First, methane. It’s often touted as a low-carbon bridge to the renewable energy future. Low-carbon it may indeed be, but it’s not a low-warming route. It’s so leaky, and methane is such a powerful greenhouse gas, that it appears to be a significant contributor to the acceleration warming we’re seeing right now.
That’s not entirely disastrous news, however. Methane is relatively short-lived in the atmosphere, with a half-life around ten years (I’ve seen plausible numbers from 7 to 13 years). That means if we emit methane now, we feel the full effects from that emission over the next couple of decades, but it’s not leaving quite as much of a problem beyond that. So spiking methane emissions now has a chance of spiking short-term warming enough to make us get serious about going all renewable. Then dropping methane emissions quickly will also drop atmospheric concentrations (not quite as quickly) which will then give us a slow-down in warming. It won’t be much, but anything helps.
Then there’s the slightly better news that building new renewables plus storage has gone below the cost of operating existing coal-fired stations, at least in some places. So even for the most committed laissez-faire, economic-efficiency-is-everything neo-liberal, there is absolutely no reason to continue with coal for electricity. Natural gas will be the next to go.
edit: missed this one first time around. Air-conditioning is another big contributor to global warming, which will only get bigger as more of the world uses it. The refrigerants used are craptacularly powerful greenhouse gases. But there’s progress on developing A/C sytems that don’t need those nasties.
It’s no secret that this team of activists wants to ban hydraulic fracturing, so it’s also not surprising that they arrived at a conclusion to advance that cause.
Bill, do you understand exponential decay? And how much more powerfully warming that atom of carbon is when it’s in a methane molecule than when it’s in a CO2 molecule? And how those two factors combine to cause the warming effects to be mostly front-loaded onto a short timescale just after the methane is emitted?
You can see that in the way the 20 year warming potential for methane is listed (in one source, others vary) as 86, the 100 year potential is 28, the 500 year potential is 7.6. Almost all the warming that methane is going to do occurs in the first few lifetimes after it is emitted.
Do you understand that we need to not put CO2 into the atmosphere and that the laws of physics don’t differentiate between a CO2 molecule that arrived by way of a decaying methane molecule ,or a gas fired power station, or a bio-fuel plant?
The methane line you’re putting forward kind of chimes with the proposition that maximum immiseration will lead to a revolutionary consciousness among the afflicted masses.
Here’s Singapore, joining Australia in an aggressive programme to unlock the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids with none of the negative side effects and social ills. Exactly the kind of programme that New Zealand should be investing in before legalising its medicinal use.
Singapore’s new Synthetic Cannabinoid Biology Programme identifies cannabinoid genes for the sustainable production of medicinal cannabinoids – without the need to grow the plant.
“Here’s Singapore, joining Australia in an aggressive programme to unlock the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids with none of the negative side effects and social ills. Exactly the kind of programme that New Zealand should be investing in before legalising its medicinal use.”
Because as we all know, commercially produced (and most importantly patented) remedies are completely safe!!!
I can see you’re not a believer in regulation for medicines. History doesn’t always provide vindication for regulating medicines, but then, Coke used to have cocaine, heroin used to be pretty easy to get, and it was reasonable to regulate both of them. Regulation is usually worth the effort.
Plenty of good saints got great visions from all sorts. There’s a whole heaven of stoner sacreds.
If you’re really lucky, there will be a properly regulated test for Cannabis products here:
Once it starts getting really legal as a therapy or as a medicine, lots of people are going to make money. It won’t be an amateur sport any more. Pot plant singles on the patio will go the same way as any other homegrown vegetable.
New Zealand needs to take its lead from Australia and Singapore and prepare for full commercialisation.
“Once it starts getting really legal as a therapy or as a medicine, lots of people are going to make money. It won’t be an amateur sport any more. Pot plant singles on the patio will go the same way as any other homegrown vegetable.”
Surely your not advocating for regulation of edible home grown vegetables?
Possession: If you are 21 years old or over, you can possess one ounce (28 grams) of THC, which includes flowers and concentrated and edible forms of the drug.
Buying: Any adult is allowed to possess up to one ounce, but non-residents of Colorado are not allowed to buy more than seven grams in a single transaction. Several purchases could be made from more than one store a day (there is no register of names), but the quantity allowed for possession remains at one ounce.
Where can you consume it: In your own home or a private residence. You cannot smoke or consume marijuana in public, which makes it tricky for visitors wanting to use their marijuana. There are no Amsterdam-style coffee shops, but cannabis clubs are starting to emerge in some bars.
Personal cultivation: The law allows each adult to grow up to six plants in an enclosed, locked space. Under the medical marijuana system, doctors can authorise up to 99 plants to be grown by one person. With such large crops available, police say that lists of medical marijuana patients have become a valuable commodity.
Breaches of the rules generally result in a fine, similar to getting a traffic ticket.”
and, and, and….Greg also discovered that there is also gold in them thar ‘ills with….
“Meanwhile, money is pouring into the government coffers via cannabis taxation – 22 per cent at the point of sale and 15 per cent wholesale, from the grow house to the store. Colorado Department of Revenue figures show that in 2014, the retail marijuana tax take was US$52 million, plus US$10m from medical marijuana.
And there’s plenty of money to be made at the shopfront, too, with sales predicted to reach US$1 billion by next year.”
So, simply growing the plant can still bring in the $$$$….the Gods of Profit will be appeased….
Are we cowed at the thought of growing cannabis here? Are we going to be importing a drug that will have big sales when we could be growing it in NZ? Can we come to terms with the embedded criminal gangs that grow and handle the product now and make a living in the absence of other suitable enterprises in which they can participate?
Are we cowed? Well, some weren’t cowed; they spoke out and organised rallies and delivered petitions and hobknobbed with up and coming government MPs and most importantly they held true to their beliefs and grew and processed a plant and gave it freely to those in pain.
And just after those up and coming government MPs actually became Government and one of them had said “Absolutely, yes!” to the idea of legalizing the plant for pain relief this shit hit the fan….
…and those who would have supported and participated in an open and free campaign about how NZ should be progressive about a common garden plant that just so happens to have therapeutic properties are now thinking twice.
“Are we going to be importing a drug that will have big sales when we could be growing it in NZ?”
They are already importing the cannabis products and you too can purchase them with a doctor’s prescription if you have $6oo for maybe three or four days supply. This is lunacy when the same product can be made at a fraction of the cost right here in godzone from local grown and sourced supply. And we are a nation of back yard growers and rognoa/remedy makers.
“Can we come to terms with the embedded criminal gangs that grow and handle the product now and make a living in the absence of other suitable enterprises in which they can participate?”
Hmm…difficult question which produces a state of moral and ethical quandary. Would I…(were I the Boss of Everything)…allow any scrote who had previous involvement with the production and supply of cannabis for recreational use, had used violence and extortion and standover tactics to secure and preserve their patch and their share of the market…to wit “the gangs” any involvement in legal commercialisation of cannabis? No. Their motives are anything but altruistic. They can, instead, involve themselves in another branch of commercial horticulture that has absolutely (yes!) the backing of this new “progressive” government….tree planting.
Except that it is “synthetic biology” producing the same cannabinoids that are produced in/by the cannabis plant, which might have therapeutic potential. I think it is a no-brainer.
But I think there are definitely some advantages, e.g. from Ad’s link:
Synthetic biology, said the NRF, has the potential to replace current methods of chemical synthesis and extraction from natural products, which are laborious, expensive,and [sic] often produce low yields.
Have a wee look at Colorado, Portugal, and the handful of places with either decriminalised cannabis or it’s fully legal – these places are dealing with negative effects and social ills better than anyone.
This war on drugs has been stupid, do you need reminding that it is also racist? How have the negative effects, and social ills of that racism been playing out ah Ad?
But sure, keep it illegal so we can keep up our fake moral outrage – rather than help people.
Let’s leave aside the over prescription of opioids or the lie the parasitical Pharmaceutical industry tell shall we. Yeah regulation is working out so well.
Just to remind you, almost 18 years Portugal has been on the right path.
And to paraphrase one friend who moved there to live “I’m 68 years of age, and I feel safe to walk the streets at night – not somthing I would have felt safe doing before the decriminalised process”
There’s been a decline in the average life expectancy in the US in recent years. But, the wealthiest people’s life expectancy has increased, while that of the poor and middle-classes have decline: i.e. the life-expectancy gap between rich and poor has increased.
This is likely to be exacerbated by up-coming Trump legislation:
Blumenthal has written about the potential effects of the tax bill, which passed through the Senate in December, on low- and middle-income Americans in particular, and how it’ll disproportionately ding them while rich Americans and corporations will enjoy tax breaks:
New York, NY — Today, following over five years of persistent campaigning from New Yorkers, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the City is moving forward with full fossil fuel divestment. The city’s five pension funds, a combined $191 billion, will divest $5 billion in securities from over 100 fossil fuel reserve owners.
New York’s announcement brings the total number of global divestment commitments to 810 institutions representing more than $6 trillion in assets
It seems that noisy farmer groups can’t man up to reality and prefer to present as blenching victims of unreasonable and ignorant anti-farming and anti-business critics. This not only hurts the country, local people, but other farmers who are working at producing good product using all known factors, in a sustainable and effective business-like way.
I thought at the time that it was a marvellous action that this law student in NZ had done. Just to air it and have the Courts look at it was a step forward.
A young Hamilton law student’s legal bid to seek a judicial review into New Zealand’s climate change pledges has been dismissed by a High Court judge.
But Sarah Thomson said she was pleased that today’s ruling on of her case against former climate change minister Paula Bennett and her government had acknowledged the need for action on the issue.
Thomson’s lawsuit, heard in the High Court in Wellington in June, asked the former minister to justify the way in which our climate targets under the Paris Agreement had been set.
So Trump want’s to change the libel laws in the US. Why do I have a feeling that these new laws he is looking at will be used by him and his administration to go after his opponents? Or with all the stuff he says on twitter could he be shooting himself in the foot with stronger libel laws? http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-42642305/trump-calls-for-tougher-us-libel-laws
Brilliant article by Kyle Sutherland.
I recommend you read the whole passage.
Here is an excerpt from the start.
“Let’s admit the truth: 100% Pure NZ is a blatant lie
How can New Zealand claim to be 100% Pure when 61% of our monitored waterways are too polluted to swim in? This has to be one of the largest cases of false advertising in our country’s history, and it’s time the world knew so that our government is forced to act.”……..
As JCPOA deadlines loom, Reza Pahlavi is on Capitol Hill today visiting members including Sens Hatch, Scott, Cruz & Rep Kinzinger as well as Speaker Ryan’s staff, asking for "moral and technological support for Iran protestors as well as human rights sanctions on Khamenei, etc"— Suzanne Kianpour (@KianpourWorld) January 10, 2018
Silvio Berlusconi looked poised for a stunning political comeback as his rightist bloc claimed victory in an election in Sicily that puts it in pole position for a national vote due by next May.
More research on undersea volcanoes, which could be helpful for understanding our
planet and what makes it tick. However the underlying aim is apparently to see what minerals have been brought to the surface with a view to mining them.
The natural activity has destroyed biological activity, and naturally we want to copy those dynamic forces. BAU.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11972711 ” Scientists have shed new light on a powerful undersea eruption north of New Zealand that proved larger than any on land in the past century.
In a just-published study, researchers have pieced together the 2012 eruption of the seafloor Havre volcano, which lies in the Kermadec Islands, about 1000km off the North Island….
The record of this eruption on Havre volcano itself is highly unfaithful – it preserves a small component of what was actually produced, which is important for how we interpret ancient submarine volcanic successions that are now uplifted and are highly prospective for metals and minerals.”…
“The eruption blanketed the volcano with ash and pumice and devastated the biological communities.
“Biologists are very interested to learn more about how species recolonise, and where those new species are coming from,” she said.
Perhaps we came from Mars, after we had wreaked havoc on its bounty.
A hole in the ground is just a hole in the ground. Nature has been dealing with them since forever.
More often than not it’s not the hole in the ground that’s the problem but the poisoning of that hole that mankind has a tendency to do because it’s cheaper.
It would be no wonder with the complete arsehole of business dealing revealed by this item from Britain. Leaving lots of people unemployed. But who cares? And it looks as if he is trying to share the blame around. The name of the company is BHS – I am antagonistic to companies that use initials for their name – unless it has the full name underneath.
Dominic Chappell, the former BHS owner, has claimed that workers were seen shredding bin bags full of documents before the sale of the high street chain.
Mr Chappell, 51, said that an “industrial-sized” shredder was spotted in the car park of the BHS offices in London. He said that staff were tipping the bags into the shredder, which was in a lorry or van.
“Improving education and skills could help, as would investing in infrastructure”
Now there’s a thought or two to play with – thank goodness for a Labour Government, eh?
There we go I know that Most Maori know that there is instertutional racism but do most of the population know this fact. I think not well here is a article to clean ones glasses on the reality of life in OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNRTY for us Maori Ka kite ano
In Britain the police have appointed someone from outside the force to head them.
He looks like an accountant, or an economist (is actually a lawyer and the former rail regulator) and the first thing he talks about is efficient methods, like having more up to date equipment, and preventing crime.
BAU. Because he says:
Tom Winsor says too many officers think their primary purpose is to catch criminals and should spend more time on targeting would-be offenders and potential crime hotspots to save money…
The new chief inspector also predicted that the privatisation of police services would “increase markedly” as forces tried to protect the frontline during the next round of policing cuts.
I went on google with this search text: police profiling and surveillance previous criminals –
I discovered that first 44 pages of listings under that heading were completely taken up with google-promoted books. I have never experienced such a blackout of other avenues for opinion, statements, scholarship etc.
This is an example of how google is beginning to crowd out other input – like a supermarket does, gradually pushing out manufacturers brands to replace them with its own, often a copy of what has been developed by others. I try not to buy supermarket brands but it is a puny protest. I can go to markets and buy from the small maker of goods. But everywhere the big corps are trying to turn our efforts at enterprise into corpses.
I think we all know that racial profiling is going on. There has been surveillance of gangs and regular criminals for a long time, but it can become undeserved harassment if extended too wide. Having targets set as if people work in a factory doing piecework on a moving belt is completely unsatisfactory and a moral hazard for the police, trying to match a number and looking for reasons to fine or entrap the public for some minor infraction.
Contrast with the gracious respect of Ngāti Hine and folk of the Ruapekapeka Trust.
“I just felt hugely, hugely honoured and hugely grateful to the people who let the work go ahead.
“I think the most amazing part of this story is that it was the descendants of the people who fought at Ruapekapeka, built Ruapekapeka and faced the British over the bush and the gullies who really kept the story of this lost grave alive.
“This belongs to the Whanaunga of Ruapekapeka who have embraced the memory of these men, the enemy of their ancestors.”
Oh, so somehow Ngāti Hine and folk of the Ruapekapeka Trust are less gracious and respectful about the past because you think I should’ve posted about them last month?
“I’ve been openly told, don’t bother applying for this, cos you won’t get it.” Mike Joy, semi-finalist for New Zealander of the Year, says his advocacy work has come at a professional cost
So, definitely a problem in NZ as the rich and powerful punish others.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
You know one reason I called them sandflys. Part of the reason for calling them sandflys is they pull some of the public into there game of pissing in the wind. I have stopped blocking my cell phone I know they jump up and down when I speed when I over take the snail they put in my path there are tracking my speed as some other people are to. I stopped blocking my phone to help them with their games of pissing in the wind you may ask why we’ll they are adding to MY MANA Ka pai Ka kite ano
Postmodernism has long been looked upon as an indecipherable ideology and a source of amusement. In 1996 Alan Sokal, a physics professor at New York University, had a hoax article published in ‘Social Text’ an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies. In ‘Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of ...
In a recent interview with RNZ (14th of January), NZ Council of Civil Liberties Chair Thomas Beagle, in response to Simon Bridges condemnation of the post-Trump Twitter purge of local far Right and other accounts, said the following: “Cos the thing about freedom of expression is that it’s not just ...
Let’s be clear: if Trump is not politically killed off once and for all, he will become a MAGA Dracula, rising from the dead to haunt US politics for years to come and giving inspiration to his wretched family of grifters and thousands of deplorables well into the next decade. ...
Since its demise as an imperial power, and especially its deindustrialisation under Thatcher, the UK's primary economic engine has been its role as a money laundry, using its network of overseas territories as tax havens to enable rich people around the world to steal from the societies they live in. ...
Last month OMV quit the Great South Basin and surrendered its offshore exploration permits outside of Taranaki. This month, Australian-owned Beach Energy has done the same: Beach Energy Resources New Zealand has decided to abandon all of its oil and gas exploration permits off the South Island coast, including ...
The new Northland case has been linked to the South African strain of Covid-19, one of a number of new, more contagious Covid variants. Here’s how they emerge and why. Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA ...
MARVIN HUBBARD, US citizen by birth, New Zealand citizen by choice, Quaker and left-wing activist, has been broadcasting his show, "Community or Chaos", on Otago Access Radio for the best part of 30 years. On 24 November last year, I spoke with him about the outcome of the 2020 General ...
This is a guest blog post by Daniel Tamberg, Potsdam, co-founder and director of SCIARA GmbH. The non-profit organisation SCIARA is developing and operating a flexible software platform for scientific simulation games that allows thousands of players to explore, design and understand possible climate futures together. Decision-makers in politics, business, ...
Yesterday's Gone: Cold shivers are running up and down the spines of conservatives everywhere. Donald Trump may have gone, but all the signs point to there being something much more momentous in the wind-shift than a simple return to the status quo ante. A change is gonna come. ONE COULD ...
Is it possible to live and let live in the post-Trump era? The online campaign to vilify Christopher Liddell, ex-White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to Trump, makes for an interesting case study. Liddell is a New Zealander whose illustrious career in corporate America once earned him plaudits ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 17, 2021 through Sat, Jan 23, 2021Editor's Choice12 new books explore fresh approaches to act on climate changeAuthors explore scientific, economic, and political avenues for climate action ...
This discussion is from a Twitter thread by Martin Kulldorff on 20 December 2020. He is a Professor at Harvard Medical School specialising in disease surveillance methods, infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety. His Twitter handle is @MartinKulldorff #1 Public health is about all health outcomes, not just a single ...
The Treasury forecasts suggest the economy is doing better than expected after the Covid Shock. John Kenneth Galbraith was wont to say that economic forecasting was designed to make astrology look good. Unfair, but it raises the question of the purpose of economic forecasts. Certainly the public may treat them ...
Q: Will the COVID-19 vaccines prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and bring about community immunity (aka herd immunity)? A: Jury not in yet but vaccines do not have to be perfect to thwart the spread of infection. While vaccines induce protection against illness, they do not always stop actual ...
Joe Biden seems to be everything that Donald Trump was not – decent, straightforward, considerate of others, mindful of his responsibilities – but none of that means that he has an easy path ahead of him. The pandemic still rages, American standing in the world is grievously low, and the ...
Keana VirmaniFrom healthcare robots to data privacy, to sea level rise and Antarctica under the ice: in the four years since its establishment, the Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund has supported over 30 projects.Rebecca Priestley, receiving the PM Science Communication Prize (Photo by Mark Tantrum) Associate Professor ...
Nothing more from me today - I'm off to Wellington, to participate in the city's annual roleplaying convention (which has also eaten my time for the whole week, limiting blogging despite there being interesting things happening). Normal bloggage will resume Tuesday. ...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weaponscame into force today, making the development, possession, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons illegal in international law. Every nuclear-armed state is now a criminal regime. The corporations and scientists who design, build and maintain their illegal weapons are now ...
"Come The Revolution!" The key objective of Bernard Hickey’s revolutionary solution to the housing crisis is a 50 percent reduction in the price of the average family home. This will be achieved by the introduction of Capital Gains, Land, and Wealth taxes, and by the opening up of currently RMA-protected ...
by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
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 green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Véronique Duché, A.R. Chisholm Professor of French, University of Melbourne In this series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on the page and on screen. When I first heard that Rowan Atkinson was to put on Maigret’s velvet-collared overcoat, I wondered ...
Auckland writer Olivia Hayfield* explains how she resurrected 16th-century playwright Christopher Marlowe to star in her new novel, Sister to Sister. Olivia Hayfield is a pen name. Real name: Sue Copsey. When I’m planning my modern retellings of historical tales, I read widely on the characters and see who leaps out at ...
The Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine could be approved as early as next week, Marc Daalder reports Medsafe will be asked to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 on February 2, the Government has announced. The Medicines Assessment Advisory Committee (MAAC) is an independent panel that provides advice on some medicine approvals in ...
COMMENT:By Bryan Kramer, PNG’s Minister of Police who has defended Commissioner Manning’s appointment today in The National My last article, announcing that I intend to make a submission to the National Executive Council (NEC) to amend the Public Service regulation to no longer require the Commissioner of Police to ...
The Point of Order Trough Monitor was triggered today by the announcement of a $9 million handout for Southlanders – sorry, some Southlanders. The news came from the office of Grant Robertson who, as Minister of Finance, prefers to invest public money rather than give it away – especially when ...
Few people outside of her campaign team gave Chlöe Swarbrick any chance of winning in Auckland Central this year – but the Green Party MP was too busy to listen. Here’s how they turned the electorate green.First published November 12, 2020.Three Ticks Chlöe is part of Frame, a series of short ...
Interactions between parents and healthcare providers could have a big impact on the wellbeing of our children, according to new research. The way parents and healthcare providers interact has lasting implications for children’s health, new research has found – and that includes immunisation uptake.Released today, the report is based on research ...
The Opposition starts the political year calling for emergency, temporary legislation to free up house building National leader Judith Collins has set five priorities for her party over the next three years - but excluded climate change, education and Crown-Māori relations. Giving her first 'state of the nation' speech as party ...
One of the biggest challenges facing the Ardern government is in public health. New Zealand may have escaped the pressures heaped on other health systems by the Covid-19 pandemic but its health service has had its problems, not least those exposed in the first report from Heather Simpson and her ...
New Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has revealed that 14 close contacts of the Northland community case have returned negative test results. Yesterday he announced two close contacts – her husband and hair dresser – were negative. In his tweet, Hipkins described the news as “encouraging”. However, New ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the arbitrary and opaque experiments that Google is conducting with its search engine in Australia, with the consequence that many national news websites are no longer appearing in the search results seen by some users. The Australian, ABC, Australian Financial ...
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says councils can take stronger action against companies dumping contaminated waste water, even though they have identified loopholes in the law on fines. ...
Drag Race Down Under, part of the popular RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise, is filming in New Zealand. In their own words, local drag talent share what drag means to them and how it might be impacted by the show.RuPaul’s Drag Race is, quite simply, a television phenomenon. Love it or ...
For a long time, weighted blankets were considered a specialist device. Now they’re popular with even the most normal sleepers.Growing up, Temple Grandin spent time on her aunt’s cattle ranch in America, watching cow after stressed cow enter a squeeze chute and come out calm as the dead sea. She ...
Increased provisional tax thresholds, immediate low-value asset write offs and allowing the deferral of tax payments and use of money interest (UOMI) write offs were the most popular tax measures introduced by the Government to help businesses survive ...
The latest fleeing driver statistics show the numbers of incidents sky-rocketing out of control through 2020 with Police deciding the only tactic is to give up on chasing altogether, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The inconvenient truth is ...
With new revelations of the appalling racism behind Israel’s refusal to provide Covid-19 vaccines to 4.5 million Palestinians under its occupation and control, PSNA has renewed our call for the government to speak out alongside the United Nations ...
The Youth of NZ will be standing up for climate action once again, on January 26th outside of Parliament for School Strike 4 Climate NZ’s 100 Days 4 Action campaign rally. “COVID-19 may have stopped us in our tracks in the past. However, I tend ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Parwinder Kaur, Associate Professor | Director, DNA Zoo Australia, University of Western Australia Koalas are unique in the animal kingdom, living on a eucalyptus diet that would kill other creatures and drinking so little their name comes from the Dharug word gula, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By S. Anna Florin, Research fellow, University of Wollongong Archaeological research provides a long-term perspective on how humans survived various environmental conditions over tens of thousands of years. In a paper published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, we’ve tracked rainfall in northern ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Binoy Kampmark, Senior Lecturer in Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, RMIT University Since 2005, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has been one of the most stable and enduring of political forces, both in Europe and on the global stage. During her 16 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Véronique Duché, A.R. Chisholm Professor of French, University of Melbourne In this series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on the page and on screen. When I first heard that Rowan Atkinson was to put on Maigret’s velvet-collared overcoat, I wondered ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Experts are calling for hotels with sub-par ventilation systems to no longer be used as managed isolation facilities as health officials investigate how a Northland woman became infected with Covid-19 while staying at the Pullman hotel, Rowan Quinn reports. ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 26, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur Members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions to be answered about case in the community, major companies flagrantly breaching wastewater consents, and Tenancy Tribunal decisions harming abuse survivors.As of this morning, we’re still waiting on some crucial information about the situation in Northland, after a person travelled ...
With democracy what now separates the US from its adversaries, Wellington can bet on more continuity than change in Washington’s hardline view of China. ...
We continue our week-long examination of writer Roderick Finlayson. Today: his daughter Kate on his doomed love for Poti Mita, whose family inspired him to write short stories about Māori life in the 1930s We all knew of Poti Mita and how important Pukehina was to Dad. He wanted ...
Sleepyhead is chopping and changing its ambitious plan to build a super-factory and a community of 1100 medium density houses on a block of farmland in the north Waikato. Sydney Turner set his grandsons Craig and Graeme to work on the factory floor, building mattresses. Now Craig and Graeme Turner own ...
Helen Petousis-Harris looks at the potential complications of vaccinating older New Zealanders - and how we should prepare Two weeks ago health authorities in Norway reported some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their Covid-19 vaccine. Are these deaths related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are ...
A change of plans for round-the-world single-handed sailor Elana Connor means she's helping Kiwi kids in foster care to go sailing - as she also seeks to 'demystify' the sport for women. Elana Connor wears a silver necklace engraved with the word “Fearlessness”. As she sails solo around the globe, it reminds her that ...
New Zealand rose to the occasion in its response to Covid-19. Will it do the same for climate change? Jack Santa Barbara looks ahead to the Climate Change Commission report. New Zealand’s management of the Covid pandemic clearly demonstrated the benefits of paying attention to the science and prioritising human wellbeing ...
Was Covid-19 and lockdown the catalyst for a new future for healthcare or did it just expose systemic inequity? In the latest of a series on the country's future infrastructure needs, Tim Murphy looks at how the long push to shift health's focus from hospitals to the community might have received a nudge ...
Not only is the New Zealand summer in danger of coming to a grinding halt, but we increase the risk that an almighty wreck might follow shortly afterwards. Here's what we can do, writes Dr Sarb Johal. While the rest of the world is wrestling with virulent new strains of the ...
For two decades, under both National and Labour governments, housing costs have risen far faster than wages. Here’s a horrific graph that shows by just how much.Last Thursday saw the first of what will no doubt be dozens of housing-related set pieces from Labour, wherein they announced 8,000 public and ...
The new Northland case has been linked to the South African strain of Covid-19, one of a number of new, more contagious Covid variants. Here’s how they emerge and why.Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA made ...
New Zealand’s richest citizen, Graeme Hart, has seen his fortune increase by NZ$3,494,333,333 since March 2020 – a sum equivalent to over half a million New Zealanders receiving a cheque for NZ$6,849 each, reveals a new analysis from Oxfam today. The New Zealand ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tauel Harper, Lecturer, Media and Communication, UWA, University of Western Australia With a vaccine rollout impending, key groups have backed calls for the Australian government to force social media platforms to share details about popular coronavirus misinformation. An open letter was put ...
Selling out ACT’s Waitangi Day State of the Nation Address is set to sell out again. If you’d like to start the political year right over brunch with fellow ACT supporters (Saturday 6 February 10am-12pm, Mt Eden), please buy your tickets ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Kirkness, Postdoctoral research fellow, Macquarie University As government COVID updates have become a daily part of our lives over the past 12 months, so too has the sight of sign language interpreters on our screens. This has understandably had a huge ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Dwyer, Associate Professor, Department of Media and Communications, University of Sydney Executives from Google and Facebook have told a Senate committee they are prepared to take drastic action if Australia’s news media bargaining code, which would force the internet giants to ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Hundreds of companies have dumped contaminants - like blood, fat, and toxic chemicals such as ammonia and sulphides - into sewers in breach of their trade waste consents over the past year, RNZ can reveal. Anusha Bradley reports. Frank ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Morag Kobez, Associate lecturer, Queensland University of Technology In this series, our writers explore how food shaped Australian history – and who we are today. The history of cheese in Australia has, until recent decades, been a rather tasteless affair. Not so ...
On the edge of the Mataura River, a disused paper mill is filled with thousands of bags of toxic waste. Locals want to find out who’s responsible for it – and they want it gone before disaster strikes.First published November 10, 2020.The Paper Mill is part of Frame, a series ...
At the Chorus Fibre Lab, José Barbosa peeked behind the curtain of the internet and found something beautiful and very, very fast. The human mind is a daily swarm of notions, speculations, ruminations, thoughts and otherwise base-level brain puffs. Just to get through the grind of survival, we’ve evolved to mentally ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The Ministry of Health is confident the Northland community case came directly from the Pullman Hotel and there is no missing link. In a press conference this afternoon, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed the strain of Covid in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Longden, Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Heat is more dangerous than the cold in most Australian regions. About 2% of deaths in Australia between 2006 and 2017 were associated with the heat, and the estimate increases to ...
Levin GP Glenn Colquhoun talks with books editor Catherine Woulfe about his new collection of poetry, Letters to Young People.Glenn Colquhoun is an acclaimed and accomplished poet. He has published four collections, including Playing God, in December 2002, which sold a massive 10,000 copies. He’s won a clutch of Montanas ...
Contrasting reactions to news of Grainne Moss’s resignation as Oranga Tamariki chief executive inevitably can be found in the blogosphere. Lindsay Dawson has recorded the ACT Party’s response to the resignation and hailed it as “spot on”. The statement was made in the name of Karen Chhour, described as a ...
Zendaya has been around for a decade, but she’s gone from Disney prodigy to pop star to acclaimed actress. Here are the highlights of the 24-year-old’s already impressive career.Shaking it up: Zendaya on DisneyThe world’s first encounter with Zendaya was a little Disney show called Shake It Up, a series ...
What’s it like to have your life governed by your gut? It’s crap, frankly.On my birthday last year I was given a bottle of fancy Aesop post-poo drops which clear the air after rigorous bowel activity – though on reflection, it may have been more of a gift for my ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Negative tests results for two of the closest contacts of a woman who tested positive for Covid-19 after leaving managed isolation is a good sign, says Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins. Two of the closest contacts of a woman ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Dyer, Associate Professor, RMIT University At a dinner party, or in the schoolyard, the question of favourite colour frequently results in an answer of “blue”. Why is it that humans are so fond of blue? And why does it seem to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan Davis, Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous UNSW and Professor of Law, UNSW We are on the eve of the nation’s annual ritual of celebrating the arrivals, while not formally recognising the ancient peoples who were dispossessed. Each year the tensions spill over, rendering ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bright, Senior Lecturer of Addiction, Edith Cowan University While the public focus remains on COVID vaccines, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) continues to evaluate a range of proposals around the provision of medical treatments in Australia. The regulatory body is currently ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Wilkinson, Professor, School of the Built Environment, University of Technology Sydney Many of us who endured lockdowns in Australia are familiar with the surge in energy bills at home. But for older Australians who depend on the Age Pension for income, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael P. Cameron, Associate Professor in Economics, University of Waikato Population growth plays a role in environmental damage and climate change. But addressing climate change through either reducing or reversing growth in population raises difficult moral questions that most people would prefer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Sonnemann, Fellow, School Education, Grattan Institute School is back for 2021, and some students will get extra help this year. Students who fell behind in their learning during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 will be eligible for extra tutoring in Victoria ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Duffy, Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University Australia Day used to be an obvious and uncontroversial occasion for brands to endear themselves to Australian consumers. No longer. There has been a decided shift over the past decade in commercial attitudes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, University of Melbourne In January 1971, Art News published Linda Nochlin’s Why have there been no great women artists? Her ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 25, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz7.40am: Two close contacts of new Covid case test negativeThe husband of the new Northland case of Covid-19 has tested negative for the virus, along with ...
A few interesting climate/energy pieces here.
First, methane. It’s often touted as a low-carbon bridge to the renewable energy future. Low-carbon it may indeed be, but it’s not a low-warming route. It’s so leaky, and methane is such a powerful greenhouse gas, that it appears to be a significant contributor to the acceleration warming we’re seeing right now.
https://thinkprogress.org/nasa-study-fracking-global-warming-0fa0c5b5f5c7/
That’s not entirely disastrous news, however. Methane is relatively short-lived in the atmosphere, with a half-life around ten years (I’ve seen plausible numbers from 7 to 13 years). That means if we emit methane now, we feel the full effects from that emission over the next couple of decades, but it’s not leaving quite as much of a problem beyond that. So spiking methane emissions now has a chance of spiking short-term warming enough to make us get serious about going all renewable. Then dropping methane emissions quickly will also drop atmospheric concentrations (not quite as quickly) which will then give us a slow-down in warming. It won’t be much, but anything helps.
Then there’s the slightly better news that building new renewables plus storage has gone below the cost of operating existing coal-fired stations, at least in some places. So even for the most committed laissez-faire, economic-efficiency-is-everything neo-liberal, there is absolutely no reason to continue with coal for electricity. Natural gas will be the next to go.
https://thinkprogress.org/colorado-wind-batteries-cheap-12e82b91a543/
edit: missed this one first time around. Air-conditioning is another big contributor to global warming, which will only get bigger as more of the world uses it. The refrigerants used are craptacularly powerful greenhouse gases. But there’s progress on developing A/C sytems that don’t need those nasties.
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/01/10/water-based-air-conditioning-slashes-energy-usage-uses-no-refrigerants/
Anthony Ingraffea et al’s 2015 study came to the same conclusion about fracking. This was the industry response:
…and so on.
Shut them down.
What does methane break down into Andre? Yup. CO2.
So not leaving quite as much of a problem beyond that is…yeah. Nah.
Bill, do you understand exponential decay? And how much more powerfully warming that atom of carbon is when it’s in a methane molecule than when it’s in a CO2 molecule? And how those two factors combine to cause the warming effects to be mostly front-loaded onto a short timescale just after the methane is emitted?
You can see that in the way the 20 year warming potential for methane is listed (in one source, others vary) as 86, the 100 year potential is 28, the 500 year potential is 7.6. Almost all the warming that methane is going to do occurs in the first few lifetimes after it is emitted.
Do you understand that we need to not put CO2 into the atmosphere and that the laws of physics don’t differentiate between a CO2 molecule that arrived by way of a decaying methane molecule ,or a gas fired power station, or a bio-fuel plant?
I think you’ve totally missed the points of my original comment.
Well, yes and no.
The methane line you’re putting forward kind of chimes with the proposition that maximum immiseration will lead to a revolutionary consciousness among the afflicted masses.
Here’s Singapore, joining Australia in an aggressive programme to unlock the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids with none of the negative side effects and social ills. Exactly the kind of programme that New Zealand should be investing in before legalising its medicinal use.
Singapore’s new Synthetic Cannabinoid Biology Programme identifies cannabinoid genes for the sustainable production of medicinal cannabinoids – without the need to grow the plant.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-25m-rd-programme-into-synthetic-biology-could-unlock-health-benefits-of-cannabis
No that’s the very silliness we should not be wasting time with before changing the law. We have people suffering NOW!
“Here’s Singapore, joining Australia in an aggressive programme to unlock the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids with none of the negative side effects and social ills. Exactly the kind of programme that New Zealand should be investing in before legalising its medicinal use.”
Because as we all know, commercially produced (and most importantly patented) remedies are completely safe!!!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/76712274/Codeine-morphine-and-painkiller-drug-use-in-NZ-quadruples-in-a-decade-study
And the reporter from The Straitstimes really needs to do better…
“Cultivation of the cannabis plant, whose leaves are usually smoked by drug abusers,”
Yeah, nah. Its the flower buds, dude, that are the first choice of recreational users.
“…sustainable production of medicinal cannabinoids – without the need to grow the plant.”
Because, like, growing actual plants is really, really bad for the planet…
All that carbon dioxide being sucked up and all that nasty, nasty oxygen being released into the atmosphere…can’t have that can we????
In the meantime…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11972527
I can see you’re not a believer in regulation for medicines. History doesn’t always provide vindication for regulating medicines, but then, Coke used to have cocaine, heroin used to be pretty easy to get, and it was reasonable to regulate both of them. Regulation is usually worth the effort.
Plenty of good saints got great visions from all sorts. There’s a whole heaven of stoner sacreds.
If you’re really lucky, there will be a properly regulated test for Cannabis products here:
http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/therapeutic-products-regulatory-regime
Once it starts getting really legal as a therapy or as a medicine, lots of people are going to make money. It won’t be an amateur sport any more. Pot plant singles on the patio will go the same way as any other homegrown vegetable.
New Zealand needs to take its lead from Australia and Singapore and prepare for full commercialisation.
“Once it starts getting really legal as a therapy or as a medicine, lots of people are going to make money. It won’t be an amateur sport any more. Pot plant singles on the patio will go the same way as any other homegrown vegetable.”
Surely your not advocating for regulation of edible home grown vegetables?
Echoes of Omen 2….
“New Zealand needs to take its lead from Australia and Singapore and prepare for full commercialisation.”
Or we can take our lead from Colorado….perhaps someone could remind Greg O’Connor about this little junket he made in 2015….
https://www.policeassn.org.nz/newsroom/publications/featured-articles/turning-over-new-leaf
Blockquote alert!!!!
“Recreational Cannabis in Colorado
Possession: If you are 21 years old or over, you can possess one ounce (28 grams) of THC, which includes flowers and concentrated and edible forms of the drug.
Buying: Any adult is allowed to possess up to one ounce, but non-residents of Colorado are not allowed to buy more than seven grams in a single transaction. Several purchases could be made from more than one store a day (there is no register of names), but the quantity allowed for possession remains at one ounce.
Where can you consume it: In your own home or a private residence. You cannot smoke or consume marijuana in public, which makes it tricky for visitors wanting to use their marijuana. There are no Amsterdam-style coffee shops, but cannabis clubs are starting to emerge in some bars.
Personal cultivation: The law allows each adult to grow up to six plants in an enclosed, locked space. Under the medical marijuana system, doctors can authorise up to 99 plants to be grown by one person. With such large crops available, police say that lists of medical marijuana patients have become a valuable commodity.
Breaches of the rules generally result in a fine, similar to getting a traffic ticket.”
and, and, and….Greg also discovered that there is also gold in them thar ‘ills with….
“Meanwhile, money is pouring into the government coffers via cannabis taxation – 22 per cent at the point of sale and 15 per cent wholesale, from the grow house to the store. Colorado Department of Revenue figures show that in 2014, the retail marijuana tax take was US$52 million, plus US$10m from medical marijuana.
And there’s plenty of money to be made at the shopfront, too, with sales predicted to reach US$1 billion by next year.”
So, simply growing the plant can still bring in the $$$$….the Gods of Profit will be appeased….
Are we cowed at the thought of growing cannabis here? Are we going to be importing a drug that will have big sales when we could be growing it in NZ? Can we come to terms with the embedded criminal gangs that grow and handle the product now and make a living in the absence of other suitable enterprises in which they can participate?
Are we cowed? Well, some weren’t cowed; they spoke out and organised rallies and delivered petitions and hobknobbed with up and coming government MPs and most importantly they held true to their beliefs and grew and processed a plant and gave it freely to those in pain.
And just after those up and coming government MPs actually became Government and one of them had said “Absolutely, yes!” to the idea of legalizing the plant for pain relief this shit hit the fan….
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/health/2017/10/stop-arresting-green-fairies-doctor.html
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/health/2017/10/police-block-medicinal-marijuana-for-2000-illegal-users.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/97961613/medicinal-cannabis-campaigner-rose-renton-facing-cannabis-charges
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018626625/green-fairies-vow-to-continue-supplying-medicinal-cannabis-despite-arrests
http://www.radionz.co.nz/stories/2018626410/fairies-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden
…and those who would have supported and participated in an open and free campaign about how NZ should be progressive about a common garden plant that just so happens to have therapeutic properties are now thinking twice.
“Are we going to be importing a drug that will have big sales when we could be growing it in NZ?”
They are already importing the cannabis products and you too can purchase them with a doctor’s prescription if you have $6oo for maybe three or four days supply. This is lunacy when the same product can be made at a fraction of the cost right here in godzone from local grown and sourced supply. And we are a nation of back yard growers and rognoa/remedy makers.
“Can we come to terms with the embedded criminal gangs that grow and handle the product now and make a living in the absence of other suitable enterprises in which they can participate?”
Hmm…difficult question which produces a state of moral and ethical quandary. Would I…(were I the Boss of Everything)…allow any scrote who had previous involvement with the production and supply of cannabis for recreational use, had used violence and extortion and standover tactics to secure and preserve their patch and their share of the market…to wit “the gangs” any involvement in legal commercialisation of cannabis? No. Their motives are anything but altruistic. They can, instead, involve themselves in another branch of commercial horticulture that has absolutely (yes!) the backing of this new “progressive” government….tree planting.
Synthetics. ..
No!
As is most often the case, you are in the wrong lane, Ad
but, but, but, lots of money can be made!
Except that it is “synthetic biology” producing the same cannabinoids that are produced in/by the cannabis plant, which might have therapeutic potential. I think it is a no-brainer.
So, what’s wrong with simply growing cannabis?
Nothing.
But I think there are definitely some advantages, e.g. from Ad’s link:
Growing cannabis has other advantages such as the fibres that it produces and can be used in many ways.
True.
Do you know whether the extraction process of the cannabinoids is (more or less) compatible with the processing of the fibres?
On an industrial scale, synthetic biology might be more cost-effective overall than growing plants.
The oils that contain the cannabinoids are removed using alcohol. I don’t think that it damages the fibres. There could be better ways though.
Possibly but it’s not something that anyone could say without serious study weighing up all the costs/benefits and I haven’t seen that.
Have a wee look at Colorado, Portugal, and the handful of places with either decriminalised cannabis or it’s fully legal – these places are dealing with negative effects and social ills better than anyone.
This war on drugs has been stupid, do you need reminding that it is also racist? How have the negative effects, and social ills of that racism been playing out ah Ad?
But sure, keep it illegal so we can keep up our fake moral outrage – rather than help people.
Let’s leave aside the over prescription of opioids or the lie the parasitical Pharmaceutical industry tell shall we. Yeah regulation is working out so well.
Just to remind you, almost 18 years Portugal has been on the right path.
https://news.vice.com/article/ungass-portugal-what-happened-after-decriminalization-drugs-weed-to-heroin
And to paraphrase one friend who moved there to live “I’m 68 years of age, and I feel safe to walk the streets at night – not somthing I would have felt safe doing before the decriminalised process”
Very neat idea!
There’s been a decline in the average life expectancy in the US in recent years. But, the wealthiest people’s life expectancy has increased, while that of the poor and middle-classes have decline: i.e. the life-expectancy gap between rich and poor has increased.
Vox reports:
This is likely to be exacerbated by up-coming Trump legislation:
Off hand, in NZ there is around an 8 year life-expectancy difference between the least and most deprived.
Baby steps…
New York, NY — Today, following over five years of persistent campaigning from New Yorkers, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the City is moving forward with full fossil fuel divestment. The city’s five pension funds, a combined $191 billion, will divest $5 billion in securities from over 100 fossil fuel reserve owners.
New York’s announcement brings the total number of global divestment commitments to 810 institutions representing more than $6 trillion in assets
https://350.org/press-release/nyc-divests/?
Interesting report on how useful studies and research are! Not when they get ignored, not when they are ignored by the entities that initiated them.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1801/S00191/councils-ignore-expert-reports-on-irrigation-impacts.htm
It seems that noisy farmer groups can’t man up to reality and prefer to present as blenching victims of unreasonable and ignorant anti-farming and anti-business critics. This not only hurts the country, local people, but other farmers who are working at producing good product using all known factors, in a sustainable and effective business-like way.
It seems that we really do need a law that prevents government, both local and national, from ignoring the research.
+100
This law already exists.
I thought at the time that it was a marvellous action that this law student in NZ had done. Just to air it and have the Courts look at it was a step forward.
Horizons had a similar experience with Fish & Game recently 🙂
So Trump want’s to change the libel laws in the US. Why do I have a feeling that these new laws he is looking at will be used by him and his administration to go after his opponents? Or with all the stuff he says on twitter could he be shooting himself in the foot with stronger libel laws?
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-42642305/trump-calls-for-tougher-us-libel-laws
It’s so hard to get good publicity for a racist illiterate cretin and serial rapist this days. Sob sob.
Oh god – it’s funny because it’s true…
1 comment today
1 troll
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
If you cut your commentary to one per day and 1 troll I expect many here would appreciate it.
FFS why can’t we get rid of these trolls like Stunned Mullet. Give them month on and month off so we get a change – why not eh. eh?
My lovely echo chamber !
Brilliant article by Kyle Sutherland.
I recommend you read the whole passage.
Here is an excerpt from the start.
“Let’s admit the truth: 100% Pure NZ is a blatant lie
How can New Zealand claim to be 100% Pure when 61% of our monitored waterways are too polluted to swim in? This has to be one of the largest cases of false advertising in our country’s history, and it’s time the world knew so that our government is forced to act.”……..
https://www.wakeupnz.net/lets-admit-the-truth-100-pure-nz-is-a-blatant-lie/
I’ve just found out that the Caucasian Wingnut exists.
My day is complete.
Looking at the description of its habitat, it looks like they would feel right at home in New Zealand.
Hehehe But is it the Right one?
And are there any Left?
They never go away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reza_Pahlavi,_Crown_Prince_of_Iran
Another turd that won’t flush.
Silvio Berlusconi looked poised for a stunning political comeback as his rightist bloc claimed victory in an election in Sicily that puts it in pole position for a national vote due by next May.
https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/06/silvio-berlusconi-set-to-return-to-italian-politics-after-sicilian-election-victory
More research on undersea volcanoes, which could be helpful for understanding our
planet and what makes it tick. However the underlying aim is apparently to see what minerals have been brought to the surface with a view to mining them.
The natural activity has destroyed biological activity, and naturally we want to copy those dynamic forces. BAU.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11972711
” Scientists have shed new light on a powerful undersea eruption north of New Zealand that proved larger than any on land in the past century.
In a just-published study, researchers have pieced together the 2012 eruption of the seafloor Havre volcano, which lies in the Kermadec Islands, about 1000km off the North Island….
The record of this eruption on Havre volcano itself is highly unfaithful – it preserves a small component of what was actually produced, which is important for how we interpret ancient submarine volcanic successions that are now uplifted and are highly prospective for metals and minerals.”…
“The eruption blanketed the volcano with ash and pumice and devastated the biological communities.
“Biologists are very interested to learn more about how species recolonise, and where those new species are coming from,” she said.
Perhaps we came from Mars, after we had wreaked havoc on its bounty.
A hole in the ground is just a hole in the ground. Nature has been dealing with them since forever.
More often than not it’s not the hole in the ground that’s the problem but the poisoning of that hole that mankind has a tendency to do because it’s cheaper.
We are heading for a financial storm.
Even the World Bank say so.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11973246
It would be no wonder with the complete arsehole of business dealing revealed by this item from Britain. Leaving lots of people unemployed. But who cares? And it looks as if he is trying to share the blame around. The name of the company is BHS – I am antagonistic to companies that use initials for their name – unless it has the full name underneath.
Dominic Chappell, the former BHS owner, has claimed that workers were seen shredding bin bags full of documents before the sale of the high street chain.
Mr Chappell, 51, said that an “industrial-sized” shredder was spotted in the car park of the BHS offices in London. He said that staff were tipping the bags into the shredder, which was in a lorry or van.
Mr Chappell bought the company from Sir Philip Green for £1 in 2015 but it collapsed with the loss of 11,000 jobs 13 months later, leaving a pension deficit assessed at 571 million pounds.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/bin-bags-full-of-bhs-files-tipped-into-giant-shredder-before-sale-dominic-chappell-trial-hears-ktg0xndl2
“Improving education and skills could help, as would investing in infrastructure”
Now there’s a thought or two to play with – thank goodness for a Labour Government, eh?
Summary: Capitalism fails yet again.
There we go I know that Most Maori know that there is instertutional racism but do most of the population know this fact. I think not well here is a article to clean ones glasses on the reality of life in OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNRTY for us Maori Ka kite ano
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/84346494/new-zealands-racist-justice-system–our-law-is-not-colourblind
Our racist justice system
Unfortunately that isn’t new.
In Britain the police have appointed someone from outside the force to head them.
He looks like an accountant, or an economist (is actually a lawyer and the former rail regulator) and the first thing he talks about is efficient methods, like having more up to date equipment, and preventing crime.
BAU. Because he says:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/apr/29/police-focus-crime-catching-criminals
I went on google with this search text: police profiling and surveillance previous criminals –
I discovered that first 44 pages of listings under that heading were completely taken up with google-promoted books. I have never experienced such a blackout of other avenues for opinion, statements, scholarship etc.
This is an example of how google is beginning to crowd out other input – like a supermarket does, gradually pushing out manufacturers brands to replace them with its own, often a copy of what has been developed by others. I try not to buy supermarket brands but it is a puny protest. I can go to markets and buy from the small maker of goods. But everywhere the big corps are trying to turn our efforts at enterprise into corpses.
I think we all know that racial profiling is going on. There has been surveillance of gangs and regular criminals for a long time, but it can become undeserved harassment if extended too wide. Having targets set as if people work in a factory doing piecework on a moving belt is completely unsatisfactory and a moral hazard for the police, trying to match a number and looking for reasons to fine or entrap the public for some minor infraction.
Good flax roots piece about war memorial protest over at the daily blog.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/01/11/breaking-symonds-street-war-memorial-target-of-attack-by-anti-colonial-activists/#comment-414087
Contrast with the gracious respect of Ngāti Hine and folk of the Ruapekapeka Trust.
“I just felt hugely, hugely honoured and hugely grateful to the people who let the work go ahead.
“I think the most amazing part of this story is that it was the descendants of the people who fought at Ruapekapeka, built Ruapekapeka and faced the British over the bush and the gullies who really kept the story of this lost grave alive.
“This belongs to the Whanaunga of Ruapekapeka who have embraced the memory of these men, the enemy of their ancestors.”
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/346241/british-soldiers-lost-graves-uncovered-at-ruapekapeka
http://www.ruapekapeka.co.nz/ruapekapeka-today/te-ruapekapeka-trust
That happened over a month ago.
Did you put it up then?
Oh, so somehow Ngāti Hine and folk of the Ruapekapeka Trust are less gracious and respectful about the past because you think I should’ve posted about them last month?
Boy you really are on the waka of making stuff up.
My point was simple, did you think to put it up a month ago? It would have been a good post.
Or now that someone has decided to protest colonialism and capitalism you put it up?
Our first saint Mother Aubert. Well I think she was, but we need a couple of confirmed miracles.
She also our first grower and provided of medical cannabis.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11972527
WOOFers (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) exploited.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/100467136/travellers-exploited-through-volunteer-scheme-fed-from-supermarket-waste-bins
How sick that one of the best environmental scientists can be punished this way in NZ?
So, definitely a problem in NZ as the rich and powerful punish others.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member.
Marx.
And yes, this is another example of the harm in whose way you’re putting yourself.
What one Chinese investor was saying in 2015 about investing in Britain.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVsifUH_b5Q
Followed by an auction in Mandarin for property in Australia.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSek_mZiC-s
I hope that the Woofers scheme isn’t put in jeopardy. It shouldn’t be used by a bare-faced mean capitalist like this despite what she may have learned during her studies for her MBA.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/100467136/travellers-exploited-through-volunteer-scheme-fed-from-supermarket-waste-bins
You know one reason I called them sandflys. Part of the reason for calling them sandflys is they pull some of the public into there game of pissing in the wind. I have stopped blocking my cell phone I know they jump up and down when I speed when I over take the snail they put in my path there are tracking my speed as some other people are to. I stopped blocking my phone to help them with their games of pissing in the wind you may ask why we’ll they are adding to MY MANA Ka pai Ka kite ano