The Green Party policies of higher tax on wealth to fund a guaranteed minimum income are excellent, and would transform NZ for the better. Would make a massive dent in poverty and reduce our collective NZ love of hammering on the poor. This makes the Green Party one of the very few parties with policies that actually address inequality, the greatest scourge currently plaguing NZ in my opinion.
I'm a bit interested in whether the Bomber at Daily Blog will agree – he has been calling for our massive inequality / class issues to be dealt with, rather than focus on identity politics (and I agree), and at last the Greens are looking a bit more like that.
Seems a good move. Marama (from your link): "The Income Guarantee means families will always have enough kai, or to buy the shoes and warm clothes that children need. Students will no longer have to skip meals to make ends meet and can focus on their study. And if something happens that stops people from working, there is a guaranteed income that's enough to live on." Applied socialism, huh?
They'll be too scared to admit that, I suspect. However issuing a policy that implies the intent to achieve a UBI outcome without calling it UBI will work in proportion to the number of voters who get the subtle message.
Simulating often works as well as being authentic. Some would argue the clever simulation of this policy is a pointer to their authenticity. Paradox often rules politics!
The Greens are not proposing a land tax as such, they’re proposing a wealth tax that will leave most New Zealanders untouched. Only rabid RWNJs and trolls would object to this with their usual froth & hot air.
Why should the Greens make a wealth tax non-negotiable? Because you think it is good policy and you would support it and you would vote for any party that would support this? If not, why not?
No need for a calculator, Jack. I already know I’d very likely be better off, money-wise, under a NACT government. The very wealthy will be, for sure. However, any children might not be. Many other people might not be.
Do what’s best for you, Jack, and let us know how much better you’ll be off under NACT.
The Greens now have a clearly articulated tax policy to take to the election. This is to be welcomed. It should now flush Labour out to come clean on their tax policy too. Do they agree with their coalition partner or not?
Fair enough. Some people think we should cull the Social Welfare system and most if not all benefits.
One question for you though: what to do about those people & children already trapped in poverty? Let them eat cake? Let them swim? Let them learn some valuable life-lessons about making good personal choices?
A tired slogan, not actual information – and in fact the exact opposite of the truth.
Multiple studies show that versions of guaranteed minimum incomes do the exact opposite – they free people from poverty, give massive improvements in wellbeing and result in higher participation in employment.
I tend to agree – although both cases can be true at the same time. Conventional welfare handouts that are conditional and constrain a person's opportunities and agency are I believe prone to trapping people in poverty. There is a fair bit of evidence to support this idea.
But the core aspect of a GMI – or better still a fully tax integrated UBI – is that it is unconditional and the impact is quite different for exactly the reasons you lay out.
I applaud the invitation from the electoral review chair for constructive criticism and participation in the review process. However, I think the timing is a little off and there’s little appetite among the people and parties to really get stuck into this. Thus, this seems yet another review that will be archived and a wasted opportunity, which is a real shame.
There were no accusations of bias from the leaders of Labour and National, but they were at best muted; aside from the Greens, who cheered the review’s ideas and called for cross-party cooperation, there was little in the way of enthusiasm.
Some people seem more interested in gotcha politics and chasing trivialities in the greater scheme of things. There’s some evidence that all this negativity and adversarial (and unreasonably tribal & partisan) politics can reduce voter turnout, especially among less-informed or less-partisan voters, by increasing cynicism, apathy or confusion.
I can't understand why the Greens want a wealth tax of 2.5% on $2m+ , but tax trusts over $2m at 1.5% ??? Doesn't that just encourage more transfer to trusts??
The trust tax will be on all assets in private trusts without the $2M/person threshold. Therefore, it would not make sense to move money to trusts to avoid a wealth tax, at least not up to the threshold, but also not beyond up to $5M/person (by my calculations).
The main impact is that wealth per se will be taxed more than at present, to a degree. Of course, any (personal) income generated through investments, for example, will be taxed as such (i.e. as income).
Of course the local wingnut/cooker brigade have been pushing this.
Pinpointing an exact point of origin for the fictional stories is difficult, but media coverage of the school litter box hoax goes back to at least as early as 2021 in Canada. Similar rumours began to swirl in Michigan in December that year, in the wake of a video showing a board of education meeting in which a speaker claimed that litter boxes were placed in student bathrooms for those who identify as “furries”. The existence of both child “furries” and litter boxes in bathrooms was debunked the next month by Reuters but similar stories continued to spread among schools in other states. Ahead of the 2022 US elections, various prominent Republican politicians and media personalities continued to propagate the hoax. Despite there being no confirmed instances of schools providing litter boxes for students, social media has helped to amplify the tale
Parents with students in Jeffco Public Schools may have seen some interesting items on their back-to-school shopping lists this year, including buckets and kitty litter.
That’s because more teachers are opting to include “go buckets” in their classroom, to be used by students as toilets during prolonged lockdowns.
“I think it’s a weird idea,” said parent Michelle Gebers. “But I guess if you’re in a lockdown situation, it’s not something every parent is thinking about.”
The idea was first brought up a few years ago, when students at Alameda High School were stuck in lockdown for more than four hours.
Just to be clear, you think that because the far right are using Kellie Jay Keen's centrist, populist women's rights movement that seeks to retain women's sex based rights and protect children from overmedicalisation, and they are using that to direct hatred at trans people, that Kellie Jay Keen deserves death threats?
I'd like to know when exactly you decided that directing violence at women speaking up about their politics was acceptable. And why. Because I remember a brief point in history when the left condemned this. Those days are gone, now protecting women from violence is no longer a fundamental principles, instead it depends on the women being subservient to someone's political views.
Posie Parker is a provocateur. Among the GC political views and misinformation she pushes, she also includes abhorrent, violent ideas. Parker has been recorded as saying: that trans men should be sterilised; that men with guns should go into and patrol womens' toilets, ie, she sanctions gun violence against trans women; and that trans women are sexual perverts who are also pedophiles.
She is a disseminator of lies and hate speech, which incite and inflame attacks on the trans community for merely existing, as seen by the huge uptick in hateful and violent social media speech in NZ around her visit against trans people. What goes around comes around is a fair description. Should Parker be able to run to the protection of a law she does not follow herself?
Do I think hateful and violent speech is a good thing? No, from anyone. Parker does not get immunity for her violent, inciting speech because she is 'defending women'. She certainly does not defend women who find her extreme views dangerous and wrong. She has said we will be 'annhilated'.
she is a provocateur, that's not unusual in political movements.
Among the GC political views and misinformation she pushes, she also includes abhorrent, violent ideas. Parker has been recorded as saying: that trans men should be sterilised;
From memory, the context was that TM taking cross sex hormones shouldn't get pregnant. Do you disagree with this?
that men with guns should go into and patrol womens' toilets, ie, she sanctions gun violence against trans women;
This was in a US context, and afaik she didn't say to shoot TW. It's still abhorrent, and stupid, but it's also normal in the US context.
and that trans women are sexual perverts who are also pedophiles.
Citation please. Link, quote and an explanation. I know the two other examples you are referring to, but this one is vague so I'd like some clarity and context.
She is a disseminator of lies and hate speech, which incite and inflame attacks on the trans community for merely existing
her main purpose is women's sex based rights. She's not doing this to incite attacks on trans community for merely existing. I'm sure she'd much rather be getting on with her life.
, as seen by the huge uptick in hateful and violent social media speech in NZ around her visit against trans people.
Yes. But, we don't actually know what that is, because the people tracking it haven't said or shown, they've only told. We know that some people consider saying TW are male is a violence against trans people, so the details actuall matter. I have no doubt that the FR are now more focused on hating trans people, and we know that the VFF crowd are on board with GC issues now (kind of), but I don't see the kind of abuse you are talking about in their FB groups.
What goes around comes around is a fair description. Should Parker be able to run to the protection of a law she does not follow herself?
Ok, thanks for confirming you sanction violence against women. This is what I was pointing to.
I'm no longer surprised by the failure of some to condemn clear directed threats of violence, so I post this just to ensure you – and others – know what and who your reflexive comment defends.
Ironically, it may get worse because Elon Musk seems to be wary of AI developments, at least some – perhaps a case of ‘when I do it, it’s perfectly ok, but when somebody else does it, it’s bad’.
They're from Molly's comment above that, although I've made changes to the html in hers, and in my comments I had to download and then upload the images into TS to get them to work at all.
nothing I did worked in Safari. In Firefox width= worked on the TS images in my comments, but not the twitter images in Molly's comment. I replaced her URLs with the TS ones.
But below are my twitter tests with results noted. Firefox. Will retest in Safari shortly.
Fixed a failing 4Tb drive in the archive array. manufacture date 14Nov2021. Now looking for the invoice because I'm pretty sure that Seagate had a 3 warranty on Ironwolf. zfs is replacing it in the array.
Finally added the spare 1Tb SSD for the mdadm array for the standard. Brought it months ago, but this is the first time I have opened the case for a while.
Pulled out the remaining 12Gb SSDs for various old arrays.
Realized after I started up again that I'd left the backup_scratch (creates the hourly offshore backups for TS) in the fstab. It was causing startup issues. Booted up on a USB, and fixed it. Reset the backup system to a logical volume off the /home ssd.
Coffee time.. while I wait for the full backup to complete and ship.
any maths bods around? I need to calculate the net minimum wage hourly rate from $22.70 gross. Tax: 10.5% on the first $14,000, then 17.5% on the remaining. I get a net minimum wage of $19.20. Is that right?
(I'm writing a post on the Greens Guaranteed Min Income)
Should I include ACC? In the Greens' GMI for disabled people, they would get 80% of the minimum wage. But the GMI is tax free and presumably no ACC levies?
Generally income is exempt from ACC if it will be paid regardless of injuries as there's no point insuring it, so benefits and Super, for example, are exempt. Based on that principle, agree that increasing disability benefits will not attract ACC levies so net rates should just be after tax.
I had a look at the policy document and it didn't define "full-time" which is awkward, because most legislative things e.g. Stats NZ, Immigration, Working for Families consider full-time to be 30 paid hours per week but obviously most voters would see it as some range between 37.5 and 40 paid hours per week.
BD, I wish my cat would just pat the screen instead of walking all over the keyboard pressing keys that have got me doing all sorts of weird formatting and a couple of strange equations and 'something' where I had to ring the broadband company for help as he froze the whole works.
Then there is the sitting on the keyboard, plonk, and anguished As and Zs and /s dance all over the page.
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Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
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Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
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The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
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The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
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The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Asia Pacific Report A score of Palestine solidarity protesters draped themselves in white shrouds with mock blood in a sombre “die-in” demonstration at Te Komitanga Square — the heart of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city — today as speakers urged people to take a stronger boycott against Israeli products. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tackling violence against women will be the sole agenda item for a national cabinet meeting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has convened for Wednesday. The meeting, held remotely, follows thousands of Australians attending rallies across ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Deepfake AI has its upsides, including endless cultural cross-referencing.
Star Wars in German. Watch out for the triangular battleship.
oh dear
@JoshShiaman
Tried using Text-to-Video AI to generate a @BlueJays commercial and it…um…did not go well….
https://twitter.com/JoshShiaman/status/1666615968024391686
A new vacancy.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/10/unabomber-ted-kaczynski-81-dies-in-us-prison-cell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski
The Green Party policies of higher tax on wealth to fund a guaranteed minimum income are excellent, and would transform NZ for the better. Would make a massive dent in poverty and reduce our collective NZ love of hammering on the poor. This makes the Green Party one of the very few parties with policies that actually address inequality, the greatest scourge currently plaguing NZ in my opinion.
I'm a bit interested in whether the Bomber at Daily Blog will agree – he has been calling for our massive inequality / class issues to be dealt with, rather than focus on identity politics (and I agree), and at last the Greens are looking a bit more like that.
Seems a good move. Marama (from your link): "The Income Guarantee means families will always have enough kai, or to buy the shoes and warm clothes that children need. Students will no longer have to skip meals to make ends meet and can focus on their study. And if something happens that stops people from working, there is a guaranteed income that's enough to live on." Applied socialism, huh?
They'll be too scared to admit that, I suspect. However issuing a policy that implies the intent to achieve a UBI outcome without calling it UBI will work in proportion to the number of voters who get the subtle message.
Simulating often works as well as being authentic. Some would argue the clever simulation of this policy is a pointer to their authenticity. Paradox often rules politics!
Let’s work towards a Labour/Green coalition. And the Greens make a wealth/land tax a non negotiable.
Yes, please, please make it non negotiable and poor old chippie receives another kick in the guts regarding re election.
The Greens are not proposing a land tax as such, they’re proposing a wealth tax that will leave most New Zealanders untouched. Only rabid RWNJs and trolls would object to this with their usual froth & hot air.
Like I said, please make it non negotiable.
Why should the Greens make a wealth tax non-negotiable? Because you think it is good policy and you would support it and you would vote for any party that would support this? If not, why not?
No, because it will ensure a change of government
So, you don’t think it is good policy? Why not?
Yep. IMO this would be transformational. And under $125,000 ?
That surely must be most of NZ ?
Looks good to me : )
Shouldn’t be too long before someone has a tax calculator up and running to see if you are better off with tax cuts under National or the Greens.
No need for a calculator, Jack. I already know I’d very likely be better off, money-wise, under a NACT government. The very wealthy will be, for sure. However, any children might not be. Many other people might not be.
Do what’s best for you, Jack, and let us know how much better you’ll be off under NACT.
The Greens now have a clearly articulated tax policy to take to the election. This is to be welcomed. It should now flush Labour out to come clean on their tax policy too. Do they agree with their coalition partner or not?
Na , not keen on ubi, tax wealth by all means but use it to give world class health, education, infrastructure.
Giving money away is a bad idea.
Who’s giving money away?
I want some too!
What else does "gaurenteed minimum income mean"
Nothing like handouts to trap one in poverty, .
Fair enough. Some people think we should cull the Social Welfare system and most if not all benefits.
One question for you though: what to do about those people & children already trapped in poverty? Let them eat cake? Let them swim? Let them learn some valuable life-lessons about making good personal choices?
It's a terrible knife edge balance imo.
But build a shit load of state house for you're solo parents feed kids at school, dacare etc,
There will always need to be benefits, but people need to left in no doubt that we pull the net as one, and they are required to do their bit.
Australia has a similar system, with the first $18000 tax free. “trapped in poverty??”
"Nothing like handouts to trap one in poverty, ."
A tired slogan, not actual information – and in fact the exact opposite of the truth.
Multiple studies show that versions of guaranteed minimum incomes do the exact opposite – they free people from poverty, give massive improvements in wellbeing and result in higher participation in employment.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-28/for-more-than-20-guaranteed-income-projects-the-data-is-in
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/an-experiment-to-inform-universal-basic-income
Poverty tends to trap people in poverty, as does a lack of opportunity due to lack of resources.
I tend to agree – although both cases can be true at the same time. Conventional welfare handouts that are conditional and constrain a person's opportunities and agency are I believe prone to trapping people in poverty. There is a fair bit of evidence to support this idea.
But the core aspect of a GMI – or better still a fully tax integrated UBI – is that it is unconditional and the impact is quite different for exactly the reasons you lay out.
people with disabilities who can't work would starve without 'handouts'
100% UncookedSelachimorpha.
I applaud the invitation from the electoral review chair for constructive criticism and participation in the review process. However, I think the timing is a little off and there’s little appetite among the people and parties to really get stuck into this. Thus, this seems yet another review that will be archived and a wasted opportunity, which is a real shame.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/10-06-2023/i-would-like-to-hear-from-all-those-people-electoral-review-chair-responds-to-critics
Some people seem more interested in gotcha politics and chasing trivialities in the greater scheme of things. There’s some evidence that all this negativity and adversarial (and unreasonably tribal & partisan) politics can reduce voter turnout, especially among less-informed or less-partisan voters, by increasing cynicism, apathy or confusion.
A low voter turnout favours the right, does it not?
Generally, yes. In fact, I almost wrote a Post about this last night!
I would be very interested in reading it, should you decide to post it.
I can't understand why the Greens want a wealth tax of 2.5% on $2m+ , but tax trusts over $2m at 1.5% ??? Doesn't that just encourage more transfer to trusts??
The trust tax will be on all assets in private trusts without the $2M/person threshold. Therefore, it would not make sense to move money to trusts to avoid a wealth tax, at least not up to the threshold, but also not beyond up to $5M/person (by my calculations).
The main impact is that wealth per se will be taxed more than at present, to a degree. Of course, any (personal) income generated through investments, for example, will be taxed as such (i.e. as income).
That’s my take on it.
Heh just watched Jack Tame, torture luxon, the anger was boiling just under the surface from luxon, I've seen that ugly in him a few times.
He didn't convince me on gmo.
He looked hopelessly conflicted on housing policy,
Bloody brilliant!!
Of course the local wingnut/cooker brigade have been pushing this.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/08-06-2023/no-whangarei-girls-high-school-students-are-not-identifying-as-cats
The reality.
https://kdvr.com/news/local/half-of-jeffco-schools-now-have-kitty-litter-filled-buckets-for-lockdowns/
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/23580324.portslade-arrest-online-threats-kill-anti-trans-campaigner/
violent vile threat to Posie Parker from a male who identifies as a trans woman.
what comes around goes around
Just to be clear, you think that because the far right are using Kellie Jay Keen's centrist, populist women's rights movement that seeks to retain women's sex based rights and protect children from overmedicalisation, and they are using that to direct hatred at trans people, that Kellie Jay Keen deserves death threats?
I'd like to know when exactly you decided that directing violence at women speaking up about their politics was acceptable. And why. Because I remember a brief point in history when the left condemned this. Those days are gone, now protecting women from violence is no longer a fundamental principles, instead it depends on the women being subservient to someone's political views.
Posie Parker is a provocateur. Among the GC political views and misinformation she pushes, she also includes abhorrent, violent ideas. Parker has been recorded as saying: that trans men should be sterilised; that men with guns should go into and patrol womens' toilets, ie, she sanctions gun violence against trans women; and that trans women are sexual perverts who are also pedophiles.
She is a disseminator of lies and hate speech, which incite and inflame attacks on the trans community for merely existing, as seen by the huge uptick in hateful and violent social media speech in NZ around her visit against trans people. What goes around comes around is a fair description. Should Parker be able to run to the protection of a law she does not follow herself?
Do I think hateful and violent speech is a good thing? No, from anyone. Parker does not get immunity for her violent, inciting speech because she is 'defending women'. She certainly does not defend women who find her extreme views dangerous and wrong. She has said we will be 'annhilated'.
she is a provocateur, that's not unusual in political movements.
From memory, the context was that TM taking cross sex hormones shouldn't get pregnant. Do you disagree with this?
This was in a US context, and afaik she didn't say to shoot TW. It's still abhorrent, and stupid, but it's also normal in the US context.
Citation please. Link, quote and an explanation. I know the two other examples you are referring to, but this one is vague so I'd like some clarity and context.
her main purpose is women's sex based rights. She's not doing this to incite attacks on trans community for merely existing. I'm sure she'd much rather be getting on with her life.
Yes. But, we don't actually know what that is, because the people tracking it haven't said or shown, they've only told. We know that some people consider saying TW are male is a violence against trans people, so the details actuall matter. I have no doubt that the FR are now more focused on hating trans people, and we know that the VFF crowd are on board with GC issues now (kind of), but I don't see the kind of abuse you are talking about in their FB groups.
Ok, thanks for confirming you sanction violence against women. This is what I was pointing to.
Thank you, weka.
The patient addressing of each concern, care and clarity in your response is appreciated.
thanks Molly. I saw you do this the other day too. I think it's useful just to break it down each time, as much as we are able (and have the time to).
From the article:
Interesting that the paper only partially reported the last tweet which I saw when the account was still active.
Screenshots are posted here:
https://reduxx.info/trans-identified-male-who-avoided-prison-on-violent-charge-now-threatening-to-brutally-kill-womens-rights-activists/
Helen Joyce is also targeted by the same man. Unlike the out-of-context claims regarding her views, there is no lack of clarity here:
I'm no longer surprised by the failure of some to condemn clear directed threats of violence, so I post this just to ensure you – and others – know what and who your reflexive comment defends.
Apologies for size of images.
I thought I'd adjusted, but I somehow haven't saved.
I've resized them finally. Ignore my now deleted reply if you read it earlier.
I really need to write a tutorial post. Some notes for me as much as anything,
to embed twitter images, control click to open any twitter image in a new tab, then use that URL. URL should look like this https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyOLTHDXoAAtli-?format=jpg&name=medium
Thanks, weka.
I've copied and saved
Are you against sacrificing animals for scientific research?
Are you against sacrificing humans for Tesla’s development and bottom line?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/300902739/teslas-autopilot-involved-in-far-more-crashes-than-previously-known
Ironically, it may get worse because Elon Musk seems to be wary of AI developments, at least some – perhaps a case of ‘when I do it, it’s perfectly ok, but when somebody else does it, it’s bad’.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/technology/elon-musk-ai-openai.html
Google’s Bard AI generates plausible misinformation on 78 of 100 controversial topics
You wouldn’t trust Bard with your car, would you?
Here’s in informed opinion with a few mentions of Tesla:
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2023/05/23/limits-of-ai-and-why-it-matters.html
Archaic laws are bad, right?
It depends on who you ask and about which laws.
For example, ACT wants to scrap ‘archaic GE laws’.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/491773/national-would-end-genetic-modification-ban-if-elected
On the other hand, proposals to bring archaic laws around media regulation into the present are dismissed as ‘hate speech laws 2.0’.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/live-updates/01-06-2023/hate-speech-laws-2-0-act-wants-to-kill-proposed-online-safety-rules
can you please look at these images and see if you can resize them? I've tried width= in the html, and putting 500 in the width box. Neither worked.
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11-06-2023/#comment-1953658
They're from Molly's comment above that, although I've made changes to the html in hers, and in my comments I had to download and then upload the images into TS to get them to work at all.
ah. Was using Safari. Just logged in on Firefox and it works fine. Might also be my slowish internet and the slow TS loading times today.
hmm, nope, still can’t get the images in Molly’s comment to resize. I don’t even know how she got twitter images in, I didn’t think they worked.
this is the html that Molly was using, for reference because I’m replacing the image with the TS URL ones.
img alt=”” src=”https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyDpd71XwAIntMM?format=jpg&name=small” />
They seem of the right size now; somebody (you?) set width="60%".
I generally use width="100%" but for these images 60% is fine …
nothing I did worked in Safari. In Firefox width= worked on the TS images in my comments, but not the twitter images in Molly's comment. I replaced her URLs with the TS ones.
But below are my twitter tests with results noted. Firefox. Will retest in Safari shortly.
Repairs today on the server.
Replaced a dead chassis fan.
Fixed a failing 4Tb drive in the archive array. manufacture date 14Nov2021. Now looking for the invoice because I'm pretty sure that Seagate had a 3 warranty on Ironwolf. zfs is replacing it in the array.
Finally added the spare 1Tb SSD for the mdadm array for the standard. Brought it months ago, but this is the first time I have opened the case for a while.
Pulled out the remaining 12Gb SSDs for various old arrays.
Realized after I started up again that I'd left the backup_scratch (creates the hourly offshore backups for TS) in the fstab. It was causing startup issues. Booted up on a USB, and fixed it. Reset the backup system to a logical volume off the /home ssd.
Coffee time.. while I wait for the full backup to complete and ship.
Must be an inauspicious planet conjunction for mechanical fans, lprent: the fan on my rangehood died today, too…
any maths bods around? I need to calculate the net minimum wage hourly rate from $22.70 gross. Tax: 10.5% on the first $14,000, then 17.5% on the remaining. I get a net minimum wage of $19.20. Is that right?
(I'm writing a post on the Greens Guaranteed Min Income)
Yes
ta
I suggest adding ACC to that (1.53%) since PAYE is both income tax and ACC levies. Net minimum wage after PAYE is $18.85.
Should I include ACC? In the Greens' GMI for disabled people, they would get 80% of the minimum wage. But the GMI is tax free and presumably no ACC levies?
Generally income is exempt from ACC if it will be paid regardless of injuries as there's no point insuring it, so benefits and Super, for example, are exempt. Based on that principle, agree that increasing disability benefits will not attract ACC levies so net rates should just be after tax.
I had a look at the policy document and it didn't define "full-time" which is awkward, because most legislative things e.g. Stats NZ, Immigration, Working for Families consider full-time to be 30 paid hours per week but obviously most voters would see it as some range between 37.5 and 40 paid hours per week.
This is a useful tool:
https://www.paye.net.nz/calculator/
very good.
doesn't let me calculate without ACC levies though.
You’ll need to go to the ACC tab (third from the left) and change the default figure to zero.
is there a trick to getting it to stick?
never mind, I got it!
they got $19.25 and I got $19.20, probably close enough.
Not sure what you mean. It stays [at] zero for me until I change it (back) or refresh the webpage.I was expecting to see it change to zero before I did the next thing.
need one with 6 brackets now, to run the GP plan calcs. If you have one handy.
https://twitter.com/BrianBoruNZ/status/1667770594103025664
I think they said on the TV that the 385/week was a net figure.
yes, that's why I want the net minimum wage to compare.
Can we please factor in the GST costs when talking about how much disposable income us peasants have
test
that's me setting the width box to 500
that's me leaving the width box at the default for the image (around 830)
test 3
post comment at default, then editing to add width="60%"
Safari tests: default image size
setting width box to 500
default image size, then editing to add width="60%"
I like the pictures — and so does my cat! She perked right up and started patting at the screen when they came up…. 🙂
BD, I wish my cat would just pat the screen instead of walking all over the keyboard pressing keys that have got me doing all sorts of weird formatting and a couple of strange equations and 'something' where I had to ring the broadband company for help as he froze the whole works.
Then there is the sitting on the keyboard, plonk, and anguished As and Zs and /s dance all over the page.
Patting sounds quite civilised by comparison.
PS Weka I love the cat pics too.
we need more cat pics!
https://twitter.com/Six_Stinky_Cats/status/1650765720697942016
The Curse of the Fly.
I shouldn't laugh but I did.
Great "end of the day" for cat lovers.