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
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
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 English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. 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 ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
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Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
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. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
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 ...
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. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dog’s shit for others to deal with doesn’t make you a hero – it’s precious and entitled behaviour. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stood on the shoreline of Auckland’s Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by ‘working as little as possible’. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like “what do you do for a crust?” “I teach chemistry at university,” is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
Winston Peters might not give a ‘rat’s derriere’ about last night’s poll, but it revealed the unusual absence of a honeymoon period and little payoff for the government’s action plan approach, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco de Jong, Lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset. ...
The government's treatment of Māori raised eyebrows, with countries saying New Zealand needed to do more to reduce health, education and justice inequities. ...
The age of criminal responsibility was one of numerous human rights issues raised during Aotearoa New Zealand’s UPR. Other key themes were racism and discrimination, the disproportionate representation of Māori in prison, and to uphold the UN Declaration ...
In a sitdown interview ahead of his final day at Parliament this week, the former Green Party co-leader tells RNZ about his lowest point during 2017's rough election campaign. ...
Is the fringe radio station really in a financial crisis, or is it just running a hyped-up donation drive? Fringe internet radio station Reality Check Radio was launched by the anti-vaccine mandates group Voices for Freedom in March 2023. For the next year, it undertook probably the most aggressive promotional ...
Above the Fold: On Monday, the biggest Māori screen production company faced down the biggest funder of Māori content at the High Court. It was an incredibly tense moment – then, just as quickly, it resolved. Duncan Greive breaks down a strange day in the screen sector.Yesterday morning, Māori ...
It’s a ride that’s lasted almost 30 years for mother and daughter BMX riders Nancy and Toni James, and the next stop is the World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Almost 27 years ago, Nancy and her husband Gerrard took their oldest child, Daniel, to the Waitākere BMX Club. ...
When it comes to talking about the Government’s controversial fast-track consenting process, political scientist Richard Shaw refers to the famous Chinese sci-fi novel Three-Body Problem, while RNZ’s In Depth journalist Farah Hancock talks about zombie projects. Shaw is referring to the three-party coalition Government and how the proposed legislation is ...
Opinion: The debate over single gender versus co-educational schooling has long been controversial. I went to a co-ed school and was inspired by a remarkable woman who was my maths teacher, and because of her deep knowledge and passion for the subject, I knew that maths was definitely an option ...
He won everything and he earned a knighthood and he was a senior literary figure to the point that he was a living monument to himself until his death in the weekend at 86, but there was something about Vincent O’Sullivan that flew under the radar, that was independent and ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The rate of women killed by their partners in Australia grew by 28% from 2021–22 to 2022–23, according to new statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology ...
Ministry of Disabled People employees were promised a permanent role, but were told to start packing three weeks before their fixed term contract finished, says a former employee. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Clean Energy Council / Neoen As Australia’s rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached “saturation point” and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan C. Walsh, Sessional Academic, The University of Queensland Arrest for witchcraft (1866) by John PettieNGV, CC BY-NC In recent decades, governments the world over have increasingly taken action to address the dark history of witch-hunting. In western Europe, memorials to ...
By Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent The US Department of Justice is being urged to condemn and cease its reliance on the “Insular Cases” — a series of US Supreme Court opinions on US territories, which have been labelled racist. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kara Dadswell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Victoria University Ask your son or daughter, niece, or nephew to draw you a picture of a sport coach. They will most probably draw a man. Why? Our latest research published in the Psychology of Sport ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Rinehart, Professor, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Director, Krongold Clinic (Research), Monash University Shutterstock/Brian A. Jackson “Charlie” is an eight-year-old child with autism. Her parents are worried because she often responds to requests with insults, aggression and refusal. Simple demands, such ...
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