During a rally in Charlotte, N.C., this Friday, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg drew thunderous applause after shutting down a heckler who interrupted her speech.
“I think if you want to speak with me personally, maybe you can do it later,” Thunberg said before the crowd broke into cheers and chants of her name.
The heckler, who can be heard off camera yelling an unintelligible screed, seemed to back off after Thunberg called her out.
Watch the moment below. The relevant portion begins at about the 4:30 mark of the video:
Greta must have had an appendix provided as mandatory part of each stage managed talk she's involved in now.
how to respond ad hoc off script.
Greta is being used as a human shield. The adults and corporates behind her are clearly identifiable.
While you’re providing recs to watch your hero in action. I'm sure you can also locate the vids where she clearly had no script and was unable to mount a coherent response to simple questions.
Easy to locate Joe. I'm sure you know the vids I'm referring to.
rubbish – Greta is a hero and you are just envious. She is very brave to stick to the science when her haters just want to attack her personally – weak little humans her enemies are
Gee One Two, for us readers that aren't following Thunberg as closely as you and you think joe90 are, how about providing actual links instead of vague insinuations?
More a case of progressive identity crisis IMO, David.
For those who are watching on, indeed cheering on while a child is used by adults and is backed by large corporate industry.
I would agree that those who aim disapproval at Greta, are pointing in the wrong direction.
Listening to an exploited kid on an issue as complex and important as this, witnessing as 'policy' is coerced out by staging of the message, is simply a reflection of how far gone we are.
Same happening right now in Xijiang with the Uighurs, in that great communist country, China. reminds me of Animal Farm: all are equal, just some are more equal than others.
And same happening as in 1938: the world ignores it.
Yes the Nazi instigated overnight rampage that happened on 9 November 1938 is awful, disgusting and revolting. Thanks joe90 for reminding us.
I am saddened that Israel with it's deep understanding of the psychology behind such inhumane actions failed to sign the letter to the U N Human Rights Council condemning the Chinese treatment of the Uighur people.
It is, therefore, disingenuous (to say the least) for Luxon to present his evangelical convictions as having relevance only to himself and the congregation of the Upper Room Church to which he belongs. The very name of his faith community argues against this claim.
The “Upper Room” mentioned in the gospels is the room to which Jesus and his disciples repaired on the night of his arrest. In biblical tradition, it is the location of Christ’s last supper. The Upper Room thus represents the ignition-point of the chain of events that led to Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. It was Christianity’s first church: Ground Zero, if you like, for Jesus’s universal mission. In the Messiah’s own words:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Does that sound like a private matter? Was the Upper Room really nothing more than the venue for a catered meal for Jesus of Nazareth and a few close friends?
If the glass is not full, there is no gap. No history remains save swirling for a while.
If the glass is full, then the ullage is equal to the volume of the finger and to the rate at which it is inserted and withdrawn…….it's all something about fat fingers, making a splash and ending up wasting more.
Was John Key rather a show-off doing dive-bombs in the pool of history?
BREAKING: Leon Cooperman, who has been battling Elizabeth Warren, says he will support fellow billionaire Mike Bloomberg for president https://t.co/gn63yXmpFF
I saw @MikeBloomberg speak to a group of rich executives end of 2018, when he was already considering running for president. I was so shocked at his views that I took notes.
He opposes legalizing marijuana and criminal justice reform; used the "gateway drug" argument.
He's against investing in tech education in public schools because -get this- "we invest in computers and then they're used for porn and to plagiarize homework" , verbatim.
I could spend a whole thread just on this but there's more to cover.
He's against minimum wage and regulation around income and aid for poor Americans who have to hold several jobs just to make ends meet
Literally said "you can't train people to do tech jobs, they're just not wired that way" when asked about tech education to mitigate job loss because of AI advances
He ranted for several minutes about younger generations wanting to retire (?) and how that makes things hard on the economy #okboomer
at some point said "women all of a sudden have opportunities now" so there are 2 bread winners in every family…
Sorry Mike, ALL OF A SUDDEN?
And finally, he said "we need to go back to how things were done in Clinton days, when he'd get 3 democrats, 3 Republicans and take them golfing, then go lock themselves in a room, close the door, smoke cigars and make all the decisions" (all men implied)
I've been as critical of Barry Soper as much as anyone else here in the past, but this time he's right on the money over the Winston Peters over-payment saga:
But in all of this sorry saga the issue wouldn't have arisen if the public service hadn't alerted the politicians under the no surprises convention.
How a pension over payment to Winston Peters would have impacted on their portfolios a month out from an election, which is the reason for telling them, is ridiculous.
Providing salacious information to his political opponents, at the height of the election campaign, was like loading a rifle and handing it to them to fire.
That is my view as well. This was an overtly political act of attempted electoral sabotage. Most likely from within the National party or its staffers. It is unlikely to have been public service staff in MSD etc. They would have known full well that it was a criminal offense for them to expose this information.
I suspect that it was also politically idiotic. It probably didn’t do much good in diminishing the NZ First vote, and we have seen remarkably similar tactics used before. It was very obvious what was going on.
If anything, it probably helped the NZ First vote, as the only people who’d have been irate about it were already National voters.
It made it pretty damn sure that the NZ First politicians had vivid memories of dealing with untrustworthy arseholes in 1998 and 2008 when it came to coalition talks. Even the NZF MPs who’d been leaning towards a National coalition would have been aghast at the level of political cynicism that it displayed. Who’d want to deal with a party with fuckwits like that in it.
No. That the MSD and SSC chiefs should not have told the two ministers. The pension over-payment to Winston Peters had no impact on their portfolio responsibilities so there was no requirement to tell them.
The leak came from National within 24 hrs of Jacinda Ardern becoming the leader of the Labour Party. That was no coincidence.
Since there was no necessity for the CEOs to advise their ministers of an operational matter such as an over-payment to another parliamentarian then why did they tell the ministers? Doing it only a few weeks before a general election makes it worse.
If on the other hand they had information which would impact on the ability of the ministers to carry out their portfolio responsibilities then it is incumbent on them to tell the ministers. The over-payment was not one of them.
No matter how they dress it up, it had to be a politically motivated action on the part of the CEOs concerned.
Or they did not trust their own agency's staff to avoid blabbing to the media, and their Minister to be blindsided by that. The subsequent inquiry showed that would not have been not a valid belief.
Oh and I’d welcome the ‘no surprises’ policy being consigned to the rubbish bin of history. Toxic.
How the heck am I still alive? Just luck I guess, and the fact the 2011 earthquake hit Christchurch instead of Wellington. I was in an office in the Terrace at the time.
I wonder if that BNZ/State building (Aon) is affected…always had a dodgy feel going down there.
There was an anecdote from Tim Shadbolt many years ago, when he was talking about working on building sites in Auckland. IIRC, it went along the lines of:
… when pouring the structural concrete into the forms around the rebar, sometimes it would take so long to get the mixed concrete to the upper floors it had started setting. Because they didn't use vibrating wands back then, it was only when they removed the forms that they realised that there were big voids in the pour. So, they packed the voids and plastered them over.
From my recollection, he said that many multi-towered builds in Auckland at that time had problems with the concrete structure.
This is from so long ago, I can't remember if I read it, but I have a feeling it was a radio interview.
Something very strange about this story – certainly got the anti 1080's energised – post after post after link on facecloth.
Dog owners are being warned to keep their pets off Westport beaches after hundreds of rats washed up there yesterday.
The Department of Conservation said they may be victims of a recent 1080 drop 140km away in the Lewis Pass National Reserve.
…Doc Western South Island operations director Mark Davies said while it was possible the rats could have come from a recent 1080 drop, reports of dead fish and birds, along with the rats, were not consistent with the way 1080 was understood to work.
Yep, corpses in rivers often lose patches of hair. If those rat corpses truly come from over 100km up the Buller river, I'd be a little surprised there aren't reports of rat corpses lining the riverbanks all the way down. Corpses of other animals are a fairly common sight on riverbanks after floods.
Modern landfill and waste management practices mean that most people don't get to observe the rats, cats and other wildlife at the dump any more. You get some interesting hybrid rats, occurrence sort of in line with popularity of pet rats at the time, and some pretty flash cats. They stow away in a rubbish bag or wheelie bin and away they go. The surviving cats usually make their way home but the rats become part of the local population. We're near a bridge between our dump and town and have a cat a month pass through.
Hmmm, just learnt something. Pet, or fancy rats are usually Rattus norvegicus, which can be locally rare in NZ, generally Rattus Rattus is dominant, although there could be a population at the Westport dump. So, if a population became established, say at Westport dump after they stowed away in a household's rubbish, they would become self sustaining, rather than interbreed with the locals. Also from that link, "Rats are pets that are allowed in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter series." Which would have given a recent surge in popularity. R. Rattus can be domesticated too but doesn't have white forms.
Black rabbits are cool, there's a population near us that does the odd black one, and they don't seem to move far from their home.
Sounds more like Brodifacoum than 1080 to have birds and fish associated. But wave action will sort flotsam by density, whether that's rocks, gold or dead things, so quite natural for all the dead things that got washed down the river in a fresh to get washed up on the same bit of beach.
Probably went something like a rat poisoning operation up a nearby river, animals would seek water when they are dying and die within flood zone, a good rain after a good dry period, dead things get washed down river and up onto beach.
Surprised no one has owned up yet because it looks like a bit of a win against the rats – I suppose the tests will show which poison got them – your scenario makes sense to me.
Hmmm, they were found on North Beach, the Westport rubbish dump is right next to the lagoon that meets the sea at one end of North Beach, brodifacoum makes its victims very thirsty, 1080 doesn't. Brodifacoum is also very toxic to birds and fish, 1080 is less toxic to birds and fish than to mammals. I reckon Graeme's probably onto it with his comments above.
Could well be true – but it's more a matter of what's in use nearby than relative toxicity. The pellets used to kill a possum of up to 4kg will always suffice to kill a kea of up to 1kg. Stuff provisionally attributes the kill to 1080, though carcasses are being collected for testing – we shall find out eventually.
Basically, they go "there are all these dead rats. Poison would be likely, as predators eat the rats. We did a poison drop a hundred miles away, it might be that, but other factors which I have not seen directly are inconsistent with our poison drop."
This is so stupid imo – keeping good relations? wtf?
Miro had decided not to release incriminating footage of the cat in the interest of keeping good relations with its owners.
ok what has this cat done
The lone tabby has been caught on camera by volunteers of the Mainland Island Restoration Organisation (Miro) raiding banded dotterel nests for the second consecutive breeding season at an Eastbourne colony – the species' only breeding site inside Wellington Harbour.
The cat has decimated seven nests so far this season by eating eggs and killing chicks.
It is the same cat that last year destroyed all the Eastbourne colony's nests, said Miro committee member Parker Jones.
…Banded dotterels carry the same nationally vulnerable conservation status as the great spotted kiwi and whio, or blue duck, but miss out when it comes to conservation funding, Jones said.
This suggests there are still legal issues with killing someone else's cat,
That said, a person who harms another’s companion animal could still face both criminal and civil liability.
Oddly, knowingly threatening to kill or injure an animal carries a maximum penalty of 3 years’ imprisonment under s307 of the Crimes Act 1961 whereas actually killing an animal carries a maximum penalty of 3 months’ imprisonment or a fine not exceeding $2000 under s11 of the Summary Offences Act 1981 (under which the animal would likely be considered ‘property’). However, in any event, harming another person’s animal may attract criminal liability under s269(2)(b) of the Crimes Act 1961, which prohibits “intentionally or recklessly and without claim of right destroying or damaging any property with intent to […] cause loss to any other person.” This section carries a maximum penalty of 7 years’ imprisonment.
There was another case reported recently with endangered sea birds (not sure if same species). The kills were mainly from feral cats in an area where there were also house cats. The story was that they were having trouble killing the feral cats because of the house cats. This is not a hugely difficult problem to solve (eg have shooting nights twice a month that the community knows in advance is happening). So before we get to the locking cats up thing, maybe we should look at the range of solutions available and what is appropriate to each situation.
Locking cats up is pretty difficult for many people. I couldn't do it with mine. Think the number of people that have kids and an indoor/outdoor life where doors and windows are left open routinely. Not only is it cruel to lock up cats that are used to being outside, it's a really big ask to expect people to change their lives that much.
It seems reasonable to establish cat free areas over time, using natural attrition to achieve that, where there is a high need. But that one cat isn't responsible for that species being endangered and there's a fair amount of hypocrisy in NZ over this issue, where cats are seen as an easy target but we still want to keep on with our habitat destroying ways and not put money into predator fencing or paying people to do ground control.
or actually more like, get better strategies rather than hand wringing about cats. The other case is a clear example of the problem being humans. Probably this one too. Generic locking up the cats is the lazy arse approach.
Strategy would depend on that particular situation and none of us here know what that is. eg what is the owner like? What's the relationship between the owner and the conservationists?
What's the distance between the house and the nesting site? Is the nesting site amenable to a predator fence?
Lots of things to take into account.
The better strategies comment was to point to the problem of knee-jerk 'lock the cats up'. If that one cat gets locked up and nothing else changes what happens to the birds when a feral cat or other wild predator turns up?
is that happening? As I said elsewhere in the thread, in the other recent situation about beach nesting birds, they weren’t controlling the feral cats because of the house cats. That’s not a hard situation to fix, so why aren’t we? I think the whole anti-cat thing is a problem and we should instead be looking at how cat owners and conservationists can work together in the context of better planning. Also mentioned was the hypocrisy. NZ loves to love its birds, but we are still actually quite bad at land management for that.
Given that they're filming the nest, another option would be to watch the cat kill a chick and charge the owners with killing a protected species because of their negligence. That'll filter out the domestic cats really quickly.
I’m sensing a fair degree of cat antipathy (or apathy) rather than a strong commitment to good conservation design. One problem with this approach is that it will lessen support for conservation among cat owners (who are legion and passionate) and we already have too much vegan, anti-predator control culture on the rise as it is.
I'm a fan of systemic, nuanced approaches at a broad level.
But this is a specific colony that might not exist in a couple of years due in no small part to specific, identified, individual animals with known owners.
To me, this discussion is like a kid in ED with a grossly infected cut. Sure, we can and should look at preventing injuries and providing equitable access to primary healthcare. That might be very useful and could help many children in the future. But right now this kid needs debriding, cleaning and antibiotics as soon as possible (barring any contraindications).
Cats used to be classed as wild animals, unable to be trained. Whereas dogs are trainable and there is onus then on the owner to train and control them, apart from being able to be shot if found on anyone's farm.
lolna. Had to feed a friend's cat last weekend. There was some food outside for it on the washing machine, but it was looking like it couldn't get up that high so I found a low table and shifted his food and water to that.
Apparently he was just being lazy and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I was vary quick to be trained 🙂
U.S.-Turkish relations have plunged to a new nadir. In the past month, a senior Republican senator has suggested suspending Turkey’s membership in the NATO alliance, while the secretary of state implied a readiness to use military force against America’s wayward ally. In these circumstances, U.S. nuclear weapons have no business in Turkey. It is time to bring them home.
A towering Baby Trump protest balloon was knifed and deflated by someone unhappy with its appearance during Donald Trump’s Saturday trip to Alabama, organisers said.
…The orange, diaper-clad, cellphone-clutching caricature of the president is often taken to Trump appearances as a way to protest against him.
…Robert Kennedy, a volunteer “baby sitter” who brought the balloon to Tuscaloosa, said the balloon immediately began to sag after it was cut.
The Trump baby balloon popper went live on Facebook before he interrupted a peaceful, law-abiding protest to commit a felony… pic.twitter.com/Ak0hwHaqaV
My mind would need to be in an extraordinary place for me to consider Trump a valuable President. I continue to be amazed that some do. Don't these people have family and aspirations?
Probably depends a bit on how that deflation comes about. But that whistling breeze will likely turn stormy, with lightning and thunder quite probable.
We need all the money we can spear to mitigate Global Warming. Wasting money on moving the Port of Auckland up North is dumb. They should go with the most economic choices move more fright to Tauranga and more up North and keep the Auckland port going I think is the best model
'' I "" if you don't Wai Te tipu tipu they won't grow up to their best potential.
Our honest Scientists have been predicting that Reality for the last 20 years it good that the Australian authorities are planning ahead and evacuating Te tangata
Yes Te Mama great contributions to our society need to be recognised and honoured.
The toxic people are the ones harassing Eco Maori.
We have to change the way we behave and minimise our carbon usage immediately the sooner we start the less disruptive it will be to the way we live. The longer we take to act the more drastic targets we will have to set in reducing our carbon footprint.
Cutting the speed of ships has huge benefits for humans, nature and the climate, according to a new report.
A 20% reduction would cut greenhouse gases but also curb pollutants that damage human health such as black carbon and nitrogen oxides.
This speed limit would cut underwater noise by 66% and reduce the chances of whale collisions by 78%.
UN negotiators will meet in London this week to consider proposals to curb maritime speeds.
Ships, of all sorts and sizes, transport around 80% of the world's goods by volume. However they are also responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse emissions thanks to the burning of fuel.
Shipping generates roughly 3% of the global total of warming gases – that's roughly the same quantity as emitted by Germany.
While shipping wasn't covered by the Paris climate agreement, last year the industry agreed to cut emissions by 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels
While I was farming I noticed to that in summer the grass growth was fast in the shade. I posted a story thee other day that makes a good case to have solar panels mounted 7 foot high on wooden poles and wooden frames it great logic
Renewable Energy Gives Farmers Another Reason To Love It
As if the case for renewable energy needs any more making, along comes a new study showing that wind and solar power are good for the water table and they could help farmers survive periods of drought, too. That’s especially big news for California. The state has suffered through a series of droughts, leading to unsustainable use of its underground water resources by farmers and other users. But wait, there’s a weird hydropower angle in there, too Ka kite Ano link below.
The Whakatane Council is just flickering the buck they are the ones who made a mess of the election process.
I agree with Te Wahine Maori Mana is being down trodden and that has a negative effect on people I see it everywhere in Aotearoa times are changing for the better Ma Te Wa.
Its great to see people getting confidence to help other people less fortunate than them.
I think that the chances to our schools will help lift all tangata whenua tamariki and Pacific tamariki climb higher up their ladders of life.
Good call my Tamariki used to paddle in Horouta waka aka club I think that they deserve some recognition they have been cleaning up for years now.
I say our native bat's needs to be saved we have to save there habitants and invest in their protection in Waikato they are our Taonga build those whare for them to.
The Kiwi hatching are cute Aotearoa was the whenua of the Titi.
All the new infrastructure spends needs to have goals of lowering our carbon footprint.
The new laws of the miscarriage of justices being sent back to the courts by a commission is great it will save innocent tangata being locked up.
All our tamariki need to feel and be safe at school.
Insurances are sold to Te tangata with the myths that the many paying premium spreads the risk for the cost of a desaster on the shoulder of the many but reality is they cheery pick the risk. They put profits before Te tangata wellbeing.
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NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind — the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONAL’S Bill English who accurately described New Zealand’s prisons as “fiscal and moral failures”. On the same subject, Labour’s Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. We’d studied Shakespeare’s King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Jacinda Ardern has reminded Labour MPs "ongoing vigilance" will be required in 2021 to avoid another Covid outbreak, admitting she held her breath over the summer break. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Pinged $65 for overstaying 10 minutes in a parking block? Put away your hard-earned cash and read this first.Hopefully, by now, I’ve already established myself at The Spinoff as the resident tightarse, determined to avoid all unfair and unnecessary punishments (see: oversize baggage charges). Today, I’m focusing my attention on ...
Nuclear weapons states and their allies risk reputational ruin if they flout a new UN Treaty, Carolina Panico argues The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will come into force this month, on January 22, 2021, turning nuclear weapons into illegal objects. It is an achievement that ...
How does one turn into a rabid extremist over the description of a children’s bike? Emily Writes looks at Facebook comments so you don’t have to.You’ve been there, I know it. You’re scrolling along, trying to avoid QAnon conspiracy theories and Trump apocalypse memes when a story catches your eye. ...
Joe Biden is now the President of the United States and many people across America and throughout the world will consequently be breathing more easily. But while the erratic, unpredictable and irresponsible years of the Trump Presidency may be over, ...
Tough border testing for New Zealand honey imports to Japan is re-igniting the conversation about the use of the weed killer glypohsate in New Zealand. ...
The Taxpayers Union should be aware of the law and of the history of ACC. The ACC is a legal system introduced in 1974 to replace the common law right of accident victims to sue for damages for personal injury sustained as a result of negligence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne Terrorism, political extremism, Donald Trump, social media and the phenomenon of “cancel culture” are confronting journalists with a range of agonising free-speech dilemmas to which there are no easy answers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Associate Professor of the Sydney Pharmacy School, University of Sydney You’ve just come from your monthly GP appointment with a new script for your ongoing medical condition. But your local pharmacy is out of stock of your usual medicine. Your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna D’Alessandro, Professor & ARC Future Fellow, University of Sydney On Wednesday this week, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was measured at at 415 parts per million (ppm). The level is the highest in human history, and is growing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington It might be summer in New Zealand but we’re in for some wild weather this week with forecasts of heavy wind and rain, and a plunge in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University Last week, the McIver’s Ladies Baths in Sydney came under fire for their (since removed) policy stating “only transgender women who’ve undergone a gender reassignment surgery are allowed entry”. The policy was ...
There are good grounds for optimism after the guardrails of American democracy held firm through to Joe Biden's inauguration today as President, writes Stephen Hoadley Pessimism abounds about the perilous condition of American democracy. Commentators and headline writers proffer memes such as ‘broken and divided nation’, ‘the threat from within’. ...
*This article was originally appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Donald Trump will forever be remembered as the president who was impeached twice - and for his rhetoric that struck a chord so deep in America that it will take years to dissipate. Donald Trump leaves Washington with the lowest approval ...
A new plan shows how and where the Government will build 8,000 new state housing places it funded in Budget 2020, Marc Daalder reports Jacinda Ardern has kicked off the political year with a major announcement, promising hundreds of new state housing places in regional centres across the country. With ...
This is the full transcript of President Joe Biden's speech after being sworn in at his inauguration this morning in Washington DC Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, and my distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, this is America's day. This ...
Analysis: President Donald Trump has left the White House, and his deputy chief of staff confirms he is withdrawing his candidacy to lead the OECD. New Zealander Christopher Liddell withdrew his nomination to be Secretary-General of the powerful 37-member OECD and was one of the last members of the Trump Administration to depart ...
Kate Wills is facing stage four cancer with the same fierce approach she takes into her ocean swimming - never say can't. Even on the mornings Kate Wills feels wretched from her fortnightly chemotherapy treatment, she drags herself up at 5am and goes swimming. “I have to. It’s my job – to ...
Some costs associated with meetings speak for themselves, others are less conspicuous. Victoria University of Wellington's Val Hooper lays those costs out, making suggestions on where we can rein them in. Meetings – when last did we count the costs? And so it’s back to work and one of the ...
Andrew Paul Wood assesses the best-selling picture book by Grahame Sydney It's no great secret the commercially very successful Grahame Sydney has a long-standing beef that his work doesn’t receive more critical and institutional approval. I sympathise about the lack of critical attention, but I can understand why. The Discourse™ ...
This story was produced in collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations. It was originally published by Public Integrity, Mother Jones, The Arizona Republic and Orlando Sentinel. It is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the ...
Analysis: It has been easy to ignore anyone daring to criticise or even question any aspect of the government’s Covid-19 response. Their voices have rarely been heard, and when they have been raised they have been quickly and decisively howled down by the favoured coterie of academics. ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US presidential inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated through Wednesday and Thursday. The inauguration ceremony begins at 5.15am Thursday, NZ time, and Joe Biden takes the oath of office around 6am. 7.25am: And what about Trump?In the early hours of this morning, NZ ...
In 10 x 100, we survey a group of 100 people via Stickybeak and ask them 10 questions. Last month we quizzed Wellingtonians. Today, we ask NZ drivers how they’ve found a holiday period without international tourists, and what they get up to while they’re on the road.Across Aotearoa roads ...
Emmanuel Macron's anti-separatist policies have garnered backlash from the international Muslim community. Now, a global coalition has complained to the UN. ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they go on an odyssey of women’s rage, and find out how we can channel our anger into good. First published September 15, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by ...
By Lorraine Ecarma in Cebu City The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) will continue to stand against any threats to human rights, chancellor Clement Camposano has declared in response to the termination of a long-standing accord preventing military incursion on campus. In a Facebook post, Camposano said the academic ...
ANALYSIS:By Jennifer S. Hunt, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit different. If the last US presidential inauguration in 2017 debuted the phrase “alternative facts”, the ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby In spite of Papua New Guinea’s mandatory mask-wearing requirement under the National Pandemic Act 2020, many public servants attending a dedication service in Port Moresby have failed to wear one. They were issued masks before entering the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex but took ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University How do scabs form? — Talila, aged 8 Great question, Talila! Our skin has many different jobs. One is to act as a barrier, protecting us from harmful things in the ...
US President Donald Trump is pardoning former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who is accused of fraud in a case involving funds for the border wall. ...
Joel Little with Lorde, Dera Meelan with Church & AP, Josh Fountain with Maala and Randa and Benee – producers make good songs great. Now a new fund from NZ on Air is putting the focus on them.Six months ago it looked like the music industry was on the brink ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denise Buiten, Senior Lecturer in Social Justice and Sociology, University of Notre Dame Australia On average, one child is killed by a parent almost every fortnight in Australia. Last week, three children — Claire, 7, Anna, 5, and Matthew, 3 — were ...
This commendable and realistic decision again underlines that it is the police, not government, who are largely responsible for the reduction in cannabis prosecutions over the past 15 years, writes Russell Brown.The news that New Zealand police have discontinued the annual Helicopter Recovery Operation, which has, each summer for more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Professor and Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the world’s population is mostly immune through vaccination ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated throughout Wednesday and Thursday, NZ time. Reach me at catherine@thespinoff.co.nz.4.00pm: What will Trump be doing tomorrow?It’s pretty well known by now that outgoing president Donald Trump intends to throw out the rulebook when it comes to ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling out Mayor Phil Goff for his undignified comment that the claim made by Councillor Greg Sayers asking why Auckland Council is funding yoga classes is “bullshit.” Yesterday, Councillor Greg Sayers penned ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At 4am Thursday AEDT, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States, replacing Donald Trump and Mike Pence. What follows is ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission. New Zealanders flocked to beaches and lakes this summer, but it wasn't enough to fill the gap left by international tourists in other regions. The tourism industry is struggling to fill a $6 billion hole left by international tourists ...
Summer reissue: Chef Monique Fiso joins us for a chat about Hiakai – her acclaimed Wellington restaurant, and the title of her stunning new book.First published November 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn ...
A new trough was brought to our attention this morning, although ethnicity will limit the numbers of eligible applicants. If you are non-Maori, it looks like you shouldn’t bother getting into the queue – but who knows?We learned of the trough from the Scoop website, where the Kapiti ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs economies up to US$50 billion globally each year, and makes up to one-fifth of the global catch. It’s a huge problem not only for the ...
Police stopping major cannabis eradication operations has given the green light to drug dealers and gangs to expand operations, make more profit, and continue to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable in our society, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. ...
Varieties of merino wool footwear are emerging faster than Netflix series about British aristocracy. Michael Andrew takes a look at the rise of the shoe that almost everyone – including his 95-year-old grandma – is wearing.Some might say it all started with Allbirds. After all, to the average consumer, it ...
A new report from New Zealand’s Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) highlights the realities and challenges disabled people faced during the COVID-19 emergency. The report, Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic, Te Whakatinana i ngā Tika ...
The Maritime Union is questioning the reasons provided for ongoing delays at the Ports of Auckland. Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says there is a need for an honest conversation about what has gone wrong at the ...
As New Zealand faces a dire shortage of veterinarians, a petition has been launched urging the Government to reclassify veterinarians as critical workers so we can Get Vets into NZ. “New Zealand desperately needs veterinarians from overseas to counter ...
New Zealand is fast developing a reputation as a South Pacific vandal, says Greenpeace, as the government continues to fight against increased ocean protection. At the upcoming meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and Netsafe are urging parents and caregivers to be mindful of the online content their tamariki may be consuming in the lead up to the inauguration of president-elect of the United States of America Joe Biden ...
Care is at the centre of Auckland Zoo’s mandate, and it’s clear to see when you witness the staff doing their day-to-day jobs up close. Leonie Hayden went behind the scenes to talk to two people who would do anything for the animals they look after. “We were having this ...
The Game Animal Council (GAC) is applying its expertise in the use of firearms for hunting to work alongside Police, other agencies and stakeholder groups to improve the compliance provisions for hunters and other firearms users. The GAC has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Verica Rupar, Professor, Auckland University of Technology “The lie outlasts the liar,” writes historian Timothy Snyder, referring to outgoing president Donald Trump and his contribution to the “post-truth” era in the US. Indeed, the mass rejection of reason that erupted in a ...
The internet ain’t what it used to be, thanks to privacy issues, data leaks, censorship and hate speech. But a group of New Zealanders are working on a way to give power back to the people. A flood of headlines over the last week made it clear: the internet has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Brooks, Scientia Professor of Evolutionary Ecology; Academic Lead of UNSW’s Grand Challenges Program, UNSW The views of women and men can differ on important gendered issues such as abortion, gender equity and government spending priorities. Surprisingly, however, average differences in sex ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer S. Hunt, Lecturer in National Security, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle In Australia and around the world, research is showing changes in body weight, cooking, eating and drinking patterns associated with COVID lockdowns. Some changes have been positive, such as people cooking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hao Tan, Associate professor, University of Newcastle Australian coal exports to China plummeted last year. While this is due in part to recent trade tensions between Australia and China, our research suggests coal plant closures are a bigger threat to Australia’s export ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asha Bowen, Head, Skin Health, Telethon Kids Institute A year ago, in late January 2020, Australia reported its first cases of COVID-19. Since then, we have seen almost 29,000 confirmed cases and 909 deaths. As cases climbed in Australian cities in 2020, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Davis, Emeritus Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne Political pressure forced the federal government in 2017 – when Scott Morrison was treasurer – to call the royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services sector. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Ellis, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Newcastle, University of Newcastle The Rise and Fall of Saint George is a story about place, belonging and community that taps into universal tensions of identity and faith in multicultural societies. Playing for ...
An in-depth analysis of media coverage of the euthanasia and cannabis referendums has found that while both sides of the euthanasia referendum were given reasonably fair and balanced coverage, the YES position in the cannabis debate received a heavily ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission Auckland has no plans to hand over the ownership of it assets under the government's planned water reforms, with Auckland Mayor Phil Goff saying his top priority is to ensure it stacks up for the city. Despite ...
Auckland Transport is putting nine new electric buses on the roads today, as it dramatically accelerates its plans to get rid of all its diesel buses – in a funding challenge to the council. Public transport operators are being told to not buy any more diesel buses or risk losing their council ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they find out exactly what we’re voting on in the cannabis referendum, and discover how legalising weed is a women’s issue.First published August 4, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
A principal analyst for the Climate Change Commission says more needs to be done to reduce agricultural emissions or the country will miss its methane targets. ...
New Zealand needs to be bold in making developers enhance the environment - not just limit its degradation, writes Stephen Knight-Lenihan All human activity should help restore the natural world. This is a concept that may resonate following the upheavals of 2020 and one which is beginning to appear in law. Imagine ...
Derek Challis, son of the legendary author Robin Hyde, died last Thursday. Michelle Leggott pays tribute He opens a suitcase and there they are, the precious manuscript notebooks written by his poet mother Iris Wilkinson aka Robin Hyde. We are in Dunedin for a Hyde conference. Yes, says Derek Arden ...
Former New Zealand gymnast Katya Nosova is now a champion bodybuilder, who was prepared to spend Christmas alone in quarantine to compete in the 'Olympics' of her sport. Katya Nosova was willing to do everything she could to pose on the world stage in her third Ms Olympia. Despite a ...
Class and grace.
During a rally in Charlotte, N.C., this Friday, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg drew thunderous applause after shutting down a heckler who interrupted her speech.
“I think if you want to speak with me personally, maybe you can do it later,” Thunberg said before the crowd broke into cheers and chants of her name.
The heckler, who can be heard off camera yelling an unintelligible screed, seemed to back off after Thunberg called her out.
Watch the moment below. The relevant portion begins at about the 4:30 mark of the video:
https://deadstate.org/greta-thunberg-fires-back-at-heckler-if-you-want-to-speak-to-me-personally-we-can-do-it-later/
Greta must have had an appendix provided as mandatory part of each stage managed talk she's involved in now.
Greta is being used as a human shield. The adults and corporates behind her are clearly identifiable.
While you’re providing recs to watch your hero in action. I'm sure you can also locate the vids where she clearly had no script and was unable to mount a coherent response to simple questions.
Easy to locate Joe. I'm sure you know the vids I'm referring to.
🙄
rubbish – Greta is a hero and you are just envious. She is very brave to stick to the science when her haters just want to attack her personally – weak little humans her enemies are
Gee One Two, for us readers that aren't following Thunberg as closely as you and you think joe90 are, how about providing actual links instead of vague insinuations?
One two believes Greta thunburg is a personification of why you don’t vaccinate
That's just barely scratching the surface of one Two's interesting beliefs. Trust me.
Facebooks most valuable customer 9/10 months this year
If you're looking for a weak person, look for someone that is slapping Greta.
Those that want to strike the messenger have no reply for the message.
She's a kid saying "Please take a close look at this."
We should.
More a case of progressive identity crisis IMO, David.
For those who are watching on, indeed cheering on while a child is used by adults and is backed by large corporate industry.
I would agree that those who aim disapproval at Greta, are pointing in the wrong direction.
Listening to an exploited kid on an issue as complex and important as this, witnessing as 'policy' is coerced out by staging of the message, is simply a reflection of how far gone we are.
You should avoid speculating on what you reckon my beliefs are, Climaction.
I don’t recognise your handle. Been commenting here long?
Long enough….
to know how to use the search function.
something you could do with google to provide even a shred of evidence Greta is a lizard person
now boyan slant, there is a climate hero
Great conversation had here on the elephant in the room…
The Center Cannot Hold Off Climate Catastrophe
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-center-cannot-hold-off-climate-catastrophe/
About now, eighty one years ago.
so next year will be the 82nd anniversary…don't forget to remind everyone.
you'd prefer people forget?
Same happening right now in Xijiang with the Uighurs, in that great communist country, China. reminds me of Animal Farm: all are equal, just some are more equal than others.
And same happening as in 1938: the world ignores it.
Yes the Nazi instigated overnight rampage that happened on 9 November 1938 is awful, disgusting and revolting. Thanks joe90 for reminding us.
I am saddened that Israel with it's deep understanding of the psychology behind such inhumane actions failed to sign the letter to the U N Human Rights Council condemning the Chinese treatment of the Uighur people.
We can be proud that NZ did.
https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/supporting_resources/190708_joint_statement_xinjiang.pdf
+1 Israel seem to have lost any sense morality, they sink further and further into the darkness with every passing year.
In Seattle, the Amazon-backed candidate loses and the socialist wins.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/09/seattle-amazon-kshama-sawant-socialist-elections
Go the underdog.
Racist attitudes 'whitewashed' modern philosophy. What can be done to change it?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-10/modern-philosophical-canon-has-always-been-pretty-whitewashed/11678314
Food for
thoughtcontemplation.On Nat candidate Luxon's evangelical church: http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2019/11/chosen-to-rule-what-sort-of-christian.html
Also in the Koru Lounge of life…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/117274169/christopher-luxon-knows-that-in-the-koru-lounge-of-life-everythings-a-transaction
Perhaps, just perhaps, the MSM is beginning a proper assessment of the Shonkey government,
"How ought history judge the contribution of John Key? You put your finger in a glass of water, you take it back out. What gap is left behind?"
A refreshing read.
If the glass is not full, there is no gap. No history remains save swirling for a while.
If the glass is full, then the ullage is equal to the volume of the finger and to the rate at which it is inserted and withdrawn…….it's all something about fat fingers, making a splash and ending up wasting more.
Was John Key rather a show-off doing dive-bombs in the pool of history?
Billionaires panic.
The billionaire tax calculator – https://elizabethwarren.com/calculator/ultra-millionaire-tax
He's tRump sans the racism.
He opposes legalizing marijuana and criminal justice reform; used the "gateway drug" argument.
He's against investing in tech education in public schools because -get this- "we invest in computers and then they're used for porn and to plagiarize homework" , verbatim.
I could spend a whole thread just on this but there's more to cover.
He's against minimum wage and regulation around income and aid for poor Americans who have to hold several jobs just to make ends meet
Literally said "you can't train people to do tech jobs, they're just not wired that way" when asked about tech education to mitigate job loss because of AI advances
He ranted for several minutes about younger generations wanting to retire (?) and how that makes things hard on the economy #okboomer
at some point said "women all of a sudden have opportunities now" so there are 2 bread winners in every family…
Sorry Mike, ALL OF A SUDDEN?
And finally, he said "we need to go back to how things were done in Clinton days, when he'd get 3 democrats, 3 Republicans and take them golfing, then go lock themselves in a room, close the door, smoke cigars and make all the decisions" (all men implied)
In conclusion, pls don't.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1192593117708509190.html
I've been as critical of Barry Soper as much as anyone else here in the past, but this time he's right on the money over the Winston Peters over-payment saga:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12283407
I refer in particular to this segment:
That is my view as well. This was an overtly political act of attempted electoral sabotage. Most likely from within the National party or its staffers. It is unlikely to have been public service staff in MSD etc. They would have known full well that it was a criminal offense for them to expose this information.
I suspect that it was also politically idiotic. It probably didn’t do much good in diminishing the NZ First vote, and we have seen remarkably similar tactics used before. It was very obvious what was going on.
If anything, it probably helped the NZ First vote, as the only people who’d have been irate about it were already National voters.
It made it pretty damn sure that the NZ First politicians had vivid memories of dealing with untrustworthy arseholes in 1998 and 2008 when it came to coalition talks. Even the NZF MPs who’d been leaning towards a National coalition would have been aghast at the level of political cynicism that it displayed. Who’d want to deal with a party with fuckwits like that in it.
What's the point being made there? That the staffers shouldn't have told their CEs?
No. That the MSD and SSC chiefs should not have told the two ministers. The pension over-payment to Winston Peters had no impact on their portfolio responsibilities so there was no requirement to tell them.
The leak came from National within 24 hrs of Jacinda Ardern becoming the leader of the Labour Party. That was no coincidence.
the timing aside, I can't tell what is reasonable re CEs telling the Ministers because I don't know how this compares to other situations.
Since there was no necessity for the CEOs to advise their ministers of an operational matter such as an over-payment to another parliamentarian then why did they tell the ministers? Doing it only a few weeks before a general election makes it worse.
If on the other hand they had information which would impact on the ability of the ministers to carry out their portfolio responsibilities then it is incumbent on them to tell the ministers. The over-payment was not one of them.
No matter how they dress it up, it had to be a politically motivated action on the part of the CEOs concerned.
Or they did not trust their own agency's staff to avoid blabbing to the media, and their Minister to be blindsided by that. The subsequent inquiry showed that would not have been not a valid belief.
Oh and I’d welcome the ‘no surprises’ policy being consigned to the rubbish bin of history. Toxic.
So, they preferred someone from National leaking it rather than a public servant. Yes, it's possible.
Oh what a tangled web…………………..
They are only responsible for their staff embarrassing their minister.
How the heck am I still alive? Just luck I guess, and the fact the 2011 earthquake hit Christchurch instead of Wellington. I was in an office in the Terrace at the time.
I wonder if that BNZ/State building (Aon) is affected…always had a dodgy feel going down there.
There was an anecdote from Tim Shadbolt many years ago, when he was talking about working on building sites in Auckland. IIRC, it went along the lines of:
… when pouring the structural concrete into the forms around the rebar, sometimes it would take so long to get the mixed concrete to the upper floors it had started setting. Because they didn't use vibrating wands back then, it was only when they removed the forms that they realised that there were big voids in the pour. So, they packed the voids and plastered them over.
From my recollection, he said that many multi-towered builds in Auckland at that time had problems with the concrete structure.
This is from so long ago, I can't remember if I read it, but I have a feeling it was a radio interview.
Something very strange about this story – certainly got the anti 1080's energised – post after post after link on facecloth.
Very strange indeed as some of the rat carcasses look like pet rats rather than bush rats.
Council poison operation at the dump? Escapee pet rat went out with the rubbish and set up and interbred with the locals….
Don't think the offspring would stay white over generations though. I wondered if they'd lost their hair in the river.
Pretty much everything washes up bald if they've been in the tide long enough.
Yep, corpses in rivers often lose patches of hair. If those rat corpses truly come from over 100km up the Buller river, I'd be a little surprised there aren't reports of rat corpses lining the riverbanks all the way down. Corpses of other animals are a fairly common sight on riverbanks after floods.
Modern landfill and waste management practices mean that most people don't get to observe the rats, cats and other wildlife at the dump any more. You get some interesting hybrid rats, occurrence sort of in line with popularity of pet rats at the time, and some pretty flash cats. They stow away in a rubbish bag or wheelie bin and away they go. The surviving cats usually make their way home but the rats become part of the local population. We're near a bridge between our dump and town and have a cat a month pass through.
I see lots of dumped cats in odd places too (unbelievably people take cats out to the bush to dump them).
Totally believe there are hybrid rats out there, but I think interbreeding won't yield pure white offspring.
I saw a pure black rabbit in the wild the other day, which was pretty cool.
Hmmm, just learnt something. Pet, or fancy rats are usually Rattus norvegicus, which can be locally rare in NZ, generally Rattus Rattus is dominant, although there could be a population at the Westport dump. So, if a population became established, say at Westport dump after they stowed away in a household's rubbish, they would become self sustaining, rather than interbreed with the locals. Also from that link, "Rats are pets that are allowed in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter series." Which would have given a recent surge in popularity. R. Rattus can be domesticated too but doesn't have white forms.
Black rabbits are cool, there's a population near us that does the odd black one, and they don't seem to move far from their home.
Sounds more like Brodifacoum than 1080 to have birds and fish associated. But wave action will sort flotsam by density, whether that's rocks, gold or dead things, so quite natural for all the dead things that got washed down the river in a fresh to get washed up on the same bit of beach.
Probably went something like a rat poisoning operation up a nearby river, animals would seek water when they are dying and die within flood zone, a good rain after a good dry period, dead things get washed down river and up onto beach.
BTW, brodifacoum is probably nastier than 1080 as it hangs around for a very long time, 3 year exclusion for game animal recovery .
Surprised no one has owned up yet because it looks like a bit of a win against the rats – I suppose the tests will show which poison got them – your scenario makes sense to me.
There's a line in the story that reeks of spin:
reports of dead fish and birds, along with the rats, were not consistent with the way 1080 is understood to work
They assume the rats are 1080 kills, but have to pretend it is not responsible for contemporaneous bird kills.
I though the fish and birds fed on the rats and that killed them – toxicology tests will hopefully help clarify in this regard
They may have, 1080 is quite broad spectrum – originally an insecticide after all.
Hmmm, they were found on North Beach, the Westport rubbish dump is right next to the lagoon that meets the sea at one end of North Beach, brodifacoum makes its victims very thirsty, 1080 doesn't. Brodifacoum is also very toxic to birds and fish, 1080 is less toxic to birds and fish than to mammals. I reckon Graeme's probably onto it with his comments above.
Could well be true – but it's more a matter of what's in use nearby than relative toxicity. The pellets used to kill a possum of up to 4kg will always suffice to kill a kea of up to 1kg. Stuff provisionally attributes the kill to 1080, though carcasses are being collected for testing – we shall find out eventually.
They assumed nothing. "may have".
Basically, they go "there are all these dead rats. Poison would be likely, as predators eat the rats. We did a poison drop a hundred miles away, it might be that, but other factors which I have not seen directly are inconsistent with our poison drop."
This is so stupid imo – keeping good relations? wtf?
ok what has this cat done
Between hedgehogs and cats, sounds like the dotteral area needs a guard with a BB gun.
Who has authority to do pest control on that area?
Pretty sure it's against the law to shoot domestic cats.
Not if you do it properly.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/killing-neighbours-cat-technically-not-cruelty-rspca-says
Also a cat isn't counted as property in the same way a dog is, largely because you don't have to register them.
A neighbouring bird fancier killed damned nearly every cat in the street. And as they were on his property he did so legally, too.
I remember an old fella in CHCH that would kill any cat seen in his tiny veggie garden, and he wasn't shy about announcing it.
This suggests there are still legal issues with killing someone else's cat,
http://nzala.org/when-your-animal-is-harmed/
That doesn't say it's legal to kill someone else's cat.
I know dogs are specifically alowed to be shot under the dog control act. At the very least, there would be a defense of property excuse for cats.
Or announce a poison drop in the nesting area – even if there's no poison, that'll make the owners control their moggy.
Normally I'm not too worried about cats, but this is an endangered species.
There was another case reported recently with endangered sea birds (not sure if same species). The kills were mainly from feral cats in an area where there were also house cats. The story was that they were having trouble killing the feral cats because of the house cats. This is not a hugely difficult problem to solve (eg have shooting nights twice a month that the community knows in advance is happening). So before we get to the locking cats up thing, maybe we should look at the range of solutions available and what is appropriate to each situation.
Locking cats up is pretty difficult for many people. I couldn't do it with mine. Think the number of people that have kids and an indoor/outdoor life where doors and windows are left open routinely. Not only is it cruel to lock up cats that are used to being outside, it's a really big ask to expect people to change their lives that much.
It seems reasonable to establish cat free areas over time, using natural attrition to achieve that, where there is a high need. But that one cat isn't responsible for that species being endangered and there's a fair amount of hypocrisy in NZ over this issue, where cats are seen as an easy target but we still want to keep on with our habitat destroying ways and not put money into predator fencing or paying people to do ground control.
So we let it wipe out the colony because muffy is an outdoor cat?
no, get better strategies than reactionary 'lock up your cats'.
or actually more like, get better strategies rather than hand wringing about cats. The other case is a clear example of the problem being humans. Probably this one too. Generic locking up the cats is the lazy arse approach.
Except in this case a particular cat is the main threat. So what are the "better strategies" in this specific case?
Strategy would depend on that particular situation and none of us here know what that is. eg what is the owner like? What's the relationship between the owner and the conservationists?
What's the distance between the house and the nesting site? Is the nesting site amenable to a predator fence?
Lots of things to take into account.
The better strategies comment was to point to the problem of knee-jerk 'lock the cats up'. If that one cat gets locked up and nothing else changes what happens to the birds when a feral cat or other wild predator turns up?
well, the feral ones can be shot.
is that happening? As I said elsewhere in the thread, in the other recent situation about beach nesting birds, they weren’t controlling the feral cats because of the house cats. That’s not a hard situation to fix, so why aren’t we? I think the whole anti-cat thing is a problem and we should instead be looking at how cat owners and conservationists can work together in the context of better planning. Also mentioned was the hypocrisy. NZ loves to love its birds, but we are still actually quite bad at land management for that.
Given that they're filming the nest, another option would be to watch the cat kill a chick and charge the owners with killing a protected species because of their negligence. That'll filter out the domestic cats really quickly.
I’m sensing a fair degree of cat antipathy (or apathy) rather than a strong commitment to good conservation design. One problem with this approach is that it will lessen support for conservation among cat owners (who are legion and passionate) and we already have too much vegan, anti-predator control culture on the rise as it is.
I'm a fan of systemic, nuanced approaches at a broad level.
But this is a specific colony that might not exist in a couple of years due in no small part to specific, identified, individual animals with known owners.
To me, this discussion is like a kid in ED with a grossly infected cut. Sure, we can and should look at preventing injuries and providing equitable access to primary healthcare. That might be very useful and could help many children in the future. But right now this kid needs debriding, cleaning and antibiotics as soon as possible (barring any contraindications).
Cats used to be classed as wild animals, unable to be trained. Whereas dogs are trainable and there is onus then on the owner to train and control them, apart from being able to be shot if found on anyone's farm.
interesting
It takes a while for cats to train their humans.
lolna. Had to feed a friend's cat last weekend. There was some food outside for it on the washing machine, but it was looking like it couldn't get up that high so I found a low table and shifted his food and water to that.
Apparently he was just being lazy and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I was vary quick to be trained 🙂
More things to make you go hmmmm. Bannon, Stone, Wikileaks and probably Trump lies under oath to Mueller …
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/11/steve-bannon-says-trump-team-saw-roger-stone-as-access-point-to-assange/
Home?
These things will find their way to the KSA.
U.S.-Turkish relations have plunged to a new nadir. In the past month, a senior Republican senator has suggested suspending Turkey’s membership in the NATO alliance, while the secretary of state implied a readiness to use military force against America’s wayward ally. In these circumstances, U.S. nuclear weapons have no business in Turkey. It is time to bring them home.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/its-time-get-us-nukes-out-turkey-92081
Nope, not a cutesy video of a beluga playing fetch.
It's probably former captive Hvaldimir, who's thought to have escaped a Russian military program.
Hvaldimir is alone, malnourished, injured, and roams the seas looking for food and attention from people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hvaldimir
sums it up –
whale playing fetch = fake news
whale escaped from military facility = true news
dirty humans
shit's getting real
He was fissen ta git rowdy.
My mind would need to be in an extraordinary place for me to consider Trump a valuable President. I continue to be amazed that some do. Don't these people have family and aspirations?
Come now, these people are admirably open-minded. So open-minded the breeze whistles as it passes through.
What will the reaction be when the real one is deflated?
Probably depends a bit on how that deflation comes about. But that whistling breeze will likely turn stormy, with lightning and thunder quite probable.
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/8/28/17789510/bike-cycling-netherlands-dutch-infrastructure
This is a really good read about how they make cycling work in the netherlands (and they don't wear helmets !)
Kia Ora 1 News.
We need all the money we can spear to mitigate Global Warming. Wasting money on moving the Port of Auckland up North is dumb. They should go with the most economic choices move more fright to Tauranga and more up North and keep the Auckland port going I think is the best model
'' I "" if you don't Wai Te tipu tipu they won't grow up to their best potential.
Our honest Scientists have been predicting that Reality for the last 20 years it good that the Australian authorities are planning ahead and evacuating Te tangata
Yes Te Mama great contributions to our society need to be recognised and honoured.
The toxic people are the ones harassing Eco Maori.
Ka kite Ano
We have to change the way we behave and minimise our carbon usage immediately the sooner we start the less disruptive it will be to the way we live. The longer we take to act the more drastic targets we will have to set in reducing our carbon footprint.
Cutting the speed of ships has huge benefits for humans, nature and the climate, according to a new report.
A 20% reduction would cut greenhouse gases but also curb pollutants that damage human health such as black carbon and nitrogen oxides.
This speed limit would cut underwater noise by 66% and reduce the chances of whale collisions by 78%.
UN negotiators will meet in London this week to consider proposals to curb maritime speeds.
Ships, of all sorts and sizes, transport around 80% of the world's goods by volume. However they are also responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse emissions thanks to the burning of fuel.
Shipping generates roughly 3% of the global total of warming gases – that's roughly the same quantity as emitted by Germany.
While shipping wasn't covered by the Paris climate agreement, last year the industry agreed to cut emissions by 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/science-environment-50348321
While I was farming I noticed to that in summer the grass growth was fast in the shade. I posted a story thee other day that makes a good case to have solar panels mounted 7 foot high on wooden poles and wooden frames it great logic
Renewable Energy Gives Farmers Another Reason To Love It
As if the case for renewable energy needs any more making, along comes a new study showing that wind and solar power are good for the water table and they could help farmers survive periods of drought, too. That’s especially big news for California. The state has suffered through a series of droughts, leading to unsustainable use of its underground water resources by farmers and other users. But wait, there’s a weird hydropower angle in there, too Ka kite Ano link below.
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/11/11/renewable-energy-gives-farmers-another-reason-to-love-it/amp/
Kia Ora 1 News.
Hopefully the School reform will improve the education for all tamariki but especially the lower classes.
All the big construction projects should that are planned should help businesses confidence in Aotearoa.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News
The Whakatane Council is just flickering the buck they are the ones who made a mess of the election process.
I agree with Te Wahine Maori Mana is being down trodden and that has a negative effect on people I see it everywhere in Aotearoa times are changing for the better Ma Te Wa.
Its great to see people getting confidence to help other people less fortunate than them.
I think that the chances to our schools will help lift all tangata whenua tamariki and Pacific tamariki climb higher up their ladders of life.
Good call my Tamariki used to paddle in Horouta waka aka club I think that they deserve some recognition they have been cleaning up for years now.
Ka kite Ano
I say our native bat's needs to be saved we have to save there habitants and invest in their protection in Waikato they are our Taonga build those whare for them to.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Breakfast.
The Kiwi hatching are cute Aotearoa was the whenua of the Titi.
All the new infrastructure spends needs to have goals of lowering our carbon footprint.
The new laws of the miscarriage of justices being sent back to the courts by a commission is great it will save innocent tangata being locked up.
All our tamariki need to feel and be safe at school.
Insurances are sold to Te tangata with the myths that the many paying premium spreads the risk for the cost of a desaster on the shoulder of the many but reality is they cheery pick the risk. They put profits before Te tangata wellbeing.
Ka kite Ano