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?
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.
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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The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Ground Picture/Shutterstock The anti-cancer drug abemaciclib (also known as Vernezio) has this month been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to treat certain ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Robbie Porter, OzFish Unlimited Around Australia, hundreds of people are coming together to help a once-prized, but decimated and largely forgotten marine ecosystem. They’re busy restoring Australia’s native oyster and mussel reefs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, let’s embark on a meteor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last year’s election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period duringwhichwewaited, andwaited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
International audiences are starting to discover what New Zealand already knew about After the Party.When After the Party aired in New Zealand last year, the response was fast and furious. In his preview for Rec Room, Duncan Greive said it was a “gritty, wrenching and highly confronting” series. By ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from Sinéad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events.When Irish writer Sinéad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courier’s front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as “sensationalised” and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use “other avenues to gain its independence” should the PNG government “continue ...
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game.Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was “a bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister that’s ever been out there.”Some think that’s ...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoa’s 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old who’s studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: Pākehā/Māori Role: Student, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Resources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered “bonds” as compensation if drilling rights offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Gleeson, Associate Professor of Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock The Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yen Ying Lim, Associate Professor, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio Dementia is often described as “the long goodbye”. Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock I met with a friend for a walk beside Merri Creek, in inner Melbourne. She had lived in the area for a few years, and as we walked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Throsby, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University Arts companies and individual artists in Australia are supported by government arts agencies, philanthropists, industry bodies, private donors and patrons. However, it is frequently overlooked that a major source of support for the arts ...
Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, a new incorporated society dedicated to ending harmful drug policies, officially launched today, seeks a new fit-for-purpose drug law for Aotearoa New Zealand, rooted in science, experience and evidence. ...
The Corrections Minister admits he "muddied the water" after he and the Prime Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about a $1.9 billion prison spend-up. ...
It took a post-post-cabinet statement to confirm that 810 new beds will be built at Waikeria, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. She’d been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Auckland’s Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
The beloved local grocers lost a legal challenge to stop a new cycleway outside their store. Joel MacManus reports. In the annals of New Zealand legal history, there are a few brave people who have dared to stand up to the powers that be, no matter how bleak the odds ...
How what we produce and what we eat connects us to the world beyond our shores, visualised. Walking around a supermarket or vege shop, it might be obvious that everything on the shelves came from somewhere. But you might ...
Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event – the Universal Periodic Review – is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – H5N1, or bird flu – has been flying around the world since the late 1990s. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands are so far free of it, but now it’s been discovered in mainland Antarctica and scientists say it’s only a matter of time ...
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Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
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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.
https://twitter.com/ticiaverveer/status/1192890830350168067
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.
https://twitter.com/schwartzbCNBC/status/1192842595677982721
The billionaire tax calculator – https://elizabethwarren.com/calculator/ultra-millionaire-tax
He's tRump sans the racism.
https://twitter.com/federicca/status/1192593117708509190
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.
https://twitter.com/ALostrich/status/1193284652976541697
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