I've been watching last night's TDB podcast on the economy of 2022, in which Bomber orchestrates a foursome with commentary from Bernard, a prominent entrepreneurial economist, Simon, the lawyer National is using as finance spokesperson due to having nobody in their caucus with financial expertise, and Damien, the libertarian Stuff columnist ex-criminal.
Bomber asked Bernard if the current Minister of Finance would get a knighthood for creating a new class of wealthy property speculators. Bernard started by saying that he'd probably get one anyway. Nice evasion there.
Labour would probably say "No no, you mustn't think that. It was all an unfortunate accident!" That the kiwi middle class transformed itself into a landlord class is best framed the way Labour views it: "Elephant in the room?? Where? Can't see one, don't be ridiculous!"
Thatcher preached the gospel of mum & dad investors 40 years ago and the political left and right have been locked into collusion ever since, implementing her vision.
Vital that Labour never tells the truth about doing this! No worries, pretence is something that Labour excels at – perhaps the only thing. Having operated as the Alternative National Party for so long now, the people who believed Labour was the exact opposite of National are now all dead. So Sir Grant will happen due to his resolute practice of Thatcherism.
Then Bernard said everyone believes their home values will continue to double every two years, so they make economic planning decisions on that basis. BAU. Then he said it was unsustainable, and there ought to be a govt agency created to implement a policy of zero house price inflation. Noticing that something intelligent was happening, Bomber immediately called for a commercial break.
But it does raise the question of how you rationalise their adherence to neoliberalism along with National's – and in particular their coproduction of the enlarged landlord class.
Dennis, Thatcher went to war, did not believe in community, practiced austerity and raising taxes. This Labour Government has had to battle housing as every country World wide is doing. Singapore's approach is thought provoking, but they are able to make dictates. To say this Government is the same as National would be is a real stretch. Remember we are a democracy so the middle way tends to rule. When revolutions occur they seldom favour the poor, rule of law agreements between parties cities countries is the best we have managed. We tie it to Trade so we are hogtied.
Dunno about the Thatcher raising taxes bit. Misprint?
I agree there are significant tonal differences between Labour & National but the economic ideology is shared. I agree the middle way works best but it also preserves inertia and our global situation makes that lethal.
Here's the evidence of the impact of 30 years of global talkfests:
The Copernicus Climate Change Service said 2021 was the fifth-warmest year… The Copernicus data comes from a constellation of Sentinel satellites that monitor the Earth from orbit, as well as measurements taken at ground level… The 2021 average temperature was 1.1-1.2C above the pre-industrial level around 150 years ago.
carbon dioxide concentrations reached 414.3 parts per million last year, growing at a similar rate to 2020. But scientists remarked that methane levels in the atmosphere increased to reach an unprecedented approximately 1,876 parts per billion. The growth rate of methane was also higher than in 2020 – Copernicus said both rates were very high compared to the past two decades of satellite data… The increasing concentrations of these gases showed no signs of slowing down, concluded Vincent-Henri Peuch, Director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
"These events are a stark reminder of the need to change our ways, take decisive and effective steps toward a sustainable society and work towards reducing net carbon emissions," Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, explains.
Depends which game it's best to be playing, eh? Rules are made to be broken, some folks think. When global climate changes, it's a game-changer world we find ourselves shifting into. Old mental patterns make us part of the problem.
We need to flex to adapt to the times we're in. Default dependency on democracy locks us into failure. Therefore those intent on surviving will shift out of that mindset. Whatever works will do.
That said, rules can be retained on a utility basis in contexts where they can be seen to still work okay. I reckon the best way forward is to combine pragmatic usage of stable systems (like law) with innovative & inventive alterations to them.
It puzzles me that you'd jump to that conclusion. As if you'd never heard of improvisation. As if you'd never noticed how well it works in real life.
As if you've never deduced that it works because it's context-driven. As if you're unaware that our changing global climate context requires us to improvise. As if you've never actually thought about that.
Anyway, it was Winston Churchill. Different geopolitical context, get it? Humanity can't progress when people default to failed ways of thinking. Get that head out of the sand!
The problem is that your framing is so puzzling, Dennis.
Evidence that democracy works clocks in at exactly zero. Prediction: retards will ignore the evidence and continue to believe in democracy.
The fact is Democracy has worked very well in numerous countries for a century or more. As evidenced by the number of democracies. Has worked better than 2 of the 3 the classic examples of Facism (Franco’s fascist state lasted until his death), & both Soviet-style & Mao-style Communism, for example.
Re your response to pat’s challenge to identify a better system:
It puzzles me that you’d jump to that conclusion. As if you’d never heard of improvisation. As if you’d never noticed how well it works in real life.
Democracies – particularly those that have employed capitalism – have thrived on improvisation. That’s how so much scientific & technological progress has been made in Western democracies. And improvisation also works well in societies that foster a DIY culture, at the national & individual level.
As if you’ve never deduced that it [democracy?] works because it’s context-driven. As if you’re unaware that our changing global climate context requires us to improvise. As if you’ve never actually thought about that.
Humanity can’t progress when people default to failed ways of thinking. Get that head out of the sand!
You’re barking up the wrong tree, imo. Because international global talkfest consensus decisions haven’t done enough to solve the GHG global warming-induced Climate Crisis is not down to a failure of Democracy as a system of government. Many nations that aren’t democracies have participated. There is NO World Democracy.
So, pat’s question was perfectly valid. If you think democracie won’t work for solving the climate crisis – what other system of government – for either the World or individual nations – do you propose as the alternative system of government which will?
Although autocracies, if they really grasp the nettle, might perhaps be more likely to enforce the industrial, social & lifestyle changes needed to sharply head off global warming on their populations – I’m not sure any (like China) have actually done so yet.
In my view people living in democracies are more likely to come up with the alternative lifestyles & produce the technical innovations needed to address the problems of climate change than autocracies or any other form of government.
what other system of government – for either the World or individual nations – do you propose as the alternative system of government which will?
I think that's the pertinent bit to respond to. Gezza, I take the point that my brevity provided insufficient framing.
First, a serious global crisis requires a serious global solution. Democracy has never been implemented at the global level. Few still expect the UN to deliver it.
Lateral thinking is required. In social change, that usually takes the forms I pointed out to Pat: invention & innovation. A suitable model is the one deployed to bring the Cold War to a successful conclusion, which I've discussed on various occasions here during the past seven years.
It was based on reciprocity & mutual benefits just like capitalism (trading, deals) and used a ratchet design mechanism for arms reduction which Reagan made famous with the slogan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify
Nobody would think a computer game could end a war that had lasted decades, right? They proved it could, and did. Lateral thinking.
Now consider the zillions of dollars lying around doing nothing useful in a multitude of billionaire bank accounts. Gates & Buffet have been modelling philanthropy to target inequality etc – why not global warming? It's just a mental switch. When switched, seems obvious in retrospect & everyone wonders why it took so long to think of it.
Consider inventors as a reservoir of talent waiting to be used. Create a tournament for them to submit competing designs, use a panel of suitable political/economic/cultural experts to award prizes to winners by consensus. Design criteria to prioritise the best fixes most likely to work in practice would be essential…
Now you see what I have done here? I have reframed your question about types of governance into the relation of global problem to global solution. Such innovative mass psychology is the key.
consider the zillions of dollars lying around doing nothing useful in a multitude of billionaire bank accounts. Gates & Buffet have been modelling philanthropy to target inequality etc – why not global warming? It’s just a mental switch. When switched, seems obvious in retrospect & everyone wonders why it took so long to think of it.
Consider inventors as a reservoir of talent waiting to be used. Create a tournament for them to submit competing designs, use a panel of suitable political/economic/cultural experts to award prizes to winners by consensus. Design criteria to prioritise the best fixes most likely to work in practice would be essential…
Good idea. (How do you know Gates and Buffett aren’t already investing in climate change solutions, btw? I haven’t looked. Have you?)
Now you see what I have done here? I have reframed your question about types of governance into the relation of global problem to global solution. Such innovative mass psychology is the key.
What I see is that you have a good idea that you could simply have stated as such at the outset & not distracted yourself, pat, me, and possibly other readers, by a completely unnecessary peripatetic wandering around the completely irrelevant subject of democracy before you got there.
No, that's too likely to be a waste of time. Both mainstreamers!
the completely irrelevant subject of democracy
Had to do that due to it being the prevalent belief system. Only with continual focus on the mismatch between belief & reality can you hope to jolt them out of the habitual attachment. Einstein's dictum re insanity comes to mind: they keep doing global climate conferences in the hope that nations will implement output decisions in national policy. That continual policy implentation failure is rooted in democracy.
That’s got nothing to do with democracy & everything to do with international consensus decision-making which is not the same thing.
You should probably check out Gates & Buffett in case they are already doing something along the lines of what you suggest. How do they choose what projects to invest in?
But if not, having a good idea is fine, but getting it implemented is what counts. How do you propose to get it implemented? Who are you going to propose your idea to?
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Thursday said his climate investment fund would pledge $1.5 billion for joint projects with the federal government to combat climate change if Congress passes a bipartisan infrastructure plan that funds clean energy technologies.
Wtf has that got to do with your suggestion, or the point you were making about innovation & inventions being needed to help address climate change?
AFAIK Democracies AND autocracies both domestically legislate to give effect to their signups to international agreements that require this to happen. (Whether they employ/enforce & honour that legislation might be another matter.)
Are you proposing to get democracies to legislate to make your suggestion, & inovation & invention compulsory?
Sorry, but I’m not wasting any more time & energy on your convoluted & hopelessly philosophically muddled approach to this topic Dennis. You’ve gone down a rabbit hole, imo.
Democracy doesn't work. We need decisiveness and positive action.
For that it is best to have one person in charge at the top of the pyramid and they rule and instigate action by those further down. Who carry out the dictates not of themselves but of those atop them. Carry out without deviation or variation based on personal interpretation.
For our first such sortie into getting rid of talkfests and prevarication and establishing firm, unequivocal, certain parameters for the society to operate under, I would suggest the first person to be our leader should be Kiwi Jong-un. I'm sure there is someone out there to fill that bill.
it is best to have one person in charge at the top of the pyramid and they rule and instigate action by those further down. Who carry out the dictates not of themselves but of those atop them. Carry out without deviation or variation based on personal interpretation.
Otherwise known as the Führerprinzip. The problem with this system is that absolute power often corrupts absolutely. And if the Führer is wrong or goes insane no one can do anything about it unless & until they kill them, or they kill themselves.
You mean that guy with the swishback & dark glasses. Christian. Good at telling people what to do. They even reward him with money. God's will be done!
One of the pitfalls National are going to have to avoid is being branded as Labour Lite. Their usual mantra of less spending = tax cuts is off the agenda given the Covid situation. If they propose more housing, more hospitals, schools and general infrastructure, Labour Lite. If they try do lift the poverty stats via Working for Families, Labour Lite. Climate change, Labour Lite.
National can never be branded Labour lite as long as the pandemic lasts.
National may pose as Labour lite for all they like, but history shows that voters would be making a big mistake to trust them to follow through.
Jim Bolger played the Labour lite card to win the 1990 election, promising to reverse a lot of the unpopular right wing neo-liberal policies of the Lange/Douglas administration. Bolger promised to stop the privatisations of state assets, promised to repeal the Superannuation Surcharge, promised students to cut student debt and user pays in tertiary education brought in by the Lange/Douglas administration.
All these reversals gave birth to the populist NZ First Party. Formed in revolt against National's reversals, NZ First acted to keep the Bolger administration in power as a support party. Despite their leader promising to never work with that man.
Luxton might try to promise the electorate that a National Party led administration, backed by NZ First and Act will handle the pandemic better than a Labour led administration. But no one would believe him.
The one place that shows that National stays true to their profit before people ethos and does not, can not, play the Labour Lite card is around the pandemic.
Despite the cost in deaths and sickness, private profit will always be prioritised over public health by National.
And this is the one defining issue of our time that separates National from Labour where there can be no hiding.
Agree Jenny, Nats constant "open up" cries show where their values lie. Like Scotty from Marketing, "Let it rip" Our family over in Oz are truly affected by that.
On a far more serious matter, I suspect Latham will enforce the follow on.
The bowlers’ workload yesterday wasn’t that great. BD’s batters will be a little shellshocked, and you want to take the weather out of the equation altogether.
Most test match captains do not enforce the follow on these days. But in this situation, with the NZ bowlers able to start fresh again this morning, and with such a massive lead, it makes sense to enforce it.
Follow on must be enforced. 300 plus run lead, fresh bowlers (less overs bowled than 50 over match) and the possibility of some inclement weather as it's NZ).
Interesting graph and an important one for NZ, thanks.
Makes sense given the Imperial College London study that shows the reduction in omicron severity is much greater in the vaccinated, compared to the unvaccinated.
So some of his commenters jump into playing at the competing graphs game. Then we got Ethan Woke:
No reputable medical professional in the world is now claiming Omicron is a threat to public health. It just seems to be a rag tag bunch of cheerleaders, sycophants, pseudoscientists and those suffering from mass psychosis who seem to be fretting over this benign disease (actually just a laboratory artefact) and praying for another lockdown, while providing cover for the likes of prime ministers and dictators.
I wonder if his surname signifies he's an aspirational leader for the wokester tribe?
NSW having a terrible time hospitals are struggling health professionals burning out.
Because mainly the unvaxxed overloading the health system.
Can't link but govt stats show 63% of covid infected hospitalizations are unvaccinated yet only make up less than20% of the population.Partially vaccinated 18% fully vaccinated only 1.8% yet they make up nearly 80% of the population.
Yeah, have already noticed that pattern. Belief systems are inertial & when they are incompatible with reality then adherents deny reality. They deny evidence such as statistics.
Neuroscience has documented how this works – emotions prevail over logic. Emotional attachments to what people already think they know prevail over new info that conflicts with their knowledge.
Yes, yes, this all well-known & has been exploited by advertisers & propagandists for a century or more. But it doesn’t always apply to everything for everbody (Most Germans realised they were losing the war while the rabid Nazis were still choosing to believe Dr Goebels).
And it often doesn’t apply to those who are aware of their emotional responses but prefer to employ research, analysis, logic & reasoning to their decision-making. Which many females seem innately good at when shopping (think I’ll wait for the sales).
Not denying Covid impact on the health system with this.
I can reliably inform you, about the NZ system, that under staffing, under resourcing, poor planning and neo liberal, market driven politics have done way more damage to our hospitals.
Both National and Labour are responsible for this.
Until recently, I could read the vaccination status of those hospitalised in Stuff articles. Around New Year, it was approx. 50/50 Unvaxxed and not eligible/started their vax regime and fully vaxxed. I have not seen this since New Year.
Bradburys graph looks to show the unvaccinated hospitalization rate increasing 3 or 4 times.
That doesn't make much sense from what I can figure out. As many high risk people should be reduced in the unvaccinated group by having moved over into the vaccinated group by now.
New Yorkers should have plenty of antibodies in the population from previous waves – greater chance of immunity in population.
Omicron is a significantly weaker virus, causing less hospitalizations.
Are you suggesting that graph is fabricated? The Omicron variant has caused a large surge in N.Y. state active COVID-19 cases, currently ~1.7 million (and rising), which is nearly double the previous maximum of ~0.9 million active cases, in Feb. 2021.
Even with protection from vaccination, and/or prior infection (not relevant in NZ), plus improved treatments, a small spike in deaths is inevitable – more than 100 deaths per day (7-day moving average) over the last 6 days for N.Y. state alone .
Well goodness me would you look at those vaccination rates. 'D'ya thunk that might have something to do with it?'
Without the /s hat on I like the naming of the category [email protected] Hopefully this refers to a programme of nursing in the community ie with GP/Nurse support.
We need Rogan to start yapping about this and perhaps the angry alt-covid choads will be convinced that that yet another miraculous off-label therapy, sculling your own piddle, is being suppressed.
“Vaccine Police” anti-vaxxer Christopher Key has a new conspiracy for his moronic MAGA followers to cure Covid: Drink their own urine.
“The antidote is urine therapy. God’s given us everything we need… This vaccine is the worst bioweapon I've ever seen."
From the article: On Saturday night, when asked about the guns and if he intends to bring them along when conducting the planned arrests, Key told The Daily Beast he is “never about violence.” “I will do it [the citizen arrests] lawfully, and the sheriffs will be with me,” he added.
The guy sounds like a bullshit artist to me. If he seriously plans to pull those guns out on state legislature premises or at governor’s residences this could get very amusing for everybody but him. But one suspects, from what he said above, that he won’t use his guns if nobody from law enforcement is interested in doing the same. And they won’t be.
Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us. Some of my colleagues who own bullet proof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our Sergeants-at-Arms more than today. #milegpic.twitter.com/voOZpPYWOs
— Senator Dayna Polehanki (@SenPolehanki) April 30, 2020
He sounds like he’s a one man band though, joe. If he turns up alone, at State Capitols, or governors’ official residences, waving his guns (or flamethrower?) around, what do you think is likely to happen? I reckon he’ll find himself staring straight up the barrels of multiple law enforcement firearms & if he’s lucky he’ll be told to drop his firearms & get face down on the ground immediately. If he’s unlucky, he’ll get shot.
In China there is a Urine Therapy Association which claims thousand of members… Though urine has been believed useful for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in several traditional systems, and mentioned in some medical texts, auto-urine therapy as a system of alternative medicine was popularized by British naturopath John W. Armstrong in the early 20th century.
Armstrong was inspired by his family's practice of using urine to treat minor stings and toothaches, by a metaphorical reading of the Biblical Proverb 5:15 "Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well", and his own experience with ill-health that he treated with a 45-day fast "on nothing but urine and tap water".
Starting in 1918, Armstrong prescribed urine-therapy regimens that he devised to many thousands of patients, and in 1944 he published The Water of Life: A treatise on urine therapy, which became a founding document of the field.
Does anyone have a link to a graph of NZ daily case numbers? Community cases mostly, but would be interested to see MiQ cases too. Want the trend over time.
The Christchurch City Council has sent The Freedom and Rights Coalition group, founded by Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki, a $14,117.47 invoice for costs it incurred during three protests in Cranmer Square and elsewhere in the city in November and early December. Another invoice will be sent to cover costs associated with Saturday’s protest in Hagley Park and on Riccarton Rd.
The council is also taking action to prevent the coalition and church from holding protests and weekly church services in Cranmer Square. The events, which include staging, portaloos and sound systems, are in breach of a council bylaw and possibly its District Plan too.
Good luck to the Christchurch City Council getting those paid. Apostle Tamaki will probably argue he didn’t personally organise the protests & he didn’t request the services the Council is trying to charge him for.
Will be interesting to see how this pans out though. Hope Stuff follows up the story with updates.
Having now read the story it seems Derek Tait a senior pastor at Destiny Church in Christchurch organised the protests. I expect the Freedom & Rights Coalition will still argue it didn’t request the traffic management & services provided. The police did. They’ll possibly suggest the council bills the police! 😀
That Christchurch City Council has fined Apostle Tamaki AND billed his coalition for traffic management services got a mention on 1ewes at 6 tonight. It also mentioned that Tamaki has denied attending a protest last Saturday & that he says he was attending a “family picnic”. 🙄 I’m sure his invitation was expressed that way. Slippery blighter.
My understanding is the loophole that Djok has used-a positive Covid test within 6 months of needing to be vaccinated-does not exist; this has been explicitly stated by the federal government. It was just the Victorian government and the tennis authorities who decided that this loophole worked and so granted the visa because they were both desperate for him to play in the Oz.
But ScoMo is so pathetic that he may do another u-turn (having already executed one in the Djok case) and allow Djok to play.
I hope this is the case because this is a sure-fire vote loser for him in the upcoming federal elections. Meanwhile Djok has become an icon of the extreme right and anti-vaxxers according to the Guardian today. He is going to get a lovely reception in Melbourne.
They can't really still ban or send Djokovic away can they? Regardless of what transgressions or wrong things they find they can't expel him. Why? Because there'd be riots against that.
But now there is another twist in the saga. Apparently he undertook not to travel for 14 days before travelling to Australia. But there now appear to be social media posts showing him in Belgrade on 26 Dec!
In his Australian traveller declaration, filed on 1 January, Djokovic declared “no” when asked: “Have you travelled or will you travel in the 14 days prior to your flight to Australia?”
The declaration is accompanied with a warning that giving false or misleading information is a “serious offence”, also punishable by civil penalties.
In documents filed to the federal circuit court, Djokovic said that on 1 January he authorised his agent to submit this declaration, before travelling to Melbourne from Spain via Dubai on 4 January.
In his interview with border force officials on 6 January, Djokovic confirmed the declaration was completed by his agent, “based on” his Tennis Australia-approved medical exemption, but was not asked in the interview about travel in the fortnight before arrival.
A Twitter post by a Portuguese tennis reporter, Jose Morgado, appears to show Djokovic was in Belgrade at Christmas, posing with the handball star Petar Djordjic.
And it is alleged he travelled from Belgrade to Spain during the period in question where he practiced before leaving for Australia. There was an item on Stuff (I think) yesterday about it but can't find it now.
Yes he traveled from Spain to Australia – it says so in the Guardian link. Frankly he is playing fast and loose with the rules, and one wonders just how valid that positive test was when we see him supposedly the next day unmasked and in public obviously in good health.
…the vast majority of Australians would cheer to the rafters if he was thrown out…
I think they would too. It must stick in the craw of so many of them seeing a “maskhole” gain entry when their partners/spouses, mums. dads, siblings, cousins and friends can't get back and they are fully vaccinated.
Geez, if I was an Aussie I would be literally smoking from head to feet with anger.
Yes. Judging by this ABC item, it looks like Aussies are pissed off. Setting aside the controversies swirling around him, its the fact he is unvaccinated which is bothering most:
brilliant documentary by Chinese-American director Jessica Kingdon, which slyly observes China’s transition from the world’s factory to a massive consumer society. It’s a film in the tradition of Koyaanisqatsi or Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s Our Daily Bread.
Shot in more than 50 locations in China, it splits more or less into three sections: factory workers, China’s growing middle class and the filthy-rich elite. There’s no voiceover or obvious narrative, just a stream of vignettes – at times an almost surreal compilation of images strung together… There’s a lot of humour in the sections on China’s middle class and super-wealthy. In one semi-excruciating scene pupils at a butler school are instructed in how to take crap from a boss: “No matter how he humiliates you, pretend to be obedient.”
Sports journalist Todd Balym tweeted: "Court documents show Novak Djokovic got his positive Covid test results shortly after 8pm on Dec 16 — so he knew he was Covid positive visiting kids & others the next 2 days. Court might've cleared him today, but public opinion will judge him as a selfish maskhole."
I smiled at the finish in Mark Reason's piece about Djokovic. He'd praised the attitude of Nick Kyrgios who'd said of the Serb , “At the end of the day, he is human. Do better.”
Then Reason finishes: "Let’s remember, in the name of Arthur Ashe, that the world and the tennis world can be a better place if we really put our hearts and minds to it. Let’s start by giving the person close to you a hug."
The day after you find you've got the virus and you're hugging kids at some event?
You are attempting to re-write history here. The right did not choose to go after Turei personally. She attempted to use her past personal circumstances for political purposes and she was found to have exaggerated her situation and in the process she denigrated the family of the father of her daughter. That is why she resigned from politics not because of anything others did to her. It was largely her own doing.
[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.]
Pre-empting your usual derail Gosman. Feel free to hash this one out in OM. But I’m keeping an eye on unfounded assertions about Turei, so mind your manners (and use links to back up).
None of my comments about Turei are unfounded and my comment goes to the heart of your post as you were trying to imply Turei's policy proposals were the cause of her demise. In fact the media were generally supportive of her position and the right wing was no more aggressive in opposing them than any other set of Green party policy they disagreed with. The Greens got a massive boost in popularity as a result and it led directly to Ardern becoming the leader of the Labour party as they went even further behind National as they lost support to The Greens. It was only after her personal story unraveled as a result of people on the left (e.g. the family of the father of the daughter and the two Green party MP’s who resigned in protest at her actions) coming forward that she resigned.
One other commenter talked about Turei, and one responded to that. I've asked them to focus on the post and the GP in 2022//2023. I didn't bother asking you to do that because I knew you would just argue with me.
What element of the Turei situation that I have described do you disagree with? She misrepresented her position and the support she received from her daughters fathers family.
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Buzz from the Beehive Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister. And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing ...
The quarterly labour market statistics were released this morning, showing that unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%. There are now 99,000 people unemployed - 24,000 fewer than when Labour took office. So, I guess the Reserve Bank's plan to throw people out of work to stop wage rises "inflation", and ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...
On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...
Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters When early settlers came to the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers before the California Gold Rush, Indigenous people warned them that the Sacramento Valley could become an inland sea when great winter rains came. The storytellers described water filling the ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Last night’s opinion polls answered the big question of whether a switch of prime minister would really be a gamechanger for election year. The 1News and Newshub polls released at 6pm gave the same response: the shift from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins ...
Last night’s opinion polls answered the big question of whether a switch of prime minister would really be a gamechanger for election year. The 1News and Newshub polls released at 6pm gave the same response: the shift from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins has changed everything, and Labour is back ...
Over the last few years, it’s seemed like city after city around the world has become subject to extreme flooding events that have been made worse by impacts from climate change. We’ve highlighted many of them in our Weekly Roundup series. Sadly, over the last few days it’s been Auckland’s ...
A ‘small target’ strategy is not going to cut it anymore if National want to win the upcoming election. The game has changed and the game plan needs to change as well. Jacinda Ardern’s abrupt departure from the 9th floor has the potential to derail what looked to be an ...
When Grant Robertson talks about how the economy might change post-covid, one of the things he talks about is what he calls an unsung but interesting white paper on science. “It’s really important,” he says. The Minister in charge of the White Paper — Te Ara Paerangi, Future Pathways ...
The news media were at one ceremony by the looks of things. The Governor-General, the Prime Minister and his deputy were at another. The news media were at a swearing-in ceremony. The country’s leaders were at an appointment ceremony. The New Zealand Gazette record of what transpired says: Appointment of ...
I n some alternative universe, Auckland mayor Efeso Collins readily grasped the scale of Friday’s deluge, and quickly made the emergency declaration that enabled central government to immediately throw its resources behind the rescue and remediation effort. As Friday evening became night, Mayor Collins seemed to be everywhere: talking with ...
They called it an “atmospheric river”, the weather bombardment which hit NZ’s northern region at the weekend. It exacted a terrible toll on metropolitan Auckland and the rest of the region. Few living there may have noted a statement from electricity generator Mercury Energy labelled “WET, WET, WET!” This was ...
I know, that is a pretty corny title but given the circumstances here in the Auckland region, I just had to say it. The more oblique reference embedded in the title is to the leadership failures exhibited by Mayor Wayne Brown and his so-called leadership team when confronted by the ...
How much confidence should the public have in authorities managing natural disasters? Not much, judging by the farcical way in which the civil defence emergence in Auckland has played out. The way authorities dealt with Auckland’s extreme weather on Friday illustrated how hit-and-miss our civil defence emergency system is. In ...
Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The recent leadership change in the governing Labour party resulted in a very strange response from National’s (current) leader, Christopher Luxon. Mr Luxon berated Labour for it’s change of leader, citing no actual change.As ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 22, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 28, 2023. Story of the Week New Study Reveals Arctic Ice, Tracked Both Above and Below, Is Freezing LaterClimate change is affecting the timing of both ...
Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.It was another ‘SHOCK! HORROR!’ headline from a media increasingly venturing into tabloid-style journalism:Andrea Vance’s article seemed to focus on the "million dollar sums from the Government as the country grapples with a housing ...
Dr Brian Easton writes: It’s the summer break. Everyone settles down with family, books, the sun and some fishing. But the Prime Minister has a pile of briefing papers prepared just before Christmas, which have to be worked through. I haven’t seen them. Here is my guess at some ...
What Was the Prime Minister Reading in the Runup to Election Year?It’s the summer break. Everyone settles down with family, books, the sun and some fishing. But the Prime Minister has a pile of briefing papers prepared just before Christmas, which have to be worked through. I haven’t seen them. ...
In case you hadn't noticed, FYI, the public OIA request site, has been used to conduct a significant excavation into New Zealand's intelligence agencies, with requests made for assorted policies and procedures. Yesterday in response to one of these requests the GCSB released its policy on New Zealand Purpose and ...
Farming leaders are watching closely whether Damien O’Connor keeps the key portfolios of Agriculture and Trade when Prime Minister Chris Hipkins restructures his Cabinet. O’Connor has been one of the few ministers during Labour’s term in office who has won broad support for what he has done ...
South Islands farmers are whining about another drought, the third in three years. If only we knew what was causing this! If only someone had warned them that they faced a drying climate! But we do know what is causing it: climate change. And they have been warned, repeatedly, for ...
Ok, there’s good news and bad news in this week’s inflation figures, but bad > good. Our inflation rate held steady but hey, at a level below the inflation rate in Australia. The main reason for the so/so result here? A fall in petrol prices of 7.2% offset the really ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Since her shock resignation announcement, Jacinda Ardern has been at pains to point out that she isn’t leaving because of the toxicity directed at her on social media and elsewhere, rebutting journalists who suggested misogyny and hate may have driven her from office. Yet ...
Since her shock resignation announcement, Jacinda Ardern has been at pains to point out that she isn’t leaving because of the toxicity directed at her on social media and elsewhere, rebutting journalists who suggested misogyny and hate may have driven her from office. Yet there have been dozens of columns ...
The Clinical Magus: Of particular relevance to New Zealanders struggling to come to terms with the sudden departure of their prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is Jung’s concept of the anima. Much more than what others have called the feminine principle, the anima is what the human male has made out ...
The Select Committee, considering the proposed RNZ-TVNZ merger, has come back with a report conceding many of the criticisms that were made of the original legislation. In what is one of the most comprehensive demolitions of a Bill submitted to a Select Committee, the Economic Development, Science and Innovation ...
Such are the 2020s, the age when no-one, it seems, actually respects the basic underpinnings of democracy. Even in New Zealand. This week, I stumbled across a pair of lengthy and genuinely serious articles, that basically argue that Something is Rotten in the state of New Zealand democracy. One ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hurrah. Today we found something fresh on the Beehive website, Beehive.govt.nz, which claims to be the best place to find Government initiatives, policies and Ministerial information. It wasn’t from Finance Minister Grant Robertson, whose reaction to the latest inflation figures would have been appreciated. So, too, ...
Smiling And Waiving A Golden Opportunity: Chris Hipkins knew that the day at Ratana would be Jacinda’s day – her final opportunity to bask in the unalloyed love and support of her followers. He simply could not afford to be seen to overshadow this last chance for his former boss ...
Extremism Consumes Itself: The plot of “Act of Oblivion” concerns the relentless pursuit of the “regicides” Edward Whalley and William Goffe – two of the fifty-nine signatories to King Charles I’s death warrant. As with his many other works of historical fiction, Robert Harris’s novel brings to life a period ...
To challenge the Government’s promotion of co-governance, to share power between Maori and public authorities and agencies, is to invite accusations of racism. An example: this article by Martyn Bradbury on The Daily Blog headed Luxon’s race baiting hypocrisy at Ratana. The article was triggered by National leader Christopher Luxon, ...
A very informative video discussion: Are we getting the whole story about Ukraine? | Robert Wright & Ivan Katchanovski Getting objective information on the situation in Ukraine and the cause of this current war is not easy. There is the current censorship and blatant mainstream media bias – which ...
Yesterday the Herald ran an op-ed from Mayor Wayne Brown titled “The case for light rail is lighter than ever” and a few things stood out. However, it’s getting more and more tricky to make a strong economic case for spending up to $29 billion on a single route of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Samantha Harrington Imagine it’s a cold February night and your furnace breaks. You want to replace it with an electric heat pump because you’ve heard that tax credits will help pay for the switch. And you know that heat pumps can reduce ...
In 2005, then-National Party leader based his entire election campaign on racism, with his infamous racist Orewa speech and racist iwi/kiwi billboards. Now, Christopher Luxon seems to want to do it all again: Fresh off using his platform at this week's Rātana celebrations to criticise the government's approach to ...
Inflation is showing little sign of slowing down, posing a problem for freshly minted PM Chris Hipkins. According to that old campaigner Richard Prebble, Hipkins should call a snap election. If he waits till October, he risks being swept away. The dilemma for the new leader is that fighting an election ...
Buzz from the Beehive A great deal has happened since January 19. Among other things, a new Prime Minister and deputy have been sworn in and our leaders (past, present and aspiring) have delivered speeches at Ratana. Newshub reported that politicians of all stripes had descended upon Rātana for the ...
It’s a big day for New Zealand; our 41st Prime Minister has taken office and the new, “Chippy” era of politics is underway. Or, on the other hand, the Labour Party continues to govern with an overall majority and much the same leadership team in place. Life goes on and ...
New Zealand has another Prime Minister who does not have a basic grasp of the three articles of the Treaty of Waitangi. THOMAS CRANMER writes: It is simply astonishing that New Zealand’s next Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, is unable to give even a brief explanation of the three articles ...
A statue of a semi-naked Nick Smith puts the misogyny debate into perspective. GRAHAM ADAMS writes … In the wake of Ardern’s abrupt resignation, the mainstream media are determined to convince us she was hounded from office mainly because she is a woman and had to fall on her sword ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is ...
An editorial in the NZ Herald last week, titled “Nimbyism goes bananas as housing intensifies“, introduced Herald readers to a couple of acronyms that go along with the now-familiar NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard): “bananas” (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone) “cave” dwellers (citizens against virtually everything). The editorial ...
Back in the dark autumn of 2020, when the prospect of Covid was freaking the country out, Finance Minister Grant Robertson set himself and Treasury a series of questions about what a post-Covid economy might look like. Those were fearful days, and the questions in part reflected a series ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
I am delighted to announce the appointment of John Price ONZM as the new Director Civil Defence Emergency Management and Deputy Chief Executive Emergency Management for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). John has been a member of the ...
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki are calling on the new Prime Minister and new Minister of Conservation Willow Jean Prime to immediately implement the 2017 promise to ban new mining activity on conservation lands. “ The mining industry group Straterra ...
How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. In the latest episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how ...
There’s a fear that highlighting menopause will undermine women, especially at work. But what have centuries of secrecy achieved for us? Are you sick of hearing about menopause? Kim Hill is. The living legend of Aotearoa broadcasting told actor Robyn Malcolm (also a legend) on her Saturday Morning show on RNZ ...
Dunedin city council has reached an agreement to save Foulden Maar from commercial mining. The maar is the site of a crater lake from 23 million years ago with the diatomite of the lake preserving fossils and a climate record covering 100,000 years from that period. It is fantastic news for Otago University ...
Some are speculating whether the Auckland Mayor's leadership is circling the drain. James Elliott hopes they're right. There’s never been a week quite like it. It was the week when the rains came. All of them. Even the rain from Spain that was supposed to fall mainly on the plain, came. ...
The Bus and Coach Association supports the Government’s decision to continue half-price fares on public transport services. The fare reduction was set to expire on 31 March 2023, but will now continue to 30 June 2023. “Half-price fares have cost ten-times ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Hipkins’ bread and butter reshufflePolitical scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Chris Hipkins hires a lobbyist to run the BeehiveNew Zealand Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, speaking when Minister of Education, at NZEI Te Riu Roa strike rally on the steps of the New Zealand Parliament, 15th August 2018. Image; Wiki Commons. New Zealand is ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayCO-GOVERNANCE, WAITANGI, THREE WATERS Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Blowing Off The Froth: Why Chris Hipkins Must Ditch ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brian Tweed, Senior lecturer, Massey University Shutterstock/Renata Apanaviciene As we approach another Waitangi Day, we should be thinking again about what Te Tiriti o Waitangi means. As the late Moana Jackson commented, the meaning of Te Tiriti will be ...
Even prime ministers get caught in bad weather. It’s a week on from the devastating flooding that hit Auckland and Northland and Chris Hipkins has been forced to drive north for the start of Waitangi weekend commemorations after his plan was turned away from Kerikeri airport (twice). Today will see ...
Less than a year ago, co-governance had a future, at least as potentially accepted terminology. Now some iwi leaders want the label removed and replaced, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
“The decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to not replace the late Queen with Charles on the Aussie $5 note should indicate to our Reserve Bank that it’s time to change the NZ $20 note” said Lewis Holden, campaign chair of New ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Wolf, Associate Professor, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University Somchat Parkaythong/Shutterstock Black holes are bizarre things, even by the standards of astronomers. Their mass is so great, it bends space around them so tightly that nothing can escape, even ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Revell, Associate Professor in Environmental Physics, University of Canterbury Getty Images The ozone layer is on track to heal within four decades, according to a recent UN report, but this progress could be undone by an upsurge in rocket ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Clune, Honorary Associate, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney At the New South Wales election on March 25 a 12-year-old Coalition government will be seeking re-election. Hoping to return as premier is Liberal leader Dominic Perrottet – a political conservative ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Trauer, Associate Professor, Monash University Anastelfy/Shutterstock The XBB.1.5 subvariant, known informally as “Kraken”, is the latest in a menagerie of Omicron subvariants to dominate the headlines, following increasing detection in the United States and United Kingdom. But there ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeline Combe, Doctoral student, University of Technology Sydney Shutterstock As the economist Herman Daly pithily said, the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment – not the reverse. Nature makes our lives possible through what scientists call ecosystem ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Jefferson, Lecturer in Education, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock Grit. Don’t quit. That’s the mantra many parents may have in mind when they, like me, spend what feels like years ferrying children to a seemingly endless variety of sports and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW Sydney Sam Shere/Wikimedia Commons A few weeks ago, Gautam Adani was indisputably India’s richest man. Now his fortune is slipping away as the stocks of his many companies crash, thanks to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Divna Haslam, Senior Research Fellow, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Have you ever found yourself scrolling through social media and noticed you felt a bit down? Maybe a little envious? Why aren’t you on a yacht? Running a startup? Looking ...
The science of ‘event attribution’ is growing, with researchers working to accelerate their assessments. A leading NZ climate scientist tells Toby Manhire how it works, how climate change impacted the ‘off the chart’ weekend downpours, and why we can’t put a number on it tomorrow. Brutal, unexpected, record-breaking, destructive, tragic. ...
Those lockdown vibes are back – and maybe they never really went away. We were supposed to be organised. For a while there, we were. A uniform, purchased across a frenzied weekend dashing between specialist stores, was spread out over our son’s bed. Tags removed, shirts folded, socks in balls, ...
Establishing a Truth, Reconciliation and Justice Commission and recognising Māori tino rangatiratanga are among several recommendations in two pivotal reports released today (Friday 3 February) by Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission. The ...
Jacinda Ardern was treated like royalty at Waitangi with people coming from near and far to see her every February. Newly minted Prime Minister Chris Hipkins isn’t a familiar face in the Far North and will have his work cut out this weekend, writes political editor Jo Moir.Analysis: About ...
By extending the fuel excise duty cut, the Government is encouraging people to drive more, which will only worsen the climate challenges we face in the very near futureOpinion: By most accounts, the storms that have been wreaking havoc in Auckland and Northland are fuelled by climate change. The ...
Is a sponge city the answer to Auckland's flooding woes? The Detail finds out what the concept is all about. With the cleanup in full swing all over Auckland after this week's catastrophic flooding, people are starting to talk about throwing out the old building rules and "unengineering" our city - ...
Losing her mum at an early age, Ivari Christie found strength in netball. The explosive teen midcourter has now burst into the Southern Steel, with help from a couple of Silver Ferns legends, Suzanne McFadden writes. It was the biggest moment in Ivari Christie’s netball career; just 18 years old ...
The latest Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list, described by Steve BrauniasFICTION 1 Kāwai by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99) Huzzah to Monty Soutar, huzzah to his publishers, and huzzah to the three wise judges of the fiction prize at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand national book awards for ...
James Shaw says his Labour colleagues need to work with him to plug the emissions gap created by extending the fuel tax cuts Less than a week after a climate-fuelled storm laid waste to wide swathes of Auckland, the Government resurrected fossil fuel subsidies in the form of an extension ...
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Airstrikes ordered against civilian targets, destruction of thousands of buildings, millions displaced, nearly 3000 civilians murdered, more than 13,000 jailed, the country’s independent media banished, and the country locked in a deadly nationwide civil war. Myanmar civilians now ask what else must happen before they receive international support in line ...
By Nick Young of Greenpeace My family and I are lucky to have come through it unscathed, but my neighbourhood in Titirangi has been ravaged. Many people here and around the wider region have lost their homes altogether. I’ve seen people’s belongings out on the streets in piles ruined beyond ...
By Jonty Dine, RNZ News reporter While Auckland residents enjoy a brief reprieve from the rain, the rubbish continues to pile up as the full cost of the New Zealand flash floods continues to be counted. Some streets in Auckland are littered with items damaged and discarded from Friday’s freak ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Former Fijian Broadcasting Corporation chief executive Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was paid $224,792 in bonuses during his term at FBC which began in 2008, the new board chair has claimed. He was due for a $30,000 bonus this year. FBC chair Ajai Bhai Amrit also revealed Sayed-Khaiyum, ...
In additon to the MetService severe thunderstorm warning issued earlier this afternoon for Auckland, Coromandel and the Waikato, the MetService has issued a further update saying it is “ideal thunderstorm weather” in Auckland. Auckland is experiencing very high humidity and MetService meteorologist Georgina Griffiths says “Today and tomorrow brings us ...
The Green Party co-leader joins Grant Robertson and Nicola Willis in opting not to contest the seat.Just six days after five-term Wellington Central MP and finance minister Grant Robertson announced he would not be contesting the Wellington Central seat and would go list-only at this year’s election, James Shaw ...
The decision turns Wellington into a 2023 battleground, with three brand new faces set to contest the electorate - and Shaw has already thrown his support behind Tamatha Paul. ...
The Wellington Central electorate is set to be a wide-open race, with Greens co-leader James Shaw joining Labour incumbent Grant Robertson in opting against a run for the seat later this year Green Party co-leader James Shaw will not run for the Wellington Central seat at this year’s election, instead ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zahid Shahab Ahmed, Senior research fellow, Deakin University Muhammad Sajjad/AP Earlier this week, a suicide blast ruptured the relative calm that had returned to Pakistan in recent years. The attack at a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed ...
Between midnight February 3 and 8pm on February 10, rare photographs of New Zealand writers will be up for auction on the Fairfax Archives website. Books editor Claire Mabey explains.So, what is this auction?As of midnight on February 3 you can bid on pieces of literary history. The ...
The sun might be out, but Aucklanders are being warned another deluge could hit the city as soon as tonight. The city has been in a state of emergency since late Friday evening which is not due to expire until later this week. But while the weather has improved dramatically ...
When the streets flood, contaminated water gets everywhere – including into your clothes and shoes. Here’s why that matters and what to do next. Bernard Hickey, journalist and host of podcast When the Facts Change was “rubbernecking” around Auckland on Friday night. There were puddles everywhere. “They certainly didn’t look ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Nordberg, Senior Lecturer (Applied Ecology and Landscape Management), University of New England Shutterstock Australia’s renewable energy transition has prompted the construction of dozens of large-scale solar farms. The boom helps reduce Australia’s reliance on fossil fuels, but requires large ...
It has, to put it mildly, been a wet one. After record rainfall caused major flooding events and stormwater issues, Auckland is in crisis. Roads, suburbs, parks and homes have been overwhelmed with floodwater, much of which is “blackwater,” meaning it contains faecal matter and other sewage contaminants. So here’s ...
The government has unlocked an additional $700,000 in flood relief for regions most badly hit by recent bad weather. That includes Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland and the Bay of Plenty, with most of the money going toward providing unskilled and semi-skilled jobs for local people who can support the clean-up ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Helps, Research fellow, Monash University Shutterstock Identifying perpetrators of domestic and family violence is critical to ending violence against women. Practitioners across different sectors, including mental health, alcohol and drug services, have a vital opportunity to “screen” clients to ...
Age Concern New Zealand would like to extend a warm welcome to new Minister for Seniors, Ginny Andersen, who takes up the Seniors portfolio from the Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall. Karen Billings-Jensen, Chief Executive Age Concern New Zealand, says “We ...
Continuing fuel subsidies despite official and expert advice urging otherwise is focused on helping New Zealanders in the here and now, the finance minister says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University As we enter the fourth year of living with COVID, we are all asking the predictable question: when will the pandemic be over? To answer this question, it’s worth reminding ourselves that a pandemic involves ...
The twitter account for the mayor of Auckland, Wayne Brown, has posted and deleted an image showing the prime minister, Chris Hipkins, pointing at Brown, who stares back in a tableau that at first glance appears combative. The tweet, which came with a caption describing a meeting between the two ...
The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand later this month, taking in the sights of Palmerston North. Prime minister Chris Hipkins announced the royal will attend the 100th anniversary celebrations for the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief. These ...
PM Anthony Albanese has announced changes to help protect New Zealand-born residents of Australia from deportation, following years of outcry about the toll on so-called ‘501s’. Don Rowe looks at why the policy is so widely reviled. A major shift in Australian immigration policy means the government will now consider ...
King Charles has sent a message to New Zealand following the floods that hit the top of the North Island over the past few days. In a letter shared via the governor general, the monarch said he had been following the news with the “deepest concern” and wanted to pass ...
Dunedin – Following news that the Scottish city of Edinburgh has become Europe’s first capital to sign the Plant Based Treaty, animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has sent a letter to the mayor of Edinburgh’s ...
New figures reveal just how much living costs increased for households in 2022. Last year was dominated politically by the cost of living crisis, which has carried over into 2023 with inflation sky high and a looming recession on the horizon. According to Stats NZ, the cost of living for ...
Ramari Jackson-Paniora is the daughter of one of the main faces of the 1972 Māori Language Petition – but her relationship with te reo Māori is more complicated than people may assume.My whānau’s journey with reo Māori is typical of many Māori whānau across Aotearoa. Looking at my parents’ ...
After Monday night, the accepted narrative around rugby, sexuality and masculinity will never be quite the same, writes Sam Brooks. If you tuned into Seven Sharp on Monday night, you probably did so unaware that you were about to watch a history-making interview. After a wholesome segment with two ...
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Buller Electricity (BEL), the community owned lines network company that supplies the majority of electricity consumers in the Buller district on the South Island’s West Coast, has lodged a formal legal challenge opposing a 427% price increase in ...
I've been watching last night's TDB podcast on the economy of 2022, in which Bomber orchestrates a foursome with commentary from Bernard, a prominent entrepreneurial economist, Simon, the lawyer National is using as finance spokesperson due to having nobody in their caucus with financial expertise, and Damien, the libertarian Stuff columnist ex-criminal.
Bomber asked Bernard if the current Minister of Finance would get a knighthood for creating a new class of wealthy property speculators. Bernard started by saying that he'd probably get one anyway. Nice evasion there.
Labour would probably say "No no, you mustn't think that. It was all an unfortunate accident!" That the kiwi middle class transformed itself into a landlord class is best framed the way Labour views it: "Elephant in the room?? Where? Can't see one, don't be ridiculous!"
Thatcher preached the gospel of mum & dad investors 40 years ago and the political left and right have been locked into collusion ever since, implementing her vision.
Vital that Labour never tells the truth about doing this! No worries, pretence is something that Labour excels at – perhaps the only thing. Having operated as the Alternative National Party for so long now, the people who believed Labour was the exact opposite of National are now all dead. So Sir Grant will happen due to his resolute practice of Thatcherism.
Then Bernard said everyone believes their home values will continue to double every two years, so they make economic planning decisions on that basis. BAU. Then he said it was unsustainable, and there ought to be a govt agency created to implement a policy of zero house price inflation. Noticing that something intelligent was happening, Bomber immediately called for a commercial break.
If interested, watch at 43 mins in: https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/01/10/7-30pm-tonight-the-working-group-1-hour-economy-special-with-bernard-hickey-simon-bridges-damien-grant/
We are all dead? Lol Not yet!!
Might be true in another 10 years.
Okay. Sorry.
But it does raise the question of how you rationalise their adherence to neoliberalism along with National's – and in particular their coproduction of the enlarged landlord class.
Dennis, Thatcher went to war, did not believe in community, practiced austerity and raising taxes. This Labour Government has had to battle housing as every country World wide is doing. Singapore's approach is thought provoking, but they are able to make dictates. To say this Government is the same as National would be is a real stretch. Remember we are a democracy so the middle way tends to rule. When revolutions occur they seldom favour the poor, rule of law agreements between parties cities countries is the best we have managed. We tie it to Trade so we are hogtied.
Dunno about the Thatcher raising taxes bit. Misprint?
I agree there are significant tonal differences between Labour & National but the economic ideology is shared. I agree the middle way works best but it also preserves inertia and our global situation makes that lethal.
Here's the evidence of the impact of 30 years of global talkfests:
Evidence that democracy works clocks in at exactly zero. Prediction: retards will ignore the evidence and continue to believe in democracy.
Democracy dosn't work?….who should make the rules we live by?
God (which version)?…
Some foreign power?…
Alphabet Inc?…
Or perhaps we should forget about rules altogether?
forget about rules
Depends which game it's best to be playing, eh? Rules are made to be broken, some folks think. When global climate changes, it's a game-changer world we find ourselves shifting into. Old mental patterns make us part of the problem.
We need to flex to adapt to the times we're in. Default dependency on democracy locks us into failure. Therefore those intent on surviving will shift out of that mindset. Whatever works will do.
That said, rules can be retained on a utility basis in contexts where they can be seen to still work okay. I reckon the best way forward is to combine pragmatic usage of stable systems (like law) with innovative & inventive alterations to them.
Lol….so no idea then.
Democracy is crap but all the alternatives are worse….so somebody once said.
so no idea then
It puzzles me that you'd jump to that conclusion. As if you'd never heard of improvisation. As if you'd never noticed how well it works in real life.
As if you've never deduced that it works because it's context-driven. As if you're unaware that our changing global climate context requires us to improvise. As if you've never actually thought about that.
Anyway, it was Winston Churchill. Different geopolitical context, get it? Humanity can't progress when people default to failed ways of thinking. Get that head out of the sand!
The problem is that your framing is so puzzling, Dennis.
Evidence that democracy works clocks in at exactly zero. Prediction: retards will ignore the evidence and continue to believe in democracy.
The fact is Democracy has worked very well in numerous countries for a century or more. As evidenced by the number of democracies. Has worked better than 2 of the 3 the classic examples of Facism (Franco’s fascist state lasted until his death), & both Soviet-style & Mao-style Communism, for example.
Re your response to pat’s challenge to identify a better system:
It puzzles me that you’d jump to that conclusion. As if you’d never heard of improvisation. As if you’d never noticed how well it works in real life.
Democracies – particularly those that have employed capitalism – have thrived on improvisation. That’s how so much scientific & technological progress has been made in Western democracies. And improvisation also works well in societies that foster a DIY culture, at the national & individual level.
As if you’ve never deduced that it [democracy?] works because it’s context-driven. As if you’re unaware that our changing global climate context requires us to improvise. As if you’ve never actually thought about that.
Humanity can’t progress when people default to failed ways of thinking. Get that head out of the sand!
You’re barking up the wrong tree, imo. Because international global talkfest consensus decisions haven’t done enough to solve the GHG global warming-induced Climate Crisis is not down to a failure of Democracy as a system of government. Many nations that aren’t democracies have participated. There is NO World Democracy.
So, pat’s question was perfectly valid. If you think democracie won’t work for solving the climate crisis – what other system of government – for either the World or individual nations – do you propose as the alternative system of government which will?
Although autocracies, if they really grasp the nettle, might perhaps be more likely to enforce the industrial, social & lifestyle changes needed to sharply head off global warming on their populations – I’m not sure any (like China) have actually done so yet.
In my view people living in democracies are more likely to come up with the alternative lifestyles & produce the technical innovations needed to address the problems of climate change than autocracies or any other form of government.
what other system of government – for either the World or individual nations – do you propose as the alternative system of government which will?
I think that's the pertinent bit to respond to. Gezza, I take the point that my brevity provided insufficient framing.
First, a serious global crisis requires a serious global solution. Democracy has never been implemented at the global level. Few still expect the UN to deliver it.
Lateral thinking is required. In social change, that usually takes the forms I pointed out to Pat: invention & innovation. A suitable model is the one deployed to bring the Cold War to a successful conclusion, which I've discussed on various occasions here during the past seven years.
It was based on reciprocity & mutual benefits just like capitalism (trading, deals) and used a ratchet design mechanism for arms reduction which Reagan made famous with the slogan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify
But the strategy was derived from a famous computer tournament in the early 1980s, [see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation%5D and that's the inventive bit.
Nobody would think a computer game could end a war that had lasted decades, right? They proved it could, and did. Lateral thinking.
Now consider the zillions of dollars lying around doing nothing useful in a multitude of billionaire bank accounts. Gates & Buffet have been modelling philanthropy to target inequality etc – why not global warming? It's just a mental switch. When switched, seems obvious in retrospect & everyone wonders why it took so long to think of it.
Consider inventors as a reservoir of talent waiting to be used. Create a tournament for them to submit competing designs, use a panel of suitable political/economic/cultural experts to award prizes to winners by consensus. Design criteria to prioritise the best fixes most likely to work in practice would be essential…
Now you see what I have done here? I have reframed your question about types of governance into the relation of global problem to global solution. Such innovative mass psychology is the key.
consider the zillions of dollars lying around doing nothing useful in a multitude of billionaire bank accounts. Gates & Buffet have been modelling philanthropy to target inequality etc – why not global warming? It’s just a mental switch. When switched, seems obvious in retrospect & everyone wonders why it took so long to think of it.
Consider inventors as a reservoir of talent waiting to be used. Create a tournament for them to submit competing designs, use a panel of suitable political/economic/cultural experts to award prizes to winners by consensus. Design criteria to prioritise the best fixes most likely to work in practice would be essential…
Good idea. (How do you know Gates and Buffett aren’t already investing in climate change solutions, btw? I haven’t looked. Have you?)
Now you see what I have done here? I have reframed your question about types of governance into the relation of global problem to global solution. Such innovative mass psychology is the key.
What I see is that you have a good idea that you could simply have stated as such at the outset & not distracted yourself, pat, me, and possibly other readers, by a completely unnecessary peripatetic wandering around the completely irrelevant subject of democracy before you got there.
I haven’t looked. Have you?
No, that's too likely to be a waste of time. Both mainstreamers!
the completely irrelevant subject of democracy
Had to do that due to it being the prevalent belief system. Only with continual focus on the mismatch between belief & reality can you hope to jolt them out of the habitual attachment. Einstein's dictum re insanity comes to mind: they keep doing global climate conferences in the hope that nations will implement output decisions in national policy. That continual policy implentation failure is rooted in democracy.
That’s got nothing to do with democracy & everything to do with international consensus decision-making which is not the same thing.
You should probably check out Gates & Buffett in case they are already doing something along the lines of what you suggest. How do they choose what projects to invest in?
But if not, having a good idea is fine, but getting it implemented is what counts. How do you propose to get it implemented? Who are you going to propose your idea to?
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Thursday said his climate investment fund would pledge $1.5 billion for joint projects with the federal government to combat climate change if Congress passes a bipartisan infrastructure plan that funds clean energy technologies.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/12/bill-gates-pledges-1point5-billion-for-infrastructure-plans-climate-projects-.html
Huh?? You really don't believe that legislation to enact international agreements isn't part of democracy?? On what basis?
Wtf has that got to do with your suggestion, or the point you were making about innovation & inventions being needed to help address climate change?
AFAIK Democracies AND autocracies both domestically legislate to give effect to their signups to international agreements that require this to happen. (Whether they employ/enforce & honour that legislation might be another matter.)
Are you proposing to get democracies to legislate to make your suggestion, & inovation & invention compulsory?
Sorry, but I’m not wasting any more time & energy on your convoluted & hopelessly philosophically muddled approach to this topic Dennis. You’ve gone down a rabbit hole, imo.
Like the Ozzies? Ignore the "rule of law"?
Democracy doesn't work. We need decisiveness and positive action.
For that it is best to have one person in charge at the top of the pyramid and they rule and instigate action by those further down. Who carry out the dictates not of themselves but of those atop them. Carry out without deviation or variation based on personal interpretation.
For our first such sortie into getting rid of talkfests and prevarication and establishing firm, unequivocal, certain parameters for the society to operate under, I would suggest the first person to be our leader should be Kiwi Jong-un. I'm sure there is someone out there to fill that bill.
it is best to have one person in charge at the top of the pyramid and they rule and instigate action by those further down. Who carry out the dictates not of themselves but of those atop them. Carry out without deviation or variation based on personal interpretation.
Otherwise known as the Führerprinzip. The problem with this system is that absolute power often corrupts absolutely. And if the Führer is wrong or goes insane no one can do anything about it unless & until they kill them, or they kill themselves.
You mean that guy with the swishback & dark glasses. Christian. Good at telling people what to do. They even reward him with money. God's will be done!
One of the pitfalls National are going to have to avoid is being branded as Labour Lite. Their usual mantra of less spending = tax cuts is off the agenda given the Covid situation. If they propose more housing, more hospitals, schools and general infrastructure, Labour Lite. If they try do lift the poverty stats via Working for Families, Labour Lite. Climate change, Labour Lite.
Fascinating.
What a battle it will be…Labour lite vs National …lite!
National can never be branded Labour lite as long as the pandemic lasts.
National may pose as Labour lite for all they like, but history shows that voters would be making a big mistake to trust them to follow through.
Jim Bolger played the Labour lite card to win the 1990 election, promising to reverse a lot of the unpopular right wing neo-liberal policies of the Lange/Douglas administration. Bolger promised to stop the privatisations of state assets, promised to repeal the Superannuation Surcharge, promised students to cut student debt and user pays in tertiary education brought in by the Lange/Douglas administration.
All these reversals gave birth to the populist NZ First Party. Formed in revolt against National's reversals, NZ First acted to keep the Bolger administration in power as a support party. Despite their leader promising to never work with that man.
Luxton might try to promise the electorate that a National Party led administration, backed by NZ First and Act will handle the pandemic better than a Labour led administration. But no one would believe him.
The one place that shows that National stays true to their profit before people ethos and does not, can not, play the Labour Lite card is around the pandemic.
Despite the cost in deaths and sickness, private profit will always be prioritised over public health by National.
And this is the one defining issue of our time that separates National from Labour where there can be no hiding.
Agree Jenny, Nats constant "open up" cries show where their values lie. Like Scotty from Marketing, "Let it rip"
Our family over in Oz are truly affected by that.
Wont matter what national says, itll be austerity and sewage in the hospital walls if national gets back in.
On a far more serious matter, I suspect Latham will enforce the follow on.
The bowlers’ workload yesterday wasn’t that great. BD’s batters will be a little shellshocked, and you want to take the weather out of the equation altogether.
Why wouldn't you enforce the follow on? Batting first and last is how to make the most use of the available playing time.
Most test match captains do not enforce the follow on these days. But in this situation, with the NZ bowlers able to start fresh again this morning, and with such a massive lead, it makes sense to enforce it.
Follow on must be enforced. 300 plus run lead, fresh bowlers (less overs bowled than 50 over match) and the possibility of some inclement weather as it's NZ).
Short and sweet.
In a sea of disinformation and longwinded paranoid far right conspiracy theories. Martyn Bradbury employs the Kiss Principle.
Excellent piece by bomber.
Interesting graph and an important one for NZ, thanks.
Makes sense given the Imperial College London study that shows the reduction in omicron severity is much greater in the vaccinated, compared to the unvaccinated.
So some of his commenters jump into playing at the competing graphs game. Then we got Ethan Woke:
I wonder if his surname signifies he's an aspirational leader for the wokester tribe?
NSW having a terrible time hospitals are struggling health professionals burning out.
Because mainly the unvaxxed overloading the health system.
Can't link but govt stats show 63% of covid infected hospitalizations are unvaccinated yet only make up less than20% of the population.Partially vaccinated 18% fully vaccinated only 1.8% yet they make up nearly 80% of the population.
Yeah, have already noticed that pattern. Belief systems are inertial & when they are incompatible with reality then adherents deny reality. They deny evidence such as statistics.
Neuroscience has documented how this works – emotions prevail over logic. Emotional attachments to what people already think they know prevail over new info that conflicts with their knowledge.
Yes, yes, this all well-known & has been exploited by advertisers & propagandists for a century or more. But it doesn’t always apply to everything for everbody (Most Germans realised they were losing the war while the rabid Nazis were still choosing to believe Dr Goebels).
And it often doesn’t apply to those who are aware of their emotional responses but prefer to employ research, analysis, logic & reasoning to their decision-making. Which many females seem innately good at when shopping (think I’ll wait for the sales).
Not denying Covid impact on the health system with this.
I can reliably inform you, about the NZ system, that under staffing, under resourcing, poor planning and neo liberal, market driven politics have done way more damage to our hospitals.
Both National and Labour are responsible for this.
Until recently, I could read the vaccination status of those hospitalised in Stuff articles. Around New Year, it was approx. 50/50 Unvaxxed and not eligible/started their vax regime and fully vaxxed. I have not seen this since New Year.
Bradburys graph looks to show the unvaccinated hospitalization rate increasing 3 or 4 times.
That doesn't make much sense from what I can figure out. As many high risk people should be reduced in the unvaccinated group by having moved over into the vaccinated group by now.
New Yorkers should have plenty of antibodies in the population from previous waves – greater chance of immunity in population.
Omicron is a significantly weaker virus, causing less hospitalizations.
Are you suggesting that graph is fabricated? The Omicron variant has caused a large surge in N.Y. state active COVID-19 cases, currently ~1.7 million (and rising), which is nearly double the previous maximum of ~0.9 million active cases, in Feb. 2021.
Even with protection from vaccination, and/or prior infection (not relevant in NZ), plus improved treatments, a small spike in deaths is inevitable – more than 100 deaths per day (7-day moving average) over the last 6 days for N.Y. state alone .
Tasmania opened up 26 days ago with zero Covid cases.
Well goodness me would you look at those vaccination rates. 'D'ya thunk that might have something to do with it?'
Without the /s hat on I like the naming of the category [email protected] Hopefully this refers to a programme of nursing in the community ie with GP/Nurse support.
We need Rogan to start yapping about this and perhaps the angry alt-covid choads will be convinced that that yet another miraculous off-label therapy, sculling your own piddle, is being suppressed.
Aha
So full of piss!!!
Or
A piss take???
Dude's got a car full of guns and a flamethrower and reckons he's off to all the blue states to see the governors.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-vax-leader-traveling-country-with-guns-flamethrower-and-fake-badge-prepared-to-arrest-dem-governors
From the article:
On Saturday night, when asked about the guns and if he intends to bring them along when conducting the planned arrests, Key told The Daily Beast he is “never about violence.” “I will do it [the citizen arrests] lawfully, and the sheriffs will be with me,” he added.
The guy sounds like a bullshit artist to me. If he seriously plans to pull those guns out on state legislature premises or at governor’s residences this could get very amusing for everybody but him. But one suspects, from what he said above, that he won’t use his guns if nobody from law enforcement is interested in doing the same. And they won’t be.
Or not..
He sounds like he’s a one man band though, joe. If he turns up alone, at State Capitols, or governors’ official residences, waving his guns (or flamethrower?) around, what do you think is likely to happen? I reckon he’ll find himself staring straight up the barrels of multiple law enforcement firearms & if he’s lucky he’ll be told to drop his firearms & get face down on the ground immediately. If he’s unlucky, he’ll get shot.
Got trendy in the '90s – I saw a feature in Nexus. My reaction was ugh! Still is. Origin part-biblical: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine_therapy
Pretty sure virgin boy eggs take the biscuit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_boy_egg
Blech! I don't even do insects. Leave that to the hillbillies in Westland.
Novak wins his appeal…
'I want to stay': Novak Djokovic heads straight to Australian Open courts after huge legal victory | Stuff.co.nz
Does anyone have a link to a graph of NZ daily case numbers? Community cases mostly, but would be interested to see MiQ cases too. Want the trend over time.
there's this but it doesn't separate out community from MiQ
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-current-cases
this one is better but still the combined numbers
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=nzl&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usnh&areasRegional=uspr&areasRegional=usdc&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=usmi&cumulative=0&logScale=0&per100K=0&startDate=2021-06-01&values=cases
RNZ has a good dashboard everything you want.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/450874/covid-19-data-visualisations-nz-in-numbers
perfect, thanks.
Thanks Poission-excellent. That has been bookmarked.
God will provide: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/127463307/council-sends-14000-traffic-management-bill-to-antigovernment-protesters
Good luck to the Christchurch City Council getting those paid. Apostle Tamaki will probably argue he didn’t personally organise the protests & he didn’t request the services the Council is trying to charge him for.
Will be interesting to see how this pans out though. Hope Stuff follows up the story with updates.
Having now read the story it seems Derek Tait a senior pastor at Destiny Church in Christchurch organised the protests. I expect the Freedom & Rights Coalition will still argue it didn’t request the traffic management & services provided. The police did. They’ll possibly suggest the council bills the police! 😀
That Christchurch City Council has fined Apostle Tamaki AND billed his coalition for traffic management services got a mention on 1ewes at 6 tonight. It also mentioned that Tamaki has denied attending a protest last Saturday & that he says he was attending a “family picnic”. 🙄 I’m sure his invitation was expressed that way. Slippery blighter.
My understanding is the loophole that Djok has used-a positive Covid test within 6 months of needing to be vaccinated-does not exist; this has been explicitly stated by the federal government. It was just the Victorian government and the tennis authorities who decided that this loophole worked and so granted the visa because they were both desperate for him to play in the Oz.
But ScoMo is so pathetic that he may do another u-turn (having already executed one in the Djok case) and allow Djok to play.
I hope this is the case because this is a sure-fire vote loser for him in the upcoming federal elections. Meanwhile Djok has become an icon of the extreme right and anti-vaxxers according to the Guardian today. He is going to get a lovely reception in Melbourne.
They can't really still ban or send Djokovic away can they? Regardless of what transgressions or wrong things they find they can't expel him. Why? Because there'd be riots against that.
But now there is another twist in the saga. Apparently he undertook not to travel for 14 days before travelling to Australia. But there now appear to be social media posts showing him in Belgrade on 26 Dec!
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jan/11/australian-border-force-investigating-whether-novak-djokovic-made-false-travel-claim
And it is alleged he travelled from Belgrade to Spain during the period in question where he practiced before leaving for Australia. There was an item on Stuff (I think) yesterday about it but can't find it now.
Yes he traveled from Spain to Australia – it says so in the Guardian link. Frankly he is playing fast and loose with the rules, and one wonders just how valid that positive test was when we see him supposedly the next day unmasked and in public obviously in good health.
Pete: IMHO the vast majority of Australians would cheer to the rafters if he was thrown out-it is a vote winner for ScoMo.
The federal government has the power to throw him out-they control the borders.
…the vast majority of Australians would cheer to the rafters if he was thrown out…
I think they would too. It must stick in the craw of so many of them seeing a “maskhole” gain entry when their partners/spouses, mums. dads, siblings, cousins and friends can't get back and they are fully vaccinated.
Geez, if I was an Aussie I would be literally smoking from head to feet with anger.
Yes. Judging by this ABC item, it looks like Aussies are pissed off. Setting aside the controversies swirling around him, its the fact he is unvaccinated which is bothering most:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-12/novak-djokovic-in-australian-open-visa-limbo/100750800
So there's a
East converging on west, huh? But more authentically 19th century than our feeble Nat/Lab simulation. Butler school!
11 January 2022 at 12:55 pm
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/world-reacts-to-novax-court-document-damning-photos-expose-novak-djokovic/4OG4MUVZY4BUABENXMRV3JDG3M/
Will he or won't he play in the Australian Open?
I smiled at the finish in Mark Reason's piece about Djokovic. He'd praised the attitude of Nick Kyrgios who'd said of the Serb , “At the end of the day, he is human. Do better.”
Then Reason finishes: "Let’s remember, in the name of Arthur Ashe, that the world and the tennis world can be a better place if we really put our hearts and minds to it. Let’s start by giving the person close to you a hug."
The day after you find you've got the virus and you're hugging kids at some event?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/127474497/mark-reason-the-crazy-trial-of-novak-djokovic-and-why-nick-kyrgios-has-a-point
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/world-reacts-to-novax-court-document-damning-photos-expose-novak-djokovic/4OG4MUVZY4BUABENXMRV3JDG3M/
You are attempting to re-write history here. The right did not choose to go after Turei personally. She attempted to use her past personal circumstances for political purposes and she was found to have exaggerated her situation and in the process she denigrated the family of the father of her daughter. That is why she resigned from politics not because of anything others did to her. It was largely her own doing.
[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.]
Pre-empting your usual derail Gosman. Feel free to hash this one out in OM. But I’m keeping an eye on unfounded assertions about Turei, so mind your manners (and use links to back up).
None of my comments about Turei are unfounded and my comment goes to the heart of your post as you were trying to imply Turei's policy proposals were the cause of her demise. In fact the media were generally supportive of her position and the right wing was no more aggressive in opposing them than any other set of Green party policy they disagreed with. The Greens got a massive boost in popularity as a result and it led directly to Ardern becoming the leader of the Labour party as they went even further behind National as they lost support to The Greens. It was only after her personal story unraveled as a result of people on the left (e.g. the family of the father of the daughter and the two Green party MP’s who resigned in protest at her actions) coming forward that she resigned.
Next time, make your comment more relevant to the post. It's not about Turei and what happened, it's about how the GP are now.
What is interesting is a number of posters on that thread have essentially reiterated the comments I made (but gone in to more detail).
again, this here is why I pre-empted the derail.
One other commenter talked about Turei, and one responded to that. I've asked them to focus on the post and the GP in 2022//2023. I didn't bother asking you to do that because I knew you would just argue with me.
Yeah right Gosman mansplaining your way out again have you anything better to do maybe you could look up Paula Bennetts accuser on Facebook.
The compare that to how Materia Turei was treated.
You would never accept the truth a true born to rule Narcissisy
What element of the Turei situation that I have described do you disagree with? She misrepresented her position and the support she received from her daughters fathers family.
Imagine what Shaw COULD have done.
So many years wasted.
Except at 7-10% for a term their members and supporters are simply content.
The Greens alone hold the Greens back.
[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.]
Oh please your self-flattery is absurd.
In 2022 you've finally admitted something is deeply wrong. Everyone saw it but you.
[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.]
Stay out of the post for the rest of the day. Can’t be bothered with your trolling.