expand a child’s way of thinking and looking at things. Lateral thinkers are a great asset to a country.
PS. My grandfather did build a bridge with number 8 wire – a swing bridge that he could ride his horse over and drive his modified tractor over ! No body died!
Any Aucklanders out there who want to hang with the ecologically minded, it’s Eco-Day in New Lynn today. A good track-meet for everyone involved in any campaign of any kind on the left.
New Bill Would Give Israeli Government Full Control of Broadcast Media
Under legislation being prepared by Communications Ministry, all figures of authority would be appointed by politicians.
Yes indeed, we’ll give you all the news that we want you to hear and not the news that you need to know, a depressing world wide phenomenon. http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.776094
Interesting to see Phil Twyford indicating that Labour would lower inbound immigration numbers.
Would be good to see Labour clarify that – there’s plenty of inroads National can make into specific ethnicities if Labour causes anxieties into their traditional immigrant base.
Even migrants are complaining about the free for all immigration policy in Auckland – those migrants on minimum wages especially – people can no longer even travel around the city to work, god knows whats going to happen with any more people and climate change with all the houses and roads being flooded and falling off cliffs. For every 100 new arrivals we have 2 housing consents at 1 million dollars a pop and 7 houses being out of use due to climate change. Do the maths!
The dimwits at Auckland Transport are in a nolib meeting about how efficient they are and Phils going on about a billion dollar sports stadium! The Natz want more people in because there is no housing or transport crisis that the free market and deregulation can’t fix… apparently and I guess the hospitals and schools and police just have to suck it up more public funding in 2070…
So eloquent SaveNZ, as an Aucklander I couldn’t have explained our situation here any more clearly. In dumb speak, we are up the shit and there’s no clearing the blockage any time soon. In the past 3 years I read or heard recently we have had the population of Tauranga squeezed into our city – doing the sums even for a lackwit anybody can see what a disaster we are heading for. An old fella in the library (older than me) said to me this morning, “don’t worry the Chinese will fix it all up for us” (sarc) .
Mr Goff doesn’t have a dog show getting any funds out of Central Government. He was saying in a recent interview that our arterial roads now carry more on a daily basis than transit roads and maybe the Government should heed this and place this burden on Transit for funding, I thought to myself dream on Mr Goff. Our city fathers with the exception of Robbie have had no vision for city planning and Government love the money which comes into the city but loathes to help us out.
Every winter Sarah* and Mike make the choice between groceries, or clothes for their children.
Born 14 weeks early, Destiny has a weakened immune system and gets sick easily. Last winter, she missed a whole term of school due to sickness.
Poverty has been labelled the key driver for respiratory illnesses that are weighing on New Zealand’s economy to the tune of $6 billion each year, according to figures from the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation.
But with a family of eight, the $500-odd they get from Work and Income and Mark’s part-time job as a teacher aide only goes so far, Sarah said.
David Farrar makes an obvious point:
Maybe have fewer kids?
I am all for a welfare system that allows a couple, no matter their income, to support say a couple of kids. But six kids? Surely there should be some personal responsibility about having more kids than you can afford.
That’s a fair point.
But the couple already have eight kids, and those kids didn’t chose to be in large family. The State has no choice but to help support them.
But perhaps the State could also do more to educate and encourage people to be sensible and responsible about how many babies they have before they become such a problem.
Farrar flies regularly around the world on holidays he then blogs about.
Surely there should be some personal responsibility about having more overseas flights than the planet can afford. Maybe have fewer flights?
Perhaps two?
For goodness sake, Pete.
Get a life.
I thought very carefully about how many children to have, considering things like world population and how to give what kids I had the best opportunities with my resources.
Good for you. How about leaving everyone else to make their own choices about how many children they have; you and Farrar both;
“perhaps two”
How magnanimous!
Is this what you are talking about? Only have children you can afford? Sensible Family planning?
Are you then also talking about
sexual education – the biological kind with how babies are made and born,
the fund kind – sex, how to, with whom and why, and how to consent
Birth Controll – the pill, the morning after pill, IUD, condoms?
Vasectomies and Hysterectomies on demand – non of that ‘but what if you want to have children later’ ‘or your husband/wife might want to have children later”
abortion – legal and on demand
or are you one of these compassionate conservatives that advocate abstinence only, and intercourse only for those who are married and then only when procreating?
How would you want for people to sensibly plan their families? And do you think out PM did, and could our PM afford his children if he were not living and has lived most of his life carefully maintained by the tax payers largesse?
You are a fucken idiot Pete George – you just want everyone to be the same boring beige as you – thank the gods you are irrelevant – people like you and your insipid views are what is wrong with this world imo.
You know the lie that really gets my goat from the right, is inflation. The refuse to acknowledge that housing has been a run away inflationary nightmare, that has forced the majority of working people, and great swaths of the middle class – into debt.
But then again, when they can lie about simple things.
You can call it what you like but de facto it’s eugenics with a plutocratic paternalistic rationale.
Let me remind you of a couple who have eight kids and are opposed to birth control. They were so short of money their dad, a lifelong state employee and beneficiary who liked to pretend that he was a farmer had to resort to corrupt double dipping – stealing from the taxpayer – to pay for the lifestyle they wanted.
If only they’d been better educated…
You know who I’m talking about, but no, it’s the poor who have to be ‘educated’ to know their proper place – for their own good of course.
Hang on, it might be six… but all larvae look alike, so it’s hard to count. In any case, if it is a callous resources versus children debate and all children are mere economic/ecological units, then all Americans should be sterilised immediately based on their ecological footprint. As should the rich; the world certainly can’t carry more Trumpspawn.
Anyway, that’s my modest proposal. We’ll discuss infant cannibalism later.
“all larvae look alike”
Speciesist.
A blowfly mum knows each and every one of her maggots by their distinctive features; a cheeky look here, a cute curl of a lip there, their various likes and dislikes, favourite foods they dive into, others they turn their noses up at. Plus, names.
In one of Pratchett’s Discworld stories he mentions the dreaded Star-Toad With a Million Young. It’s method of killing is truly horrible: it shows its victims pictures of its children until their brains implode.
Even though you overcounted the kids, no it’s not a fair fucking point.
Between blended families, changing circumstances and what have you, who the hell knows where we’ll be in three years. House burn down and insurance fuck you around? Factory goes under and you both lose your jobs?
You and farrar can shove your kid-rationing up your respective arseholes.
Simply put, the planet, and New Zealand, cannot afford for people to be so irresponsible as to have 6+ children, regardless of their personal circumstances.
ok, so what are you going to do about it: forced sterilisation? Take the kids off them? Let the kids get sick or starve? What about a brady bunch scenario? Would they have an excuse you deem worthy enough to not sniff at then?
How’s this for an option: economically developed countries tend to have low birthrates, some even below population maintenance. Developing nations have high birthrates. Maybe if we addressed global, regional and local income inequality, the birthrate problem will take care of itself.
Good point people in existing relationships who were supporting their children without any financial help get assistance for a set period of time.
What it boils down to though is if you can afford to have one kid, have one, two have two, etc
Just don’t keep having kids and expecting the taxpayer to pay you.
Climate change, automation and extended life are going to be major issues in the near future governments really have to start to think about how many new people they bring into the mix.
How many people on the DPB currently had all their kids while on the DPB?
CC is a real imperative to move to a steady or declining population. But that has nothing to do with individual family size. It’s to do with the ecological footprint that NZ and the planet can sustain. Given NZ is still increasing in population, how do you propose to stop people having kids? Because I’m pretty sure that it’s not the odd woman on the DPB with 6 kids that is causing that rise. So I’d love to hear the plan for restricting NZ’s population, esp the middle classes and 1% era who use up the most resources and pollute the most.
I do think people will soon have start to seriously think about automation, sure there’s a hardwired biological urge to breed, but what sort of life are they setting their children up for?
It’s getting pretty tough now with everyone needing a degree to even make the first cut for 90% of jobs, massive loan and a shrinking job market, there will be tough times ahead.
I have no doubt 50% unemployment will be the norm in the next 20-25 years, there’s going to be massive social upheaval as society adapts to that.
I have no doubt 50% unemployment will be the norm in the next 20-25 years,
Only if we allow the capitalists to remain in charge.
If we don’t and change the system the 50% unemployment will be 50% in R&D.
R&D is a numbers game. The more people you have in it the more ideas you have to look at and thus the more workable ideas will be found and developed.
Unfortunately, NZ puts the numbers into doing more of the same old stuff rather than developing new ideas and that is the result of the capitalists trying to do things on the cheap.
President Trump ordered a military strike on Syria Thursday night in response to a recent chemical attack. By Friday afternoon, a supportive PAC was fundraising off of the strike.
“Last night, President Trump ordered military action against Syria in response to their chemical weapons attack,” an email from the Great America PAC, first flagged by Dave Levinthal at the Center for Public Integrity, read.
“59 United States tomahawk missiles destroyed the airfield used to store Syria’s toxic weapons and aircraft involved in the Sarin gas attack.
Wait59 Tomahawks? 59? 59 TLAMs is enough firepower to level a city center – and yet didn't disable a runway? I call bullshit— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) April 8, 2017
(THREAD) The evidence that Trump's completely ineffectual military strike on Syria was just an empty political gesture is now overwhelming. pic.twitter.com/hI6sBgIQX1— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 7, 2017
[…]
(9) Incredibly—bizarrely—Trump somehow struck Syria with _59 Tomahawk missiles_ without articulating even a _single_ coherent strategic aim. pic.twitter.com/G3G6Md25SB— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 7, 2017
[…]
(UPDATE) Reuters confirms Syria has continued launching strikes from the base Trump hit. This was the most ineffectual US strike in decades. pic.twitter.com/eiKzXoWfEa— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 7, 2017
(PICS 1) Notice that the airfield is still usable. Only one of five aircraft shelters was destroyed. "Damaged" shelters mean intact planes. pic.twitter.com/C1ezEitfgz— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 7, 2017
TLAMs are not really designed to destroy runways. They are used to destroy buildings, aircraft, and vehicles. To destroy a runway requires a concrete penetration bomb to crater the runway. But it is still relatively easy to repair. It is easier to destroy associated infrastructure and of of course the aircraft.
Nevertheless airbases are actually difficult to knock out completely. They are simply too dispersed, with lots of blast protecting revertments around each building and each aircraft park. Thus each building/aircraft requires a separate direct hit.
What was the supposed outcome, and was it achieved. In the meantime, lets praise dear leader and his awesome weapons. Would be a shame if no one would use them ey?
i only point out that the discussion about the weapons used is pointless. The question should be what was supposed to be achieved by this campaign and was it achieved. All the rest is weapons porn for arms aficionados and rather pointless.
I’m not really that surprise that air operations have resume at that airbase as it tells me the Syrian Airforce has really good Post- Attack Recovery Drills and flying old Soviet era aircraft such as the Su-22 which is built like a tank and almost flies like one operating from that Airbase. Soviet era aircraft were designed to fly from rough or semi prepare runways or airfields unlike most western built combat aircraft.
If you’ve got a spare couple of hours, a fascinating youtube discussion by some of the United States best alternative/realist thinkers in my opinion. Very relatable to New Zealand too.
“This summit brought together an amazing panel that consisted of John Michael Greer, James Howard Kunstler, Chris Martenson, Frank Morris, and Dmitry Orlov to talk about issues ranging from politics, the economy, the food we eat, immigration, labor, poverty, minorities, war, and much more. Please be sure to like and share and stay tuned for more dynamic events from The Center For Progressive Urban Politics!”
A U.S. Navy strike group will be moving toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday.
The moves comes as concerns grow about North Korea’s advancing weapons program. Earlier this month North Korea tested a liquid-fueled Scud missile which only traveled a fraction of its range.
The Carl Vinson strike group, which includes an aircraft carrier, will make its way from Singapore toward the Korean peninsula, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
BUDAPEST, Hungary — A group with alleged historical links to Nazi Germany has told NBC News it was “proud” when President Donald Trump’s deputy assistant wore its medal.
Controversy has swirled around Sebastian Gorka, one of Trump’s top counterterrorism advisers, ever since he attended the president’s Jan. 20 Inaugural Ball wearing the honorary medal of Hungarian nationalist organization Vitezi Rend.
NBC News traveled to Hungary to dig deeper into Gorka’s ties with the group, speaking with members of the organization as well as with locals who knew him when he lived there.
“When he appeared on U.S. television … with the medal of the Vitez Order … it made me really proud,” Vitezi Rend spokesman Andras Horvath said in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Vitezi Rend is also known as the Order of Vitez.
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
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Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
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Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
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Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
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It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
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No wonder great swaths of the USA public are uncritical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4DocEU2aTc
Which country has driven innovation around the aworld for the past Century and longer?
India
What innovations has India come up with in the past 100 years?
Oh please don’t be that dumb Gosman, it’s too early in the morning for you to play any racist games.
He’s not playing games, adam. He’s simply dumb and racist.
+1 Morrissey
lamb korma
scotland’s done its share as well
This interview shows the frightening reality of what the neo-libs of our National government want to roll out here. It has already begun in two big ways – NCEA/National Standards, and the promotion of charter schools.
Governments of this ilk want docility and compliance. They want narrowness of thinking and standards that leave little room for depth of thought, or breadth of understanding. People schooled like that swallow propaganda and do what they are told (1984) and authorities can easily push through agendas to suit themselves and their cronies.
We need to stand up and defeat this pernicious agenda.
Schools need the arts – music, dance, painting, drama. They also need proper programmes that promote awareness of the world and the implications for the environment of certain activities, so that alternatives are looked at.
If we do not push back against this crappy approach to what is cynically called a ‘good’ education, then we are doomed to become bots in a neo-lib world of crushingly oppressive monotony. An overstatement? I don’t think so!
It’s worse than that, my point is shown up rather well by what Gosman put up as a question.
Exceptionalism, and ideology become the replacement for critical thinking , the engagement of ones brain to solve complex issues, and creativity.
People keep banging on a bout a golden age of television, but all I’m seeing is some fancy film trick transferred to the small screen, without much in the way of engaging people to think. A reflection or a reality in the face of a population whose education is in perpetual decline? Time will tell.
Except the evidence for your hypothesis is seriously lacking. We are currently living in the greatest age of innivation and creativity and the US is at the forefront of much of this.
Neoliberalism has invaded our thinking and has all but taken over the education of our children, which means that a whole generation has been impregnated and will grow up with neoliberal indoctrination. We raise and educate our children to become self-managers or “entrepreneurs of the self” (Foucault) and teach them that everything has a price and thus anything can be had/owned if one is willing (and able, because of the ‘right’ choices) to pay that price.
Education is seen as a means to an end, an investment, and each customer-student will need to extract as much value from his/her education as possible, to better him/herself so that (economic) success is (almost) secure in future. Of course, this breeds individualism and diminishes respect for others – who are oft viewed as competitors – and (thus) for authority; all success is only for and because of one self and his/her own efforts. NB The irony is that neoliberals frequently cry out a lot about Law & order
Even The Kiwi Dream is steeped in neoliberalism and corresponding economic benchmarks with its emphasis on home ownership, a stronger economy with more jobs and higher wages, and world-class education (!) and the success of our kids, for example.
What’s purpose is served by creating armies of know all angry kids who have no respect for authority and want to spend their lives fighting society?
Unemployment and misery is the only thing you’ll find if you want to go down that pathway.
And you know this, how? A feeling, a vibe, or some other mystical skill you have developed?
Or are you saying – Oh wait you did not watch the video – come back when you have, and we will carry on the discussion.
No (automatic) respect for authority is an excellent place to start with education.
An understanding that respect is to be earned and not given.
An understanding that respect must have a moral and intellectual justification.
Sounds to me like revolution will be found going down that pathway.
Lol at you lefties and this revolution wankery.
So, I watched the first 20 seconds, and here’s an activist who looks like he left school yesterday listing the complaints that young activists have had about every country’s education system since at least the 1960s. Didn’t fill me with the urge to watch any further, but I have to say it is pretty funny to see RT, of all possible TV channels, berating the American education system for inculcating obedience and deference to authority. Oh, the irony…
Same.
As I said about Gosman, you seem to be in the same ilk. Going for exceptionalism, putting your prejudices first, and repeating the party line – rather than engaging your brain. Ironic enough for you…
As usual, your comment attempts remote amateur psychological assessment, but doesn’t bother actually addressing the points in the comment.
If you engaged with the material, rather than just pontificate – I’d have somthing to work with. The above case is a classic example, you watch for 20 seconds, then pass judgement.
According to my sister, a teacher, the best educated people are people who have been home schooled. They’re more stable, have better artistic and creative capability, and they even do better in maths and science. And the parents also become better educated.
Given this perhaps we should be closing schools altogether and giving full support to home schooling.
Oh, great – a return to stay-at-home parenting. Which parent do you figure would be most likely to get saddled with the staying at home to be a teacher?
And there’s something wrong with that?
Ask Betty Friedan. Also, if both parents have careers they don’t fancy shelving, there’s plenty wrong with it.
At a more general level, there’s also lies, damned lies and statistics. Home schoolers tend to be intelligent and well-educated people highly-motivated to educate their kids to a high standard – and the results reflect that. If home schooling was instead something preferred by people at the bottom ends of the intelligence and education bell curves who didn’t really give a shit about education, your sister would be telling you how the worst-educated people are the ones who’ve been home schooled.
Then perhaps they shouldn’t have children if they’re not willing to accept the responsibility?
And I feel real sorry for people who think their careers are all that matters. They have such a limited view of life.
And then there’s this:
To some degree but, IMO, the results more reflect the environment that the children learn in one component of which is that their teacher is actually taking an interest in them.
And the parents will have to learn as well so even if they start off uneducated they won’t be by the time they’ve got a 10 year old child.
Then perhaps they shouldn’t have children if they’re not willing to accept the responsibility?
Lol 1: you should get together with Pete George downthread.
Lol 2: is it my responsibility to home doctor my kids as well, or is it OK to outsource that one?
And I feel real sorry for people who think their careers are all that matters. They have such a limited view of life.
Well, sure, they sound like terrible people to be around. Fortunately, not wanting to give up your career != thinking your career is all that matters.
And then there’s this:
Yep. And, funnily enough, all the parents they talk to who are home schooling their kids and working part-time are women. I’m picking the number of women who’d be enthusiastic about the prospect of having teaching added to their existing child-minding, housework and paid employment jobs would be a fairly small one.
Why are you so insistent that everybody has to work? Think about that one really hard because that is actually what you’re saying.
Why are you so insistent that only women can stay home to home school the kids? Perhaps having the men do it will help change the rape culture we have.
And, yes, having children is a responsibility. I think it’s a responsibility shared between society and the parents but the parents do hold a lot of that responsibility.
And then consider: How many parents with both working could find a couple of hours each day to teach their kids? Yeah, that’s all it takes. All that creativity that home schooled kids have comes from the fact that they spend most of their time playing. Using their minds in a creative manner all the time rather than having it regimented in a box.
Why are you so insistent that everybody has to work?
I am? And here I was thinking I was replying to your comment suggesting we should do away with the public education system so that parents have no choice but to educate their children themselves. I’m saying everybody who wants to work should be able to – there’s a difference.
But, since you asked – what is the case for people working for a living and contributing to their society beyond simply producing more humans? Because we’re not rabbits, that’s why. If the sum achievement of your life is that you made a few more like yourself, any bacterium or even virus could regard itself as superior. A human should aspire to something a little higher.
Why are you so insistent that only women can stay home to home school the kids?
It ain’t me that’s insisting, I’m just pointing out the society we have in the real, actually-existing world, as opposed to the one you’d prefer us to have in the realms of ideology.
How many parents with both working could find a couple of hours each day to teach their kids?
I get the feeling that child-rearing for you is a strictly theoretical concept. For what it’s worth, parents who both work spend the majority of their time caring for and, yes, educating their children. That 45 hours of the week they outsource it is a fraction of the total – even if you just count the awake hours it’s a lot less than half.
And I am sure that the innovative “Number 8 wire ” approach to things came out of the little country schools which have mostly been closed down now … vanishing with it the “Number 8 wire” innovators.
Good.
We’re no longer a pioneering country cut off from the rest of the world, that do it cheap and half-arsed way of thinking is a liability, not an asset.
It can definitely be an asset.
I recall a physics experiment that required some shielding: MIT grad students used titanium and all sorts of exotic materials, at great cost and delay.
Otago replicated the results with cardboard painted black. They might have required two layers of it, though…
Yeah, you don’t number 8 wire a bridge construction. People die. But it can be appropriate and quicker than conventional solutions. That’s the benefit of diversity.
The “number 8 wire ” mentality is the ability to think outside the square. Lateral thinking like this is on the wan and is something that our modern schools have noted and that they are trying to find ways to nurture. With Home schooling there is more opportunity because there is more time to expand a child’s way of thinking and looking at things. Lateral thinkers are a great asset to a country.
PS. My grandfather did build a bridge with number 8 wire – a swing bridge that he could ride his horse over and drive his modified tractor over ! No body died!
🙄 good grief.
+1
Where is your citation Bastard?
Did you read the bit where I said ‘my sister’?
Any Aucklanders out there who want to hang with the ecologically minded, it’s Eco-Day in New Lynn today. A good track-meet for everyone involved in any campaign of any kind on the left.
Having a go at a sorcerer is probably a pretty bad idea for the National Party. How about another tornado at your upstream headquarters?
MSD = GCSB is not so far off. A question begging many answers.
Wake up.
How dare you try to challenge God
Er, What?
Only god round here is Lpent.
New Bill Would Give Israeli Government Full Control of Broadcast Media
Under legislation being prepared by Communications Ministry, all figures of authority would be appointed by politicians.
Yes indeed, we’ll give you all the news that we want you to hear and not the news that you need to know, a depressing world wide phenomenon.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.776094
“He’s just a conniving hateful bloated punk who despises mankind.”
No, not Cameron “Fat Slob” Slater. Sean Penn is talking about Steve Bannon…..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/04/08/sean-penn-confirms-steve-bannon-was-a-bitter-hollywood-wannabe_a_22031754/?ncid=edlinkauhpmg00000003
Interesting to see Phil Twyford indicating that Labour would lower inbound immigration numbers.
Would be good to see Labour clarify that – there’s plenty of inroads National can make into specific ethnicities if Labour causes anxieties into their traditional immigrant base.
Even migrants are complaining about the free for all immigration policy in Auckland – those migrants on minimum wages especially – people can no longer even travel around the city to work, god knows whats going to happen with any more people and climate change with all the houses and roads being flooded and falling off cliffs. For every 100 new arrivals we have 2 housing consents at 1 million dollars a pop and 7 houses being out of use due to climate change. Do the maths!
The dimwits at Auckland Transport are in a nolib meeting about how efficient they are and Phils going on about a billion dollar sports stadium! The Natz want more people in because there is no housing or transport crisis that the free market and deregulation can’t fix… apparently and I guess the hospitals and schools and police just have to suck it up more public funding in 2070…
So eloquent SaveNZ, as an Aucklander I couldn’t have explained our situation here any more clearly. In dumb speak, we are up the shit and there’s no clearing the blockage any time soon. In the past 3 years I read or heard recently we have had the population of Tauranga squeezed into our city – doing the sums even for a lackwit anybody can see what a disaster we are heading for. An old fella in the library (older than me) said to me this morning, “don’t worry the Chinese will fix it all up for us” (sarc) .
Mr Goff doesn’t have a dog show getting any funds out of Central Government. He was saying in a recent interview that our arterial roads now carry more on a daily basis than transit roads and maybe the Government should heed this and place this burden on Transit for funding, I thought to myself dream on Mr Goff. Our city fathers with the exception of Robbie have had no vision for city planning and Government love the money which comes into the city but loathes to help us out.
Stuff Close to 500 Kiwi kids on charity waiting list for basic needs:
David Farrar makes an obvious point:
That’s a fair point.
But the couple already have eight kids, and those kids didn’t chose to be in large family. The State has no choice but to help support them.
But perhaps the State could also do more to educate and encourage people to be sensible and responsible about how many babies they have before they become such a problem.
Farrar flies regularly around the world on holidays he then blogs about.
Surely there should be some personal responsibility about having more overseas flights than the planet can afford.
Maybe have fewer flights?
Perhaps two?
For goodness sake, Pete.
Get a life.
I don’t have any problem with my life.
I thought very carefully about how many children to have, considering things like world population and how to give what kids I had the best opportunities with my resources.
Good for you. How about leaving everyone else to make their own choices about how many children they have; you and Farrar both;
“perhaps two”
How magnanimous!
Of course people should make their own choices, especially about something as fundamental as how many children they have.
It is best to be a well informed choice about the possible consequences and what will be best for the children, and for the world.
And it should include an understanding that everything they would like may not be provided for them by the State.
It would be irresponsible to tell them or give them the impression that others will step in and provide everything if they can’t manage it themselves.
People will be caught out by changed circumstances – but the risk to children can be mitigated by sensible family planning.
Is this what you are talking about? Only have children you can afford? Sensible Family planning?
Are you then also talking about
sexual education – the biological kind with how babies are made and born,
the fund kind – sex, how to, with whom and why, and how to consent
Birth Controll – the pill, the morning after pill, IUD, condoms?
Vasectomies and Hysterectomies on demand – non of that ‘but what if you want to have children later’ ‘or your husband/wife might want to have children later”
abortion – legal and on demand
or are you one of these compassionate conservatives that advocate abstinence only, and intercourse only for those who are married and then only when procreating?
How would you want for people to sensibly plan their families? And do you think out PM did, and could our PM afford his children if he were not living and has lived most of his life carefully maintained by the tax payers largesse?
You are a fucken idiot Pete George – you just want everyone to be the same boring beige as you – thank the gods you are irrelevant – people like you and your insipid views are what is wrong with this world imo.
Io Pan!
Yep – sad tired weak right wingers lay their usual disproved lies down like some revelation – pathetic.
You know the lie that really gets my goat from the right, is inflation. The refuse to acknowledge that housing has been a run away inflationary nightmare, that has forced the majority of working people, and great swaths of the middle class – into debt.
But then again, when they can lie about simple things.
You can call it what you like but de facto it’s eugenics with a plutocratic paternalistic rationale.
Let me remind you of a couple who have eight kids and are opposed to birth control. They were so short of money their dad, a lifelong state employee and beneficiary who liked to pretend that he was a farmer had to resort to corrupt double dipping – stealing from the taxpayer – to pay for the lifestyle they wanted.
If only they’d been better educated…
You know who I’m talking about, but no, it’s the poor who have to be ‘educated’ to know their proper place – for their own good of course.
Well said, rhinocrates – and in plain English!
What does “English” translate to, or look like in Chinese? –I always want to learn.
围栏
Thanks Robert, Now we all have become more wise. Mutcha Gracaisis..
I see what you did there.
你聰明的男孩,你
笑脸
Cute, nicely put.
Hear hear!.
Hang on, it might be six… but all larvae look alike, so it’s hard to count. In any case, if it is a callous resources versus children debate and all children are mere economic/ecological units, then all Americans should be sterilised immediately based on their ecological footprint. As should the rich; the world certainly can’t carry more Trumpspawn.
Anyway, that’s my modest proposal. We’ll discuss infant cannibalism later.
“all larvae look alike”
Speciesist.
A blowfly mum knows each and every one of her maggots by their distinctive features; a cheeky look here, a cute curl of a lip there, their various likes and dislikes, favourite foods they dive into, others they turn their noses up at. Plus, names.
In one of Pratchett’s Discworld stories he mentions the dreaded Star-Toad With a Million Young. It’s method of killing is truly horrible: it shows its victims pictures of its children until their brains implode.
@ rhinocrates (7.2) … very descriptive English 🙂
Excellent rhino, comment of the day.
Bravo.
Even though you overcounted the kids, no it’s not a fair fucking point.
Between blended families, changing circumstances and what have you, who the hell knows where we’ll be in three years. House burn down and insurance fuck you around? Factory goes under and you both lose your jobs?
You and farrar can shove your kid-rationing up your respective arseholes.
Simply put, the planet, and New Zealand, cannot afford for people to be so irresponsible as to have 6+ children, regardless of their personal circumstances.
ok, so what are you going to do about it: forced sterilisation? Take the kids off them? Let the kids get sick or starve? What about a brady bunch scenario? Would they have an excuse you deem worthy enough to not sniff at then?
How’s this for an option: economically developed countries tend to have low birthrates, some even below population maintenance. Developing nations have high birthrates. Maybe if we addressed global, regional and local income inequality, the birthrate problem will take care of itself.
How about no financial help, no DPB etc.
That will soon focus people’s thinking.
You could start now be saying that the DPB/WFF is only available for the next 10 years after that you’re on your own.
Are you suggesting the DPB/WFF policy dictates the birth rate there? Because I suggest that belief might be ‘barking’.
May as well just chain women to the kitchen and factory and be done with it. If I wasn’t on the phone I’d link to the new Handmaids Tale short.
Good point people in existing relationships who were supporting their children without any financial help get assistance for a set period of time.
What it boils down to though is if you can afford to have one kid, have one, two have two, etc
Just don’t keep having kids and expecting the taxpayer to pay you.
Climate change, automation and extended life are going to be major issues in the near future governments really have to start to think about how many new people they bring into the mix.
How many people on the DPB currently had all their kids while on the DPB?
CC is a real imperative to move to a steady or declining population. But that has nothing to do with individual family size. It’s to do with the ecological footprint that NZ and the planet can sustain. Given NZ is still increasing in population, how do you propose to stop people having kids? Because I’m pretty sure that it’s not the odd woman on the DPB with 6 kids that is causing that rise. So I’d love to hear the plan for restricting NZ’s population, esp the middle classes and 1% era who use up the most resources and pollute the most.
I do think people will soon have start to seriously think about automation, sure there’s a hardwired biological urge to breed, but what sort of life are they setting their children up for?
It’s getting pretty tough now with everyone needing a degree to even make the first cut for 90% of jobs, massive loan and a shrinking job market, there will be tough times ahead.
I have no doubt 50% unemployment will be the norm in the next 20-25 years, there’s going to be massive social upheaval as society adapts to that.
Only if we allow the capitalists to remain in charge.
If we don’t and change the system the 50% unemployment will be 50% in R&D.
R&D is a numbers game. The more people you have in it the more ideas you have to look at and thus the more workable ideas will be found and developed.
Unfortunately, NZ puts the numbers into doing more of the same old stuff rather than developing new ideas and that is the result of the capitalists trying to do things on the cheap.
What a load of lies you tell, and yet still utterly fail to conceal your vile ethics of hatred, judgement and betrayal.
The only valid defence for your behaviour is that you are suffering from a physical amygdala-based disability.
Are you a catholic?
Oh, do tell us exactly how many kids you can afford to have. No rounding, we want to know the number and how certain you are able to be about it.
Is it 1.41421?
Or 2.71828?
Or maybe 3.14159?
Volunteer your family and friends then bm – let’s start there – you could dob them in to the Ministry cos you think it’s such a great idea.
punish the children for the sins of their parents, eh?
Nah, I’d rather we defend children against you, without regard to the consequences for you.
BM – you’re a wuss. That’s too long a timeframe. Legalise cannibalism instead. “Eat a hungry kid today” could be the motto.
+1
No shame.
President Trump ordered a military strike on Syria Thursday night in response to a recent chemical attack. By Friday afternoon, a supportive PAC was fundraising off of the strike.
“Last night, President Trump ordered military action against Syria in response to their chemical weapons attack,” an email from the Great America PAC, first flagged by Dave Levinthal at the Center for Public Integrity, read.
“59 United States tomahawk missiles destroyed the airfield used to store Syria’s toxic weapons and aircraft involved in the Sarin gas attack.
What are your thoughts?”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/07/pro-trump-pac-raising-money-off-syria-strikes.html
My thoughts are mostly about the kind of people who’d use this as a cash-generating opportunity, but this also struck me:
…destroyed the airfield used to store Syria’s toxic weapons and aircraft involved in the Sarin gas attack.
That’s a couple of pretty bold claims there – my thoughts are “This fuck’s lying to us.”
Jim Wright called bullshit, too.
https://twitter.com/Stonekettle/status/850529542125088768
Tomahawks can be nuclear or conventionally armed. These were conventionally armed.
By the way, Trump has stock in the manufacturer, Raytheon. Their share price just went up sharply.
http://fortune.com/2017/04/07/syria-airstrikes-tomahawk-missile-boeing-raytheon-stock/
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tomahawk-maker-raytheon-leads-rally-in-defense-and-energy-stocks-premarket-2017-04-07
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/according-to-his-most-r-firing-59-missiles-into-syria/
https://www.scribd.com/document/315632622/Donald-Trump-form-278e-disclosure-2016
A political stunt.
[…]
[…]
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/850380219961815040
He’s just taking advice from the best of them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rrXn-PwwCw
The US has carried out 7,000 plus airstrikes in Syria since 2014 and HRC, a private citizen since late 2012, is relevant?.
/
https://www.defense.gov/News/Special-Reports/0814_Inherent-Resolve
someone said something very pointed today.
If Hillary wins – we will be at war within 6 month.
3 million more voted for Hillary.
We are at war, it must be that we and Hillary have won.
and of course it is very very important what she said. Never mind that she literally can say what she wants, it would not matter one iota.
TLAMs are not really designed to destroy runways. They are used to destroy buildings, aircraft, and vehicles. To destroy a runway requires a concrete penetration bomb to crater the runway. But it is still relatively easy to repair. It is easier to destroy associated infrastructure and of of course the aircraft.
Nevertheless airbases are actually difficult to knock out completely. They are simply too dispersed, with lots of blast protecting revertments around each building and each aircraft park. Thus each building/aircraft requires a separate direct hit.
all Hail Trump, the defender of the free world.
bit of a weird response to a fairly straightforward comment about what different weapons do in the context of current events
A knife is a knife is a knife.
What was the supposed outcome, and was it achieved. In the meantime, lets praise dear leader and his awesome weapons. Would be a shame if no one would use them ey?
They’re the same weapons every PotUS since Reagan has had. What’s your point?
point being
what was to be achieved with this rather pointless ‘attack’
and was it achieved.
as for my comment about the awesome weapons and why not use it?
Here have dear leader ask himself
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/03/trump-asks-why-us-cant-use-nukes-msnbcs-joe-scarborough-reports.html
i only point out that the discussion about the weapons used is pointless. The question should be what was supposed to be achieved by this campaign and was it achieved. All the rest is weapons porn for arms aficionados and rather pointless.
I’m not really that surprise that air operations have resume at that airbase as it tells me the Syrian Airforce has really good Post- Attack Recovery Drills and flying old Soviet era aircraft such as the Su-22 which is built like a tank and almost flies like one operating from that Airbase. Soviet era aircraft were designed to fly from rough or semi prepare runways or airfields unlike most western built combat aircraft.
If you’ve got a spare couple of hours, a fascinating youtube discussion by some of the United States best alternative/realist thinkers in my opinion. Very relatable to New Zealand too.
“This summit brought together an amazing panel that consisted of John Michael Greer, James Howard Kunstler, Chris Martenson, Frank Morris, and Dmitry Orlov to talk about issues ranging from politics, the economy, the food we eat, immigration, labor, poverty, minorities, war, and much more. Please be sure to like and share and stay tuned for more dynamic events from The Center For Progressive Urban Politics!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOFc0ZEmaHI
Trump’s gunboat diplomacy.
A U.S. Navy strike group will be moving toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday.
The moves comes as concerns grow about North Korea’s advancing weapons program. Earlier this month North Korea tested a liquid-fueled Scud missile which only traveled a fraction of its range.
The Carl Vinson strike group, which includes an aircraft carrier, will make its way from Singapore toward the Korean peninsula, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-navy-korea-idUSL1N1HG0LO
Actual nazis proud of Trump’s nazi.
BUDAPEST, Hungary — A group with alleged historical links to Nazi Germany has told NBC News it was “proud” when President Donald Trump’s deputy assistant wore its medal.
Controversy has swirled around Sebastian Gorka, one of Trump’s top counterterrorism advisers, ever since he attended the president’s Jan. 20 Inaugural Ball wearing the honorary medal of Hungarian nationalist organization Vitezi Rend.
NBC News traveled to Hungary to dig deeper into Gorka’s ties with the group, speaking with members of the organization as well as with locals who knew him when he lived there.
“When he appeared on U.S. television … with the medal of the Vitez Order … it made me really proud,” Vitezi Rend spokesman Andras Horvath said in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Vitezi Rend is also known as the Order of Vitez.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/sebastian-gorka-made-nazi-linked-vitezi-rend-proud-wearing-its-n742851
As expected.
http://occupydemocrats.com/2017/03/05/actor-don-cheadle-just-revealed-trump-refers-black-women-golfing/