Expect some delays in page loads first thing this morning for the first few people in.
I’ve fixed the feeds so that they now work correctly. However I had to change the media string for the images and other static data from the CDN (Content Delivery Network). Depending on your browser and if anyone else has loaded from it previously, you might experience some page delays.
But the tabs are all working again. Now to figure out how to make them ‘faster’.
And also how to get rid of the bloody duplicated feed items that Blogger likes to provide !
Just noticed my tabs “Replies” and “Opinions” have been swapped around, either an update I guess or a tory gremlin stuck in the system trying to find a way out 😉
Forget the tin foil hat: NSA-proof wallpaper could keep snoopers and ‘doomsday’ electromagnetic weapons at bay
*New flexible material can block electronic emission
*Blocks signals that could be used for cybersnooping
*Can also block electromagnetic ‘doomsday’ weapons
*Could be used to protect drones flying in enemy territory
Good God man this is so depressing it makes a person want to crawl back into bed and stay there. Can’t this wait until we have showered, had a decent coffee and “girded the loins” so to speak for yet another day in this troubled planet we all dwell on. Thanks for it nevertheless the less – though god knows what anybody can do about it.
So do Mediawork’s mercenary front line “media persons” like Henry and Plunket (Radio Live and TV3), Goff is now accused of “double dipping”, while he has not even announced yet, that he will stand for the election of mayor for Auckland next year.
Are we surprised? No, I at least am not. The Labour conference was also treated with little mention, and while it was more a feel-good meeting offering inspiring speeches and no policy yet, that was exploited by Henry in his breakfast show.
Problem for Henry, Plunket and others, there is little to attack Labour for at present in regards to policy, as it is mostly “under review”, so they do of course look for any other next best opportunity to throw mud.
Goff is the best opportunity now, and while I am certain that Nat MPs have in the past held onto their seat and stood for election or any other alternative position in the meantime, they have to stress the possibility of Goff “double dipping” now.
While I have only so much time for Goff, he does not deserve to be treated like this.
Hell I thought the henry interview of Little was as good as I’ve seen for Little, he came across relaxed and batted away Henrys bs with ease ,ad to that Kelvin Davis getting a lot of coverage and this morning was a good start for labour.
Yes, Andrew did quite well, but Henry was trying various angles to embarrass him. He soon changed the topic from the conference to the Mt Roskill electorate, to Goff and to a likely by-election.
Potential voters, and more so non voters, they will probably not have been overly impressed by Little, as so many now fall for the machinations by media and spin artists. Only those that follow politics (a true minority in NZ) will even know about Andrew Little and his speech and the Labour conference.
Going on the Paul Henry Breakfast is like swimming in between sharks 24/7 I would say.
Kept his council job right up till the point it didnt cause the position to be refilled. He didnt do his council job just took the money whilst being a new MP as his non attendance showed.
Blinglish is an experienced double dipper so the glasshouse is well built.
So, that would be standard nasty politics at play then. The right wing don’t seem to be able to carry an argument and thus always revert to ad hominem attacks.
Little said the text of the deal (released late on Thursday) met four of the party’s five bottom lines.
Jane Kelsey says: I’ve spent the past 36 hours pouring over the massive technical text to understand some of the complexities and what they mean for current and future policy space in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Yet, within a day the Labour leadership seems to have decided the text is fine aside from the narrow issue of the right to restrict sales of residential property to foreign owners.
At the very least Labour’s leaders might have waited for the Waitangi Tribunal’s inquiry into the TPPA, which is now likely to be expedited following the release of the text.
The following is why the TPPA fails to satisfy the other four non-negotiable bottom lines, in addition to the one the caucus concedes.
Watch as no policy substance is delivered over the next 12 months. We know that Labour tolerates poverty very well. We know that Labour doesn’t believe in true full employment. We know that Labour cannot stand by tough policies unless they are neoliberal ones. We know that Labour takes climate change so seriously it won’t ban new oil exploration.
@ CV: I can see that you are currently disheartened with Labour. I respect that you have reasons for this, but I want to put forward a thought for your consideration. What was important about Little’s speech to congress was that it was not equivocal, and it outlined standards against which future policies are able to be measured. Since the exit of Helen Clark, “market forces” have been the unstated but absolute measure of everything: the task was to show loyalty to market forces and win the punters over with rhetoric and equivocally framed scraps of bait. Anyone seeking to depart from this model was hobbled, vilified or both, with David Cunliffe being the prime example. I think you need to allow that, prima facie at least, Little’s speech represents a departure from this duplicity. At least you can now say to him, this plan will or will not lead to jobs. That plan will or will not lead to people being cast on the scrap heap, etc.
However, I suspect that we already know what Little’s standard is, and that it is a low one full of wriggle room, if not “duplicity”. Take Labour’s ‘unequivocal’ bottom lines around the TPPA. Now according to Little, the TPPA actually does meet 4 out of Labour’s 5 bottom lines. And that Labour cannot meaningfully oppose the TPPA but it can ‘flout’ a few of its provisions here and there.
(While Jane Kelsey says that the TPPA fails all of Labour’s bottom lines. Who is right? GIven that Kelsey has gone through every page of the TPPA and no one in Labour has, I would say she is.)
Some may be feeling inspired to give Little and Labour 6 more months to prove themselves but after a long list of crap like this over the last 12 months (voting for National’s spying and anti-terrorism legislation!) I am not feeling similarly beneficent.
Two things: I think a glimmer of hope is better than no hope at all 🙂
I also think it may be inevitable that Labour has a more nuanced approach to the TPP than you and I. I am opposed to it, and will be at this weekend’s protests, but I can see that a political party that thunders opposition that it is not in the potion to action can back-foot itself in the face of a fait accompli. When you are up against a force much more powerful than anything you can muster, strategy sometimes works better than beating your head against a brick wall – in the latter case, the head tends to break while the wall continues to hold.
well fair enough but its hardly evidence that Labour has learnt to fight for and stick with what it believes in, and now they seem to be saying that they have indeed learnt. Time will tell.
I ask why you still continue to comment here, then.
“a long list of crap like this”apparently includes Little’s personal failure to repudiate elements of the TPPA in line with Jane Kelsey’s analysis. Said agreement released just days ago and containing reams of legalese.
Little somehow has to find a way to bridge the gap between the party factions. Everyone will have to compromise to some extent.
By all accounts he spoke well at the conference. His speech read pretty well given that it was light on policy specifics, for well understood reasons.
He sounds encouraging to me.
You’re beginning to sound shrill and desperate.
I ask why you still continue to comment here, then.
My believing that Labour is spineless (as per backdowns on the TPPA, 90 day right to fire, NZ power, GST off fruits and vegetables, CGT, raising the issue of Chinese last names but having zero new policy of substance around it etc.) has nothing to do with whether or not I should comment on The Standard.
Good thinking Olwyn and Tautoko MM.
As CV says – what about the bennies bottom line?
So nice words – very heartening.
Now we want baby steps to attend to the basics, then we can toddle to the next stage. Some things are urgently needed, and may have to be dripfed small and regular improvements so as not to destabilise the system.
Can we have a timeline for the improvements that are doable without a lot of parliamentary kerfuffle?
How soon could that be done without leaving time for National to do something malicious and spoil, plug the gap with their own short-term panacea etc.?
Could we have a reduction in GST as one of the toddling steps – down to 12 and half percent and 2andhalf be allocated to the originating region.? Give back to the area so they get full benefit of the spending multiplier. This will give more bang for the buck for poor people particularly.
Present 15% was what Switzerland had when I was there in the 70’s. Since when have we had a financial standing like them across the nation? It is far too high for NZ
On tax they are talking about how people ned help where they have to work numerous jobs and co-ordinate a portfolio of employers, and money earners. That’s realistic do it Labour. Get rid of secondary tax – that goes back to an anti double dipping mentality that is not appropriate for workers these days, forced to be serving numerous ‘masters’. Also do something about open slather hours. Make an attempt. Zero contracts out. Free rides for employers with subsidies not from government but from their workers out..
Put personal and trust tax up instead. The idea that the more money you get, the less tax you pay is stupid, illogical, and unsustainable. The country needs a certain tax take to operate successfully. You have to oil the machine.
And a system where some people are starved of jobs and wages and can’t pay much tax, while others benefit from that economy with people being out of work yet moan that they have to pay the tax thaat advantages them must be exposed as criminal and irrational. Perhaps the facts can be explained simply and firmly. Say the tax is going to better hospital services and health programs which are intensive in needy areas.
edited
One of the things they are talking about is allowing beneficiaries to earn more before abatement kicks in, and Carmel Sepuloni has spoken about that as well – I think she may have drafted a private members bill on it. I don’t know whether the ‘baby steps’ will follow your suggestions, but we will certainly want to see some.
“Could we have a reduction in GST as one of the toddling steps – down to 12 and half percent and 2andhalf be allocated to the originating region.? Give back to the area so they get full benefit of the spending multiplier. This will give more bang for the buck for poor people particularly.
Present 15% was what Switzerland had when I was there in the 70’s. Since when have we had a financial standing like them across the nation? It is far too high for NZ”
My response. Could we abolish GST? Lets do this. Introduce a robin hood style tax. For those of us struggling week to week and are always a step behind financially this would be a huge burden lifted from our shoulders. We can’t afford to prop up the lifestyles of wealthy MD and CE’s etc when our lifestyles are so threadbare.
As mentioned far too many times before. It’s not 1986 any more. Labour needs to acknowledge they introduced a cruel and unfair tax, and now, living in this vastly unequal society we need to abolish those taxes that grow the divide.
Agree with putting personal tax up if you’re on a high salary, eg, over $150K
Present 15% was what Switzerland had when I was there in the 70’s. Since when have we had a financial standing like them across the nation? It is far too high for NZ
You misunderstand why GST is there. It is solely so that the government could decrease taxes on the rich and put the responsibility for covering the inevitable shortfall upon the poor. In other words, it gives to the rich and takes from the poor.
+1 Olwyn
I would add – this policy will do nothing to reduce child policy.
Andrew Little has concentrated on uniting caucus and getting around the country as he said he would. Ensuring that the caucus does not split into various factions is an ongoing job, hence the careful words. By concentrating on the sovereignty issue in the TPP he can be opposed without allowing the pro TPP faction room to object.
I do hope that the attempt to keep the Labour Party operating as a cohesive entity does not reduce time for good policy, for us all as well as children.
Keeping Labour together is what Helen managed. We might excuse her then for not breaking the cycle of bennie bashing, and distancing herself from the concerns of oh-so-ordinary Kiwis. We won’t do so for Andrew Little and any other New Faces contestants looking for a big hand from the audience.
Oops – I meant child poverty. The bit where he said every policy will be measured in terms of reducing child poverty and every budget will measure the degree to which this has been achieved was very clever and heartening.
How can anybody, whatever their political leanings, say reducing child poverty isn’t something to work towards? And having accepted this is important and that the policies must reflect this, that means increasing minimum wages and benefits. There is no other way of reducing child poverty. An increase in minimum wages and benefits reduces all poverty – not just child poverty.
I’d like to see Labour support the Living Wage campaign.
Have I missed media reports of Labour’s vocal support of the WCC in the stoush with the Chamber of Commerce over insisting that contractors pay the Living Wage?
Indeed. And let’s remember that a “living wage” is only that for those lucky enough to have full time employment. For many others in NZ even a living wage would be largely irrelevant.
Fair enough for a “living wage”, what would a “dying wage” look like, as that must be the logical counter balance of a wage then? It seems many get nothing more than a little over the minimum wage, which should perhaps be renamed the “dying wage” (wage of a slowly dying, impoverished person).
However in Andrew Little’s speech he said
“So, I’m telling you, when it comes to undermining our democracy and our sovereignty in the TPPA, I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”.
Since the TPP is supposed to “level the playing field” and prevent any local favouritism, then some of the ideas for favouring Kiwis in jobs that Andrew Little mentioned in the speech would not be possible without incurring litigation if the TPP was ratified. He has outlined a vision of a proactive government. We now need the public to engage in some rational thinking and realise the full implications of what Key and Co are signing away.
The biggest dead rat in the TPP is the loss of our rights to determine the future direction of NZ without being financially screwed by foreign corporations.
To quote Andrew Little “I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”. Me too.
(Also, I’ll be fighting against the oil exploration with the same vigour!)
“So, I’m telling you, when it comes to undermining our democracy and our sovereignty in the TPPA, I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”.
But signing the TPP will do that. All his polices talked about in his speech will be in violation of TPP such as limiting property sales, keeping government contracts onshore, and taxing harmful products like sugar.
It’s utterly schizophrenic. Just a week ago Little was saying that the TPPA passed 4 out of 5 Labour “bottom lines” and that it was a done deal that could not be meaningfully opposed.
well in the post I wrote on the matter I said “weaker than tissue paper” but yep exactly right: Little remaking himself into a man of principle this weekend has me curious indeed.
Yet, Little’s focus concerning the investor-state dispute process seems to be solely on our ability to ban foreign buyers from the local housing market.
If Little genuinely wanted to ensure our sovereignty, he could utilize the exit clause.
However, he insists the deal is here. Implying there is little he can now do about it except for flouting or renegotiating the ability to ban foreign buyers from the local housing market.
and now R0b has written a post on the escalating costs of cancer treatments in NZ. Guess what: the TPPA is going to make it even worse for Kiwis and our health budget.
A great program Chairman.
What a pity that there is no public dialog in NZ to do this analysis of TPPA! A TV channel? Nah! MSM? Nah! Criminal isn’t it?
And Congress gets to vote yes/no. In NZ it will be Grosser, Key, Joyce and English who decide. Trust them? Sure can
+1 – great link – very similar problem to NZ – on one hand they are thinking NZ can push our food exports out there but like in the US it allows very cheap food to flood in and now people can fight the inspections.
So a pile of fruit flies and diseases comes into the country but NZ has reduced powers to stop it the pests coming in.
Shrimp from Vietnam that is not safe.
No food labelling.
6 of the 7 Nafda environmental conditions deleted in the TPP.
Pharma able to extend existing patents even if they have no real change.
Increased medicine costs.
Competing with Vietnamese workers on 65 cents an hour.
Can’t see what you are quibbling about savenz. /sarc
Don’t know whether I mean quibbling or kibbling. ( I think the kibbling comes after the quibbling. I can feel myself getting ground down and coarser as I write. Fu.ked……)
kibble1
ˈkɪb(ə)l/
verb
gerund or present participle: kibbling –
grind or chop (beans, grain, etc.) coarsely.
“a high protein legume such as kibbled beans”
On the food labelling it makes no sense either because
NZ food’ has a really safe international reputation so without knowing where any food is coming we are undermining our exports with cheaper producers who are cutting corners. (Unless the idea is, we all cut corners to have unsafe food?)
From boom to bust, and little hope for dairy farmers, same as Australian mining companies, and other businesses exporting raw materials and low value added products to the “Middle Empire”.
“We know that companies with more gender balanced leadership teams significantly outperform companies with only men at the helm,” says Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO of Twenty first, a consulting company that focuses in building gender-balanced businesses. “Why wouldn’t this be even more true at a country level?”
Actual balance, rather than the ‘balance’ that the RWNJs like which prioritises the economy over everything else, produces better results.
FYI, Jamie Oliver is not some newcomer to this debate. He has campaigned for a long time on issues around obesity.
I wonder what Vernon Small and the rest of the right wing media will make of this?
John Key has proven himself to be a pm who is beholden to celebrity culture so I wouldn’t be surprised of there is some movement from National to steal this policy on the back of a TV chef’s Facebook post.
Labour’s policy on sugar labelling is ABSOLUTE madness. A. King has no idea what she is trying to do. It is not only unworkable but will cost many votes.
their usual form is to steal the rhetoric and fuck up the details so that what on the surface was a good idea becomes a seven-figure clusterfuck, and then the tories say “but it was Labour policy”.
I don’t think it’ll work as well as people think/want as it doesn’t do anything to solve the real issue which is people not grasping the basics such as fizzy drink being a treat drink and not an all day/every day drink
What I suspect is that the most obvious labelling (e.g. “50% less sugar!!!”) has more influence than kJ/carbohydrates per 100gm or arbitrary serving size.
When I started looking at labels more closely after going onto a lower-sodium diet, I was surprised at some of the ingredient levels, expecially in processed foods. E.g. fruit juice is often as sugary as fizzy drink, yet juice is often seen as “healthy”.
So I suspect that the minority might down 8 litres of coke a day and be surprised when helth turns to shit, but a hefty chunk of folks probably just follow broad rules and don’t realise quite how bastardised some of their food staples are – e.g. the cheaper bread usually has a massive anount of salt.
But then if I were a cynic, I’d suspect that you knew very well that having simple graphical guides on food content would show up some of the major foodstuff producers as being as amoral as the tobacco industry, and that’s why you speak against the label idea.
well, no it doesn’t taste the same (some of it has a really rank aftertaste), but you missed my point about people who “want to drink a boat load of fizzy drink” probably not really making up all that large a chunk (excuse the pun) of our increasingly obese population.
Shows you how our culture has a complete disconnect on knowledge about food, how many people are self medicating on shitty food, and how we’ve driven low income earners to poor diets, poorer overall health and shorter lives.
Yeah we just need to all channel our inner Annabel Langbeins, and flounce around making our coq au vins and wait for hubby/wifey to come home in the audi.
Well that was actually the WHO recommendation that was altered without the authors’ knowledge.
Many countries use the WHO guidelines to determine their standards.
Seems that the only reason the recommendation was suppressed and the only reason it would be political suicide is because of the lobbying by the powerful sugar industry.
Good of you to acknowledge that money buys influence.
Why would the public care if a maximum limit was imposed in all products? You really think people would object to their coke being a little less sweet?
I knew that Milo has been changed but didn’t know it was the vanilla.
We use their instant coffee cafe sleeves and that has changed its packaging recently and as often happens, the recipe too I think. It’s sort of watery, perhaps less milk powder and maybe it had vanilla there too.
On a side note I was surprised to find out how little sugar there is in beer, something like 1/2 teaspoon per bottle.
Beer is a great drink for diabetics. It does fuck-all to your blood sugar unless you’re drinking stuff like Kilkenny or Guinness. Every time medical professionals suggest I drink less beer, I give them a more polite version of “Fuck off.”
Yeah the beer belly is actually a complete myth, nothing to do with beer at all.
Having said that though, beer can often lead to eating large amounts of fatty fish and chips and other assorted take away nasties which results in a rather large gut.
Friends of Earth Indonesia/WALHI and its five regional offices have been conducting investigations of companies suspected of involvement in the fires and triggering the smoke and haze problems in Indonesia. They overlaid the concession maps of the companies, and tracked the names of companies mentioned by the environment and forestry minister. Many of the land concessions of those companies are in the precious peatland area
Already a number of company executives have been arrested for their suspected role in starting illegal forest fires, some of whom supply pulp products to the giant logging corporation Asian Pulp and Paper (APP).
The fires that have been started deliberately are part of a process which usually involves building canals to block water to the beautiful peatlands; thereby drying it out and enabling deliberately lit fires to burn. This drains the life out of these naturally-moist tropical forests, dries them out, and enables deliberately lit fires to burn. In time, companies and contractors will return to plant endless rows of palm oil and wood plantations in their place.
I keep waiting for God to do something, but I think there is too much going on for him/her to be able to cope. We may have to do more ourselves. Any way of getting through to the Indonesian’s heart?
Sadly, the bad parts are indeed bad enough to risk the whole; yet, the partners could also agree to a more measured, step-by-step approach, since that would be in the common interest, though not necessarily to the benefit of certain powerful interest groups.
The most egregious parts of the agreement are the exorbitant investor powers implicit in the Investor-State Dispute Settlement system as well as the unjustified expansion of copyright and patent coverage. We’ve seen this show before. Corporations are already using ISDS provisions in existing trade and investment agreements to harass governments in order to frustrate regulations and judicial decisions that negatively impact the companies’ interests. The system proposed in the TPP is a dangerous and unnecessary grant of power to investors and a blow to the judicial systems of all the signatory countries. And as in earlier trade agreements, the United States has pushed through overly strong intellectual property rights that strengthen the aggressive pricing practices of big pharma and unnecessarily extend the copyright protections far beyond their social usefulness.”
It isn’t all good news, though: soon the Australian forces will regroup and launch a full on assault, and although our plucky lads have plenty of heart, they simply don’t have the weapons that would allow them to fight back.
At the very least we could send someone over there to give them some training.
I’m glad you think that anyone who proposes military action go to the front of the deployment queue. That will have a most salutory effect, let’s do it!
‘As Syrian peace talks pick up speed, should we hope for any progress in ending the war? This conflict is a riddle, surely – as years go on, it becomes more and more difficult to sort out who’s fighting whom and for what purpose. And over that boiling pot of violence and blood, major powers – Russia, America, Gulf States, Iran – play their own game, no less convoluted, with goals and forces used to influence the conflict unclear. We try to solve that riddle, and to do that, we speak to the director of the Center for Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma, who is an influential analyst on Syria. Professor Joshua Landis is on Sophie&Co today.”
“Steady as she goes: Russia continues to pursue a carefully calibrated policy of force and diplomacy in Syria. Damascus invited Moscow to enter the conflict to preserve the state and fight terrorism. Washington and its allies remain clueless.
CrossTalking with Mohammad Marandi, Gregg Roman and Catherine Shakdam.”
Trust Trev’ of the Herald to be all invigorated over this piece of Who.Gives.A.Fuck ? Egomaniac crooks wanking one another. Still, some relief for Richie…..
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If we are to avoid dangerous anthropogenic climate change, we need to rapidly decarbonise our transport fleet. The good news: its starting to happen:The number of electric vehicles on New Zealand's roads have nearly tripled in the past two years. There are currently 15,453 registered electric vehicles (EVs), up ...
We need to fundamentally reframe our systems settings to address the drivers causing and underpinning inequality; structural change in systems especially financial. The Equality Network Hui was held in Wellington on 27 June 2019. The hui covered important topics such as child poverty; a living wage; taxation; public health; mental ...
The views-per-page for some of my recent postings:Depressing, isn't it? Provide thoughtful and wise commentary on the mainstream of British politics and no-one notices. Make a passing reference to Tommy DICKHEAD Robinson in a thread title and you get hundreds of views. Write something about anti-Semitism and you get another ...
The government has announced plans to move the Treaty of Waitangi and other taonga to a new site. Great news! So where are they going? Right next to the old one:The new plan will see a new 22,000-square-metre archive built on the former site of Defence House - the former ...
Back in June, StatsNZ went public about a project to track population data on an hourly level by using people's cellphones. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked - they were receiving no individual data, only counts by suburb - but there was still a huge consent problem, so ...
Most economists agree that a currently slowing economy could do with some stimulus – and they would also agree that there is no shortage of infrastructure projects which could be brought to productive fruition with help from that stimulus. In view of the current practice of sub-contracting economic policy decisions ...
I did an interview on the TVNZ Breakfast Show about the situation in Hong Kong. I tried to frame the issue as a collective action problem between two sides with very different end games. The video is here. Because of time constraints we could not discuss the fact that the ...
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ...
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ...
AN OPEN LETTER FOR SIGN ON BY ORGANISATIONS AND MOVEMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD, ALLIED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST INEQUALITY. This letter was released at the UN Political Forum on 9 July, where the Sustainable Development Goal on inequality was reviewed. The purpose of the letter is to call out the ...
We asked a young gay science student and critic of trans ideology and the trans activists’ assault on women’s and gay rights to outline his views on Redline. Thanks to him for his article. by Cian Ó Catháin Gender identity ideology (Gender ID) is ripping through western society at full ...
The Environment Committee is currently hearing submissions on the Zero Carbon Bill, and Stuff is reporting on the submissions. Today, they're covering yesterday they heard from "NZ" Steel:NZ Steel has told MPs it may be forced to close with the loss of thousands of jobs if changes aren't made to ...
Students are striking against climate change on September 27. And this time, they're asking everyone to join them:Students are taking to the streets, beaches and parks on 27 September, and we're inviting everyone to join us. That's right, this is an intergenerational issue, and you're all invited to put pressure ...
Peter McKenzie has a piece on Newsroom this morning about how local body politics is awash with property developer cash. 70% of all the donations in the 2016 Wellington mayoral election came from property developers. And its pretty obvious what they want in exchange:That’s particularly important in local government, according ...
Source: Unknown, twitter user Recently, I wrote a (relatively) short paper titled as above, to explore what self-determination could like in a practical sense. Maybe I’m a bit of an international trade truther or something, but I absolutely believe trade is at the heart of achieving peace and self-determination. Since ...
In the 1960s, after I had graduated with a first-class Oxford postgraduate law degree, I joined the British Foreign Office as the top entrant of my year. There, I worked for a couple of years on European affairs and was eventually posted to the Embassy in Brussels. After this exposure ...
Alone, Alone. All, All Alone: Will it be a good or a bad thing, when humanity’s bright blue spacecraft is stricken by the civilisation-destroying problem of Climate Change, that no Huston Control will be standing-by to rescue the crew?“WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HUSTON.” These were the words used by the ...
I heard a 45 minute interview with Monica Lewinsky talking to TED’s Chris Anderson on BBC Radio 4 over the weekend, and have listened to it another two times out walking. I recommend it. Highly. Man, I am so impressed with how this woman has integrated her life experiences and ...
Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind: how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure, London, Penguin, 2019, 352pp; reviewed by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s book The Coddling of the American Mind is a timely book, whose ...
When the Justice Committee reported back on the Administration of Justice (Reform of Contempt of Court) Bill, free speech advocates breathed a sigh of relief. As originally introduced, the Bill reitered the ancient offence of "scandalising the court" - basicly, a special sedition law protecting judges from criticism. The select ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. Since then - crickets. Which raises the obvious question: are they actually going to do this, ...
Back in March, the Ministry of Justice conducted a public consultation exercise on whether to hold a review of the Official Information Act. 285 people submitted on it. Now, Stuff has trawled through those submissions, and the case for reform is strong:The Justice Ministry asked Kiwis what they thought was ...
National's prisoner voting ban has gone down as one of the worst laws in New Zealand history. Passed after a farcical debate (including this farcial speech from ACT MP Hilary Calvert), it has subsequently been found to be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act by the High Court, Court ...
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...
by Daphna Whitmore US social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt spoke on 1 August in Auckland to a crowd of around one thousand people. He is best known for his bookThe Coddling of the American Mind which examines the new climate of trigger warnings and acute sensitivity of Gen Z. ...
What an extraordinarily depressing experience it is to be compelled to watch, at 12,000 miles distance, the contortions and machinations of the British political class as they set about their determined attempt to overturn the decision taken by the British people that they wish to leave the European Union. The ...
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...
by Don Franks Way back when British guitar virtuoso Joe Brown was a beginning session guy he got to back a visiting American artist. Young Joe was an able technician but had yet to learn some points of professionalism. Part way through “Five foot high and rising” Joe tired of ...
Since scientists started studying climate change, they have warned that it will reduce food production. And now, its happening:The climate crisis is damaging the ability of the land to sustain humanity, with cascading risks becoming increasingly severe as global temperatures rise, according to a landmark UN report compiled by some ...
The Abortion Legislation Bill just passed its first reading, 94-23. Its a far bigger margin than I expected, even allowing for the Winston factor, and it reflects the overwhelming support there is in this country for reform. but that support isn't a new thing - it has existed for literally ...
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on the Referendums Framework Bill. The Bill does what it says on the label - establishes a framework for referenda. Things you may want to address in your submission: Whether the bill should apply only at the 2020 election, or whether it should ...
The Thompson and Clark / MBIE spying scandal continues to result in fallout, this time in the form of a report on the implementation of MBIE's "Operation Exploration", its internal operation to enforce the infamous Anadarko Amendment which criminalised protests against the oil industry. MBIE's enforcement operation was tainted by ...
So, Winston Peters is defending his last-minute demand for a referendum on abortion by claiming he was "blindsided" by the bill. Really? The bill is a government bill. It has been working through the cabinet approval process since December last year. As part of that process, NZ First was consulted, ...
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...
Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement with Switzerland, Revenue Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Mr Nash and the Swiss Ambassador David Vogelsanger have today signed documents to update the double tax agreement (DTA). The previous DTA was signed in 1980. “Double tax ...
‘Original Sin’ of Land Confiscation at Ihumātao is a wrong that can be put right by Government says Justice & Peace Commission of Catholic Diocese of Auckland ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a press conference on August 19 that her government is likely to impose new restrictions on prisoners’ rights to send letters. She said the law could be changed in “weeks.” ...
Heart-warming images of House Speaker Trevor Mallard cradling a baby in Parliament have been welcomed around New Zealand, but the Public Service Association warns most families can only dream of such support in the workplace. ...
Applying New Zealand’s international human rights commitments, particularly those in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, can help in resolving the situation at Ihumātao, Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt says. ...
Climate campaigners impersonating bank staff have taken to the streets this week to expose ANZ Bank’s sponsorship of the fossil fuel industry. In the series of satirical actions in Wellington, Dunedin, and Auckland, the ‘bank staff’ promoted ...
Auckland Action Against Poverty joins the Children’s Commissioner , The Green Party , The New Zealand Drugs Foundation , Child Poverty Action Group and other organisations in the calls for an immediate end to the drug testing benefit sanctions. ...
Negotiations between Port Otago workers represented by the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) and management failed today and the unions have issued notice of an overtime ban from Saturday 7th September. ...
Queenstown Lakes District Council’s comments that it has applied for a consent to pollute waterways to avoid 'prosecutions by the Otago Regional Council' are unacceptable,’ Fish & Game New Zealand Chief Executive Martin Taylor says. ...
On March 15, the real world impact of online hate became abundantly, horrifically clear. As a shooter opened fire at two Christchurch mosques, the online image board 8chan anticipated, celebrated and amplified his killing spree. ...
Friday, 23 August: Government delegates from around the world, including New Zealand, are meeting in New York for the third of four meetings at the United Nations to agree a Global Oceans Treaty that could help to protect 30% of our oceans by 2030. Greenpeace ...
The excuses about a reportedly unwanted $57,000 payrise for Dunedin City Council CEO Sue Bidrose are laughable, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has launched the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” committing to no more than 2% annual rate hikes over the next Council term, and has written to all Mayoral and Council candidates asking them to sign. The pledge will ...
This Saturday, Pakuranga Hunt Day at the Ellerslie Racecourse will see anti-horse racing protesters demonstrating at the corner of Ascot Avenue and Greenlane East. ...
Mayoral candidate John Tamihere will meet with Pacific Island leaders and community elders today at Puhunui Reserve in South Auckland to commit to a Pasefika Cultural Centre. ...
Cruel and invalid Forced Swim Tests carried out at Victoria University of Wellington, will be exposed at the University Open Day today, so prospective students can be warned about the flawed and unethical research being conducted at the institute. ...
The organiser of the annual YWCA Equal Pay Awards has expressed her disappointment with the latest Gender Pay Gap figure for New Zealand workers. The figure rose slightly from 9.2% in 2018 to 9.3% for the quarter ended 30 June 2019. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) is urging firearms owners to pass on information to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques now that the period for submissions has been extended to 27 September. ...
An application was filed in the Employment Relations Authority in Wellington today, seeking an injunction to prevent the Board of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation from removing the President from office. ...
The Government’s commitment to support literacy and numeracy training in the workplace is a strong signal from Government on recognising the importance of upskilling, reskilling and increasing productivity alongside their commitment to address the challenges ...
“The infrastructure sector sees a major role for the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission/Te Waihanga in lifting the nation’s sagging infrastructure performance,” says Paul Blair, incoming CEO of Infrastructure NZ. ...
The AA is calling on the Government to bring forward critical highway projects while time is spent properly developing the plans for a rapid transit system in Auckland. ...
Between 2015/16 and 2017/18, DHBs spent $280 million treating patients due to adverse drug reactions, reveals the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union in its latest briefing paper on health productivity . ...
The Pay Equity Coalition Auckland (PECA) is pleased the gender pay gap has decreased slightly. Statistics released today show the gap is now 11.9%, nearly 2 percent less than last year. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) is urging firearms owners to make sure they pass on any information they have to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques before submissions close tomorrow (Friday). ...
The big electricity companies consider solar energy “disruptive” and want pricing to suppress it. In contrast, advocates of local energy say that solar, energy efficiency, and other local energy solutions are the cheapest ways to reduce carbon emissions. ...
The Earthquake Commission and Shine Lawyers are delighted to announce that EQC has reached an agreement with the Gibling family, agreeing to cover the cost of repairs of remaining earthquake damage on their property. ...
Four months into the inquiry, the Royal Commission is gathering significant information and continues to receive valuable submissions from the public, from current and former State servants, experts and community groups. ...
While Fish & Game New Zealand is pleased to see Federated Farmers Environment Spokesperson Chris Allen say that 'we all want good, fresh water', he conveniently overlooks some key facts. ...
What: Wellington demo “Save the Amazon Forest/Salve a Amazônia!” When: Friday, 6 September 2019 from 12:30-13:30 Where: Embassy of Brazil in Wellingtona ...
Rt Hon Trevor Mallard, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, welcomes the visit of His Excellency Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal. ...
A cross political Mental Health and Addictions Wellbeing group will be launched on Wednesday 28 August hosted by Sir John Kirwan and Moe Milne (ONZM) who have both been at the forefront of our country’s often difficult conversations about mental ...
Confirmation that the government will be progressing an independent Parliamentary Budget Office is great news for democracy and transparency, Federated Farmers says. ...
At first glance, Simon Bridges’ strident opposition to the government’s proposal to establish an independent office to cost political parties’ election spending plans looks childish and petty. ...
Euthanasia-Free NZ is appalled that Parliament spent so little time debating Part 2 of the End of Life Choice Bill and voted to leave it full of holes. ...
Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance and its nationwide sister group the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is slamming Auckland Mayor Phil Goff for his comments today that John Tamihere would need the Government’s support to ...
A ‘one size fits all’, inflexible and punitive regulatory regime for water quality just gets backs - and costs - up and most importantly will not work, Federated Farmers says. ...
Mediation yesterday between secondary principals and the government has resulted in a deal that the principals' negotiating team is recommending to its members. ...
Clubs New Zealand welcomes the decision of Justice Minister Andrew Little to put forward a bill amending the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act to allow all licensed premises to remain open for Rugby World Cup matches. ...
The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation has ordered a review looking at labelling of added sugars in food and drinks. An option under investigation is ‘a pictorial approach applied to sugary beverages / sugar-sweetened beverages’ ...
Labour market data released by Statistics New Zealand today indicates that a gender pay gap persists in New Zealand, despite improvement in some areas. ...
In the midst of the 6th Great Extinction Event the coalition, STOP Trashing Our Planet is urging voters to take full responsibility for the legacy we are leaving our children. ...
LGNZ will carefully consider the proposed National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) to assess if it meets the Government’s aim of enabling urban development or simply adds more red tape to the planning process. ...
At school camp, the children are banned from having phones, laptops, lollies, chocolate, money, cotton clothing or independent thoughts. They, are, however, allowed home baking – but it’s gotta be hearty. How hearty are you? We are packing for a school camp. If you’re thinking that the middle of winter is ...
Phil Goff’s rival has already pledged an 0800-Jacinda homeless hotline and an 18-lane harbour bridge. What’s next? The two most important people in the 2019 campaign for the Auckland mayoralty faced each other down on Wednesday night across the desk in the NZME debate: Bernard Orsman and Simon Wilson. Correction: it ...
Split Level View Finder: Theo Schoon and New Zealand Art is the exhibition that sparked a protest over issues of cultural appropriation and institutional representation. Theo Schoon is a divisive historical figure. But is his art any good? Martin Patrick reviews.British novelist L.P. Hartley once wrote that “the past is ...
Ahead of debuting her solo show at New Zealand Fashion Week, Korean-NZ couture designer Cecilia Kang talks about growing up ‘feminine’, being influenced by the LGBTQ+ community, and why an ‘administrative error’ at Fashion Week left her so shaken up. ‘I like something big,” says Cecilia Kang, gesturing to the giant ...
The Labour Party is distancing itself from one of its members who is strongly pro-Beijing and has caused controversy in the Chinese community by standing for local office in Auckland. ...
Faced with staff shortages, equipment failures, cancer risks, and a jump in critical calls that can leave them traumatised, some firefighters are wondering if it’s time to hang up the hose. Gareth Shute reports on the dissatisfaction inside Fire and Emergency New Zealand.The state of our nation’s fire service is ...
“She comes over. You’re my mother, she says. Yes, I say. I don’t know you, she says”: a mother and child seaside story by Wellington author Jan Pryor. Photo by Peter Black. ...
On Monday the government announced its new five-year strategy to reduce the Māori prison population. Emilie Rākete looks at another ‘kaupapa Māori’ prison initiative that degrades prisoners and asks if Corrections are capable of seeing it through.On August 19th, the Department of Corrections announced Hōkai Rangi, its new strategy intended ...
By Michael Andrew The Indonesian media is contributing to resentment and racism toward Papuans, according to a human rights researcher and former journalist. Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch Jakarta told Pacific Media Watch many Indonesian journalists either view Papuans as enemy “separatists” or deviants and their reporting tends to convey these ...
Analysis - The prime minister puts a stake in the ground over petrol prices, National balks at having its election promises costed and the government puts millions into helping the homeless. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danilo Ignacio de Urzedo, PhD candidate, University of Sydney Record fires are raging in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, with more than 2,500 fires currently burning. They are collectively emitting huge amounts of carbon, with smoke plumes visible thousands of kilometres away. Fires in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sean Docking, Post-doctoral researcher, La Trobe University Basketball fans around the world were recently sickened by the footage of NBA star Kevin Durant’s Achilles tendon rupturing during a game. But while many think it’s only elite athletes who suffer from Achilles tendon ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University The possibility of blackouts affecting half of Victoria has attracted plenty of attention to a document once read only by industry insiders and policy wonks: the Electricity Statement of Opportunities. The Statement, updated ...
George Clooney sold his tequila company for a billion dollars – but is the stuff any good? The Spinoff finds out. Imagine being so stupidly sexy you sneeze and sell a billion-dollar booze company. That’s what George Clooney did last year, flicking off the tequila business he started accidentally with an ...
The departure of "two Pākehā men" from the government's justice reform group will not hurt the quality of its final report, another member of the team says. ...
Combatting internet-related harm is being stymied by inter-industry disagreement and a lack of information about the extent and nature of the problem, a new report says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, J.W. Nevile Fellow in Economics and host of The Airport Economist, UNSW Amid the tributes to former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer and the stories of his authenticity, courage and quirky interests – like trains and military history – what ...
Current leader of the National Party, Simon Bridges.Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Is Simon Bridges really trying to channel Donald Trump? Or is he taking his cue from Scott Morrison? Or is he looking to emulate Boris Johnson? Whatever the inspiration, there’s been a clear change in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]Michelle Grattan talks about the sad news of the passing of former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer with University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Deep Saini. They also discuss Scott Morrison’s recent announcement about joining ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabriel Crowley, Adjunct Principal Research Fellow, James Cook University In February, about 600,000 cattle were killed by catastrophic flooding across north Queensland’s Carpentaria Gulf plains. The flood waters rose suddenly, forming a wall of water up to 70km wide. Record depths were ...
Simon Day dined alone at Monique Fiso’s Wellington restaurant Hiakai, and discovered it was the perfect way to appreciate the meaning of this special food. “Would you like a few more minutes with your phone?” the waitress at Hiakai asked sympathetically as I mashed a final goodbye text to my wife ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Willamson, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Australia’s gender pay gap is diminishing, says a new report, but some contributors to it seem harder to overcome than others. For me, the finding hit close to home. The report, by KPMG for ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Te Tiriti o Waitangi: The Treaty of Waitangi by Toby Morris with Ross Calman, Mark Derby, and ...
Honey producer Comvita has confirmed a full year net loss of $27.7m with China market access restrictions and tougher regulations locally affecting the company's sales. ...
James Elliott realises John Tamihere's uncosted bridge proposal wasn't actually a metaphor, but a fine example of 'folks is mighty generous with money what they ain’t got'. ...
A new poem by Oamaru-born poet Nick Ascroft.SupermanHalfway up the ascent zigzagging from Royal Terrace to upper Stuart Street carrying four too-heavy grocery bags I begin to understand that I will not make it. My huffing personage – from the fingers, white with the strain, to a face the colour of rhubarb – will ooze into the pavement and roll slowly ...
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s.Sound the alarm, because it’s time for another absolute chaos pod. We’re talking haunted dolls in Waipu, we’re talking giant hands taking over Wellington, we’re talking soft serve cones dipped in powdered Milo. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Press, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania This week, the ABC revealed that the Australian Defence Force wants to roll out military technology in Antarctica. The article raises the issue of what is, or is not, ...
New Zealand teacher aides say their pay reflects an outdated idea of what they do. Elizabeth McLeod hears from four TAs, and one parent, about the classroom realities they face every dayCleaning up poo, defusing violent situations, copping physical and verbal abuse: these are the realities of a teacher aide’s ...
The lanky sidekick from Jono and Ben journeys around New Zealand trying to solve small town problems. Does he succeed?Guy Williams, hardly a shy, retiring type, has been screaming out for his own vehicle for years. A loud, lanky, fearless comic, he’s spent nearly a decade in MediaWorks purgatory, sat ...
Ballot Box.Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – The nature of New Zealand general election campaigns could be significantly changed with the proposed establishment of an “umpire” to adjudicate over political party manifesto policies. A suggestion has been put forward by the Government for the establishment of a parliamentary watchdog ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Ihumātao Delphine Herbert and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Tainui to buy Ihumātao land – sources Danielle ...
Extinction Rebellion takes a tour of downtown Wellington to point out the coal industry stalwarts and ask why they’re still there in the face of a climate emergency. “There are coal companies in Wellington??”That’s the incredulous response every single time we mention taking the public on a tour of the biggest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel A. Ankeny, Professor of History and Philosophy, and Deputy Dean Research (Faculty of Arts), University of Adelaide The South Australian government recently announced its intention to lift the long-standing statewide moratorium on genetically modified (GM) crops, following a statutory six-week consultation ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vicki Sentas, Senior Lecturer, UNSW Law, UNSW Being strip searched by the police can be intrusive, humiliating and harmful. Typically, strip searches involve being required to strip naked in front of police officers, who often give the direction to “squat and cough”, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Remond, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Hi, I was just wondering if something’s wrong with me because I’m never happy and never want to do anything and I’m getting really lazy and I really hate school. Thanks – Anonymous ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Zaphir, Researcher for the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project; and Online Teacher at Education Queensland’s IMPACT Centre, The University of Queensland From as early as Grade 3 teachers start teaching children how to put across their own points of view. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW It’s four years since then Prime Minister Tony Abbott warned Australia had been heading to “a Greek-style economic future”. He was referring to what he said had been happening under the previous Labor government. When Labor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samia Khatun, Senior Lecturer, SOAS, University of London Some 1,000 kilometres inland from Sydney, over the Blue Mountains, past the trees that drink the tributaries of the Darling River, there stands a little, red mosque. It marks where the desert begins. The ...
Online gambling is growing fast in New Zealand, but critics say new government ideas for regulating websites focus on what's good for the industry, rather than protecting people from harm. ...
Open mike 09/11/2015 
Open mike is your post.
. . Former Police, Corrections, and Justice Minister in the previous John Key government, Judith Collins, has been ridiculed on social media after posting a comment on Twitter that was patently untrue; . Wrong!! National did not remove Prisoners’ ability to vote. Parliament voted through a Private Member’s Bill ...8 hours ago
Speaker Trevor Mallard was left to look after Jones, while his usual caretaker, Winston Peters, underwent surgery. A truly adorable scene from Parliament yesterday has gone viral, after Speaker Trevor Mallard cradled an extremely drunk Shane Jones in his arms while the House was in session. Loud “awwww”s could be ...21 hours ago
Western media have defended their decision not to cover the fires so as not to give them any oxygen. Social media outrage continues to grow around the sentiment that mainstream western media is devoting too little coverage to an ongoing series of fires in the Amazon rainforest, and in doing ...22 hours ago
A Long Time Ago, In A Parallel Universe Far, Far Away: The political journalist scratched his head in confusion. Only then did he notice the name of the building: ‘The Jacinda Ardern Presidential Library and Public Resource Centre’. Making his way inside to the information desk, he asked the librarian ...1 day ago
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Nothing from me tody - I'm off to Christchurch to pretend to be other people for a weekend. Normal bloggage should resume on Tuesday. ...1 day ago
Spark is bracing for a customer backlash as rugby fans all across the country struggle to get a picture on their wireless router. With the Rugby World Cup fast approaching, an elderly Taranaki couple are furious after being told that they still won’t be able to watch the tournament, even ...2 days ago
Several explosions have been reported across Auckland, as well-meaning environmentalists have already begun purchasing too much petrol Starting from next week, customers will no longer need a car to purchase petrol directly from the pump, a development that two major fuel providers are billing as an opportunity to help fight ...2 days ago
A new study claims to find that a mother’s exposure to fluoridated water during pregnancy may decrease the IQ of male children – but is it correct? (Photo: Getty Images) Anti-fluoride campaigners are promoting ... 2 days ago
Television advertising has a huge impact on our lives. Even if we don’t recognise that, we know it has to be true, since otherwise why would advertisers spend so much on it? Its significance, however, is greater than simply the influence it has on what we purchase and consume. It ...3 days ago
by Jan Rivers More than 30 years ago a Commission of Inquiry was held in New Zealand to investigate, amongst other things, whether women with cervical cancer were aware that they had been part of a research project and whether they were properly informed of the treatment options ...4 days ago
Everyone Wants To Be Fuhrer: When fascist groups are discussed, the image conjured-up in the minds of most New Zealanders is one of pathetic misfits. This negative impression is reinforced by the latter’s idiotic embrace of the swastika. Even in the second decade of the twenty-first century, the baleful legacy ...4 days ago
In the previous two posts, I laid out the context and set the theoretical framework to answer a question: whether indigenous economies should take the LEAP. This final part outlines ways to conceive of practicing mana motuhake within the existing legal system by carving out special jurisdictions that enable Indigenous ...6 days ago
Fully Informed? Labour’s 2017 promises raised expectations that were little short of revolutionary. Unfortunately, they were never adequately shaken through the fiscal sieve. The hard economic work was not done – and it shows. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s critics have long complained that her grasp of the way the New ...6 days ago
You cannot expect to pound communities into the ground day after day, year after year, decade after decade and just expect them to take it lying down. There’s a point at which the place will explode. And we’re faced with some very big ructions on both sides of the Atlantic ...1 week ago
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Going Down? Once truth and propaganda become fused in the minds of one’s followers, debate and discussion become redundant. If one’s opponents are all outrageous liars, then engaging with them in any way is pointless. Rather than waste its time, a political party should, instead, target all its messages at ...1 week ago
We need to fundamentally reframe our systems settings to address the drivers causing and underpinning inequality; structural change in systems especially financial. The Equality Network Hui was held in Wellington on 27 June 2019. The hui covered important topics such as child poverty; a living wage; taxation; public health; mental ...1 week ago
The views-per-page for some of my recent postings:Depressing, isn't it? Provide thoughtful and wise commentary on the mainstream of British politics and no-one notices. Make a passing reference to Tommy DICKHEAD Robinson in a thread title and you get hundreds of views. Write something about anti-Semitism and you get another ...1 week ago
The government has announced plans to move the Treaty of Waitangi and other taonga to a new site. Great news! So where are they going? Right next to the old one:The new plan will see a new 22,000-square-metre archive built on the former site of Defence House - the former ...1 week ago
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Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement with Switzerland, Revenue Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Mr Nash and the Swiss Ambassador David Vogelsanger have today signed documents to update the double tax agreement (DTA). The previous DTA was signed in 1980. “Double tax ...2 weeks ago
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Expect some delays in page loads first thing this morning for the first few people in.
I’ve fixed the feeds so that they now work correctly. However I had to change the media string for the images and other static data from the CDN (Content Delivery Network). Depending on your browser and if anyone else has loaded from it previously, you might experience some page delays.
But the tabs are all working again. Now to figure out how to make them ‘faster’.
And also how to get rid of the bloody duplicated feed items that Blogger likes to provide !
Just out of interest, do you run the Google Page Speed mod for apache?
Seems you don’t. You should seriously install that.
Just noticed my tabs “Replies” and “Opinions” have been swapped around, either an update I guess or a tory gremlin stuck in the system trying to find a way out 😉
Forget the tin foil hat: NSA-proof wallpaper could keep snoopers and ‘doomsday’ electromagnetic weapons at bay
*New flexible material can block electronic emission
*Blocks signals that could be used for cybersnooping
*Can also block electromagnetic ‘doomsday’ weapons
*Could be used to protect drones flying in enemy territory
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3286629/Forget-tin-foil-hat-NSA-proof-wallpaper-snoopers-doomsday-electromagnetic-weapons-bay.html
Good God man this is so depressing it makes a person want to crawl back into bed and stay there. Can’t this wait until we have showered, had a decent coffee and “girded the loins” so to speak for yet another day in this troubled planet we all dwell on. Thanks for it nevertheless the less – though god knows what anybody can do about it.
Bill Ralston was interviewed by Espiner on the radio a few minutes ago.
What an obvious propagandist.
What an arse.
What an easy run from Espiner.
**He was announcing that he will compete for Waitamata. He slagged off Phil Goff
So do Mediawork’s mercenary front line “media persons” like Henry and Plunket (Radio Live and TV3), Goff is now accused of “double dipping”, while he has not even announced yet, that he will stand for the election of mayor for Auckland next year.
Are we surprised? No, I at least am not. The Labour conference was also treated with little mention, and while it was more a feel-good meeting offering inspiring speeches and no policy yet, that was exploited by Henry in his breakfast show.
Problem for Henry, Plunket and others, there is little to attack Labour for at present in regards to policy, as it is mostly “under review”, so they do of course look for any other next best opportunity to throw mud.
Goff is the best opportunity now, and while I am certain that Nat MPs have in the past held onto their seat and stood for election or any other alternative position in the meantime, they have to stress the possibility of Goff “double dipping” now.
While I have only so much time for Goff, he does not deserve to be treated like this.
Hell I thought the henry interview of Little was as good as I’ve seen for Little, he came across relaxed and batted away Henrys bs with ease ,ad to that Kelvin Davis getting a lot of coverage and this morning was a good start for labour.
Yes, Andrew did quite well, but Henry was trying various angles to embarrass him. He soon changed the topic from the conference to the Mt Roskill electorate, to Goff and to a likely by-election.
Potential voters, and more so non voters, they will probably not have been overly impressed by Little, as so many now fall for the machinations by media and spin artists. Only those that follow politics (a true minority in NZ) will even know about Andrew Little and his speech and the Labour conference.
Going on the Paul Henry Breakfast is like swimming in between sharks 24/7 I would say.
Wasn’t there a few instances of National Party MPs double dipping which the MSM thoroughly ignored?
Sleepy Sam standing for National while still an Auckland City Councillor. Did both jobs for a while in my recall.
Kept his council job right up till the point it didnt cause the position to be refilled. He didnt do his council job just took the money whilst being a new MP as his non attendance showed.
Blinglish is an experienced double dipper so the glasshouse is well built.
Jono Naylor was still Mayor of Palmerston North while running for Parliament for the Nats in 2014 – How is that alright but for Goff it’s not?
So, that would be standard nasty politics at play then. The right wing don’t seem to be able to carry an argument and thus always revert to ad hominem attacks.
I wonder who invited Ralston to be on the programme. mustn’t ask that sort of question I suppose.
How many people have to die before Australian wingnuts start appearing at The Hague?
Send in Kelvin Davis? Send the SAS to Canberra to arrest the fuckers more like.
How many Australian wingnuts care? They devolved responsibility.
https://www.amris.com/serco_australia/requirement_display.php?noheader=1&requirementid=68168
NZ wingnuts will cheer them on rather than arrest them.
Serco would have run the gas chambers during the Holocaust.
This is who Serco are
“Serco would have run the gas chambers during the Holocaust”
exactly
Or send them to Christmas Island unannounced and rescue those in the detention camp. Or do the same on Manus Island or Nauru.
Little said the text of the deal (released late on Thursday) met four of the party’s five bottom lines.
Jane Kelsey says: I’ve spent the past 36 hours pouring over the massive technical text to understand some of the complexities and what they mean for current and future policy space in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Yet, within a day the Labour leadership seems to have decided the text is fine aside from the narrow issue of the right to restrict sales of residential property to foreign owners.
At the very least Labour’s leaders might have waited for the Waitangi Tribunal’s inquiry into the TPPA, which is now likely to be expedited following the release of the text.
The following is why the TPPA fails to satisfy the other four non-negotiable bottom lines, in addition to the one the caucus concedes.
See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/11/07/exclusive-open-letter-from-jane-kelsey-to-labour-party-conference/#sthash.yi60JtLh.dpuf
Surely you’re not surprised ?
It adds to the disappointment Labour have become.
Watch as no policy substance is delivered over the next 12 months. We know that Labour tolerates poverty very well. We know that Labour doesn’t believe in true full employment. We know that Labour cannot stand by tough policies unless they are neoliberal ones. We know that Labour takes climate change so seriously it won’t ban new oil exploration.
The substance of policy is how one deciphers how the political rhetoric will take shape.
Labour can’t expect voter support when voters aren’t clear on how the rhetoric will take shape.
Therefore, failing to produce it will be another mistake.
Moreover, they can’t genuinely counter National when they can’t offer the substance behind what they will do differently.
@ CV: I can see that you are currently disheartened with Labour. I respect that you have reasons for this, but I want to put forward a thought for your consideration. What was important about Little’s speech to congress was that it was not equivocal, and it outlined standards against which future policies are able to be measured. Since the exit of Helen Clark, “market forces” have been the unstated but absolute measure of everything: the task was to show loyalty to market forces and win the punters over with rhetoric and equivocally framed scraps of bait. Anyone seeking to depart from this model was hobbled, vilified or both, with David Cunliffe being the prime example. I think you need to allow that, prima facie at least, Little’s speech represents a departure from this duplicity. At least you can now say to him, this plan will or will not lead to jobs. That plan will or will not lead to people being cast on the scrap heap, etc.
Hi Olwyn. Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
However, I suspect that we already know what Little’s standard is, and that it is a low one full of wriggle room, if not “duplicity”. Take Labour’s ‘unequivocal’ bottom lines around the TPPA. Now according to Little, the TPPA actually does meet 4 out of Labour’s 5 bottom lines. And that Labour cannot meaningfully oppose the TPPA but it can ‘flout’ a few of its provisions here and there.
(While Jane Kelsey says that the TPPA fails all of Labour’s bottom lines. Who is right? GIven that Kelsey has gone through every page of the TPPA and no one in Labour has, I would say she is.)
Some may be feeling inspired to give Little and Labour 6 more months to prove themselves but after a long list of crap like this over the last 12 months (voting for National’s spying and anti-terrorism legislation!) I am not feeling similarly beneficent.
Two things: I think a glimmer of hope is better than no hope at all 🙂
I also think it may be inevitable that Labour has a more nuanced approach to the TPP than you and I. I am opposed to it, and will be at this weekend’s protests, but I can see that a political party that thunders opposition that it is not in the potion to action can back-foot itself in the face of a fait accompli. When you are up against a force much more powerful than anything you can muster, strategy sometimes works better than beating your head against a brick wall – in the latter case, the head tends to break while the wall continues to hold.
well fair enough but its hardly evidence that Labour has learnt to fight for and stick with what it believes in, and now they seem to be saying that they have indeed learnt. Time will tell.
Do your heart condition a favour and pop over and knock on the Greens door.
Overall they are less conflicted people, and the Dunedin lot could do with fresh blood. They will already know you are a good organizer.
It would be no fun to lose you from political activism altogether out of sheer frustration.
Thanks, Ad. Always enjoy your writing on The Standard.
You say ‘ I am not feeling similarly beneficent.”
I ask why you still continue to comment here, then.
“a long list of crap like this”apparently includes Little’s personal failure to repudiate elements of the TPPA in line with Jane Kelsey’s analysis. Said agreement released just days ago and containing reams of legalese.
Little somehow has to find a way to bridge the gap between the party factions. Everyone will have to compromise to some extent.
By all accounts he spoke well at the conference. His speech read pretty well given that it was light on policy specifics, for well understood reasons.
He sounds encouraging to me.
You’re beginning to sound shrill and desperate.
My believing that Labour is spineless (as per backdowns on the TPPA, 90 day right to fire, NZ power, GST off fruits and vegetables, CGT, raising the issue of Chinese last names but having zero new policy of substance around it etc.) has nothing to do with whether or not I should comment on The Standard.
Why do you believe it does?
Good thinking Olwyn and Tautoko MM.
As CV says – what about the bennies bottom line?
So nice words – very heartening.
Now we want baby steps to attend to the basics, then we can toddle to the next stage. Some things are urgently needed, and may have to be dripfed small and regular improvements so as not to destabilise the system.
Can we have a timeline for the improvements that are doable without a lot of parliamentary kerfuffle?
How soon could that be done without leaving time for National to do something malicious and spoil, plug the gap with their own short-term panacea etc.?
Could we have a reduction in GST as one of the toddling steps – down to 12 and half percent and 2andhalf be allocated to the originating region.? Give back to the area so they get full benefit of the spending multiplier. This will give more bang for the buck for poor people particularly.
Present 15% was what Switzerland had when I was there in the 70’s. Since when have we had a financial standing like them across the nation? It is far too high for NZ
On tax they are talking about how people ned help where they have to work numerous jobs and co-ordinate a portfolio of employers, and money earners. That’s realistic do it Labour. Get rid of secondary tax – that goes back to an anti double dipping mentality that is not appropriate for workers these days, forced to be serving numerous ‘masters’. Also do something about open slather hours. Make an attempt. Zero contracts out. Free rides for employers with subsidies not from government but from their workers out..
Put personal and trust tax up instead. The idea that the more money you get, the less tax you pay is stupid, illogical, and unsustainable. The country needs a certain tax take to operate successfully. You have to oil the machine.
And a system where some people are starved of jobs and wages and can’t pay much tax, while others benefit from that economy with people being out of work yet moan that they have to pay the tax thaat advantages them must be exposed as criminal and irrational. Perhaps the facts can be explained simply and firmly. Say the tax is going to better hospital services and health programs which are intensive in needy areas.
edited
One of the things they are talking about is allowing beneficiaries to earn more before abatement kicks in, and Carmel Sepuloni has spoken about that as well – I think she may have drafted a private members bill on it. I don’t know whether the ‘baby steps’ will follow your suggestions, but we will certainly want to see some.
yeah well only a small proportion have additional income so fat lot of use that will be to most people.
Re-instating Ruth’s benefit cuts, getting rid of the youth rate – or putting it back to 18 would both be more meaningful.
Better still remove age discrimination all together and make benefits the same rate as NZS.
Those things would be a darn site more help than fiddling at the margins.
Bring back universal family benefit as well so you’re not playing off one set of NZer’s against another.
The whole benefit system is now set up to play NZer’s off in that way,
But it’s still pale blue Labour we’re talking about.
“Could we have a reduction in GST as one of the toddling steps – down to 12 and half percent and 2andhalf be allocated to the originating region.? Give back to the area so they get full benefit of the spending multiplier. This will give more bang for the buck for poor people particularly.
Present 15% was what Switzerland had when I was there in the 70’s. Since when have we had a financial standing like them across the nation? It is far too high for NZ”
My response. Could we abolish GST? Lets do this. Introduce a robin hood style tax. For those of us struggling week to week and are always a step behind financially this would be a huge burden lifted from our shoulders. We can’t afford to prop up the lifestyles of wealthy MD and CE’s etc when our lifestyles are so threadbare.
As mentioned far too many times before. It’s not 1986 any more. Labour needs to acknowledge they introduced a cruel and unfair tax, and now, living in this vastly unequal society we need to abolish those taxes that grow the divide.
Agree with putting personal tax up if you’re on a high salary, eg, over $150K
You misunderstand why GST is there. It is solely so that the government could decrease taxes on the rich and put the responsibility for covering the inevitable shortfall upon the poor. In other words, it gives to the rich and takes from the poor.
thats essentially true Draco but it also adds 2 + million tourists year as taxpayers as the majority fail to claim it back
+1 Olwyn
I would add – this policy will do nothing to reduce child policy.
Andrew Little has concentrated on uniting caucus and getting around the country as he said he would. Ensuring that the caucus does not split into various factions is an ongoing job, hence the careful words. By concentrating on the sovereignty issue in the TPP he can be opposed without allowing the pro TPP faction room to object.
It was a very good speech – let’s celebrate it.
I do hope that the attempt to keep the Labour Party operating as a cohesive entity does not reduce time for good policy, for us all as well as children.
Keeping Labour together is what Helen managed. We might excuse her then for not breaking the cycle of bennie bashing, and distancing herself from the concerns of oh-so-ordinary Kiwis. We won’t do so for Andrew Little and any other New Faces contestants looking for a big hand from the audience.
Oops – I meant child poverty. The bit where he said every policy will be measured in terms of reducing child poverty and every budget will measure the degree to which this has been achieved was very clever and heartening.
How can anybody, whatever their political leanings, say reducing child poverty isn’t something to work towards? And having accepted this is important and that the policies must reflect this, that means increasing minimum wages and benefits. There is no other way of reducing child poverty. An increase in minimum wages and benefits reduces all poverty – not just child poverty.
We know that Labour tolerates poverty very well.
I’d like to see Labour support the Living Wage campaign.
Have I missed media reports of Labour’s vocal support of the WCC in the stoush with the Chamber of Commerce over insisting that contractors pay the Living Wage?
Indeed. And let’s remember that a “living wage” is only that for those lucky enough to have full time employment. For many others in NZ even a living wage would be largely irrelevant.
Fair enough for a “living wage”, what would a “dying wage” look like, as that must be the logical counter balance of a wage then? It seems many get nothing more than a little over the minimum wage, which should perhaps be renamed the “dying wage” (wage of a slowly dying, impoverished person).
YUP, the disability and mental health communities are relegated to subsistence unless and until they reach 65… then they get a “pay rise”
Good, Labour is finally learning.
Politics only matters for about 6 weeks every 3 years
Rest of the time should be spent in PR.
Yup with slogans and catchphrases that cut to the core of nacts subtle and belligerent methods.
The sheeple doze off between elections so they need to start the memes now.
The sheeple aren’t listening so you’re wasting your time.
If Key and National fuck up let the media crucify them, Little sticking is oar in doesn’t help, people just roll their eyes and go what ever.
Save it for the election period.
“If Key and National fuck up let the media crucify them,” & therein lies the problem, the media, on a whole, won’t (crucify them).
Actually the people are listening and don’t like what they see and so don’t vote.
Why would you vote for one set of neo-libs over another?
Ah, the RWNJ comes in tells the populace to go back to sleep, nothing to see here while National and their stooges keep fucking us over.
However in Andrew Little’s speech he said
“So, I’m telling you, when it comes to undermining our democracy and our sovereignty in the TPPA, I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”.
Since the TPP is supposed to “level the playing field” and prevent any local favouritism, then some of the ideas for favouring Kiwis in jobs that Andrew Little mentioned in the speech would not be possible without incurring litigation if the TPP was ratified. He has outlined a vision of a proactive government. We now need the public to engage in some rational thinking and realise the full implications of what Key and Co are signing away.
The biggest dead rat in the TPP is the loss of our rights to determine the future direction of NZ without being financially screwed by foreign corporations.
To quote Andrew Little “I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”. Me too.
(Also, I’ll be fighting against the oil exploration with the same vigour!)
+100 TMM
Yes I have to say it was good to hear the lines
“So, I’m telling you, when it comes to undermining our democracy and our sovereignty in the TPPA, I am totally opposed and I will fight with every fibre in my body to stop it, to resist it, to make sure it never happens in New Zealand”.
But signing the TPP will do that. All his polices talked about in his speech will be in violation of TPP such as limiting property sales, keeping government contracts onshore, and taxing harmful products like sugar.
It’s utterly schizophrenic. Just a week ago Little was saying that the TPPA passed 4 out of 5 Labour “bottom lines” and that it was a done deal that could not be meaningfully opposed.
Bottom lines appear to be written on crepe paper with chalk.
well in the post I wrote on the matter I said “weaker than tissue paper” but yep exactly right: Little remaking himself into a man of principle this weekend has me curious indeed.
Yet, Little’s focus concerning the investor-state dispute process seems to be solely on our ability to ban foreign buyers from the local housing market.
If Little genuinely wanted to ensure our sovereignty, he could utilize the exit clause.
However, he insists the deal is here. Implying there is little he can now do about it except for flouting or renegotiating the ability to ban foreign buyers from the local housing market.
and now R0b has written a post on the escalating costs of cancer treatments in NZ. Guess what: the TPPA is going to make it even worse for Kiwis and our health budget.
I was heartened by that too, if he meant what I took him to mean…
What is being said in the US:
A great program Chairman.
What a pity that there is no public dialog in NZ to do this analysis of TPPA! A TV channel? Nah! MSM? Nah! Criminal isn’t it?
And Congress gets to vote yes/no. In NZ it will be Grosser, Key, Joyce and English who decide. Trust them? Sure can
+1 – great link – very similar problem to NZ – on one hand they are thinking NZ can push our food exports out there but like in the US it allows very cheap food to flood in and now people can fight the inspections.
So a pile of fruit flies and diseases comes into the country but NZ has reduced powers to stop it the pests coming in.
Shrimp from Vietnam that is not safe.
No food labelling.
6 of the 7 Nafda environmental conditions deleted in the TPP.
Pharma able to extend existing patents even if they have no real change.
Increased medicine costs.
Competing with Vietnamese workers on 65 cents an hour.
What a great day to be an international lawyer!!!
Where do we sign? Sarc/
And the Disputes Risk.
Little says it meets 4 out of Labour’s 5 bottom lines…no problems right.
Can’t see what you are quibbling about savenz. /sarc
Don’t know whether I mean quibbling or kibbling. ( I think the kibbling comes after the quibbling. I can feel myself getting ground down and coarser as I write. Fu.ked……)
kibble1
ˈkɪb(ə)l/
verb
gerund or present participle: kibbling –
grind or chop (beans, grain, etc.) coarsely.
“a high protein legume such as kibbled beans”
On the food labelling it makes no sense either because
NZ food’ has a really safe international reputation so without knowing where any food is coming we are undermining our exports with cheaper producers who are cutting corners. (Unless the idea is, we all cut corners to have unsafe food?)
Now this is what should really get our attention, prepare for a harder landing with the Mainland Chinese economy than so far expected:
‘China’s imports fall 19% on waning demand’
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34759608
From boom to bust, and little hope for dairy farmers, same as Australian mining companies, and other businesses exporting raw materials and low value added products to the “Middle Empire”.
Here’s What Happens When You Put More Women in Government
Actual balance, rather than the ‘balance’ that the RWNJs like which prioritises the economy over everything else, produces better results.
Whatever you think of Jamie Oliver, this is some heavy hitting support for Labour’s sugar policy…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/73828189/celebrity-chef-jamie-oliver-throws-support-behind-labour-plans-to-cut-back-sugar
FYI, Jamie Oliver is not some newcomer to this debate. He has campaigned for a long time on issues around obesity.
I wonder what Vernon Small and the rest of the right wing media will make of this?
John Key has proven himself to be a pm who is beholden to celebrity culture so I wouldn’t be surprised of there is some movement from National to steal this policy on the back of a TV chef’s Facebook post.
Soon someone will tell us that he should keep his nose out of NZ and what would he know?
Only in more colourful language Tracey.
Naah hes a bit of a twat although I did manage to follow one of his recipies for pork chops that turned out pretty good…
Labour’s policy on sugar labelling is ABSOLUTE madness. A. King has no idea what she is trying to do. It is not only unworkable but will cost many votes.
That’s what they said about “number of standard drinks” labels on liquor bottles.
Thanks for your concern
And star ratings for water and power use on appliances. Terrible idea.
The government will steal this policy. You watch.
If National can appropriate the policy quickly and easily it likely means that the policy didn’t go far enough to begin with.
their usual form is to steal the rhetoric and fuck up the details so that what on the surface was a good idea becomes a seven-figure clusterfuck, and then the tories say “but it was Labour policy”.
E.g. flags.
That is well expressed.
Thanks for being specific and stcking to facts. Your post may have been undermined if you had gone all scattergun and emotive.
I don’t think it’ll work as well as people think/want as it doesn’t do anything to solve the real issue which is people not grasping the basics such as fizzy drink being a treat drink and not an all day/every day drink
I think most people grasp that.
What I suspect is that the most obvious labelling (e.g. “50% less sugar!!!”) has more influence than kJ/carbohydrates per 100gm or arbitrary serving size.
When I started looking at labels more closely after going onto a lower-sodium diet, I was surprised at some of the ingredient levels, expecially in processed foods. E.g. fruit juice is often as sugary as fizzy drink, yet juice is often seen as “healthy”.
So I suspect that the minority might down 8 litres of coke a day and be surprised when helth turns to shit, but a hefty chunk of folks probably just follow broad rules and don’t realise quite how bastardised some of their food staples are – e.g. the cheaper bread usually has a massive anount of salt.
But then if I were a cynic, I’d suspect that you knew very well that having simple graphical guides on food content would show up some of the major foodstuff producers as being as amoral as the tobacco industry, and that’s why you speak against the label idea.
If they really want to drink a boat load of fizzy drink then they could try the diet or sugar free versions, costs the same and tastes the same
well, no it doesn’t taste the same (some of it has a really rank aftertaste), but you missed my point about people who “want to drink a boat load of fizzy drink” probably not really making up all that large a chunk (excuse the pun) of our increasingly obese population.
Yeah the amount of people I see with trollies full of cheap fizz, fatty cuts of meat and white bread is quite staggering.
I some how doubt a couple of tea spoons on the side is going to make any difference.
Thing is there’s already a ton of low sugar options out there.
On a side note I was surprised to find out how little sugar there is in beer, something like 1/2 teaspoon per bottle.
And if you marinate your steak in beer first, the carcinogen levels go right down.
Beer really is a super food.
Shows you how our culture has a complete disconnect on knowledge about food, how many people are self medicating on shitty food, and how we’ve driven low income earners to poor diets, poorer overall health and shorter lives.
Nah, it’s just laziness and lack of will power.
There’s never been more information available to people at any time in human history.
There really is no excuse.
There’s lots of data available.
Whether that equates to “information”, on the other hand, is highly debatable.
Yeah we just need to all channel our inner Annabel Langbeins, and flounce around making our coq au vins and wait for hubby/wifey to come home in the audi.
don’t forget all those handy hints Gwyneth gives us for using our leftover quinoa 🙂
Come on McFlock, all other things being equitable I can’t believe that you would ever eat quinoa.
lol
I might have done. I have no idea. Sometimes there’s weird stuff on a plate next to the meat, and one doesn’t wish to offend…
You don’t know how to cook healthy?
Limit the amount of sugar (carbohydrate) in all manufactured products ie they can’t be sold.
So you can still produce Coke but with less sugar in it QED.
Of course the sugar lobby is fighting any suggestion people have less sugar:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/apr/21/usnews.food
http://www.tonywardle.co.uk/articles/vh2_15.php
There’s a documentary somewhere about the NZ scientist involved in the 1990 report which was altered before release by the sugar lobby groups.
Political suicide.
Well that was actually the WHO recommendation that was altered without the authors’ knowledge.
Many countries use the WHO guidelines to determine their standards.
Seems that the only reason the recommendation was suppressed and the only reason it would be political suicide is because of the lobbying by the powerful sugar industry.
Good of you to acknowledge that money buys influence.
Why would the public care if a maximum limit was imposed in all products? You really think people would object to their coke being a little less sweet?
You may find this interesting.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/69169715/Milos-new-recipe-slated-as-disgusting-but-its-healthy-Nestle-says
Imagine of every one had to change their recipes, lots and lots of very unhappy voters.
Did you bother to read the article. They changed the flavours quite substantially eg removing vanilla.
Removing sugar, which has no flavour, and is simply sweet won’t particularly change the taste – it will simply be less sweet.
It’s a bit like when people started removing the copious amount of salt put in boiled potatoes. It didn’t take long for people to adjust.
You’re not removing the ability to put sugar in – just limiting the volume.
In the case of soft drinks for instance they will still be sweet – just less so.
I knew that Milo has been changed but didn’t know it was the vanilla.
We use their instant coffee cafe sleeves and that has changed its packaging recently and as often happens, the recipe too I think. It’s sort of watery, perhaps less milk powder and maybe it had vanilla there too.
On a side note I was surprised to find out how little sugar there is in beer, something like 1/2 teaspoon per bottle.
Beer is a great drink for diabetics. It does fuck-all to your blood sugar unless you’re drinking stuff like Kilkenny or Guinness. Every time medical professionals suggest I drink less beer, I give them a more polite version of “Fuck off.”
Yeah the beer belly is actually a complete myth, nothing to do with beer at all.
Having said that though, beer can often lead to eating large amounts of fatty fish and chips and other assorted take away nasties which results in a rather large gut.
Indonesia burning again.
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/nov/07/setting-a-country-alight-indonesias-devastating-forest-fires-are-manmade
Friends of Earth Indonesia/WALHI and its five regional offices have been conducting investigations of companies suspected of involvement in the fires and triggering the smoke and haze problems in Indonesia. They overlaid the concession maps of the companies, and tracked the names of companies mentioned by the environment and forestry minister. Many of the land concessions of those companies are in the precious peatland area
Already a number of company executives have been arrested for their suspected role in starting illegal forest fires, some of whom supply pulp products to the giant logging corporation Asian Pulp and Paper (APP).
The fires that have been started deliberately are part of a process which usually involves building canals to block water to the beautiful peatlands; thereby drying it out and enabling deliberately lit fires to burn. This drains the life out of these naturally-moist tropical forests, dries them out, and enables deliberately lit fires to burn. In time, companies and contractors will return to plant endless rows of palm oil and wood plantations in their place.
Also http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/know-indonesias-devastating-fires/
I keep waiting for God to do something, but I think there is too much going on for him/her to be able to cope. We may have to do more ourselves. Any way of getting through to the Indonesian’s heart?
God is busy being all excited about the All Blacks and the Royals of the UK.
TPP deal ‘worst thing that Harper government has done for Canada’: Balsillie
Sadly, the bad parts are indeed bad enough to risk the whole; yet, the partners could also agree to a more measured, step-by-step approach, since that would be in the common interest, though not necessarily to the benefit of certain powerful interest groups.
The most egregious parts of the agreement are the exorbitant investor powers implicit in the Investor-State Dispute Settlement system as well as the unjustified expansion of copyright and patent coverage. We’ve seen this show before. Corporations are already using ISDS provisions in existing trade and investment agreements to harass governments in order to frustrate regulations and judicial decisions that negatively impact the companies’ interests. The system proposed in the TPP is a dangerous and unnecessary grant of power to investors and a blow to the judicial systems of all the signatory countries. And as in earlier trade agreements, the United States has pushed through overly strong intellectual property rights that strengthen the aggressive pricing practices of big pharma and unnecessarily extend the copyright protections far beyond their social usefulness.”
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/11/08/jeffrey-sachs-tpp-too-flawed-for-simple-yes-vote/sZd0nlnCr18RurX1n549GI/story.html
A bunch of can-do Kiwis showing John Key how to get some guts.
It isn’t all good news, though: soon the Australian forces will regroup and launch a full on assault, and although our plucky lads have plenty of heart, they simply don’t have the weapons that would allow them to fight back.
At the very least we could send someone over there to give them some training.
At the very least we could send someone over there to give them some training.
– You volunteering?
No, I’m nominating you be sent over as a human shield.
Thought not, just another keyboard warrior
I’m glad you think that anyone who proposes military action go to the front of the deployment queue. That will have a most salutory effect, let’s do it!
‘US in stupor, doesn’t know what to do or even what it wants in Syria – MidEast studies academic’
https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/321020-syrian-peace-talk-conflict/
‘As Syrian peace talks pick up speed, should we hope for any progress in ending the war? This conflict is a riddle, surely – as years go on, it becomes more and more difficult to sort out who’s fighting whom and for what purpose. And over that boiling pot of violence and blood, major powers – Russia, America, Gulf States, Iran – play their own game, no less convoluted, with goals and forces used to influence the conflict unclear. We try to solve that riddle, and to do that, we speak to the director of the Center for Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma, who is an influential analyst on Syria. Professor Joshua Landis is on Sophie&Co today.”
‘Russian diplomacy’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/321032-syria-russian-diplomacy-terrorism/
“Steady as she goes: Russia continues to pursue a carefully calibrated policy of force and diplomacy in Syria. Damascus invited Moscow to enter the conflict to preserve the state and fight terrorism. Washington and its allies remain clueless.
CrossTalking with Mohammad Marandi, Gregg Roman and Catherine Shakdam.”
Trust Trev’ of the Herald to be all invigorated over this piece of Who.Gives.A.Fuck ? Egomaniac crooks wanking one another. Still, some relief for Richie…..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11542494