Open mike 10/01/2025
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6:00 am, January 10th, 2025 - 22 comments
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- Climate Adam: Will 2025 be the Hottest Year Ever Recorded?
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). 2025 has only just begun, but already climate scientists are working hard to unpick what could be in ...7 hours ago - A way to begin
The maxim is as true as it ever was: give a small boy and a pig everything they want, and you will get a good pig and a terrible boy.Elon Musk the child was given everything he could ever want. He has more than any one person or for that ...9 hours ago - Govt leaving food banks in funding limbo
A food rescue organisation has had to resort to an emergency plea for donations via givealittle because of uncertainty about whether Government funding will continue after the end of June. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Wednesday, January 22: Kairos Food ...10 hours ago - How is this legal?
Leo Molloy's recent "shoplifting" smear against former MP Golriz Ghahraman has finally drawn public attention to Auror and its database. And from what's been disclosed so far, it does not look good: The massive privately-owned retail surveillance network which recorded the shopping incident involving former MP Golriz Ghahraman is ...11 hours ago - Not so qualified?
The defence of common law qualified privilege applies (to cut short a lot of legal jargon) when someone tells someone something in good faith, believing they need to know it. Think: telling the police that the neighbour is running methlab or dobbing in a colleague to the boss for stealing. ...11 hours ago - Wednesday 22 January
NZME plans to cut 38 jobs as it reorganises its news operations, including the NZ Herald, BusinessDesk, and Newstalk ZB. It said it planned to publish and produce fewer stories, to focus on those that engage audience. E tū are calling on the Government to step in and support the ...11 hours ago - Working people will pay for static inflation
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed that inflation remains unchanged at 2.2%, defying expectations of further declines, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “While inflation holding steady might sound like good news, the reality is that prices for the basics—like rent, energy, and insurance—are still rising. ...14 hours ago
- DB Punches Down.
I never mentioned anythingAbout the songs that I would singOver the summer, when we'd go on tourAnd sleep on floors and drink the bad beerI think I left it unclearSong: Bad Beer. Songwriter: Jacob Starnes Ewald.Last night, I was watching a movie with Fi and the kids when I glanced ...15 hours ago - What Trump’s second inauguration means for us
Last night I spoke about the second inauguration of Donald Trump with in a ‘pop-up’ Hoon live video chat on the Substack app on phones.Here’s the summary of the lightly edited video above:Trump's actions signify a shift away from international law.The imposition of tariffs could lead to increased inflation ...17 hours ago - Growing Auckland
An interesting article in Stuff a few weeks ago asked a couple of interesting questions in it’s headline, “How big can Auckland get? And how big is too big?“. Unfortunately, the article doesn’t really answer those questions, instead focusing on current growth projections, but there were a few aspects to ...17 hours ago - “That would never happen here!”
Today is Donald J Trump’s second inauguration ceremony.I try not to follow too much US news, and yet these developments are noteworthy and somehow relevant to us here.Only hours in, parts of their Project 2025 ‘think/junk tank’ policies — long planned and signalled — are already live:And Elon Musk, who ...1 day ago - Gordon Campbell On The Looming Conflicts Within The Trump Presidency
How long is it going to take for the MAGA faithful to realise that those titans of Big Tech and venture capital sitting up close to Donald Trump this week are not their allies, but The Enemy? After all, the MAGA crowd are the angry victims left behind by the ...1 day ago - Finally
Back in March, Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier resigned after hitting the age limit for his office. And now, almost a year later, parliament has finally gotten around to appointing a replacement: John Richard Allen is likely to take over the role of chief ombudsman from Peter Boshier, who still ...1 day ago
- Close To The Edge.
California Burning: The veteran firefighters of California and Los Angeles called it “a perfect storm”. The hillsides and canyons were full of “fuel”. The LA Fire Department was underfunded, below-strength, and inadequately-equipped. A key reservoir was empty, leaving fire-hydrants without the water pressure needed for fire hoses. The power companies had ...1 day ago - Sabotaging te Tiriti
The Waitangi Tribunal has been one of the most effective critics of the government, pointing out repeatedly that its racist, colonialist policies breach te Tiriti o Waitangi. While it has no powers beyond those of recommendation, its truth-telling has clearly gotten under the government's skin. They had already begun to ...1 day ago
- National Hugging Day
I don't mind where you come fromAs long as you come to meBut I don't like illusionsI can't see them clearlyI don't care, no I wouldn't dareTo fix the twist in youYou've shown me eventually what you'll doSong: Shimon Moore, Emma Anzai, Antonina Armato, and Tim James.National Hugging Day.Today, January ...2 days ago - Rwanda’s Kagame: from Saviour to Tyrant?
Is Rwanda turning into a country that seeks regional dominance and exterminates its rivals? This is a contention examined by Dr Michela Wrong, and Dr Maria Armoudian. Dr Wrong is a journalist who has written best-selling books on Africa. Her latest, Do Not Disturb. The story of a political murder ...2 days ago - NZ now frozen, listless, mean & hopeless
The economy isn’t cooperating with the Government’s bet that lower interest rates will solve everything, with most metrics indicating per-capita GDP is still contracting faster and further than at any time since the 1990-96 series of government spending and welfare cuts. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short in ...2 days ago - Welcome to American Hell
Hi,Today is the day sexual assaulter and alleged rapist Donald Trump officially became president (again).I was in a meeting for three hours this morning, so I am going to summarise what happened by sharing my friend’s text messages:So there you go.Welcome to American hell — which includes all of America’s ...2 days ago - Moving away from high-end emissions scenarios
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink I have a new paper out today in the journal Dialogues on Climate Change exploring both the range of end-of-century climate outcomes in the literature under current policies and the broader move away from high-end emissions scenarios. Current policies are defined broadly as policies in ...2 days ago
- A silver lining for cycling?
Long story short: I chatted last night with ’s on the substack app about the appointment of Chris Bishop to replace Simeon Brown as Transport Minister. We talked through their different approaches and whether there’s much room for Bishop to reverse many of the anti-cycling measures Brown adopted.Our chat ...2 days ago
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Last night I chatted with Northland emergency doctor on the substack app for subscribers about whether the appointment of Simeon Brown to replace Shane Reti as Health Minister. We discussed whether the new minister can turn around decades of under-funding in real and per-capita terms. Our chat followed his ...2 days ago
- The cabinet metastasises
Christopher Luxon is every dismal boss who ever made you wince, or roll your eyes, or think to yourself I have absolutely got to get the hell out of this place.Get a load of what he shared with us at his cabinet reshuffle, trying to be all sensitive and gracious.Dr ...2 days ago - Puberty blockers
The text of my submission to the Ministry of Health's unnecessary and politicised review of the use of puberty blockers for young trans and nonbinary people in Aotearoa. ...2 days ago - Why the TikTok Ban Was Just a Stunt
Hi,Last night one of the world’s biggest social media platforms, TikTok, became inaccessible in the United States.Then, today, it came back online.Why should we care about a social network that deals in dance trends and cute babies? Well — TikTok represents a lot more than that.And its ban and subsequent ...3 days ago - Arrange and Rearrange
Sometimes I wake in the middle of the nightAnd rub my achin' old eyesIs that a voice from inside-a my headOr does it come down from the skies?"There's a time to laugh butThere's a time to weepAnd a time to make a big change"Wake-up you-bum-the-time has-comeTo arrange and re-arrange and ...3 days ago - Luxon flicks Reti’s hospital pass to Brown
Former Health Minister Shane Reti was the main target of Luxon’s reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short to start the year in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate: Christopher Luxon fired Shane Reti as Health Minister and replaced him with Simeon Brown, who Luxon sees ...3 days ago - Can we have a normal Minister of Transport now?
Yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a cabinet reshuffle, which saw Simeon Brown picking up the Health portfolio as it’s been taken off Dr Shane Reti, and Transport has been given to Chris Bishop. Additionally, Simeon’s energy and local government portfolios now sit with Simon Watts. This is very good ...3 days ago
- Signs of panic
The sacking of Health Minister Shane Reti yesterday had an air of panic about it. A media advisory inviting journalists to a Sunday afternoon press conference at Premier House went out on Saturday night. Caucus members did not learn that even that was happening until yesterday morning. Reti’s fate was ...3 days ago - Gordon Campbell On The Rise Of Simeon Brown
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- 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #03
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- Bastards Abound
The old bastard left his ties and his suitA brown box, mothballs and bowling shoesAnd his opinion so you'd never have to choosePretty soon, you'll be an old bastard tooYou get smaller as the world gets bigThe more you know you know you don't know shit"The whiz man" will never ...5 days ago - Latest Poll- Nats in a slo-mo death spiral?
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Numbers2024 could easily have been National’s “Annus Horribilis” and 2025 shows no signs of a reprieve for our Landlord PM Chris Luxon and his inept Finance Minister Nikki “Noboats” Willis.Several polls last year ...5 days ago - Clearing the Decks: Government replaces half of the Waitangi Tribunal
This Friday afternoon, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced an overhaul of the Waitangi Tribunal.The government has effectively cleared house - appointing 8 new members - and combined with October’s appointment of former ACT leader Richard Prebble, that’s 9 appointees.[I am not certain, but can only presume, Prebble went in ...5 days ago - Back on Track?
The state of the current economy may be similar to when National left office in 2017.In December, a couple of days after the Treasury released its 2024 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HEYFU24), Statistics New Zealand reported its estimate for volume GDP for the previous September 24 quarter. Instead ...5 days ago - Handbags and Gladrags
So what becomes of you, my love?When they have finally stripped you ofThe handbags and the gladragsThat your poor old granddadHad to sweat to buy you, babySongwriter: Mike D'aboIn yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed sadness at seeing Golriz Ghahraman back on the front pages for shoplifting. As someone who is no ...6 days ago - Weekly Roundup 17-January-2025
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Excitement in the seaside village! Look what might be coming! 400 million dollars worth of investment! In the very beating heart of the village! Are we excited and eager to see this happen, what with every last bank branch gone and shops sitting forlornly quiet awaiting a customer?Yes please, apply ...6 days ago - Political societies and economic preferences.
Much discussion has been held over the Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB), the latest in a series of rightwing attempts to enshrine into law pro-market precepts such as the primacy of private property ownership. Underneath the good governance and economic efficiency gobbledegook language of the Bill is an interest to strip ...6 days ago - Submission on Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill
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- The Ol’ Switcheroo
I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?And I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?Song: The Lonely Biscuits.“A bit nippy”, I thought when I woke this morning, and then, soon after that, I wondered whether hell had frozen over. Dear friends, ...7 days ago - Nobody’s insurance rates are safe from climate change
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Asheville, North Carolina, was once widely considered a climate haven thanks to its elevated, inland location and cooler temperatures than much of the Southeast. Then came the catastrophic floods of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a stark reminder that nowhere is safe from ...7 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On More Threats To Democracy From David Seymour
Early reports indicate that the temporary Israel/Hamas ceasefire deal (due to take effect on Sunday) will allow for the gradual release of groups of Israeli hostages, the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails (likely only a fraction of the total incarcerated population), and the withdrawal ...1 week ago
- Choosing your fights
My daily news diet is not what it once was.It was the TV news that lost me first. Too infantilising, too breathless, too frustrating.The Herald was next. You could look past the reactionary framing while it was being a decent newspaper of record, but once Shayne Currie began unleashing all ...1 week ago - Hit The Road Jack
Hit the road Jack and don't you come backNo more, no more, no more, no moreHit the road Jack and don't you come back no moreWhat you say?Songwriters: Percy MayfieldMorena,I keep many of my posts, like this one, paywall-free so that everyone can read them.However, please consider supporting me as ...1 week ago - Review: The Narnia books, by C.S. Lewis (1950-1956) – Part One
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...1 week ago - Sabin 33 #11 – Is solar energy more expensive than energy from fossil fuels?
On November 1, 2024 we announced the publication of 33 rebuttals based on the report "Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles" written by Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Andy Fitch, Matthew Ard, Kaya Sittinger & Samuel Lavine and published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia ...1 week ago
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Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...1 week ago
- No one could save me but you
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...1 week ago - The disinformation grift in NZ.
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...1 week ago
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It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...1 week ago - 2024 sets some new road safety records
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...1 week ago
- The role of climate change in the catastrophic 2025 Los Angeles fires
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...1 week ago
- Submission on Regulatory Standards Bill
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...1 week ago - There’s a solution in there, there really is
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...1 week ago - Hamilton Central Station: Britomart 2.0
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...1 week ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Christopher Luxon’s important trip to the Middle East
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...1 week ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #02
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...1 week ago
- Gordon Campbell On The History Of Doo Wop Music
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...1 week ago
- If You Tolerate This
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...2 weeks ago - Elon Musk Adores Chris Luxon
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...2 weeks ago - American Carnage
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...2 weeks ago
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So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...2 weeks ago - A Bully of Billionaires
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Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...2 weeks ago
- L.A. Burns
2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis has a new job while she oversees New Zealanders losing theirs
There are still struggles ahead with rising rents, rates, insurance and high unemployment, despite today’s inflation data. ...13 hours ago - Government spin won’t pay the rent
The latest Consumer Price Index figures show rents rising almost twice as fast as general inflation. ...13 hours ago - Aotearoa must step up as Trump plays with climate fire
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...2 days ago
- Release: Cabinet reshuffle a futile exercise from failing government
National's Cabinet reshuffle is a futile attempt to turn around a failing government. ...2 days ago
- Greens welcome Gaza ceasefire, but say more work to do
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...7 days ago
- Release: Labour mourns passing of Dame Tariana Turia
Ka kohukohu te awa o Whanganui!Ka tau te kākahu taratara ki runga I te maunga o Whānau Ora!Ka tangi hotuhotu tō iwi Māori! ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour acknowledges Lyn Fleming’s death
Labour expresses its shock and sadness at the death of widely respected Police Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming. ...1 week ago
- Greens welcome deadline extension but reiterate call for Bill to be binned
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party pays respects to Dame Tariana Turia
The Green Party acknowledges the enormous life, contribution and passing of Dame Tariana (Kahurangi) Turia, the co-founder of Te Pāti Māori. ...3 weeks ago
- KO disruptive tenants’ easy ride over
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...2 weeks ago - 80% reduction in building determination wait times
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...2 weeks ago
- Top baby names for 2024
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...2 weeks ago
- Enabling works to begin on Westgate Bus Station
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...2 weeks ago
- A nationwide shift towards acting together to stop family and sexual violence
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...2 weeks ago
- He poroporoaki ki a Kahurangi Tariana Turia
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...3 weeks ago
- New qualification a step forward for diabetes care
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...3 weeks ago
- Chile: Back to the Future
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By Maximiliano Véjares Washington DC Chile’s recent local elections, in which moderate, traditional parties staged a comeback, offer a promising sign of political stability. Following five years of uncertainty marked by a social uprising in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic, and two ...1 hour ago - Palestinians return home to Gaza ashes – if we want peace, face the truth
COMMENTARY: By Saige England Celebration time. Some Palestinian prisoners have been released. A mother reunited with her daughter. A young mother reunited with her babies. Still in prison are people who never received a fair trial, people that independent inquirers say are wrongly imprisoned. Still in prison kids who cursed ...7 hours ago
- Trump’s war on migrants could make an enemy of the country he needs most: Mexico
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong On his first day in office, Donald Trump launched his second term with a barrage of executive orders. Unsurprisingly, many could have a major impact on ...7 hours ago
- Why a common asthma drug will now carry extra safety warnings about depression
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Macquarie University Nial Wheate Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) recently issued a safety alert requiring extra warnings to be included with the asthma and hay fever drug montelukast. The warnings are for users and their ...8 hours ago
- ‘A mini climate-control system’: the tech behind sportswear at the Australian Open
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carolina Quintero Rodriguez, Senior Lecturer and Program Manager, Bachelor of Fashion (Enterprise) program, RMIT University When a tennis player serves at 200km/h in 30°C heat, their clothing isn’t just fabric. It becomes a key part of their performance. Modern tennis wear ...9 hours ago
- For tennis star Destanee Aiava, borderline personality disorder felt like ‘a death sentence’ –...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jayashri Kulkarni, Professor of Psychiatry, Monash University Last week, Australian Open player Destanee Aiava revealed she had struggled with borderline personality disorder. The tennis player said a formal diagnosis, after suicidal behaviour and severe panic attacks, “was a relief”. But “it ...9 hours ago
- REVEALED: $4 Million To Subsidise Whale-oil Is Outrageous
Research methods in this project included healing Kauri trees through using "sonic samples of healthy whales to construct a tapestry of rejuvenation and wellbeing.” ...10 hours ago - Carol Jerrems captured Melbourne and Sydney of the 1970s, understanding photography as a collaborati...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Simon, Senior Lecturer in Media, Macquarie University Carol Jerrems, 1/2 length self portrait in mirror, wearing pyjama shirt, camera at shoulder height, 1979. National Library of Australia Manuscript collection (MS 10718). © The Estate of Carol Jerrems Australian photographer Carol ...10 hours ago
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 22 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...21 hours ago
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Not only has Israel deliberately caused the highest number of child amputees in any conflict but among the list of items denied access to Gaza (that includes anaesthetics and sleeping bags), is crutches. The suffering caused is deliberate and designed to maximise pain. This is ongoing child torture, fully supported and enabled by the Biden administration.
https://x.com/muhammadshehad2/status/1876941502577868998
xcancel allows non account holders to access tweets
https://xcancel.com
https://xcancel.com/muhammadshehad2/status/1876941502577868998
https://xcancel.com/search?f=tweets&q=%40muhammadshehad2
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/01/middleeast/gaza-aid-israel-restrictions-investigation-intl-cmd/index.html
He hasn't even assumed office yet, but he's already upsetting a lot of world leaders – and it will only get worse!
6 mins long
A link to the X space with Musk and Alice Weidel from the AFD.
https://www.youtube.com/live/7pkSYdlRdE8
The Ministry of Truth, is the fictional hub of the fictional empire of Oceania, in the dystopian novel by George Orwell. George Orwell's inspiration for the Ministry of Truth, came from his experience of working as a journalist at the BBC head office in London, the city where his novel plays out..
Room 101 at the BBC was the room at the BBC where BBC journalists were grilled on how to present news to benefit the very real British Empire.
With his real world experience of imperialism in Burma and elsewhere, Orwell found the indoctrination he experienced in Room 101 to present the news the way the BBC wanted, as unbearable Orwell used the very real Room 101 at the BBC as the inspiration for the fictional torture chamber in his dystopian novel. As a result 'Room 101' has entered the English language lexicon as a generic term for a place of fear and horror.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_101_(disambiguation)
Orwell was never physically tortured in Room 101. Orwell's experience working as a journalist at the BBC was greatly exaggerated and magnified for dramatic effect, as a warning.
As the genocide in Gaza has continued, the very real Western global economic and military empire headed by the US, that incorporates Britain as a junior partner. has tried to persuade the world that this genocide is something justified and reasonable and necessary.
With its massive global audience the BBC has been central to this propaganda campaign.
The BBC's role in presenting this pro-genocide narrative is a very sensitive issue, for the BBC and the British state. How for instance would the BBC present to their gloval audience the news that tens of thousands of UK citizens are protesting outside their offices accusing them of being liars?
An effort to protest the role of BBC is being met with active suppression.
This is not what democracy looks like.
Trudeau calls out Trump's hard-ball tactics, threatening to annex Canada, as a ruse to distract US voters from the price increases they will experience when tariffs go on Canadian oil and forestry products.
The awareness of the Regulatory Standards Bill appears to be confined to the fringes, which is predictably sad or joyful, depending on one’s personal political inclination.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2501/S00020/the-bill-for-individualism-corporations-and-neoliberalism.htm [from RH Media feeds]
Mainstream media are not covering this Bill.
No hits on RNZ website in the last week.
One letter on Stuff website that raises the same pertinent point:
https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360521752/letters-editor
Nothing on the NZ Herald’s (of course).
One mention on Newsroom:
https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/01/04/anne-salmond-hunger-games-in-the-beehive/ [excellent piece by Anne Salmond with a very good discussion in the Comments]
By design and timing this Bill is overshadowed by the Treaty Principles Bill, which is aggravated by the one-week extension for submissions on that Bill.
Several trees fallen or burnt down in the forest, but nobody reported it, so nobody knows about it [no reference to LA fires that have been trending on Google Trends, but don’t tell Alwyn].
I could not help myself. This bill is just shit.
Any submissions with swearing and the word “racist” will be rejected.
Clap trap is not swearing is it?
I hope not but I’m not moderating those submissions.
I was careful, but now I'm worried.
Which is why I mentioned it.
Strong compelling criticism and arguments don’t necessarily require strong language. Funnily, AI and auto-correct/auto-fill features that have been around for years on devices can be quite useful in taking off the rough edges without watering down the message content too much and keeping communications more ‘civilised’ although the PCs of the Grammar Police can go too far and overstep [their] boundaries and stifle debate – I know what I’m talking about 😉
I've just waded through the information on the Govt. consultation website and with the help of Shaun Lee's submission, have made a submission myself. A first time for everything!
At the very least, it gives me a right to piss and moan should this thing sees the light.
Unfortunately there wasn't a box to tick under 'Should this bill be ignored for the sneaky way it has been introduced, that it is the political wet dream of less than 10% of voters and that it is the fourth attempt of introducing this legislation.'
Thank you!
For TS readers’ convenience:
https://blog.shaunlee.co.nz/submission-on-regulatory-standards-bill/
https://blog.shaunlee.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Stet-LTD-submission-on-RSB.pdf
So I asked google the question pertinent in summertime Enzed and wintertime LA California with the Santa Ana winds
AI Overview
This article in the New York Times
Published January 7, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/protecting-home-in-wildfire-zone/
One view as to the origin/cause of the fires
https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/la-fires-cause-arson-power-20025016.php
One idea I remember seeing was to surround the house with moisture-retaining plants such as cacti (yes, extreme example, but you get the drift). They don't catch on fire nearly so easily as the ones you've got to keep watering.
You might like this SPC
Global Boiling is nothing but a event we are adding too.
A poll shows even ACT voters prefer rail enabled ferries.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/538617/nearly-half-of-public-wants-new-interislander-ferries-to-be-rail-enabled-poll
Trojan Horse – Arend van Dam
And just like that…..
/
@Acyn
Fox Host Jesse Watters: The fact that they don't want to become part of America makes me want to make them.
https://xcancel.com/Acyn/status/1876799471746748640