Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, speaks to a packed hall in Penzance, Cornwall, during his 'Time is Now' tour. He examines the reality of climate change, what social collapse means and why non violent direct action is a catalyst for change.
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Lots of respect for Roger Hallam, from what I have seen in the past he is good value. I was going to say I wish they would make shorter videos, but I'm only ten minutes in and holy fuck this is good. Compulsory and riveting.
This is a man who knows there is nothing left to lose and it willing to speak the truth and do what needs to be done. He has a beautiful blend of social, political and emotional intelligence. I feel relieved when I see that people like him are the ones running things in ER.
This is why ER in the UK is exemplary. I think other ER around the world, eg in NZ, are struggling a bit to get the deeper aspects of what ER UK are doing and why it works. I need to have a think about this so I can get my thoughts clearer, but it's something that needs to be talked about. What should rebellion look like in NZ?
Government now needs to hear and learn from those who know truth to power.
We all need to concentrate on the thorny issue of tyre dust with the major component 1,3, butadiene and black carbon polution as a real human threat as tyre dust is now being washed off our roads into drains, creeks, rivers, lakes, aquifers, and into the sea and now found on the polar ice caps speeding up melting of the polar ice caps.
Tyre dust is our ticking time boomb as plastic was.so see the human damage we face now from tyre dust.
*sigh* I s'pose there may be some new readers seeing this for the first time, so it needs to be explained yet again.
1,3 butadiene is a gaseous precursor that gets polymerised with liquid styrene to form solid styrene-butadiene rubber. SBR is part of the mix in modern tyre rubber. That does not mean tyres will be a significant source of 1,3 butadiene in the environment, the original gaseous butadiene has been entirely converted to a different solid polymer.
The hazard of a monomer tells you nothing about how hazardous a compound formed from that monomer may be. The hazards of styrene or propylene tell you nothing about the hazards of polystyrene of polypropylene plastic. Isocyanates used to make polyurethanes are so hazardous I'm astonished they're legal to be sold without a license, but the resulting polyurethane is very low hazard. 1,3 butadiene gas is hazardous, styrene-butadiene rubber is damn near inert and is now more likely to evolve 1,3 butadiene during decomposition or burning than any other mostly carbon substances.
1,3 butadiene will be detectable beside busy roads. However the source will be almost entirely vehicle exhaust (mostly diesel), not tyre dust. Or from burning wood or other vegetation nearby. It's the kind of small carbon-rich molecule commonly produced by incomplete combustion.
Learn your chemistry fundermentals as you believe Tyres are a stable composition no that is false.
Any polymer can be broken down when mixing with other elements..
Study "subsitution reaction" and see how it changes the composition of any chemical in any form and combines to produce a far more hazardous chemical harmful to humans.
Heat also combines to release unstable elements of a so called stable polymer and you should know this.
I suppose you think DDT is good for us and other banned substances such as carbon tetrachloride?
Dont try to say that chemicals are stable as you look foolish.
I should know as i was checally poisoned by those like you who reasured us to breathe the air in the builing when 40 workers got poisoned me as one of them.
I had an adopose tiissue sample conducted on me after exposure and it had proved positive that i had absorbed those ‘so called’ "stable chemicals"
Excellent question. Since I'm 70 next week I'd better act my age rather than speak as the archetypal rebel of the sixties generation!
It must not default to mere protest. Learn from the failure of the Occupy movement: front with a positive alternative rather than petulant complaints about others. Posturing fails to broaden consensus. For that, you have to present a better path to the future than the status quo recycled ad nauseum.
If the positive alternative seems clear, promises benefits that folks can buy into, and seems worth the effort, folks will shift towards it and help actualise the better future.
Yes Dennis as we get older we see through the cracks.
The world is full of con-artists today, and if we believe them we are all sunk, so we have to go on our memory of the past and compare it to our life experience today, and the older folks will finallly shine through.
That will be what a revollution will look like.
We see the clear way forward with the hindsight of a long life experience we have.
Dear NZ Police, Maori land protectors are not the problem.
Before continuing to deploy dozens of officers to Ihumateo to protect the commercial interests of Fletchers All available police resources need to be deployed to track down the convicted neo-nazi white supremacist killer on the loose, before he commits another atrocity.
…..a member of a notorious and extremely violent white power gang, the Fourth Reich, co-founded by convicted murderer and rapist Malcolm Chaston while he was in Christchurch Men’s Prison in the 1990s.
Witnesses at the nine day trial said the day before the murder they heard Howie say: “If any Māoris get in the way we will knock them down,”. His brother gave evidence that Howie told him: “We killed that n….. and threw him in the river.”
Compare the police "manhunt" for Aaron Howie with the police hunt for liam Strickland.
Will the known gang associates and “friends and family” of Aaron Howie, be subjected to the same sort of police “pressure” that is being applied to the “friends and family” of Liam Strickland?
How many of Aaron Howie's friends or associates are registered gun owners?
Are their houses being raided?
Are their doors being broken down?
How many guns do they have?
Well nobody knows the answer to that last question, because registered gun owners are not required to register their guns, or even list how many they have. Nobody would know if one went missing.
Who would ever know if they passed one to Aaron Howie?
If you asked me the public threat level for this murderous white supremacist and his associates in the "Fourth Reich" gang is very high.
Why is a hit and run driver on the run, considered to be more of a public threat than a convicted neo-nazi murderer on the run?
Why is a hit and run driver on the run, considered to be more of a public threat than a convicted neo-nazi murderer on the run?
Because one's on the run for killing somebody, and the other's on the run for breaching parole conditions. The cops consider one of those crimes to imply a more serious and immediate threat to public safety than the other, for fairly obvious reasons.
People can say whatever they like about who they think's more dangerous – everyone's entitled to their opinion. Police operations are a different matter, and it would be a bad thing if those were determined by popular opinion about which criminals are more disliked, rather than the actual nature of the offending. In this case, one offence is much more serious than the other and police operations reflect that.
"dozens of officers to Ihumateo to protect the commercial interests of Fletchers"
Thats not how it started out
A short time ago, kaumatua and kuia representing mana whenua from Te Kawerau ā Maki, Te Ākitai Waiohua, and Tainui, walked onto the land [23 July] that Fletcher Building owns at Ōruarangi Road, known as Ihumātao, and asked protestors to leave.
The kaumaua and kuia recited karakia as they walked towards the maunga (mountain) of Puketāpapa a Hape, supported by Fletcher Building, representatives of the Kingitanga, and Police.
The reason for the local iwi supporting the developers was :
"We have committed to returning over 25% of the land that we own to mana whenua, and we are currently working through how to do this."
"Miscommunication between the police and protesters led to the tense standoff, he said.
Mr Haumaha has assured the occupiers he will ensure that does not happen again.
"We've got to a point now we can minimise the police presence on this whenua and just maintain a small number around the health and safety for everyone," he said.
"We have arrived at a good point to prevent any miscommunication that may have occurred in the past and so to avoid that we have appointed somebody to come along and sit alongside the organisers that are here and continue to work together along those lines.""
Yes. Thats what happened last week, it was different back in 23rd July.
Usually the Police will say they dont get involved in civil disputes, Im sure they are saying SOUL have been there since 2015 ….so why are we even here now….and they see the grassed paddocks they are protecting from what.
I'm looking forward to seeing what eventual consensus brings – even as those opposed to that sow their terminator seeds of dissent disguised as concern.
When I put my magic thinking hat on and guided by real events, I see Auckland Council has long owned the 10 ha or so block next to the Wallace/Fletcher land on Oruarangi Rd , Cnr Ihumatao Rd.
They do a land swap with Fletchers for the land right next to the Papakainga/Makarau Marae, which by various means then becomes land for the iwi they are all happy with. Of course the wind blows my magic hat off and there is no money for creating sections and building houses.
Who knew existing publicly owned land could be so useful ?
Remember Sacha when Key claimed "different hats" when responding to whether he should reveal correspondence with Slater? Funny old World is Parliament.
Is wasnt right then, it's not right now. Genter needs to front and release the letter. Not be a complete hypocrite and opaque.
Bullshit and jellbeans.
Genter has admitted she used the letterhead paper because… that was all she had.
And guess what, since this puerile political ploy was started by the Nats (of course), politicians of all colours have been busy acquiring plain white paper for their offices. So it would seem the use of parliamentary letterheads for all manner of communications has been endemic in parliament… probably for decades.
Oh you naughty girl Julie Anne. Fancy carrying on a tradition that has been practiced for decades. You should have known better. (sarc)
Unless Bishop can point to any rule in the Cabinet rule-book that she has broken, much ado about nothing, seems to me.
"Both Ms Genter and her boss (Minister Twyford) leant on a ruling from the Ombudsman, related to Official Information requests, that argued that political parties in a coalition need to be able to freely communicate opinions without fear of them being revealed."
It would help if the rule-book specified governing party negotiations as private info. Public info would be that covered by the OIA (govt decisions etc). Since the negotiating is a separate process from consequent decision-making, there's a line that can be drawn if it is currently too indistinct.
This idea that a human is actually dual in parliamentary terms if both minister & party rep doesn't factor in human psychology. People are naturally holistic, seeing themselves as single individuals. Pretending they ain't raises the question of the ethics of promoting delusional thinking in democracy…
"If she was writing outside her ministerial remit ( which she was) it was as a Green Party MP."
JAG is the Associate Minister of Transport.
She wrote the letter on Ministerial letterhead, and signed the letter as the Associate Minister.
Multiple Wellington Councillors claim that the mayor told them that JAG and one other Green MP threatened to resign if they did not vote for the mass transit plan. The Mayor denies that, but then of course he would.
The LGWM pan is significantly different to what the LGWM group, and many Wellington councillors, supported.
This has all the hallmarks of the Greens imposing their ideology on Wellington over the best interests of the region. And being stupid enough to think they could get away with it.
Associate Ministers have specific areas of a portfolio. Its not a finger in every part of the Transport pie.
The Schedule of Responsibilities Delegated to Associate Ministers provides a summary list of the responsibilities that portfolio Ministers have delegated to Associate Ministers.
Associate Minister of Transport: Hon Julie Anne Genter
Roles/Responsibilities
Responsibility for walking and cycling policy, including policy development and consequential Regulations (excluding Budget-related decisions);
Responsibility for the electric vehicles programme, and the vehicle greenhouse gas emissions programme, including policy development and consequential Regulations (excluding Budget-related decisions);
Responsibility for all land transport Rules and Regulations, unless otherwise specifically advised by the Minister of Transport;
Responsibility for all transport safety matters (aviation, maritime, rail and road), including policy development and making of all relevant Rules and consequential Regulations, unless otherwise specifically advised by the Minister of Transport;
Day-to-day oversight of Crown agency relations in respect of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and Maritime New Zealand (excluding Budget-related decisions);
Responsibility for all maritime transport matters, including policy development and making of all relevant Rules and consequential Regulations, unless otherwise specifically advised by the Minister of Transport;
Responsibility for the provision of weather forecasting services (currently provided under contract by MetService), in terms of the Meteorological Services Act 1990 (excluding Budget-related decisions);
Responsibility for transport research and statistics, and the associated publications throughout the year;
General assistance in the portfolio, in particular in relation to setting the strategic direction for the transport sector, ensuring alignment between strategy, policy and regulations within the land transport sector, and policy development to integrate transport (including public transport) and urban development.
The letterhead is just an office issue. If the letter wasnt about road safety issues it wasnt within her remit as an associate minister.
"Associate Ministers have specific areas of a portfolio. Its not a finger in every part of the Transport pie."
I don't see that as relevant. JAG is an Associate Minister. And the first words of the last paragraph of the list of responsibilities indicates her involvement can be broad.
"The letterhead is just an office issue."
No, it isn't. If she was writing as a Green MP, she could have sent a generic email, and signed it as a Green MP.
"If the letter wasnt about road safety issues it wasnt within her remit as an associate minister."
From your list above"
"General assistance in the portfolio, in particular in relation to setting the strategic direction for the transport sector, ensuring alignment between strategy, policy and regulations within the land transport sector, and policy development to integrate transport (including public transport) and urban development."
Absolutely a letter to the MoT about LGWM is within her remit as a Minister.
No, I meant people operate as, and also see themselves as, organic wholes. Human nature is naturally holistic. The binary divide kicks in via differentiation, which is indeed a basic survival skill, but self vs other is less basic than the sense of being part of the whole (world).
The problem I'm seeing in respect of ministerial convention is that some folks are more binary than others, some more naturally holistic. Those of us adept at playing a variety of roles in life can do the shapeshifter thing easily. Others are liable to forget the necessity to wear the different hats and pretend to be merely a functionary when required – which is the reductionist stance you mention…
Chris Bishop is questioning Julie Anne Genter over a letter sent from her as deputy Minister of Transport to Minister of transport Phil Twyford?????
The letter apparently contains Green Party opinions expressed by Genter to Twyford on a Wellington City transport plan; opinions which may have influenced the shape of the plan that was agreed to.
But the details of the letter are unknown and have not been the main fight so far. The fight has been over whether the letter should be public.
Was that the best "dirt" the National Party strategists coucld find on these associated Ministers of Transport?
So how did he get the letter which was suppoosed to be an 'internal 'confidential' document as we saw when Natioinal was last in Government?
Was it an internional leaked document sent from a 'National Party mole' opeerating inside these two Ministers offices?
There is something very odd about the Minister oif Transport Phil Twyford's office because for two years we have as a NGO in Napier been refused our letters requesting to meet with Minister Phil Twyford and on several occassions our NGO has called Phil Twyford's office and been 'rebuttled' with a sharp refussal to discuss the issue of why we are not recieving an apointment time to meet with Phil twyford in Wellington.
We are not impressed at all with the office staff at Phil Twyfords office and perhsaps they need to investigate the beackground of all Government ministers as some may be opposition policitical operatives trying to sabotage the govenement?
I recall that during the Last 'toxic' National Government it was Steven Joyce who sent a memo around the office staffers warning them that they would need to be loyal to the ministers and not report any issues or information to the press that ?may embassess the Governemt and would be a 'dismissable offence if it was carried out".
Perhaps now Labour leader PM Adern needs to repeat this threat using the Steven Joyce memo again during her reign?
Or at least conduct full background intellegence into the 'polical leanings' of all office staff within the parliamentary pool?
Do you feel sufficiently coddled? Try to put your answer in context of how governance ought to provide for sufficient coddling. You could produce the long-awaited revival of socialism!
"US social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt spoke on 1 August in Auckland to a crowd of around one thousand people. He is best known for his book The Coddling of the American Mind which examines the new climate of trigger warnings and acute sensitivity of Gen Z." Apparently the ego fragility of this generation is noteworthy. The marxist reviewer was impressed by the audience…
Well, blow me down. Competitive grandstanding and time-hogging by audiences pretending to ask questions has been a thing for as long as I can remember. People are becoming more polite & considerate??
When a rich, powerful man connected lots of other rich, powerful men in suspected child sex trafficking crimes has allegedly killed himself while in custody at one of the most secure facilities in the US…
Hillary Clinton, revitalised by eating lots of pizza from a noted pizza place, got out of the coffin she'd been in for four years after suffering a terminal illness, inveigled her way into the the place Epstein was being held and dealt to him.
Look forward to Chris Bishop asking the PM the serious questions this week:
"Did the Prime Minister get messages from Karel Sroubek about Hillary Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein? If not, why not?"
A trove of court documents unsealed Friday detail allegations by an alleged victim of wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein that while working as a teenage locker room attendant at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort nearly two decades ago she was recruited to give Epstein massages that often involved sexual activity.
The housing situation is dire up there and this is compounded by the ubiquity of meth. Its fucking everywhere up there. Some of us thought, in years past, that the problem was cannabis…but P…a whole different level of damage.
And its not as if there aren't some very good local groups trying to address these issues…
xanthe…I get the argument about criminalization of drug use not being conducive to alleviating/avoiding/mitigating drug harm…but if severe punishment would stop folks from deliberately packing their kids into the car and filling the same with thick cannabis smoke so said kids were totally zonked by the time the family go to where they are going, then bring on the stocks and the lash. Sorry if this offends….but I have seen this with my own eyes and ask any teacher in the North about the effect this has on the kids' ability to learn. One small school board a few years ago when P was starting to become a 'thing' challenged all whanau at the school to commit to zero drugs and alcohol. Maybe two out of twenty families took the pledge. And so the cycle continues. Most of the the time this is deliberate, and they'll do it with alcohol as well, so it is disingenuous to blame ignorance and poverty. It was bad enough with cannabis…but now its P, and its happening that the way P affects thought processes those parents who may have not subjected their kids to first hand cannabis and alcohol have few if any inhibitions when they're on P.
I've been speaking with a van dwelling friend who has roamed that region over the past few years and she says it is almost impossible to find safe overnight parking at the moment. (We spend a lot of our time up there in our bus, and would be in a position to support her were we not stuck in the Waikato) I've been encouraging her to go to campgrounds for safety…but these can also habour individuals and groups using P and alcohol and just last night she was alarmed when violence erupted in the camp.
P is cheaper and more readily available than cannabis, I'm told, and the North is flooded with it.
The article speaks about struggling to find work….there has been about 1000000 avacado trees planted up there over the past few years, and those who are willing and able to work shouldn't have much of a problem. Housing is shit…and I'm hoping some of those rich prick orchardists up North will see their way clear to emulate the apple growers in Hawkes Bay who are investing in better seasonal worker housing to free up houses for the community.
"but if severe punishment would stop folks from deliberately packing their kids into the car and filling the same with thick cannabis smoke so said kids were totally zonked by the time the family go to where they are going, then bring on the stocks and the lash"
That's the crux of the matter, history and many years of experience shows it doesn't !
check out this quote which may or may not be Einstein's
What is the answer xanthe? Be buggered if I can think of a way to get the message through to parents who simply don't ever consider that their actions/inactions today are very possibly condemning their kids to the same dead end miserable shit hole conditions that they, the parents, will argue (or will be told by a succession of well meaning do gooders)drove them to the drugs in the first place.
(Btw, without going into whole lot of personal disclosures…it is possible to have seriously neglected and abused children living in households unaffected by material poverty. It is possible, but extraordinarily difficult, to not go down the same path as one's parents…but from my own experience, and after speaking with the many others who have also survived to not repeat the cycle, the key seems to be steering well clear of routine alcohol and drug use.)
Trouble with avocadoes is that they are expensive in shops and therefore worth stealing. If an orchardist in Far North could get a relationship with surrounding Maori to provide work for those who want it, and it was ongoing, there could be a fair amount of peer watchfulness and 'ownership' of our orchard workplace. If another group or person could start work gangs and get them regular work going outside the area for those who are rated as A workers, there could be a real change of mindset within a couple of years. But entrenched attitudes put entrepreneurs off up there according to what I have been told.
Some of the orchards are owned by iwi. We shot back up North last month for a couple of weeks and for the first time we heard that the established orchards are having to post security…it will be interesting to see how the come-lately Big Boys participating in the Mass Plant fare when their trees begin producing in earnest. Many of those new orchards are planted along SH1, not off the back roads with big shelter belts. Up until this year, the avos up there would have definitely been worth stealing….even the five for 2 dollars bags had lovely fruit. This year….not so much. I threw away a four for five dollars bag. Seasonal work has been a regular thing up there for ages and the local WINZ, after pushing many off the dole (and off the wharves fishing) and into some of the many jobs going up there seems to be amenable to not knobbling those people who fill vital labour gaps by doing part time work. A phone call, and an adjustment is made to the benefit without the person being worse off or ending up with a bog debt. Come mussel spat harvest time its all available hands on deck…and good hourly rate too. But this is not work for the hungover….
I can't get my head around it. Lots of people used cannabis and many people use P and the problem is the criminalization those things?
Why do so many right through our society have to use drugs like tobacco, alcohol cannabis and P? Are they crutches and props because life without them is so shit?
Drug abuse including Alcohol get worse when you have politicians who would rather scapegoat and puit the boot in ………. than help.
When it comes to slum condition housing, and kids living in cars …. Politicians and bad governance are FAR more to blame … than drug abuse….
Judith Collins in particular was the Govt arm in the Dirty Politics operation to neuter Alcohol reform …. Alcohol abuse was one of the main pillars for the violence and dysfunction portrayed in the very well acted NZ movie, "Once were Warriors"…..
She also makes unbelievable excuses in defense of rich criminals … according to one of the worlds best corruption exposing investigative journalists.
After inviting questions after her speech, a Northland delegate referenced a recent UN report on child poverty, and said that was the background of all people they dealt with, particularly gang members.
"Do you think your government is doing enough for child poverty, and the gap between those that do have, and those that don't have?" Collins was asked.
Collins then started projecting the type of person she is ,,, particulary her concern for struggling families onto her victims.
It's not that, it's people who don't look after their children, that's the problem.
"I see a poverty of ideas, a poverty of parental responsibility, a poverty of love, a poverty of caring."
This morning, Collins did not back away from that view, telling Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that it was the "usual suspects" who were upset by her comments.
God save NZ from politicians like her …………. shes a 'taker'.
The focus on stopping cigarette smoking by putting the prices up high would tend to divert some to P or whatever if the price is then equal. Once getting on the drug taking practice, then economics and bang for your buck comes into it. And the peer thing, friends are taking it and they share with you when in funds, and in turn you share with them. It's a bonding thing.
Getting your kids past the age of youth addiction to alcohol and these other things when there isn't a shiny future of work and creating a life, is quite a task for parents. If they are users, doubly hard, it would be don't do what I do. If they could travel away from their cohort to where they could make up their minds what to study and be looked after in a hostel it could put a wedge into youth addiction.
The emphasis would be to study and pass something, try one or two subjects and pass them, get a feeling for what career they would like, physical and outdoor stuff, fencing or managing, or indoor stuff, computer work combined with skilled artisan stuff. An appreciative encouragement from gummint and their would be an upward line towards successful numbers of trainess and the spiteful class would have to find other targets to vent their displeasure on.
There's much sense in what you suggest GWS and mostly I agree. Trouble is that tragically, many of these children are adversely affected before birth and this is compounded by getting extra doses, sometimes on a daily basis, because they are breathing in the second hand smoke from ma and pa's cannabis, synthetics or P. Little buggers are multiply handicapped and often end up in the care of grandparents because their own drug addled parents can't cope with the damage they've done. Its a tragedy and needs to be turned around. I hoped within hope that Whanau Ora was going to create a program where a whaea can be paid to mentor a family out of these destructive lives…https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12257338
Whanau Ora workers know hundreds of families live in these circumstances every day.
And we do know that for every family struggling to survive there is another family member, immediate or extended, who would step up and start to transform the family if supported to do so.
Someone who is trusted, someone who will call bad behaviour exactly what it is in many instances, neglect. Someone who will need to be resourced whether for training or skills development in how to handle the high and multiple needs of their family.
saying that giving people hope and purpose will reduce drug abuse is not excusing any behavior, Its stating a fairly obvious fact
on the other hand It is my firm opinion that the war on P is being shown to be just about as effective as the war on cannabis. That is it completely ineffective at reducing use and greatly increasing harm.
back to the definition of insanity!
what the "war on drugs" does do is
1 creates a massively profitable criminal industry.
Lately from Oz: 'Dirty apartments' from bad building in Australia – a very bad business. Neolib economics we who desire good governance, good standards, and good lives – we despise you and all that push you like demented druggies.
Deregulation and poor-quality workmanship over the last two decades have resulted in shoddily built apartments, some with major structural cracks forcing residents to evacuate, flammable cladding, and balconies with water seeping through them.
We know a little bit about these (NZF) voters from the New Zealand Election Survey, a massive post-election survey of voters … A quarter of the 2014 NZ First voters said "abortion is always wrong" – a far higher proportion than the ratings for Labour, National, and the Greens.
Yeah, it's certainly true that around a quarter of 2014 NZF voters agreed that abortion is always wrong according to NZES. But the proportion of 2014 Labour & National voters feeling the same way was only mildly lower.
abortion is always wrong ?
49% Cons
37% Maori Party
25% NZF
23% Non-Voters
22% Labour
17% National
15% IMP
11% Green
(Note: a larger margin of error for NZF Con Maori & IMP voters).
That, in turn, raises the broader point that Labour voters are by no means as overwhelmingly liberal / libertarian … nor Nats as overwhelmingly conservative / authoritarian … as many pundits seem to assume.
Recent iterations of the NZES suggest the support-bases of both Major Parties are relatively evenly divided between Moral Cons & Libs … whereas voters for the Smaller Parties fall decisively one way or the other: … Greens being Economically Left & Morally Liberal / NZFers being Economically Left & Morally Conservative.
Interesting comment. To me, it shows that defining or categorising politics and people’s values and attitudes (and morals!) in terms of Left-Right or Liberal-Conservative is overly simplistic and not at all helpful when discussing singular but complex issues.
But you didn't volunteer a personal opinion on how well their test operates. That's the obvious way to assess the merit of their framing. It printed me out precisely in the middle of Bernie Sanders' face. I commented here a couple of years ago that it merely confirms that I share typical leftist values. I've never been a socialist. So the site seems designed to ignore identity politics. Ignoring the primary way people act and think politically nowadays is silly…
Not sure what I think at times. When I did it a few years ago I was damn near centre point – at a time when a lot of acquaintances would have been calling me a bleeding heart leftie. It looks like it was an attempt to try and map matters economic against social considerations – probably in light of all that 3rd Way shite that's still with us.
Anyway, I'm only reluctant to comment at the mo 'cos I'm in the middle of tinkering with things mechanical (with greasy, oily paws and not wanting my keyboard to go buggerup)
It does not help me much with singular issues such as abortion, euthanasia, free speech, et cetera. It does not guide my thinking in any ways, shape, or form.
It is also designed as a tool to increase voter engagement. But I don’t know that it really does achieve what it aims for. To me, it encourages you to align more with a party, and use heuristic labels to decide which tribe you want to belong to, i.e. your location on the ‘map’. Job done – two ticks (on the ballot form). I’d love to know how many people changed their party allegiance and voter pattern after doing the test. I’d say, not many. Others might feel confirmed in their engrained thinking and voting behaviour. Maybe so-called swing-voters are an interesting group to research in this context. Even more interesting would be the million or so non-voters.
Parties are shown as distinct little dots on this political landscape as if they are or have fixed positions. IMO they should be large shapes that touch and overlap each other. Nothing is fixed anyway; politics and political (and personal) opinions are fluid and dynamic although not nearly as much as they perhaps should be. It would be interesting to see how party positions change over time on the ‘map’.
The other issue I have with this ‘compass’ is that it reduces complex multi-dimensional and multi-factorial issues into two dimensions (I think the correct term is projection). This might make it easier for voters but it might hinder progressive politics and policies and public debate on those. Voters and the public need to be informed and educated so that they can think and decide for themselves (i.e. make informed decisions) rather than sheepishly following some party and/or party leader and then complain afterwards that it is not what they wanted. Worse, they defend that party or leader because they voted for them even though they had no clear idea of what they voted on and for and even though it was not what they wanted.
Such are the downsides of party politics and the so-called representative democratic system as it stands IMHO.
Then there's the difference between one's own values, and the positioning of who you end up voting for.
In the NZ context, I'm really relieved there's the Greens I can vote for that are somewhat close to my political positioning (right in the middle of Political Compass' left/libertarian quadrant) and are likely to actually make it in to Parliament to represent something close-ish to my views.
In US elections, any candidate close to my views hasn't got a hope in hell of actually winning a general election (except maybe in a handful of scattered House districts), so I have to try to judge who has the best balance of actually being electable and push some progress (however small) in a direction I'm ok with.
Absolutely … esp Intersectionals who seem to hold a deeply reductive (& strangely romanticised / paternalistic / 'Noble Savage') understanding of Māori … they appear to conceive of both Māori & Pasifika voters as monolithic blocs, all holding morally liberal views similar to themselves (ie the Intersectionals) … it’s beyond absurd …
… But then the more dogmatic ID Politics activists do tend to emerge from an exclusive & socially distant Pakeha Upper-Middle Establishment (I suspect they don't actually meet Māori or Pasifikas until well into adulthood).
In 2011, incidentally, Tariana Turia sought to appoint a conservative on abortion issues to the Abortion Supervisory Committee, the administrative body responsible for supervising the process. Labour and Green MPs unanimously opposed the amendment; National MPs were close to evenly split and the four ACT MPs voted against. New Zealand First had no parliamentary representation at the time.
.
On top of the Party Support perspective …
The key anti-Abortion demographics are:
– Moral Authoritarians
– Regular Churchgoers
– Pasifika, Asian & (to a somewhat lesser extent) Māori ethnicities
Absolutely … esp Intersectionals who seem to hold a deeply reductive (& strangely romanticised / paternalistic / 'Noble Savage') understanding of Māori … they appear to conceive of both Māori & Pasifika voters as monolithic blocs, all holding morally liberal views similar to themselves (ie the Intersectionals) … it’s beyond absurd …
lol wee bee in you wee bonnet there – the point of intersectionality imo is to NOT put people into monolithic blocks. Maybe this will help
Definition of intersectionality
: the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersectespecially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups
Unfortunately, I was never part of that scene at College … basically (among the boys at what was a co-ed school) there were 3 essential sub-cultures:
– the Māori / Pasifika lads who tended toward Rugby / Disco / Black American Sitcoms (here I am indulging in the same reductivism I've accused the Intersectionals of)
– the Maths/Computer/Physics/Nerdy lads who spent every lunchtime playing heroic characters in D & D and tended to shy away from both sports & girlfriends (an unusually large number of lads with freckles in this particular sub-group)
– the Soccer lads: who played both The Beautiful Game & a new sport they invented called Soccer-Tennis (like Tennis Doubles … only with a soccer ball & restricted to head & feet) & identified with higher quality UK comedy like Fawlty Towers & Python (this was before the Rik+Ade Comedies arrived)
I was very solidly in the last of these groups (albeit still enjoying a good game of Rugger now & then).
Interesting. My college years were '63-'67 inclusive, and there was only a single sub-culture: non-conformist. Me & a bunch of others. Everyone else conformed.
Actually Wanganui Boys ensured that no Beatles mop-tops grew on any of us, if my memory is correct. We gained a few millimetres by the time I left, then I uni I stopped cutting my hair. Aversion to Kiwi Keith didn't kick in till '69 because even the rebels were totally apolitical at college (the left were just as much establishment/mainstream as the right).
But just prior to that – there was that fella with the silly hat if memory serves – Sir Bernard, if you ever needed someone to ridicule. And there was also that mad hatter in charge of broadcasting who insisted on being referred to by his military rank
True … actually one of my closest friends in the 7th form had emerged from the Geeky D & D subculture. Very nice guy & dry sense of humour … but they were never, shall we say, overly successful with the femme fatale half of the School population.
Desperation seems to have set in to John Tamihere's mayoral campaign.
His homelessness and begging policy has him creating an 0800 JACINDA hotline to call if residents see rough sleepers or beggars. He said a caller would find a "person all loving and caring that knows everything about your wellbeing" on the other end of the line and a social worker would then be sent to work with the beggar.
No doubt the media releases have the usual official stuff on them about their authorisation.
"Authorised by heading down the toilet John Tamihere, Desperate F'wit"? Oh well, it'll garner more attention for him than promising to walk naked over the Harbour Bridge if he doesn't win.
John Tamihere won't get any of my respect if he is suggesting that there should be a hotline as described above. I have decided that the word 'spiteful' is appropriate for those who are unempathetic and unsympathetic and uninformed about the reasons for the poor state of many NZs. I hadn't expected to apply that to JT but if the cap fits wear it.
John has a good idea to ban trucks in Auckland as it seems to be happening overeas now too.
We look forward that plan spreading around NZ too as trucks emit ‘heavy (low frequency noise) (LFN) and vibrations that crack our home foundations and poison our air with jheavy pollution from several soures including exhaust brake and trye dust. All recognised as health risks.
About a week ago I made a post noting our nu New Zealander Peter Thiel … and his proximity to racist politicians … and Palantirs involvement with ICE raids / operation, targeting the 'invaders' …
'Invaders' is how the President of the usa, along with white supremacist mass murderers,,, describe refugees or Muslims.
Palantir describes them as a $40 Million plus contract …. $$$$$$$$
The company Palantir appears to enter into some contracts which seem to be a melding of Dirty Politics with Dirty Business ….
One contract ,,,,, was described by reporter and 'target' Glen Greenwald as ,,,
an odious and quite possibly illegal scheme to target progressive activists and their families, threaten the careers of journalists as a means of silencing them, and fabricate forged documents intended for public consumption — and then steadfastly refuse to comment — is just inexcusable.
HBGary Federal, Palantir, and Berico Technologies (collectively called Team Themis) — to develop tactics for damaging progressive groups and labor unions, in particular ThinkProgress, the labor coalition called Change to Win, the SEIU, US Chamber Watch, and StopTheChamber.com.
New emails reveal that the private spy company investigated the families and children of the Chamber’s political opponents.
The security firms hoped to obtain $200,000 for initial background research, then charge up to $2 million for a larger disinformation campaign against progressives.
one proposal from HBGary Federal and its associates proposed targeting Salon reporter and Wikileaks-supporter Glenn Greenwald with “actions to sabotage or discredit” him.
About a week ago I made a post noting our nu New Zealander Peter Thiel … and his proximity to racist politicians … and Palantirs involvement with ICE raids / operation, targeting the 'invaders' …
'Invaders' is how the President of the usa, along with white supremacist mass murderers,,, describe refugees or Muslims.
Palantir describes them as a $40 Million plus contract …. $$$$$$$$
Palantir are not Peter Thiel … and visa versa of course …
But out of his own mouth he compares usa teachers to bank tellers ,,,, literally as well as figuratively
And Tax fairness seems to be a corporate rate of 10%-15% …. apparently.
I'd put up the vids of his 'talks' on teachers & 'fair tax' … but three posts on this interesting nu new zealander previously had me labeled with the dreaded derangement diagnosis.
My next post on elite Nzers ,,,, will be a dose of the Legatums…
The Chandler Bro's ….Billionare Brexiters .. one funding the tory cuddling neo-Con 'think tank'…. Legabrex sarc
trail blazers who went full cold war / red scare … before it became trendy again.
I'd put up the vids of his 'talks' on teachers & 'fair tax' … but three posts on this interesting nu new zealander previously had me labeled with the dreaded derangement diagnosis. [sic]
No, you were asked to start your own comment threads. Thank you for being so understanding and obliging.
A sweeping – and sobering – account of the way that concentrated wealth has both shaped our past and is creating a deeply unequal future. Based on economist Thomas Piketty’s bestselling book.
The Tory establishment are done pulling their punches.
There is no getting away from it: this is a rightwing coup. I agree with Ferdinand Mount, once head of Margaret Thatcher’s policy unit at Downing Street in what now look like less disturbing times. Writing in the current London Review of Books, Mount sees echoes of Mussolini’s rise to power, in that “yes, [Johnson] has come to power by strictly constitutional means”; it is what happens after that matters, and the do-or-die approach of Johnson and his warlord Dominic Cummings is truly disturbing.
As my former Observer colleague Neal Ascherson says in the same vintage issue of the LRB: “We have leading Tories – not only Johnson – apparently prepared to suspend a sovereign parliament in order to force through a Brexit meant to restore the sovereignty of parliament.”
Yes, this is a right-wing coup. It is duplicitous or self-deceiving to pretend that British politics is still proceeding more or less as normal. We are told that it is ‘hysterical’ to argue that Boris Johnson’s regime is in any way comparable to the nationalist dictatorships of yesterday or today. If this is a temptation, I shall happily succumb to it as a patriotic duty. By every standard of measurement, the Conservative Party has been transformed into Britain’s own BJP. ‘Optimism with a hint of menace’ was how the Sunday Times approvingly described Johnson’s first days in power – pretty much the way you might describe the first hundred days of Narendra Modi, or Donald Trump, or Benito Mussolini. Yes, he has come to power by strictly constitutional means. So did they all. It is how they govern when they get there that counts.
I think I've commented already to the effect that BoJo's lot quite possibly don't actually believe in Brexit as an ideology. It's just a convenient train to hitch their wagon to – that wagon being a far-right takeover of the UK's institutions. This item from the Guardian appears to be consistent with the notion:
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
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 Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, speaks to a packed hall in Penzance, Cornwall, during his 'Time is Now' tour. He examines the reality of climate change, what social collapse means and why non violent direct action is a catalyst for change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2sQ3XDxq2I
A Concise Overview
[Deleted long text (again; 1,316 words, this time) without quote marks that is in the link provided]
https://guymcpherson.com/2019/08/a-concise-overview/#more-20742
[You have asked before to put quote marks around copied & pasted text.
You have been asked to provide a brief summary, reason, and explanation why people should watch a (long) clip or read a link (to long text; in this case, 1,316 words).
In your comment @ 1 (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11-08-2019/#comment-1645338) you actually do it well so I conclude that you are lazy and can’t be bothered other times. You continue to display inconsiderate behaviour and you continue to ignore repeat moderation requests and warnings. Take a week off to contemplate whether you want to continue commenting here – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 7:22 AM.
Lots of respect for Roger Hallam, from what I have seen in the past he is good value. I was going to say I wish they would make shorter videos, but I'm only ten minutes in and holy fuck this is good. Compulsory and riveting.
This is a man who knows there is nothing left to lose and it willing to speak the truth and do what needs to be done. He has a beautiful blend of social, political and emotional intelligence. I feel relieved when I see that people like him are the ones running things in ER.
This is why ER in the UK is exemplary. I think other ER around the world, eg in NZ, are struggling a bit to get the deeper aspects of what ER UK are doing and why it works. I need to have a think about this so I can get my thoughts clearer, but it's something that needs to be talked about. What should rebellion look like in NZ?
Agree Weka;
Government now needs to hear and learn from those who know truth to power.
We all need to concentrate on the thorny issue of tyre dust with the major component 1,3, butadiene and black carbon polution as a real human threat as tyre dust is now being washed off our roads into drains, creeks, rivers, lakes, aquifers, and into the sea and now found on the polar ice caps speeding up melting of the polar ice caps.
Tyre dust is our ticking time boomb as plastic was.so see the human damage we face now from tyre dust.
TYRE DUST = EPA has classified 1,3-butadiene as a known human carcinogen. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has given 1,3-butadiene a rating of A2, suspected human carcinogen.
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/butadiene/healtheffects.html?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000313
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• 1,3-Butadiene
*sigh* I s'pose there may be some new readers seeing this for the first time, so it needs to be explained yet again.
1,3 butadiene is a gaseous precursor that gets polymerised with liquid styrene to form solid styrene-butadiene rubber. SBR is part of the mix in modern tyre rubber. That does not mean tyres will be a significant source of 1,3 butadiene in the environment, the original gaseous butadiene has been entirely converted to a different solid polymer.
The hazard of a monomer tells you nothing about how hazardous a compound formed from that monomer may be. The hazards of styrene or propylene tell you nothing about the hazards of polystyrene of polypropylene plastic. Isocyanates used to make polyurethanes are so hazardous I'm astonished they're legal to be sold without a license, but the resulting polyurethane is very low hazard. 1,3 butadiene gas is hazardous, styrene-butadiene rubber is damn near inert and is now more likely to evolve 1,3 butadiene during decomposition or burning than any other mostly carbon substances.
1,3 butadiene will be detectable beside busy roads. However the source will be almost entirely vehicle exhaust (mostly diesel), not tyre dust. Or from burning wood or other vegetation nearby. It's the kind of small carbon-rich molecule commonly produced by incomplete combustion.
Learn your chemistry fundermentals as you believe Tyres are a stable composition no that is false.
Any polymer can be broken down when mixing with other elements..
Study "subsitution reaction" and see how it changes the composition of any chemical in any form and combines to produce a far more hazardous chemical harmful to humans.
Heat also combines to release unstable elements of a so called stable polymer and you should know this.
I suppose you think DDT is good for us and other banned substances such as carbon tetrachloride?
Dont try to say that chemicals are stable as you look foolish.
I should know as i was checally poisoned by those like you who reasured us to breathe the air in the builing when 40 workers got poisoned me as one of them.
I had an adopose tiissue sample conducted on me after exposure and it had proved positive that i had absorbed those ‘so called’ "stable chemicals"
What should rebellion look like in NZ?
Excellent question. Since I'm 70 next week I'd better act my age rather than speak as the archetypal rebel of the sixties generation!
It must not default to mere protest. Learn from the failure of the Occupy movement: front with a positive alternative rather than petulant complaints about others. Posturing fails to broaden consensus. For that, you have to present a better path to the future than the status quo recycled ad nauseum.
If the positive alternative seems clear, promises benefits that folks can buy into, and seems worth the effort, folks will shift towards it and help actualise the better future.
Yes Dennis as we get older we see through the cracks.
The world is full of con-artists today, and if we believe them we are all sunk, so we have to go on our memory of the past and compare it to our life experience today, and the older folks will finallly shine through.
That will be what a revollution will look like.
We see the clear way forward with the hindsight of a long life experience we have.
I watched it through.
reasons for rebelling #3: "a sense of adventure" !
Dear NZ Police, Maori land protectors are not the problem.
Before continuing to deploy dozens of officers to Ihumateo to protect the commercial interests of Fletchers All available police resources need to be deployed to track down the convicted neo-nazi white supremacist killer on the loose, before he commits another atrocity.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/114906063/dangerous-convicted-killer-aaron-howie-on-the-run-from-police
Who knows what could happen if this racist killer gets hold of a weapon, or his known associates supply him with one.
Compare the police "manhunt" for Aaron Howie with the police hunt for liam Strickland.
Will the known gang associates and “friends and family” of Aaron Howie, be subjected to the same sort of police “pressure” that is being applied to the “friends and family” of Liam Strickland?
If not, why not?
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/content/tvnz/onenews/story/2019/08/09/friends-of-christchurch-hit-and-run-driver-urge-him-to-hand-hims.html?auto=6070254009001
How many of Aaron Howie's friends or associates are registered gun owners?
Are their houses being raided?
Are their doors being broken down?
How many guns do they have?
Well nobody knows the answer to that last question, because registered gun owners are not required to register their guns, or even list how many they have. Nobody would know if one went missing.
Who would ever know if they passed one to Aaron Howie?
If you asked me the public threat level for this murderous white supremacist and his associates in the "Fourth Reich" gang is very high.
Why is a hit and run driver on the run, considered to be more of a public threat than a convicted neo-nazi murderer on the run?
Why is a hit and run driver on the run, considered to be more of a public threat than a convicted neo-nazi murderer on the run?
Because one's on the run for killing somebody, and the other's on the run for breaching parole conditions. The cops consider one of those crimes to imply a more serious and immediate threat to public safety than the other, for fairly obvious reasons.
One killed someone unintentionally with reckless disregard for public safety.
One killed someone intentionally with malice aforethought.
One is linked to a political movement that has committed and endorsed mass killings.
One is a gang affiliate.
One is having his associates and family's doors kicked in.
One isn't.
Which one of these fugitives do you think represents a bigger potential threat to public safety?
It probably depends who you ask.
White Pakeha New Zealanders might say the Maori gang member.
Maori and Asian immigrants and Muslim New Zealanders might say the White Supremacist.
How many Pakeha New Zealanders believe New Zealand is “racist as f***" that New Zealand is "a racist place."
People can say whatever they like about who they think's more dangerous – everyone's entitled to their opinion. Police operations are a different matter, and it would be a bad thing if those were determined by popular opinion about which criminals are more disliked, rather than the actual nature of the offending. In this case, one offence is much more serious than the other and police operations reflect that.
"dozens of officers to Ihumateo to protect the commercial interests of Fletchers"
Thats not how it started out
A short time ago, kaumatua and kuia representing mana whenua from Te Kawerau ā Maki, Te Ākitai Waiohua, and Tainui, walked onto the land [23 July] that Fletcher Building owns at Ōruarangi Road, known as Ihumātao, and asked protestors to leave.
The kaumaua and kuia recited karakia as they walked towards the maunga (mountain) of Puketāpapa a Hape, supported by Fletcher Building, representatives of the Kingitanga, and Police.
The reason for the local iwi supporting the developers was :
"We have committed to returning over 25% of the land that we own to mana whenua, and we are currently working through how to do this."
Yes. Thats what happened last week, it was different back in 23rd July.
Usually the Police will say they dont get involved in civil disputes, Im sure they are saying SOUL have been there since 2015 ….so why are we even here now….and they see the grassed paddocks they are protecting from what.
I'm looking forward to seeing what eventual consensus brings – even as those opposed to that sow their terminator seeds of dissent disguised as concern.
When I put my magic thinking hat on and guided by real events, I see Auckland Council has long owned the 10 ha or so block next to the Wallace/Fletcher land on Oruarangi Rd , Cnr Ihumatao Rd.
They do a land swap with Fletchers for the land right next to the Papakainga/Makarau Marae, which by various means then becomes land for the iwi they are all happy with. Of course the wind blows my magic hat off and there is no money for creating sections and building houses.
Who knew existing publicly owned land could be so useful ?
yep I'm sure everyone will end up being happy (to a point) actually – funny that
The settlements in the 1990s had violent protest from some Maori.
Deja Vu
yes would be good to see true partnership decision making not tokenism from the Crown
Clear and concise explanation of what's involved in the Genter letter situation: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-house/audio/2018707861/the-battle-of-two-julie-annes-mps-roles-and-the-public-interest
Remember Sacha when Key claimed "different hats" when responding to whether he should reveal correspondence with Slater? Funny old World is Parliament.
Painfully so.
Is wasnt right then, it's not right now. Genter needs to front and release the letter. Not be a complete hypocrite and opaque.
Is wasnt right then, it's not right now. Genter needs to front and release the letter. Not be a complete hypocrite and opaque.
Bullshit and jellbeans.
Genter has admitted she used the letterhead paper because… that was all she had.
And guess what, since this puerile political ploy was started by the Nats (of course), politicians of all colours have been busy acquiring plain white paper for their offices. So it would seem the use of parliamentary letterheads for all manner of communications has been endemic in parliament… probably for decades.
Oh you naughty girl Julie Anne. Fancy carrying on a tradition that has been practiced for decades. You should have known better. (sarc)
In other words when National did it = bad. When we do it = it's just the norm. Got it…
I hope you do get it because otherwise you'll be pretty unhappy and moaning a lot.
Unless Bishop can point to any rule in the Cabinet rule-book that she has broken, much ado about nothing, seems to me.
"Both Ms Genter and her boss (Minister Twyford) leant on a ruling from the Ombudsman, related to Official Information requests, that argued that political parties in a coalition need to be able to freely communicate opinions without fear of them being revealed."
It would help if the rule-book specified governing party negotiations as private info. Public info would be that covered by the OIA (govt decisions etc). Since the negotiating is a separate process from consequent decision-making, there's a line that can be drawn if it is currently too indistinct.
This idea that a human is actually dual in parliamentary terms if both minister & party rep doesn't factor in human psychology. People are naturally holistic, seeing themselves as single individuals. Pretending they ain't raises the question of the ethics of promoting delusional thinking in democracy…
Thats right.
Genter is Associate Minister for Road Safety. If she was writing outside her ministerial remit ( which she was) it was as a Green Party MP.
"If she was writing outside her ministerial remit ( which she was) it was as a Green Party MP."
JAG is the Associate Minister of Transport.
She wrote the letter on Ministerial letterhead, and signed the letter as the Associate Minister.
Multiple Wellington Councillors claim that the mayor told them that JAG and one other Green MP threatened to resign if they did not vote for the mass transit plan. The Mayor denies that, but then of course he would.
The LGWM pan is significantly different to what the LGWM group, and many Wellington councillors, supported.
This has all the hallmarks of the Greens imposing their ideology on Wellington over the best interests of the region. And being stupid enough to think they could get away with it.
Associate Ministers have specific areas of a portfolio. Its not a finger in every part of the Transport pie.
The Schedule of Responsibilities Delegated to Associate Ministers provides a summary list of the responsibilities that portfolio Ministers have delegated to Associate Ministers.
https://dpmc.govt.nz/our-business-units/cabinet-office/ministers-and-their-portfolios/delegations
Associate Minister of Transport: Hon Julie Anne Genter
Roles/Responsibilities
Responsibility for walking and cycling policy, including policy development and consequential Regulations (excluding Budget-related decisions);
Responsibility for the electric vehicles programme, and the vehicle greenhouse gas emissions programme, including policy development and consequential Regulations (excluding Budget-related decisions);
Responsibility for all land transport Rules and Regulations, unless otherwise specifically advised by the Minister of Transport;
Responsibility for all transport safety matters (aviation, maritime, rail and road), including policy development and making of all relevant Rules and consequential Regulations, unless otherwise specifically advised by the Minister of Transport;
Day-to-day oversight of Crown agency relations in respect of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and Maritime New Zealand (excluding Budget-related decisions);
Responsibility for all maritime transport matters, including policy development and making of all relevant Rules and consequential Regulations, unless otherwise specifically advised by the Minister of Transport;
Responsibility for the provision of weather forecasting services (currently provided under contract by MetService), in terms of the Meteorological Services Act 1990 (excluding Budget-related decisions);
Responsibility for transport research and statistics, and the associated publications throughout the year;
General assistance in the portfolio, in particular in relation to setting the strategic direction for the transport sector, ensuring alignment between strategy, policy and regulations within the land transport sector, and policy development to integrate transport (including public transport) and urban development.
The letterhead is just an office issue. If the letter wasnt about road safety issues it wasnt within her remit as an associate minister.
"Associate Ministers have specific areas of a portfolio. Its not a finger in every part of the Transport pie."
I don't see that as relevant. JAG is an Associate Minister. And the first words of the last paragraph of the list of responsibilities indicates her involvement can be broad.
"The letterhead is just an office issue."
No, it isn't. If she was writing as a Green MP, she could have sent a generic email, and signed it as a Green MP.
"If the letter wasnt about road safety issues it wasnt within her remit as an associate minister."
From your list above"
"General assistance in the portfolio, in particular in relation to setting the strategic direction for the transport sector, ensuring alignment between strategy, policy and regulations within the land transport sector, and policy development to integrate transport (including public transport) and urban development."
Absolutely a letter to the MoT about LGWM is within her remit as a Minister.
In your last paragraph, did you mean “reductionist” instead of “holistic”?
No, I meant people operate as, and also see themselves as, organic wholes. Human nature is naturally holistic. The binary divide kicks in via differentiation, which is indeed a basic survival skill, but self vs other is less basic than the sense of being part of the whole (world).
The problem I'm seeing in respect of ministerial convention is that some folks are more binary than others, some more naturally holistic. Those of us adept at playing a variety of roles in life can do the shapeshifter thing easily. Others are liable to forget the necessity to wear the different hats and pretend to be merely a functionary when required – which is the reductionist stance you mention…
More evidence of National's dirty politics part two is now fronting on main stream media RNZ and others.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-house/audio/2018707861/the-battle-of-two-julie-annes-mps-roles-and-the-public-interest
Chris Bishop is questioning Julie Anne Genter over a letter sent from her as deputy Minister of Transport to Minister of transport Phil Twyford?????
The letter apparently contains Green Party opinions expressed by Genter to Twyford on a Wellington City transport plan; opinions which may have influenced the shape of the plan that was agreed to.
But the details of the letter are unknown and have not been the main fight so far. The fight has been over whether the letter should be public.
Was that the best "dirt" the National Party strategists coucld find on these associated Ministers of Transport?
So how did he get the letter which was suppoosed to be an 'internal 'confidential' document as we saw when Natioinal was last in Government?
Was it an internional leaked document sent from a 'National Party mole' opeerating inside these two Ministers offices?
There is something very odd about the Minister oif Transport Phil Twyford's office because for two years we have as a NGO in Napier been refused our letters requesting to meet with Minister Phil Twyford and on several occassions our NGO has called Phil Twyford's office and been 'rebuttled' with a sharp refussal to discuss the issue of why we are not recieving an apointment time to meet with Phil twyford in Wellington.
We are not impressed at all with the office staff at Phil Twyfords office and perhsaps they need to investigate the beackground of all Government ministers as some may be opposition policitical operatives trying to sabotage the govenement?
I recall that during the Last 'toxic' National Government it was Steven Joyce who sent a memo around the office staffers warning them that they would need to be loyal to the ministers and not report any issues or information to the press that ?may embassess the Governemt and would be a 'dismissable offence if it was carried out".
Perhaps now Labour leader PM Adern needs to repeat this threat using the Steven Joyce memo again during her reign?
Or at least conduct full background intellegence into the 'polical leanings' of all office staff within the parliamentary pool?
Breaking news…'Kieran Read's Colgate sponsorship could be at risk!
Not smiling …enough.
Anyone else's legs hurt from putting up local electorate candidate hoardings all day yesterday?
You put them up with your legs?
Even John Key used a hammer (sort of).
You get lots of bruised shins with that guy's poor aim. 🙂
Out west we had a magnificent crew and my crew put up twice as many billboards as I ever have in a day before.
🙂
My fav candidate got elected on a zero expense budget last time, so no 🙂
47-26
James?
Glad I missed it. Australia doesn't seem bothered by the absence of Israel Folau. Looking ominous.
Do you feel sufficiently coddled? Try to put your answer in context of how governance ought to provide for sufficient coddling. You could produce the long-awaited revival of socialism!
"US social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt spoke on 1 August in Auckland to a crowd of around one thousand people. He is best known for his book The Coddling of the American Mind which examines the new climate of trigger warnings and acute sensitivity of Gen Z." Apparently the ego fragility of this generation is noteworthy. The marxist reviewer was impressed by the audience…
"At question time were serious questions, and no long grandstanding time-hogging speeches. So it clearly wasn’t a left wing crowd!" https://rdln.wordpress.com/2019/08/11/jonathan-haidt-in-auckland-a-quick-recap/
Well, blow me down. Competitive grandstanding and time-hogging by audiences pretending to ask questions has been a thing for as long as I can remember. People are becoming more polite & considerate??
When a rich, powerful man connected lots of other rich, powerful men in suspected child sex trafficking crimes has allegedly killed himself while in custody at one of the most secure facilities in the US…
https://twitter.com/PreetBharara/status/1160211039864197121
https://twitter.com/CharlesPPierce/status/1160225866170982400
Yup. It wuz the Clintons.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/conspiracy-theories-erupt-after-jeffrey-epsteins-death?ref=home
Dinesh DFelon's onto it.
https://twitter.com/DineshDSouza/status/1160233223273811968
Here we go again…
Hillary Clinton, revitalised by eating lots of pizza from a noted pizza place, got out of the coffin she'd been in for four years after suffering a terminal illness, inveigled her way into the the place Epstein was being held and dealt to him.
Look forward to Chris Bishop asking the PM the serious questions this week:
"Did the Prime Minister get messages from Karel Sroubek about Hillary Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein? If not, why not?"
the dems are blaming trump
the repugs are blaming clinton
good advice from Cenk at TYT …..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il7oQPgkVC8
Frantic deflection.
https://twitter.com/Stonekettle/status/1160311867534979072
A trove of court documents unsealed Friday detail allegations by an alleged victim of wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein that while working as a teenage locker room attendant at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort nearly two decades ago she was recruited to give Epstein massages that often involved sexual activity.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/09/epstein-mar-a-lago-trump-1456221
Sobering Stuff from the Far Far North, https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/114339192/a-couple-pay-300-a-week-for-a-room-with-no-lights-at-a-decrepit-backpackers one of a series co-written by a journalist who has caught my attention for her propensity for 'horses mouth' articles.
The housing situation is dire up there and this is compounded by the ubiquity of meth. Its fucking everywhere up there. Some of us thought, in years past, that the problem was cannabis…but P…a whole different level of damage.
And its not as if there aren't some very good local groups trying to address these issues…
that is some good journalism/use of stats..
the far north creaks from the burden of endemic poverty…
"Some of us thought, in years past, that the problem was cannabis…but P…a whole different level of damage."
Some of us have thought for many years that the problem was the criminalization of cannabis. The current P epidemic seems to support that thought.
xanthe…I get the argument about criminalization of drug use not being conducive to alleviating/avoiding/mitigating drug harm…but if severe punishment would stop folks from deliberately packing their kids into the car and filling the same with thick cannabis smoke so said kids were totally zonked by the time the family go to where they are going, then bring on the stocks and the lash. Sorry if this offends….but I have seen this with my own eyes and ask any teacher in the North about the effect this has on the kids' ability to learn. One small school board a few years ago when P was starting to become a 'thing' challenged all whanau at the school to commit to zero drugs and alcohol. Maybe two out of twenty families took the pledge. And so the cycle continues. Most of the the time this is deliberate, and they'll do it with alcohol as well, so it is disingenuous to blame ignorance and poverty. It was bad enough with cannabis…but now its P, and its happening that the way P affects thought processes those parents who may have not subjected their kids to first hand cannabis and alcohol have few if any inhibitions when they're on P.
I've been speaking with a van dwelling friend who has roamed that region over the past few years and she says it is almost impossible to find safe overnight parking at the moment. (We spend a lot of our time up there in our bus, and would be in a position to support her were we not stuck in the Waikato) I've been encouraging her to go to campgrounds for safety…but these can also habour individuals and groups using P and alcohol and just last night she was alarmed when violence erupted in the camp.
P is cheaper and more readily available than cannabis, I'm told, and the North is flooded with it.
The article speaks about struggling to find work….there has been about 1000000 avacado trees planted up there over the past few years, and those who are willing and able to work shouldn't have much of a problem. Housing is shit…and I'm hoping some of those rich prick orchardists up North will see their way clear to emulate the apple growers in Hawkes Bay who are investing in better seasonal worker housing to free up houses for the community.
"but if severe punishment would stop folks from deliberately packing their kids into the car and filling the same with thick cannabis smoke so said kids were totally zonked by the time the family go to where they are going, then bring on the stocks and the lash"
That's the crux of the matter, history and many years of experience shows it doesn't !
check out this quote which may or may not be Einstein's
http://professorbuzzkill.com/einstein-insanity-qnq/
This quote is particularly poignant as it is appropriate to both drug abusers and criminalization promoters,
What is the answer xanthe? Be buggered if I can think of a way to get the message through to parents who simply don't ever consider that their actions/inactions today are very possibly condemning their kids to the same dead end miserable shit hole conditions that they, the parents, will argue (or will be told by a succession of well meaning do gooders)drove them to the drugs in the first place.
(Btw, without going into whole lot of personal disclosures…it is possible to have seriously neglected and abused children living in households unaffected by material poverty. It is possible, but extraordinarily difficult, to not go down the same path as one's parents…but from my own experience, and after speaking with the many others who have also survived to not repeat the cycle, the key seems to be steering well clear of routine alcohol and drug use.)
Trouble with avocadoes is that they are expensive in shops and therefore worth stealing. If an orchardist in Far North could get a relationship with surrounding Maori to provide work for those who want it, and it was ongoing, there could be a fair amount of peer watchfulness and 'ownership' of our orchard workplace. If another group or person could start work gangs and get them regular work going outside the area for those who are rated as A workers, there could be a real change of mindset within a couple of years. But entrenched attitudes put entrepreneurs off up there according to what I have been told.
Some of the orchards are owned by iwi. We shot back up North last month for a couple of weeks and for the first time we heard that the established orchards are having to post security…it will be interesting to see how the come-lately Big Boys participating in the Mass Plant fare when their trees begin producing in earnest. Many of those new orchards are planted along SH1, not off the back roads with big shelter belts. Up until this year, the avos up there would have definitely been worth stealing….even the five for 2 dollars bags had lovely fruit. This year….not so much. I threw away a four for five dollars bag. Seasonal work has been a regular thing up there for ages and the local WINZ, after pushing many off the dole (and off the wharves fishing) and into some of the many jobs going up there seems to be amenable to not knobbling those people who fill vital labour gaps by doing part time work. A phone call, and an adjustment is made to the benefit without the person being worse off or ending up with a bog debt. Come mussel spat harvest time its all available hands on deck…and good hourly rate too. But this is not work for the hungover….
I can't get my head around it. Lots of people used cannabis and many people use P and the problem is the criminalization those things?
Why do so many right through our society have to use drugs like tobacco, alcohol cannabis and P? Are they crutches and props because life without them is so shit?
"Why do so many right through our society have to use drugs like tobacco, alcohol cannabis and P?"
Peer pressure is one 'door', followed by (biochemical/physiological) addiction which can overwhelm any incentives to get 'clean'.
"$1.8 Billion: Estimated annual social cost of illicit drug-related harm"
https://www.drugfoundation.org.nz/policy-and-advocacy/drugs-in-nz/
You need to add to that the cost of alcohol harm.
Drug abuse including Alcohol get worse when you have politicians who would rather scapegoat and puit the boot in ………. than help.
When it comes to slum condition housing, and kids living in cars …. Politicians and bad governance are FAR more to blame … than drug abuse….
Judith Collins in particular was the Govt arm in the Dirty Politics operation to neuter Alcohol reform …. Alcohol abuse was one of the main pillars for the violence and dysfunction portrayed in the very well acted NZ movie, "Once were Warriors"…..
She also makes unbelievable excuses in defense of rich criminals … according to one of the worlds best corruption exposing investigative journalists.
Collins then started projecting the type of person she is ,,, particulary her concern for struggling families onto her victims.
God save NZ from politicians like her …………. shes a 'taker'.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ruakaka/@-35.868501,174.4650468,60m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x6d0c84ab7cf51103:0x500ef6143a30170!8m2!3d-35.9063963!4d174.4471293
The focus on stopping cigarette smoking by putting the prices up high would tend to divert some to P or whatever if the price is then equal. Once getting on the drug taking practice, then economics and bang for your buck comes into it. And the peer thing, friends are taking it and they share with you when in funds, and in turn you share with them. It's a bonding thing.
Getting your kids past the age of youth addiction to alcohol and these other things when there isn't a shiny future of work and creating a life, is quite a task for parents. If they are users, doubly hard, it would be don't do what I do. If they could travel away from their cohort to where they could make up their minds what to study and be looked after in a hostel it could put a wedge into youth addiction.
The emphasis would be to study and pass something, try one or two subjects and pass them, get a feeling for what career they would like, physical and outdoor stuff, fencing or managing, or indoor stuff, computer work combined with skilled artisan stuff. An appreciative encouragement from gummint and their would be an upward line towards successful numbers of trainess and the spiteful class would have to find other targets to vent their displeasure on.
There's much sense in what you suggest GWS and mostly I agree. Trouble is that tragically, many of these children are adversely affected before birth and this is compounded by getting extra doses, sometimes on a daily basis, because they are breathing in the second hand smoke from ma and pa's cannabis, synthetics or P. Little buggers are multiply handicapped and often end up in the care of grandparents because their own drug addled parents can't cope with the damage they've done. Its a tragedy and needs to be turned around. I hoped within hope that Whanau Ora was going to create a program where a whaea can be paid to mentor a family out of these destructive lives…https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12257338
Whanau Ora workers know hundreds of families live in these circumstances every day.
And we do know that for every family struggling to survive there is another family member, immediate or extended, who would step up and start to transform the family if supported to do so.
Someone who is trusted, someone who will call bad behaviour exactly what it is in many instances, neglect. Someone who will need to be resourced whether for training or skills development in how to handle the high and multiple needs of their family.
saying that giving people hope and purpose will reduce drug abuse is not excusing any behavior, Its stating a fairly obvious fact
on the other hand It is my firm opinion that the war on P is being shown to be just about as effective as the war on cannabis. That is it completely ineffective at reducing use and greatly increasing harm.
back to the definition of insanity!
what the "war on drugs" does do is
1 creates a massively profitable criminal industry.
2 engenders corruption in the law enforcement .
how does any rational person support that ?
Just to remind ourselves what dirty dairying can look like. 16/5/2018
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/357531/council-fails-to-recover-50-000-in-dirty-dairy-case
And good news from the Labour coalition 11 August 2019: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/396427/govt-backs-community-led-waterways-cleanup-with-12m-boost
.
Lately from Oz: 'Dirty apartments' from bad building in Australia – a very bad business. Neolib economics we who desire good governance, good standards, and good lives – we despise you and all that push you like demented druggies.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018707948/australian-apartments-a-plague-of-property-researcher
Deregulation and poor-quality workmanship over the last two decades have resulted in shoddily built apartments, some with major structural cracks forcing residents to evacuate, flammable cladding, and balconies with water seeping through them.
Glad to see Henry Cooke & I are on the same page vis-a-vis NZF support trajectories when in Govt.
(Me: https://thestandard.org.nz/what-is-up-with-nz-first/#comment-1644703 & https://thestandard.org.nz/what-is-up-with-nz-first/#comment-1644972 He: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114881495/winston-peters-doesnt-care-about-the-average-voter-neither-should-the-greens ) …
… I'd take issue, however, when Cooke argues:
Yeah, it's certainly true that around a quarter of 2014 NZF voters agreed that abortion is always wrong according to NZES. But the proportion of 2014 Labour & National voters feeling the same way was only mildly lower.
abortion is always wrong ?
49% Cons
37% Maori Party
25% NZF
23% Non-Voters
22% Labour
17% National
15% IMP
11% Green
(Note: a larger margin of error for NZF Con Maori & IMP voters).
That, in turn, raises the broader point that Labour voters are by no means as overwhelmingly liberal / libertarian … nor Nats as overwhelmingly conservative / authoritarian … as many pundits seem to assume.
Recent iterations of the NZES suggest the support-bases of both Major Parties are relatively evenly divided between Moral Cons & Libs … whereas voters for the Smaller Parties fall decisively one way or the other: … Greens being Economically Left & Morally Liberal / NZFers being Economically Left & Morally Conservative.
That Māori Party number is interesting. So many people misread them as a party of the left.
Interesting comment. To me, it shows that defining or categorising politics and people’s values and attitudes (and morals!) in terms of Left-Right or Liberal-Conservative is overly simplistic and not at all helpful when discussing singular but complex issues.
/agreed. Having said that, I'd be interested to know what you and others think of the political compass ( https://www.politicalcompass.org/ ).
Not perfect, but maybe its just that we need different labels on the Left-Right axis
Excuse me if I just selfishly sit back and watch for the responses
But you didn't volunteer a personal opinion on how well their test operates. That's the obvious way to assess the merit of their framing. It printed me out precisely in the middle of Bernie Sanders' face. I commented here a couple of years ago that it merely confirms that I share typical leftist values. I've never been a socialist. So the site seems designed to ignore identity politics. Ignoring the primary way people act and think politically nowadays is silly…
" It printed me out precisely in the middle of Bernie Sanders' face".
Is that what it is? I thought it was just a very pronounced birthmark.
Not sure what I think at times. When I did it a few years ago I was damn near centre point – at a time when a lot of acquaintances would have been calling me a bleeding heart leftie. It looks like it was an attempt to try and map matters economic against social considerations – probably in light of all that 3rd Way shite that's still with us.
Anyway, I'm only reluctant to comment at the mo 'cos I'm in the middle of tinkering with things mechanical (with greasy, oily paws and not wanting my keyboard to go buggerup)
Personally, I don’t think much of it. It is a tool designed to help voters to decide how to vote.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11920998
It does not help me much with singular issues such as abortion, euthanasia, free speech, et cetera. It does not guide my thinking in any ways, shape, or form.
It is also designed as a tool to increase voter engagement. But I don’t know that it really does achieve what it aims for. To me, it encourages you to align more with a party, and use heuristic labels to decide which tribe you want to belong to, i.e. your location on the ‘map’. Job done – two ticks (on the ballot form). I’d love to know how many people changed their party allegiance and voter pattern after doing the test. I’d say, not many. Others might feel confirmed in their engrained thinking and voting behaviour. Maybe so-called swing-voters are an interesting group to research in this context. Even more interesting would be the million or so non-voters.
Parties are shown as distinct little dots on this political landscape as if they are or have fixed positions. IMO they should be large shapes that touch and overlap each other. Nothing is fixed anyway; politics and political (and personal) opinions are fluid and dynamic although not nearly as much as they perhaps should be. It would be interesting to see how party positions change over time on the ‘map’.
The other issue I have with this ‘compass’ is that it reduces complex multi-dimensional and multi-factorial issues into two dimensions (I think the correct term is projection). This might make it easier for voters but it might hinder progressive politics and policies and public debate on those. Voters and the public need to be informed and educated so that they can think and decide for themselves (i.e. make informed decisions) rather than sheepishly following some party and/or party leader and then complain afterwards that it is not what they wanted. Worse, they defend that party or leader because they voted for them even though they had no clear idea of what they voted on and for and even though it was not what they wanted.
Such are the downsides of party politics and the so-called representative democratic system as it stands IMHO.
Then there's the difference between one's own values, and the positioning of who you end up voting for.
In the NZ context, I'm really relieved there's the Greens I can vote for that are somewhat close to my political positioning (right in the middle of Political Compass' left/libertarian quadrant) and are likely to actually make it in to Parliament to represent something close-ish to my views.
In US elections, any candidate close to my views hasn't got a hope in hell of actually winning a general election (except maybe in a handful of scattered House districts), so I have to try to judge who has the best balance of actually being electable and push some progress (however small) in a direction I'm ok with.
Do you get to vote in NZ and the USA?
Yup.
Absolutely … esp Intersectionals who seem to hold a deeply reductive (& strangely romanticised / paternalistic / 'Noble Savage') understanding of Māori … they appear to conceive of both Māori & Pasifika voters as monolithic blocs, all holding morally liberal views similar to themselves (ie the Intersectionals) … it’s beyond absurd …
… But then the more dogmatic ID Politics activists do tend to emerge from an exclusive & socially distant Pakeha Upper-Middle Establishment (I suspect they don't actually meet Māori or Pasifikas until well into adulthood).
In 2011, incidentally, Tariana Turia sought to appoint a conservative on abortion issues to the Abortion Supervisory Committee, the administrative body responsible for supervising the process. Labour and Green MPs unanimously opposed the amendment; National MPs were close to evenly split and the four ACT MPs voted against. New Zealand First had no parliamentary representation at the time.
.
On top of the Party Support perspective …
The key anti-Abortion demographics are:
– Moral Authoritarians
– Regular Churchgoers
– Pasifika, Asian & (to a somewhat lesser extent) Māori ethnicities
lol wee bee in you wee bonnet there – the point of intersectionality imo is to NOT put people into monolithic blocks. Maybe this will help
of course if you are privileged and are not a marginalized individual or group then it is a bit hard to get your head around
Or, putting it another way (Good/Evil axis determined by economic policy; Lawful/Chaotic axis determined by abortion stance):
Greens/IMP – Chaotic Good
NZF – Lawful Good
Labour/non-voters – Neutral Neutral
Maori – Lawful Neutral
Cons – Lawful Evil
Nats/Act – Chaotic Evil
Dungeons & Dragons alignment ?
Unfortunately, I was never part of that scene at College … basically (among the boys at what was a co-ed school) there were 3 essential sub-cultures:
– the Māori / Pasifika lads who tended toward Rugby / Disco / Black American Sitcoms (here I am indulging in the same reductivism I've accused the Intersectionals of)
– the Maths/Computer/Physics/Nerdy lads who spent every lunchtime playing heroic characters in D & D and tended to shy away from both sports & girlfriends (an unusually large number of lads with freckles in this particular sub-group)
– the Soccer lads: who played both The Beautiful Game & a new sport they invented called Soccer-Tennis (like Tennis Doubles … only with a soccer ball & restricted to head & feet) & identified with higher quality UK comedy like Fawlty Towers & Python (this was before the Rik+Ade Comedies arrived)
I was very solidly in the last of these groups (albeit still enjoying a good game of Rugger now & then).
The pleasures of D & D eluded me.
Interesting. My college years were '63-'67 inclusive, and there was only a single sub-culture: non-conformist. Me & a bunch of others. Everyone else conformed.
🙂
You were in the Fourth Form the year I was born.
I can just imagine you proudly sporting a Beatles Mop-Top …
… and a baaad attitude to Kiwi Keith …
People tried to put you d-down (talkin’ ’bout your generation)
… Just because you g-got aroun’ (talkin’ ’bout your generation)
Actually Wanganui Boys ensured that no Beatles mop-tops grew on any of us, if my memory is correct. We gained a few millimetres by the time I left, then I uni I stopped cutting my hair. Aversion to Kiwi Keith didn't kick in till '69 because even the rebels were totally apolitical at college (the left were just as much establishment/mainstream as the right).
But just prior to that – there was that fella with the silly hat if memory serves – Sir Bernard, if you ever needed someone to ridicule. And there was also that mad hatter in charge of broadcasting who insisted on being referred to by his military rank
Bless. Geeky guys shying away from girlfriends rather than the more painful reverse. 🙂
True … actually one of my closest friends in the 7th form had emerged from the Geeky D & D subculture. Very nice guy & dry sense of humour … but they were never, shall we say, overly successful with the femme fatale half of the School population.
Touché
Touché yourself.
roblogic
Your analysis is complete bullshit, but I absolutely love it and find it illuminating
I think you may be missing that common alignment, chaotic stupid, it's very prevalent in some places.
Yes good one there Roblogic.
Desperation seems to have set in to John Tamihere's mayoral campaign.
His homelessness and begging policy has him creating an 0800 JACINDA hotline to call if residents see rough sleepers or beggars. He said a caller would find a "person all loving and caring that knows everything about your wellbeing" on the other end of the line and a social worker would then be sent to work with the beggar.
No doubt the media releases have the usual official stuff on them about their authorisation.
"Authorised by heading down the toilet John Tamihere, Desperate F'wit"? Oh well, it'll garner more attention for him than promising to walk naked over the Harbour Bridge if he doesn't win.
Boagalicious.
John Tamihere won't get any of my respect if he is suggesting that there should be a hotline as described above. I have decided that the word 'spiteful' is appropriate for those who are unempathetic and unsympathetic and uninformed about the reasons for the poor state of many NZs. I hadn't expected to apply that to JT but if the cap fits wear it.
His track record is not big on empathy.
John has a good idea to ban trucks in Auckland as it seems to be happening overeas now too.
We look forward that plan spreading around NZ too as trucks emit ‘heavy (low frequency noise) (LFN) and vibrations that crack our home foundations and poison our air with jheavy pollution from several soures including exhaust brake and trye dust. All recognised as health risks.
Whats to like about that when rail lies idle with no tyre dust and low pollution emissions.
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/hamburg-becomes-first-german-city-to-ban-trucks-and-older-diesel-cars-1.3514147
Hamburg becomes first German city to ban trucks and older diesel cars
Move follows court ruling that cities breaching EU air quality limits must take action
Move is on to ban diesel cars from cities
https://www.dw.com/en/move-is-on-to-ban-diesel-cars-from-cities/a-42747043
A top German court has ruled cities can ban diesel cars on their own. DW looks at several places that have already started implementing similar plans to curb urban air pollution.
About a week ago I made a post noting our nu New Zealander Peter Thiel … and his proximity to racist politicians … and Palantirs involvement with ICE raids / operation, targeting the 'invaders' …
'Invaders' is how the President of the usa, along with white supremacist mass murderers,,, describe refugees or Muslims.
Palantir describes them as a $40 Million plus contract …. $$$$$$$$
The company Palantir appears to enter into some contracts which seem to be a melding of Dirty Politics with Dirty Business ….
One contract ,,,,, was described by reporter and 'target' Glen Greenwald as ,,,
https://www.salon.com/2011/02/15/palantir/
ICE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=c5HePqgw8eQ
You'll need more than a few letters to persuade anyone to watch that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRpAFswLrFA&t=236s
ICE as in …
About a week ago I made a post noting our nu New Zealander Peter Thiel … and his proximity to racist politicians … and Palantirs involvement with ICE raids / operation, targeting the 'invaders' …
'Invaders' is how the President of the usa, along with white supremacist mass murderers,,, describe refugees or Muslims.
Palantir describes them as a $40 Million plus contract …. $$$$$$$$
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ku0z5Y3kDs&t=1072s
Palantir are not Peter Thiel … and visa versa of course …
But out of his own mouth he compares usa teachers to bank tellers ,,,, literally as well as figuratively
And Tax fairness seems to be a corporate rate of 10%-15% …. apparently.
I'd put up the vids of his 'talks' on teachers & 'fair tax' … but three posts on this interesting nu new zealander previously had me labeled with the dreaded derangement diagnosis.
My next post on elite Nzers ,,,, will be a dose of the Legatums…
The Chandler Bro's ….Billionare Brexiters .. one funding the tory cuddling neo-Con 'think tank'…. Legabrex sarc
trail blazers who went full cold war / red scare … before it became trendy again.
No, you were asked to start your own comment threads. Thank you for being so understanding and obliging.
So, something hit Jupiter creating a fireball the size of Earth…
https://twitter.com/ChappelAstro/status/1159290187287015429
https://www.space.com/jupiter-impact-flash-photo-august-2019.html
Wow! What could it have been? A tweet from POTUS on CC?
https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/wellington/capital-in-the-21st-century/
Capital in the 21st Century 2019
Directed by Justin Pemberton Aotearoa
A sweeping – and sobering – account of the way that concentrated wealth has both shaped our past and is creating a deeply unequal future. Based on economist Thomas Piketty’s bestselling book.
Has Venues and Times in drop-down:
https://www.flicks.co.nz/movie/capital-in-the-21st-century/
The Tory establishment are done pulling their punches.
There is no getting away from it: this is a rightwing coup. I agree with Ferdinand Mount, once head of Margaret Thatcher’s policy unit at Downing Street in what now look like less disturbing times. Writing in the current London Review of Books, Mount sees echoes of Mussolini’s rise to power, in that “yes, [Johnson] has come to power by strictly constitutional means”; it is what happens after that matters, and the do-or-die approach of Johnson and his warlord Dominic Cummings is truly disturbing.
As my former Observer colleague Neal Ascherson says in the same vintage issue of the LRB: “We have leading Tories – not only Johnson – apparently prepared to suspend a sovereign parliament in order to force through a Brexit meant to restore the sovereignty of parliament.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/aug/11/brexit-was-becoming-farce-now-turning-into-coup-johnson
Ferdinand Mount
Yes, this is a right-wing coup. It is duplicitous or self-deceiving to pretend that British politics is still proceeding more or less as normal. We are told that it is ‘hysterical’ to argue that Boris Johnson’s regime is in any way comparable to the nationalist dictatorships of yesterday or today. If this is a temptation, I shall happily succumb to it as a patriotic duty. By every standard of measurement, the Conservative Party has been transformed into Britain’s own BJP. ‘Optimism with a hint of menace’ was how the Sunday Times approvingly described Johnson’s first days in power – pretty much the way you might describe the first hundred days of Narendra Modi, or Donald Trump, or Benito Mussolini. Yes, he has come to power by strictly constitutional means. So did they all. It is how they govern when they get there that counts.
http://archive.li/XQEsr#selection-955.0-955.3
WTF is it with baby nazis and gyms?
https://twitter.com/ColborneMichael/status/1160454218366537730
Putin's thugs arresting opposition politician Lyubov Sobol.
https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1160209694528610305
https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1160291909102911494
Bridges and Tamihere seem to be on the same page at least.
Bridges tells Ihumatao protectors to 'go home', while Tamihere goes further. He will arrest the homeless for not…er…going home.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/08/go-home-simon-bridges-message-to-ihumatao-protesters.html
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12257555
I think I've commented already to the effect that BoJo's lot quite possibly don't actually believe in Brexit as an ideology. It's just a convenient train to hitch their wagon to – that wagon being a far-right takeover of the UK's institutions. This item from the Guardian appears to be consistent with the notion:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/11/boris-johnson-plot-to-subvert-democracy-is-more-dangerous-than-brexit-itself