As the old saying goes “Every cloud has a silver lining”
How Trump made political engagement great again:
The 2018 midterms had the highest turnout since before World War I!
Americans are more civically engaged than they have been in more than 100 years.
The two years between President Donald Trump’s win in 2016 and the 2018 midterms ushered in a new era of political engagement in America, not seen since the early 1900s and the 1960s civil rights and anti-war movements.
That culminated in November’s midterm elections. While House Democrats picked up 40 seats in a wave election (they didn’t fare nearly as well in the Senate), an important number to focus on is the sheer number of people who voted in 2018, compared to past midterms.
Read the link. The actual turnout was over 50% which for a mid – term is the greatest turnout in 100 years and well above the last mid-term which was around 38%. It may not sound very impressive but remember that these polling days are held on a working day, and while in some states it is a requirement for employers to give their employees time off to vote – this is met more in word than in deed. Furthermore in poorer districts there are few polling booths and it can take several hours to cast a vote.
Presidential elections score between 50 – 60%. However you need to take into account the very active voter suppression that occurs in a large majority of states where certain sectors of society are actively discouraged by a wide range of legalities from voting.
This is a surprisingly good result considering all the obstacles that state politicians put in the way of the majority.
Thanks for posting that graph Lprent. I have been following the daily train crash in the US for a while now on WTF and some of the commentators there have been very actively involved in the mid-terms and were very heartened by the (for them) massive turnout and the blue wave that resulted in the House – the forecast had been for around a 35 seat swing at best. When the results came through and the Dems kept picking up seats they well elated.
When I saw that graph on Vox – I thought it was something that needed to be seen here, because there have been a few commentators here, who have been rather disparaging of the efforts of the Democratic party. And while you can’t change an institution overnight the vibes I’m picking up from the on-line community at WTF (hosted by Matt Kiser) are very positive. I have faith that the activism I am seeing there will translate in the future to a much more progressive and viable Left.
And all thanks to Trump 😉
If there is one left wing writer you should follow, it is John Wight.
Add him to your Twitter feed.
Here is an excerpt from his most recent article, where he provides insight you rarely see in the corporate media on the events in France.
This is a war against neoliberalism and austerity
“Macron’s European army has arrived. It goes by the name Gilets Jaunes
The French capital is now, for all intents, the frontline in a growing struggle against neoliberalism and its bastard child, austerity, across a European Union whose foundations are crumbling. They are crumbling not due to the devilish machinations of Vladimir Putin (as an increasingly unhinged and out of touch Western liberal commentariat maintains), but instead as the result of a neoliberal status quo that provides far too few with unending comfort and material prosperity at the expense of far too many, for whom dire misery and mounting pain are its grim fruits.
Not only is this mass grassroots movement of Yellow Vest protesters a problem for Macron, but it is also increasingly a problem for an EU political and economic establishment that is yet to wake up to the fact that the world has changed, and changed utterly.
Throughout human history hubris has been the undoing of the rich and powerful, along with the empires forged in their name; and hubris is currently well on the way to being the undoing of an EU whose proponents have embraced the unity not of its peoples but of its banks, corporations, and elites.”
The fact you think France is a poster child for neoliberalism is laughable. France’s issues are in fact the result of failing to implement any meaningful policies that equate even remotely with neoliberalism.
You obviously don’t know much about the French economy. France has always stood apart from what they regard as the Anglo neo-liberal consensus.
Equating all forms of capitalism to neo-liberalism is a serious mistake.
The basic tenents of neo-liberalism are low barriers to trade, not much state ownership, relatively free labour markets, low regulation, relatively low taxes, and a relatively low share of the state as a share of GDP (less than 35%). France basically doesn’t have any of this. These features are very much the domain of the anglosphere, including NZ. The EU basically resists all these things.
Dr Marek Neuman explains the consequences of European economic integration on the economic and political powers of member states and why some scholars, practitioners, and citizens have been criticising the EU as a neoliberal project.
The author advances the literature on the role of the state in the decentralization of industrial relations in France by providing a political economic analysis of Right- and Left-backed governments in recent decades. While both have pursued reforms to reduce regulation and to increase labor market flexibility, they have used the state apparatus in different ways to achieve these goals.
The tragedy of Macron is that he is a highly articulate upholder of an illusion that has been dispelled time and time again since the subprime crisis. That the defence of an economic system that has exerted such centrifugal pressure on society as to nearly dissolve it can still pass as “pragmatic” is truly staggering, and shows that what goes by the name “pragmatism” has become the most deeply entrenched of ideologies.
I know some leftists have criticised the EU as a neo-liberal project. They are wrong.
The EU has its origins in the 1950’s and was designed to make Western Europe a single economy. All about eliminating the threat of war from Germany. Obviously no real barriers between each of them. But they were (and are) all high tax economies with massive welfare networks and massive infrastructure spending. That is why France has the amazing TGV trains, amazing roads, and many dozens of nuclear reactors, and may companies under the control of the state. All built with central planning.
As a general rule, informed commentators make a distinction between the anglo economies and the European economies, with many Europeans being critical of what they perceive as the US pushing their model onto them. One of the reasons for Brexit is that the UK economy doesn’t easily fit the European model. Many Brits resented the excessive level of micro control that is the norm of the EU.
Having said that I do know there has been a fear that Macron wanted to introduce more economic flexibility into France and was accused of being a closet neoliberal. He basically succeeded with employment law reform and reducing business regulation, with many French people recognising the current practices were way too restrictive. But that was clearly the limit of what he could do.
The EU has its origins in the 1950’s and was designed to make Western Europe a single economy.
Which was a bad move as the PIIGs found out. Can’t have a single economy on one currency when all the sub-economies have different taxes, workers rights, different productivity rates etc, and have their ability to control their currency removed.
Obviously no real barriers between each of them.
Yes. Neo-liberalism.
But they were (and are) all high tax economies with massive welfare networks and massive infrastructure spending. That is why France has the amazing TGV trains, amazing roads, and many dozens of nuclear reactors, and may companies under the control of the state. All built with central planning.
So, you’re now praising a command economy?
He basically succeeded with employment law reform and reducing business regulation, with many French people recognising the current practices were way too restrictive.
So, that would make him a neo-liberal and France getting neo-liberal policies despite the fact that the French don’t actually want them. You know, like the article I posted on it said.
Yeah, I’m getting your argument. Mostly because it seems to be made up out of whole cloth.
A big issue at this time of year – I think most of us waste food – we have chickens and a friend with pigs – but every time I scrape the plate or pot I cringe a little and feel ashamed that we are wasting food.
“We’re wasting food that can be utilised by some of our whānau” says Whangārei community trust CEO, Martin Kaipo, who is challenging the government to tackle New Zealand’s food wastage problem…
… Latest statistics show that 14,000 tonnes of food waste is sent to New Zealand landfills annually. That equates to 3kgs per person annually, a statistic Kaipo says can easily help those most in need.
“One of the supermarkets, they were throwing out dozens of eggs and they had to break them and we say ‘why don’t you save it? We can give it away’. They say they can’t, they’re not allowed,” says Kaipo, who has been working in the community development sector for over 20 years.
A 2015 study showed that $900mil of food is wasted by New Zealanders annually.
“You’re talking about a social accord and meeting the needs of our whānau. I think we should be challenging wastage,” he says.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that, each year, one-third of all food produced for human consumption in the world (around 1.3 billion tons) is lost or wasted. This includes 45% of all fruit and vegetables, 35% of fish and seafood, 30% of cereals, 20% of dairy products and 20% of meat.
The most waste is, of course, in the highly efficient Developed Nations:
Not surprisingly, most of this wastage occurs in the developed world; per capita food waste by consumers (not including the production process) in Europe and North America is around 95-115kg per year, compared to just 6-11kg in sub-Saharan Africa and South/South-East Asia.
This wastage happens because, on average, we’re paid too much. We throw stuff out because we can afford to.
Like the waste that is personal vehicles this is another symbol of how rich we are. A symbol of how stupid and blasé we’ve become.
And the best before dates are usually a crock of shit.
We opened a still sealed tub of Greek yoghurt that had been sitting in the fridge for a year the other week. BB was November 2017. A year later, still sealed, and kept cool, it was still good to eat.
You can blame BB dates on consumers themselves. They’d buy processed food and expect it to last forever. They’d then open stuff and find it had gone off and ZOMG, they didn’t know that it had to be used by certain time so should get a refund. Some people would eat it anyway because its canned and should be good right?
For health and safety of the public BB dates became mandatory.
Yes, some foods will keep well beyond the BB date but that’s because the BB dates are very conservative and some foods will simply keep longer.
What is dumb is someone suggesting that because the PM on an issue said “Read between the line” that she cannot suggest to “Not read between the lines” on a completely different, absolutely no connection, months apart issue. Perhaps it is comments like this that highlight the skill and multi tasking ability of our brilliant PM compared to the desperate and talentless detractors.
On THAT issue, can you not see the difference? two separate issues. Are you being purposely dense or does it just come naturally. I will treat your subtle attack on the baby with the silence and contempt it deserves.
Chris T
I know I know. You would do a much better job than the PM. Possibly you put your CV forward to be an advisor and got turned down. Now you are giving her the coaching she needs from TS sidelines. Don’t know if she will welcome it. I certainly don’t. Sniping from a protected place is a low task. that doesn’t result in awards. Why not find another one?
I’m intrigued @ Chris T. What is it that makes you want to come and comment on TS?
Is it a a genuine desire to counter the politics of the left, or
Is it more to do with the size of your penis?
If it’s the latter, Maria Muldaur can offer you some solace (It ain’t the meat, it’s the motion)
Btw, your mate Matty is having a bit of an epiphany (or maybe a mid-life crisis -take your pick). He’s back from his voyage of discovery in Eurip and could probably offer you some good advice.
For one thing, the ability to recognise that different topics have different contexts, and “reading between the lines” might be advisable for one topic but reckless speculation for another.
She’s only been in the background of m ‘mind this year — I account her a talker of the talk but not a walker. ‘Brilliant’ — nay. Her feeling isn’t as good as the work that took up the lives of our founders. She still thinks her feeling matters as much as struggle, work, sacrifice, MJS.
Have you found any actual evidence that Sroubek’s estranged wife was/is under police protection as TRP asked you to provide when you continued to dispute that issue with me?
Don’t seem to have seen it here yet.
Also a warning to anyone clicking on the 14+ minute audio link Chris T provided at 4, the first 7+ mins are a news bulletin and the Hoskiing/Ardern interview does not start until after that.
Also, Ardern’s remark re not encouraging anyone to read between the lines has to be put into the context of her following comments that the Barclay situation is an employment matter that she cannot comment on.
LOL. You mean you won’t accept the Parliamentary video and Hansard transcript of what Peters said, because it does not fit with your claims – but you cannot provide any proof for your claim.
And here you go again, taking Ardern’s comment out of context and made in relation to a completely different issue as has been pointed out to you above.
He’s struggling for sure. Sad these wingnuts are going low but they are desperate for ANYthing other than the eternal-leakee-I-did-everything-right Simon. It’s also funny imo.
“Have you found any actual evidence that Sroubek’s estranged wife was/is under police protection as TRP asked you to provide when you continued to dispute that issue with me?”
How about this:
“Police Minister Stuart Nash says police should not have shared information with Immigration NZ about the location of the police safe house where the estranged wife of Karel Sroubek is staying.”
I think one or two ‘officials’ would have to be “thrown under a bus” – that’s if you’re hoping for a reply.
And we can’t do that @ Naki man! It would undermine EVERYTHING our public service (and its codes of conduct) stands for.
(/sarc)
And if we were to do that, there’d be no opportunity anymore for a pompous Wodehouse, or a finger-pumping specimen in a leapoard skin suit feigning outrage, or a struggling Soi-man to ask ‘the hard questions’ as Her Majesty’s Opposishun in Parliament – that’s without appearing like complete hypocritical shmuks.
(It’s no wonder, I ‘spose) that when I walked past MoBIE yesterday, there were one or two senior ‘officials’ standing outside, desperately sucking on their vape machines inhaling as much flavoured steam as they could get down their throats whilst they were dreaming up the next round of bullshit and spin – have you received any memo yet?)
Oh, btw @ Naki man, I stumbled across this little gem that could be used in the next election campaign and it could draw together a Tolley, a Collins, a Bennett and Barry ( let alone the male aspirants with their woifies behind them ALL THE WAY):
That article dated 5 December at 1.19pm and Nash’s statements etc predated the more informed information provided by Ardern, Peters and Galloway in the House in Question Time that afternoon and the following two days, Weds 6 Dec, and Thurs, 6 Dec.
I suspect/hope that Nash was possibly carpeted for those statements, and told to pull his head in as his statement that police should not have shared information with Immigration NZ about the estranged wife’s whereabouts have since been refuted on several counts, as have the statement in that article that “She is now staying in a police safe house because of fears to her safety.”
In Question Time on Thursday, 6 Dec, in questions 1 and 2 Peters refuted much of what Nash had said. In brief:
— Under Question 1, Peters advised that the wife had been offered police protection three times but had declined the offers, and hence she was not in police protection.
— Under Question 2, Galloway repeatedly stated that Police had not supplied Immigration NZ with the wife’s address as Immigration NZ already knew her address/whereabouts.
Chris T and I had a lengthy ‘discussion’ on these issues under the thread at 13 on the “Double down – protect parliament – ban Bridges for a month” post by lprent filed at 10.30pm on 5 Dec.
I am not going to repeat my very detailed responses to him with links and quotes to Peters and Galloway’s replies in the House. These can be seen in the above-mentioned thread starting with Chris T’s 13.2.2.1.1 and continuing for some days resulting in TRP telling him to pull his head in and provide evidence that she was in police protection.
As well as referencing the information provided in the House by Peters and Galloway, in one of my responses I also provided a very rough summary of the provisions of Part 8 of the Immigration Act 2009 covering the powers of entry, seizure etc of Immigration Officers in relation to possible immigration fraud etc – AND the procedures whereby Police are able under law to work closely with Immigration on such matters including the powers of – and requirements on – both agencies to share information on such matters. (There are also similar requirements for information sharing with and between other government agencies etc). As I noted in that comments, these powers etc were widened considerably under the last Nat govt.)
Going back to the Nash article, Nash did not seem to know/understand the provisions of the Immigration Act 2009 (and the Search and Surveillance Act 2012) re these powers and requirements to share relevant information between Immigration NZ and NZ Police in making the statement he did.
As Ianmac has noted below at 4.1.1.2.3, this subject is up again today in Question Time at Q3.
“It would be very axiomatic that if on three occasions the police had offered protection and she hadn’t availed herself of it, then maybe when the police came with the immigration officer, she wasn’t under protection.”
“Have you found any actual evidence that Sroubek’s estranged wife was/is under police protection?”
Mitchell is thinking of taking Winston to the Privileges Committee but Mitchell said, “”She’s been taken away to a safe home in a different part of the country that is subject to a police safety plan, and then, unannounced, two police detectives and an Immigration NZ official turned up at the front door.
“She was asked to do something she felt would make her an even bigger target for Sroubek, felt very uneasy and asked for a support person.”
That is not the same thing as a Safe House.
That great questioner Bridges is yet again having a go re Sroubek at the PM today at QT. Q3.
Ianmac – did you watch Q1 and 2 on Thursday last week – a lot revealed there as mentioned in my reply to Naki above at 4.1.2.2.3. I did extensive replies to chris t last week on this and my reply above has links to that info.
Mitchell has no real grounds to take Peters to the Privileges Committee – imo he is just posturing and may come a cropper if he persists with that line.
I also now know a lot more re the wife and her family etc and not everything is as it seems but cannot say more. It is a bit of a Through the Looking Glass situation where down seems up and vice versa – and who is the real victim/fall guy/ taking one for the team …………..
Following the money can lead to interesting results.
“It would be very axiomatic that if on three occasions the police had offered protection and she hadn’t availed herself of it, then maybe when the police came with the immigration officer, she wasn’t under protection.”
We are short on leaders, but I guess dirty politics also plays it’s part. Also the unions have become very process orientated a bit like the Green Party. But maybe dirty politics also play their part here. We are after all, under mass surveillance and you kinda lose your job or funding if you speak out in NZ.
Save NZ you have got it wrong it’s the support from the middle classes and small businesses who are getting squeezed Macron a cardboard cut out of John Key gave tax cuts to the rich and raised taxes for everyone else the wealthy people and companies pay no tax Macron is one of these uber rich. He got into power promising tax cuts for the over taxed middle classes he didn’t follow through on his promises but still claimed he was a man of his word. So the middle classes are supporting the non violent protest’s outside Paris by feeding and financing protesters. That won’t happen in NZ. The Fascists are causing the violence in Paris because of Bannon is helping the far right racist movement fill a power vacuum the left under Mitterand failed to get the French economy working now Macron is failing Le Pen is stirring up hatred to gain support like Trump. It
A few crumbs of Cake but he will make cuts elsewhere. Except for the non tax paying uber rich.
The Gilet Gaunes have won this battle Macron has caved in so that has emboldened the Yellow Jackets now they will push for more concessions.
And i am sure they will be back on the streets if the need arises.
btw, i think people should refer this not as a ‘french’ movement even tho that france is the one in the news but the gilet jaune/yellow jackets are also active in Belgium, Spain and other places in Europe.
I don’t thing it will just go away with a 100 Euro per month, but for some families it will mean another week of food.
A French person was telling me you can buy a 2 bedroom apartment in Nice for 50,000 euros. So the other issue is that cars over 10 years are being scrapped or taxed more, but there is a 10,000 euro between the compensation and the new car they need to buy. So they need to come up with a considerable amount of money aka 20% of the amount of an apartment to meet the rules. Meanwhile the oil company apparently pays no tax at all, and the government is doing nothing to tax the big oil who are creating the environmental problems in the first place???
I have always admired how the french can ensure a decent quality of life for themselves and plenty of benefits because they go crazy when their government tries to take it away and stop the economy working by blocking the streets. Once you do that, you tend to get your way fairly quickly.
The rental market in the Cote d’Azur reflects the fact that it is high value properties over run by tourists from March – October. Most people i knew lived if they could in an HLM – French Social Housing, especially families with kids.
As for the cars, some cars in France really should not be on the road :), but in saying that, it is a problem that we need to affront at some stage namely that we can’t continue to drive in our single serve boxes, and keep driving really old cars that have terrible exhausts etc.
As anywhere else in hte world the big corporations pay no more taxes in France then they pay in the US or elsewhere…… is that not what they -pay accountants for?
Generally this strike really comes down to the fact that the worker in France can’t be squeezed anymore, that the government spends as if they could squeeze the workers some more and that the increase on Gasoline via taxes was the last drop.
But don’t ever think you can buy an appartment in Nice for 50.000 Euro.
50,000euro would be a year’s rent for a cheap apartment these days I looked at a few real estate office windows thinking the same thing then my French speaking daughter explained that was the rental section.
But other areas of France land and property prices have fallen since Macron took power the cost of living has gone up considerably and people can’t afford to pay for housing.
Western Springs bush is under threat from councils inept planning. Plans to clear fell the pines and replant in natives ignores the already established and ecologically important native bush regenerating on site. A bush decades old.
My objection is that the bush is a host area for many native fungi, unsung heroes in an important range of ecosystem services. But there’s many plants, birds and insects there that need our help too.
The bush sits above a stream that flows directly into the Waitemata harbor, so removing vegetation is also risky in this regard. This stream and its tributaries are host to native banded kokopu, bullies, eel, and paratya.
You may object with a signature, and even a comment, should you wish.
In my view a lot of the rise of mental illness really goes hand in hand with society dysfunction and that is across the board from high to low socio economic groups but with different issues. The problem can be families are working too much and are not strong enough family supports to encourage strong mental health. Nowadays people seem to be fobbed off with a phone line or some external agency that probably does little to nothing. Neoliberalism has made money more important than society.
With state care, any kid who is abused then has to endure 30 different homes in 3 years? if you were mentally ok before as a kid, good chance you wouldn’t be after! By fobbing off bad agency systems, onto ‘metal health’ is also an issue because how the state care system seems to function is the bigger problem causing the mental health issues then and later on top of whatever trauma the kids suffered before they were taken away.
Also hope James Shaw is able to do something about actually creating real data that can be analysed and then better government decisions made. (see video, as the women says, be brave, don’t cover you own ass).
The need for much better statistics is across the board from justice to social welfare, immigration and state care. I even noticed that police keep ethnicity data on victims but not the perpetrators, or at least not in the information I was looking for online?
Weird, is this some woke sop type idea so that they don’t actually do anything about it? They analyse the victims but not detailed data on the criminals so that that they can perhaps try to prevent crimes by being clearer on what is the demographic of criminals increasing or decreasing and the types of crimes?
There are two actions that would reduce our mental health crisis to a manageable level. 1. Stop emotionally, physically and sexually abusing children, it makes for disturbed adults. 2. Stop taking illicit drugs, it makes you mad, if already mad, madder. Remove 1 as above from the equation and 2 will not be an issue.
I completely agree with you Psych nurse, but also think a good look at how we are raising our children, our values and our society in general needs a good look at, too.
Not good enough. We are constantly lowering our standards in NZ and then giving the wrong people too many chances. For a start if a company is not compliant then they should get a massive fine aka $100,000, never be allowed migrant workers sponsored there if they have any, and if they are non compliant again, they get a bigger fine, third time they have license taken away. Also the WOF should have ratings like the restaurants aka A – D ratings so the public can see if they are competent or not.
Like wise with Labour inspectors. 2 fines, no migrants workers allowed and if they get caught again, their ability to hire any workers is taken away.
NZTA inspectors tried to warn of non-compliance issues
For a start if a company is not compliant then they should get a massive fine aka $100,000
The problem with that is that the company just shuts up shop and never pays the fine. The owners walk away with their ill-gotten gains.
Need to make the fine far larger and have it land on the owners. The right-wing should celebrate the personal responsibility and so this government shouldn’t have any problems getting bipartisanship on the bill.
I was only commenting on the ineffectiveness of fining a business when that business can simply deregister and not pay it as we’ve seen time and time again.
You are right so obviously that is the first thing that should be changed aka not being able to shut up shop when you get a fine to avoid your debts. They need to make people bankrupt unable to own a business for 10 years and also be forced to pay what they owe personally especially if it is employment related.
On the constant employment issues for the government, (Barclay, Handley).
You have to wonder how they can justify some of these salaries in particular the Auckland university chancellor who was closing specialist libraries to save money but the third highest paid public servant on over $700,000!
All these public servants should not be paid more than PM, and the money from McCutcheon bloated un deserved salary (Auckland university gone backwards in international ratings) could have been spent on libraries and saving the 20 jobs and not reducing the quality of Auckland university courses!
University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon to step down
“He is the country’s third highest-paid public official whose salary is fixed by the State Services Commission, earning between $710,000 and $719,999 in the year to June 2017, behind only the heads of the Accident Compensation Corporation ($830,000-$839,999) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment ($800,000-$809,999).
For comparison, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern earns only $471,000, although former NZ Superannuation Fund head Adrian Orr, whose salary was fixed by the super fund’s board, earned more than any of these at $1.2 million in 2016-17.”
While they are about it, the council CEO and exec team should not be paid more than the Mayor in councils. I don’t even think we should have a council CEO. We all got better council services before the bloat of councils, their poorly performing but highly paid lawyers and less leaky buildings.
I think after Fonterra we can see that a bloated salary does nothing to ensure better candidates and outcomes for our organisations here in NZ.
The title of this link is Peter Hitchens and World War 1.
However, the 15 minute clip looks at the whole history between Germany and Russia, and the Ukraine.
I recommend you watch it all, but if you’re interested in current affairs in Ukraine, I highly recommend you listen to the clip from 10:55
It is Hitchens contention that the NATO and the EU is the aggressor- not Putin.
He parallels the treatment of the Germans by the Allies in the early 1920s to the treatment of Russia by NATO in the 1990s.
He notes the betrayal of Russia by NATO when they expanded to the western borders of the truncated Russia.
I totally agree with him.
NATO (unlike the defunct Warsaw Pact) is a voluntary mutual defence pact. Nations are no coerced to join. If nations that are close to Russia want to join it is not Nato’s fault but Russia’s. Russia should reexamine it’s behaviour rather than seek to blame others.
It’s about nations NOT joining gozzer. If the yankers agreed no ex warpaccers in nato, and then reneged on that, the ruskers might just be a bit pissed off.
The Soviets would be pissed. But why wouldn’t the jolly nice Russians, who are a completely different government, want to join NATO some time in the future?
Where democracy goes the other democracies must support. It is the only way power can be held up to account. Singapore relies on the fellow-feeling Lee Kuan Yew instituted into the ruling class. Japan — no one knows, except we muchly appreciate the resistance to an aggressive army. America, a republic with a democratic element much like the Roman Republic on which their constitution was modelled. Dictatorships tend to offload the cost on to later and others.
Why councils should stick to their knitting and NOT enter into development projects. Another interesting question is, if a building is oversized and nobody approved it, surely they can work out who did the mistake, and then get them to pay for it?
Meanwhile councils seem incapable of doing what they should be with water quality. Maybe less development projects and more keeping an eye and spending their budget on what the ratepayers are paying them for aka keep the water clean for example so they are safe?
It is interesting that poor water quality influenced the local election towards the democrats. Farmers hoist by their own petard.
Obviously bringing down stock numbers to carrying capacity is an important first step. On top of this we can plant not only riparian edges, but extensively contoured shelter through farms adding water security, flood mitigation, secondary products, fodder, nitrogen fixation and other ecosystem services to offset/nullify various input costs.
The trees (and accompanying earthworks to store water in the land) are planted in a manner to provide deep access for water as well via species that tap deep through hard substrates. The whole shebang slows water down, thus erosion, thus fertiliser losses and topsoil losses. This saves money on fertiliser requirements and subsequently reduces overall fertilisers used in the environment. The trees, biodiversity, and nitrogen fixing species add to fertiliser requirement reductions.
Effluent goes to biodigestors to make biogas to power milking machines, heat water, pump water etc. This greatly reduces pathogens. The solids are then composted for a high value soil amendment, further reducing fertiliser requirements. The liquid remainder is polished in wetlands which can also provide various products and ecosystem services.
With a marked reduction in input costs and some variety in income streams the ‘reduced production’ for farmers, through shifting some land use to tree crops and reducing chemicals, can be just as profitable or even more so. But not so for big oil, big ag, Fonterra et al who all take a cut of the land’s productivity while everyone else pays for it.
Sadly I don’t think it was the poor environmental aspects of the water that made them mad at the Republicans, but the reduction of their property values….
Rod oram on business in NZ:
Fonterra
Tip Top
Trademe (Interesting possible line here with advice on private equity floating companies so investors beware) – about 13-15 mins in.
Big Changes at Fonterra
From Nine To Noon, 11:09 am today
Listen duration 15′ :51″
Business commentator, Rod Oram says there are bigger things happening at Fonterra than putting Tip Top up for sale. The coop has changed its auditors, the first change in 17 years. He’s also been looking into the winners and losers involved in the Metro Glass story.
You should be aware that this is what Opposition parties do in Parliament. The last Labour lead opposition did the same. Check Hansard if you don’t believe me.
If anyone is interested, the third reading of the above bill is underway in the House. David Clark has just done the opening speech – and big surprise, Simon Bridges has appeared and is now speaking.
If I heard rightly (Will check later) , he started by saying that this is the first Bill hearing he has spoken in during this Parliamentary session
AND he is now claiming that the Bill will allow loose leaf cannabis to be smoked openly in public !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ?????????????????????
They wait until the local police shut shop normally around 4pm in places of high P manufacture like Helensville. In spite of this the police/government don’t think it is a good idea to keep the police open 24 hours in those places and keep a police presence there at night… I posted an article a while ago about monthly burglaries of local business and thy grab what they want cos they know the police are 40 mins away. Probably the same in Clutha.
mind, the shop next to mine in West AKL got done three times in a year. We got really good at taking down details to give to the local copper brigade. Not sure if it helped.
Kia ora Newshub Ka pai to Time Magazine for putting Jamal Khashoggi up and naming him person of the year we can not let them kill our truth tellers off.
Good fantasy it is men who are to blame for the way the world treats wahine all the men in power who cheat and lie to keep wahine out of leadership roles they know the wahine will keep them honest.Ingrid NZ treats our Wahine a lot better than most other country’s I do get what you mean about wahine having to be alerted to dangers of our society everytime they step outside .
The Salvation Army does a great job YES PEE is a big problem in maori communitys it hooks the user and makes them do anything for there next hit hence my anti CRACK word . Who’s on the air nz board this has the same tune as the digger cutting the fuel pipe . gold smith you would prefer to cut all the trees down and ruin our environment.
We have reports that the regions have been starved of resources for years poverty big health problem’s .Ka kite ano
Ka pai to the London Mayor for implementing a strategy to drastically reduce carbon use this is what is needed to save our future .The climate change deniers can not see past there hip pockets Muppet.
Catastrophic climate breakdown might be as little as 12 years away,” she said. “This would have profound impacts on every aspect of our lives in London from flooding and overheating in summers, disruption in our food supply chains as well as in the wider natural world.
“The mayor needs to be at the forefront of this challenge, declaring a climate emergency and an urgent updating of his carbon reduction targets to make London carbon neutral by 2030, decades ahead of his current plans, setting a precedent for other major and world cities.”
Khan said he had already introduced a series of measures to tackle climate breakdown – from investing £500m in low carbon technologies to divesting pension funds from fossil fuels. On Sunday 100 academics, philosophers and authors wrote to the Guardian to back a new civil disobedience group – Extinction Rebellion – and called for people around the world to rise up and organise against the “paralysis” of political leaders. Ka kite ano. links below
Here you go trump and his go oil party are deliberately destroying any chance of there being a positive out come at the UN climate summit ka pai to Vanuatus minister for calling them out over there bulling tact ticks dump trump
The United States and other high carbon dioxide-emitting developed countries are deliberately frustrating the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland, Vanuatu’s foreign minister has said. His warning came as Pacific and Indian ocean states warned they faced annihilation if a global climate “rule book” could not brokered.
In a bruising speech before ministers and heads of state, Vanuatu’s foreign minister, Ralph Regenvanu, singled out the US as he excoriated major CO2-emitting developed countries for deliberately hindering negotiations.
“It pains me deeply to have watched the people of the United States and other developed countries across the globe suffering the devastating impacts of climate-induced tragedies, while their professional negotiators are here at COP24 putting red lines through any mention of loss and damage in the Paris guidelines and square brackets around any possibility for truthfully and accurately reporting progress against humanity’s most existential threat,” links below ka kite ano.
Eco Maori says when one person makes a call that if he is impeached it tells me that he believes he is guilty NO.
Former national security adviser to President Donald Trump Michael Flynn has asked a federal judge to spare him from prison time, according to his defense team’s memo before his sentencing
Flynn is the highest-ranking Trump official to face charges in the Mueller probe. He pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the then-Russian ambassador to the US. Flynn initially denied — but eventually said — that they had discussed sanctions and a United Nations resolution during the presidential transition. The saga led to his early exit from the White House. Ana to kai links below
P.S I would not be so focused on this subject if they were not trying to destroy Papatuanuku and all her creatures just for power and money.
Kia ora Newshub
That’s the way Winston banning smoking in homes is a stupid move the smoke tax’s caused the poor to become even poorer and shonky new this its a pity the maori party did not figure that out.
Air NZ engineer strike is totally unexceptionable at this time of the year they make heaps of profits to pay for good staff it just a neo stunt never had these problems when shonky was in.
Just depends who is doing the berthing study on the increased risk of getting cancer as they will make the results suit there agenda there is a motive to put Wahine off child birth. I have seen a studys saying marg is better than butter eggs are bad for you ECT any one with a brain can work out the bull from the facts.
Lloyd the towel need to be thrown in A.
Ka pai to Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer trying to stop the USA government shut down .
Personally I strongly discourage Wahine from dating people from dating sights there is to much risk for Wahine.
Reduced speed limit on the speed limits on the intercity limits of Auckland will save lives and minimize traffic jams .
Ka kite ano
Kia ora James & Mulls from the Crowd Goes Wild .
Its good news Ardie staying in Aotearoa playing rugby.
Anna I enjoy the company of a horse had many advencers on a horse good luck to Jonelle & Tim in the Badminton in Aotearoa
I say there will be a good boxing match in Christchurch this weekend guys .
Kane had a good batting match in the Black caps win Ka pai guys better stick to serfing ka kite ano
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit; Director of Researcher Development Unit, The University of Melbourne New York Public Library Many of us take pleasure in listening to music. Music accompanies important life events and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit; Director of Researcher Development Unit, The University of Melbourne New York Public Library Many of us take pleasure in listening to music. Music accompanies important life events and ...
The Cook Islands finds itself in a precarious dance — one between the promises of foreign investments and the integrity of our own sovereignty. As the country sways between partners China and Aotearoa New Zealand, the Cook Islands News asks: “Do we continue to haka with the Taniwha, our constitutional ...
A diplomatic scuffle with the Cook Islands. Plus: What went down at Waitangi. The Cook Islands prime minister, Mark Brown, has provoked the wrath of the New Zealand foreign minister with his decision to head to China to sign a new strategic deal. By failing to consult on the ...
The deputy chairperson of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Michael Connelly, said simply setting targets without "resourcing" them was a pointless exercise, as the number of patients - and their acuity - continuing to grow. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suvradip Maitra, PhD Student, Australian National University Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock Late last year, ChatGPT was used by a Victorian child protection worker to draft documents. In a glaring error, ChatGPT referred to a “doll” used for sexual purposes as an “age-appropriate toy”. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niven Winchester, Professor of Economics, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Donald Trump has already made good on his threat to impose an additional 10% tax on Chinese goods, and is due to announce a 25% tariff on all steel and ...
Diplomatic tension between the Cook Islands and New Zealand is growing. Here's what it's about about, what China has to do with it, and why it matters. ...
Sick of human reality TV? Alex Casey has found a perfect solution in David Attenborough’s latest. I’m know I’m not alone when I say this: humans are bleaking me out at the moment. Turn on the news for the bleakest updates imaginable. Try to numb the pain with Married at ...
The Director of Public Health is a statutory role providing public health leadership across the Public Health Agency, within the Ministry of Health, and the National Public Health Service within Health NZ. ...
Zachary Forbes, a maths teacher from Whanganui, has started an unusual initiative on videogame streaming service Twitch. Shanti Mathias interviews him. “The people want First Samuel,” says the man who calls himself Brother Zac. Brown hair, headphones on, a wall behind him, he pauses and reflects on the comments he’s ...
Endless New Zealand politicians, including the present government, have pointed to our support for a rules-based international system, says PSNA National Chair John Minto. ...
In January, the reversals to speed limit reductions on the state highway network began. Councils have been asked to reverse all reduced speed limits since 2020 by July. A retired rural healthcare worker found something missing from the conversation – a maths equation she learned in high school. As told ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natarsha McPherson, PhD Candidate in Spatial Ecology, University of Adelaide Rob D / Shutterstock On the vast expanse of the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia, two very different creatures live side by side – but not always peacefully. One is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John White, Associate Professor in Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Deakin University Fire broke out in the Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) in December and raged for weeks. Then lightning strikes ignited fresh blazes late last month, which merged to form a mega-fire that’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karley Beckman, Senior Lecturer in Digital Technologies for Learning, University of Wollongong If you are a parent of a school student, you may have received a form seeking permission to use your child’s image on school social media accounts. It’s very ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Garritt C. Van Dyk, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Waikato The day he took office for his second term, United States President Donald J. Trump unveiled his “America First” trade policy, including tariffs on imported goods from Mexico, Canada (both of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack McGrath, Lecturer in Animation, University of Newcastle Netflix The 2025 Academy Awards could shape up to be a big one for stop-motion animation. Australian director Adam Eliott’s Memoir of a Snail (2024) has raked in a nomination for Best Animated ...
Mark Brown’s trip to China risks damaging the close bond between the Cook Islands and NZ, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ‘Significant concern’ New Zealand’s tight knit relationship with the Cook Islands is at risk after the nation’s prime ...
.Advisers warned the Minister for Resources that his plans to limit industry liability for the clean-up costs of was more lenient that Australia and the UK. ...
A snub by the Cook Islands prime minister will be watched by any nations keen to see how deep New Zealand's partnerships in the region really are, an expert on geopolitics in the Pacific says. ...
The union for public service workers has taken the "unprecedented" step of asking the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate Health NZ's plan to cut nearly half its IT staff as part of the government's cost-cutting drive. ...
The story so far: In his new unputdownable memoir, former Mockers singer Andrew Fagan writes of attempting to set the record for smallest boat to sail around the world solo via the Great Capes. He set off from Westhaven on his tiny 5.18-metre plywood yacht Swirly World. All went well ...
The last time New Zealand had this kind of recession we voted in MMP. What might we do this time? First published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. New Zealand is not at its best right now. I write this from afar so I have to rely on brutal headline ...
Te Tiriti isn’t about affirmative action. It’s about power. In a recent Facebook post, Act minister Nicole McKee lambasted Wellington Water for a chief operating officer job listing which required applicants to have knowledge and understanding of te Tiriti o Waitangi. “Just fix the bloody pipes! The treaty doesn’t have ...
School is back and so too are the problems – from the school lunches fall-out and teacher shortages to low attendance and the growing number of students failing NCEA.Today’s episode of The Detail looks into the country’s education system, with long-time RNZ education correspondent John Gerritsen put to the test ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 10 February appeared first on Newsroom. ...
As the sun pierces the horizon every Saturday morning, a large huddle of middle-aged women gather at Takapuna Beach.After a safety briefing, they head towards the water, clad in wetsuits, swimwear, caps and goggles.Early walkers eye the group, some pausing to ask what’s going on.“We’re the Twisted Sisters Club,” Kylie ...
As the old saying goes “Every cloud has a silver lining”
How Trump made political engagement great again:
The 2018 midterms had the highest turnout since before World War I!
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/10/18130492/2018-voter-turnout-political-engagement-trump
I would think Brexit has done the same in Britain.
The referendum for Scotland seemed also to generate a whole new groundswell of political engagement.
Percentage-wise?
Read the link. The actual turnout was over 50% which for a mid – term is the greatest turnout in 100 years and well above the last mid-term which was around 38%. It may not sound very impressive but remember that these polling days are held on a working day, and while in some states it is a requirement for employers to give their employees time off to vote – this is met more in word than in deed. Furthermore in poorer districts there are few polling booths and it can take several hours to cast a vote.
Presidential elections score between 50 – 60%. However you need to take into account the very active voter suppression that occurs in a large majority of states where certain sectors of society are actively discouraged by a wide range of legalities from voting.
This is a surprisingly good result considering all the obstacles that state politicians put in the way of the majority.
Yeah it was probably the most awesome mid-term election in many years. Ummm. lets try this from
https://www.fairvote.org/voter_turnout#voter_turnout_101
Yeah. That make the 2018 turnout a bit clearer. It was the highest in a century.
Thanks for posting that graph Lprent. I have been following the daily train crash in the US for a while now on WTF and some of the commentators there have been very actively involved in the mid-terms and were very heartened by the (for them) massive turnout and the blue wave that resulted in the House – the forecast had been for around a 35 seat swing at best. When the results came through and the Dems kept picking up seats they well elated.
When I saw that graph on Vox – I thought it was something that needed to be seen here, because there have been a few commentators here, who have been rather disparaging of the efforts of the Democratic party. And while you can’t change an institution overnight the vibes I’m picking up from the on-line community at WTF (hosted by Matt Kiser) are very positive. I have faith that the activism I am seeing there will translate in the future to a much more progressive and viable Left.
And all thanks to Trump 😉
If there is one left wing writer you should follow, it is John Wight.
Add him to your Twitter feed.
Here is an excerpt from his most recent article, where he provides insight you rarely see in the corporate media on the events in France.
This is a war against neoliberalism and austerity
“Macron’s European army has arrived. It goes by the name Gilets Jaunes
The French capital is now, for all intents, the frontline in a growing struggle against neoliberalism and its bastard child, austerity, across a European Union whose foundations are crumbling. They are crumbling not due to the devilish machinations of Vladimir Putin (as an increasingly unhinged and out of touch Western liberal commentariat maintains), but instead as the result of a neoliberal status quo that provides far too few with unending comfort and material prosperity at the expense of far too many, for whom dire misery and mounting pain are its grim fruits.
Not only is this mass grassroots movement of Yellow Vest protesters a problem for Macron, but it is also increasingly a problem for an EU political and economic establishment that is yet to wake up to the fact that the world has changed, and changed utterly.
Throughout human history hubris has been the undoing of the rich and powerful, along with the empires forged in their name; and hubris is currently well on the way to being the undoing of an EU whose proponents have embraced the unity not of its peoples but of its banks, corporations, and elites.”
Whole article here.
https://t.co/HQy75hZTHD?amp=1
And in a world of global consumerism expansion being the base of capitalism, austerity left people with less to spend. Duh.
The fact you think France is a poster child for neoliberalism is laughable. France’s issues are in fact the result of failing to implement any meaningful policies that equate even remotely with neoliberalism.
Wow, you do come out with some whoppers.
France, being a part of the EU, has had to put in place full neo-liberalism BS and it’s hurting the poor – as it has done throughout history.
Wonder if we’ll see a Frexit.
Draco,
You obviously don’t know much about the French economy. France has always stood apart from what they regard as the Anglo neo-liberal consensus.
Equating all forms of capitalism to neo-liberalism is a serious mistake.
The basic tenents of neo-liberalism are low barriers to trade, not much state ownership, relatively free labour markets, low regulation, relatively low taxes, and a relatively low share of the state as a share of GDP (less than 35%). France basically doesn’t have any of this. These features are very much the domain of the anglosphere, including NZ. The EU basically resists all these things.
So, neo-liberalism is pretty much what the EU was all about then and France followed the failed ideology.
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/european-culture/0/steps/23527
The Political Economy of the Neoliberal Transformation of French Industrial Relations
Macron’s tragedy is that he still believes in a discredited economic system
I know some leftists have criticised the EU as a neo-liberal project. They are wrong.
The EU has its origins in the 1950’s and was designed to make Western Europe a single economy. All about eliminating the threat of war from Germany. Obviously no real barriers between each of them. But they were (and are) all high tax economies with massive welfare networks and massive infrastructure spending. That is why France has the amazing TGV trains, amazing roads, and many dozens of nuclear reactors, and may companies under the control of the state. All built with central planning.
As a general rule, informed commentators make a distinction between the anglo economies and the European economies, with many Europeans being critical of what they perceive as the US pushing their model onto them. One of the reasons for Brexit is that the UK economy doesn’t easily fit the European model. Many Brits resented the excessive level of micro control that is the norm of the EU.
Having said that I do know there has been a fear that Macron wanted to introduce more economic flexibility into France and was accused of being a closet neoliberal. He basically succeeded with employment law reform and reducing business regulation, with many French people recognising the current practices were way too restrictive. But that was clearly the limit of what he could do.
Which was a bad move as the PIIGs found out. Can’t have a single economy on one currency when all the sub-economies have different taxes, workers rights, different productivity rates etc, and have their ability to control their currency removed.
Yes. Neo-liberalism.
So, you’re now praising a command economy?
So, that would make him a neo-liberal and France getting neo-liberal policies despite the fact that the French don’t actually want them. You know, like the article I posted on it said.
Yeah, I’m getting your argument. Mostly because it seems to be made up out of whole cloth.
Gossipboy your attempts to be Relevant are a complete joke its like your on a different planet . Rumplestilskin go back to sleep.
A big issue at this time of year – I think most of us waste food – we have chickens and a friend with pigs – but every time I scrape the plate or pot I cringe a little and feel ashamed that we are wasting food.
https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/maori-ceo-calls-out-nzs-food-wastage-problem
Wastage is a an issue, but the numbers are odd and not consistent.
3 kg per person per year doesn’t seem much seem much.
AND
The monetary cost is $180 per person- thus the food cost $50 per kg.
Or have I just too much time on my hands!!!!
Yes the numbers need more work – thanks for pointing that out dV.
Thanks Marty.
Which countries waste the most food?
The most waste is, of course, in the highly efficient Developed Nations:
This wastage happens because, on average, we’re paid too much. We throw stuff out because we can afford to.
Like the waste that is personal vehicles this is another symbol of how rich we are. A symbol of how stupid and blasé we’ve become.
And the best before dates are usually a crock of shit.
We opened a still sealed tub of Greek yoghurt that had been sitting in the fridge for a year the other week. BB was November 2017. A year later, still sealed, and kept cool, it was still good to eat.
You can blame BB dates on consumers themselves. They’d buy processed food and expect it to last forever. They’d then open stuff and find it had gone off and ZOMG, they didn’t know that it had to be used by certain time so should get a refund. Some people would eat it anyway because its canned and should be good right?
For health and safety of the public BB dates became mandatory.
Yes, some foods will keep well beyond the BB date but that’s because the BB dates are very conservative and some foods will simply keep longer.
Ardern on Hosking this morning
Hosking – Asking questions about a possible pay out to Kiwibuild’s Barclay
Ardern – “I wouldn’t encourage anyone to read between the lines”
Lol
http://120.138.20.16/WeekOnDemand/ZB/auckland/2018.12.11-07.30.00-D.mp3
Such a great sense of humour the PM lol – the righties will be up in arms as they are humourless and rightly so.
If claiming humour makes it less of a dumb thing to say for her, she can roll with that, I guess.
It would just mean she finds the Sroubek case a laugh
What is dumb is someone suggesting that because the PM on an issue said “Read between the line” that she cannot suggest to “Not read between the lines” on a completely different, absolutely no connection, months apart issue. Perhaps it is comments like this that highlight the skill and multi tasking ability of our brilliant PM compared to the desperate and talentless detractors.
Probably the fact that isn’t what she said
She said
“I wouldn’t encourage anyone…..”
After encouraging it the other day, and it being pointed out how ridiculous the statement was at the time
On THAT issue, can you not see the difference? two separate issues. Are you being purposely dense or does it just come naturally. I will treat your subtle attack on the baby with the silence and contempt it deserves.
Chris t is a natural bowel motion.
You mean, green? Or what mothers used to say, Karitane yellow?
I didn’t make any attack on any baby
I asked what made her particularly talented at multi-tasking and asked if you meant juggling the needs of her baby
Chris T
I know I know. You would do a much better job than the PM. Possibly you put your CV forward to be an advisor and got turned down. Now you are giving her the coaching she needs from TS sidelines. Don’t know if she will welcome it. I certainly don’t. Sniping from a protected place is a low task. that doesn’t result in awards. Why not find another one?
Just as another point
What makes her particular talented at multi tasking?
The baby?
I’m intrigued @ Chris T. What is it that makes you want to come and comment on TS?
Is it a a genuine desire to counter the politics of the left, or
Is it more to do with the size of your penis?
If it’s the latter, Maria Muldaur can offer you some solace (It ain’t the meat, it’s the motion)
Btw, your mate Matty is having a bit of an epiphany (or maybe a mid-life crisis -take your pick). He’s back from his voyage of discovery in Eurip and could probably offer you some good advice.
Far out grasping at straws big time today chris t.
“What makes her particular talented at multi tasking?”
Probably because she is a mum and that’s what we do, multi-task. It’s quite a talent.
Ask any mum, ask your own mum.
Anything else you would like to know about being a working mum with a young baby?
For one thing, the ability to recognise that different topics have different contexts, and “reading between the lines” might be advisable for one topic but reckless speculation for another.
Thank you McFlock, that was my inference about multi tasking. Chris T, of course, chose to misinterpret it in their desperation to be negative.
Perfectly worded, thank you.
She’s only been in the background of m ‘mind this year — I account her a talker of the talk but not a walker. ‘Brilliant’ — nay. Her feeling isn’t as good as the work that took up the lives of our founders. She still thinks her feeling matters as much as struggle, work, sacrifice, MJS.
Have you found any actual evidence that Sroubek’s estranged wife was/is under police protection as TRP asked you to provide when you continued to dispute that issue with me?
Don’t seem to have seen it here yet.
Also a warning to anyone clicking on the 14+ minute audio link Chris T provided at 4, the first 7+ mins are a news bulletin and the Hoskiing/Ardern interview does not start until after that.
Also, Ardern’s remark re not encouraging anyone to read between the lines has to be put into the context of her following comments that the Barclay situation is an employment matter that she cannot comment on.
You posted a direct reply to a question from Winston at question time
The reply you posted bore no resemblance to any answer Winston gave
ie You made it up
LOL. You mean you won’t accept the Parliamentary video and Hansard transcript of what Peters said, because it does not fit with your claims – but you cannot provide any proof for your claim.
And here you go again, taking Ardern’s comment out of context and made in relation to a completely different issue as has been pointed out to you above.
We deserve better trolls here than you.
Nothing in Winston answer to the questions bore any resemblance to what you made up, no matter how much you want to “magic” it there
He’s struggling for sure. Sad these wingnuts are going low but they are desperate for ANYthing other than the eternal-leakee-I-did-everything-right Simon. It’s also funny imo.
“Have you found any actual evidence that Sroubek’s estranged wife was/is under police protection as TRP asked you to provide when you continued to dispute that issue with me?”
How about this:
“Police Minister Stuart Nash says police should not have shared information with Immigration NZ about the location of the police safe house where the estranged wife of Karel Sroubek is staying.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12171765
I think one or two ‘officials’ would have to be “thrown under a bus” – that’s if you’re hoping for a reply.
And we can’t do that @ Naki man! It would undermine EVERYTHING our public service (and its codes of conduct) stands for.
(/sarc)
And if we were to do that, there’d be no opportunity anymore for a pompous Wodehouse, or a finger-pumping specimen in a leapoard skin suit feigning outrage, or a struggling Soi-man to ask ‘the hard questions’ as Her Majesty’s Opposishun in Parliament – that’s without appearing like complete hypocritical shmuks.
(It’s no wonder, I ‘spose) that when I walked past MoBIE yesterday, there were one or two senior ‘officials’ standing outside, desperately sucking on their vape machines inhaling as much flavoured steam as they could get down their throats whilst they were dreaming up the next round of bullshit and spin – have you received any memo yet?)
What a load of bullshit. Give up the drugs you rambling fool.
Yes Naki Man doesn’t OwT ramble on with his thoughts. You, instead, are very short and snappy, probably because you don’t have many thoughts to share.
Oh, btw @ Naki man, I stumbled across this little gem that could be used in the next election campaign and it could draw together a Tolley, a Collins, a Bennett and Barry ( let alone the male aspirants with their woifies behind them ALL THE WAY):
“…after all he’s just a man…”
are you looking to wind some folk up?
Well if you want four female politicians singing you’ll love this:
Thanks for that, Tim! One brilliant country song not butchered by the crass Whitney “Leather Lungs” Houston.
That article dated 5 December at 1.19pm and Nash’s statements etc predated the more informed information provided by Ardern, Peters and Galloway in the House in Question Time that afternoon and the following two days, Weds 6 Dec, and Thurs, 6 Dec.
I suspect/hope that Nash was possibly carpeted for those statements, and told to pull his head in as his statement that police should not have shared information with Immigration NZ about the estranged wife’s whereabouts have since been refuted on several counts, as have the statement in that article that “She is now staying in a police safe house because of fears to her safety.”
In Question Time on Thursday, 6 Dec, in questions 1 and 2 Peters refuted much of what Nash had said. In brief:
— Under Question 1, Peters advised that the wife had been offered police protection three times but had declined the offers, and hence she was not in police protection.
— Under Question 2, Galloway repeatedly stated that Police had not supplied Immigration NZ with the wife’s address as Immigration NZ already knew her address/whereabouts.
Chris T and I had a lengthy ‘discussion’ on these issues under the thread at 13 on the “Double down – protect parliament – ban Bridges for a month” post by lprent filed at 10.30pm on 5 Dec.
I am not going to repeat my very detailed responses to him with links and quotes to Peters and Galloway’s replies in the House. These can be seen in the above-mentioned thread starting with Chris T’s 13.2.2.1.1 and continuing for some days resulting in TRP telling him to pull his head in and provide evidence that she was in police protection.
https://thestandard.org.nz/double-down-protect-parliament-ban-bridges-for-a-month/#comment-1559094
As well as referencing the information provided in the House by Peters and Galloway, in one of my responses I also provided a very rough summary of the provisions of Part 8 of the Immigration Act 2009 covering the powers of entry, seizure etc of Immigration Officers in relation to possible immigration fraud etc – AND the procedures whereby Police are able under law to work closely with Immigration on such matters including the powers of – and requirements on – both agencies to share information on such matters. (There are also similar requirements for information sharing with and between other government agencies etc). As I noted in that comments, these powers etc were widened considerably under the last Nat govt.)
Here is the link to that comment – https://thestandard.org.nz/double-down-protect-parliament-ban-bridges-for-a-month/#comment-1559387
Going back to the Nash article, Nash did not seem to know/understand the provisions of the Immigration Act 2009 (and the Search and Surveillance Act 2012) re these powers and requirements to share relevant information between Immigration NZ and NZ Police in making the statement he did.
As Ianmac has noted below at 4.1.1.2.3, this subject is up again today in Question Time at Q3.
“and hence she was not in police protection.”
Again that is not what you wrote his answer was.
Nor what he actually said
Give it up.
You made it up
What you posted he answered
” She is not in police protection; Q 1″
What Hansard says
“It would be very axiomatic that if on three occasions the police had offered protection and she hadn’t availed herself of it, then maybe when the police came with the immigration officer, she wasn’t under protection.”
“Have you found any actual evidence that Sroubek’s estranged wife was/is under police protection?”
Mitchell is thinking of taking Winston to the Privileges Committee but Mitchell said, “”She’s been taken away to a safe home in a different part of the country that is subject to a police safety plan, and then, unannounced, two police detectives and an Immigration NZ official turned up at the front door.
“She was asked to do something she felt would make her an even bigger target for Sroubek, felt very uneasy and asked for a support person.”
That is not the same thing as a Safe House.
That great questioner Bridges is yet again having a go re Sroubek at the PM today at QT. Q3.
lmao, just saw that Ian re Qtime today.
The general ublic are so over it, as they feel closure has already happened.
But hey if he want’s to keep on going there because he believes said subject is good for nat party polling, then am happy to watch the entertainment.
Ianmac – did you watch Q1 and 2 on Thursday last week – a lot revealed there as mentioned in my reply to Naki above at 4.1.2.2.3. I did extensive replies to chris t last week on this and my reply above has links to that info.
Mitchell has no real grounds to take Peters to the Privileges Committee – imo he is just posturing and may come a cropper if he persists with that line.
I also now know a lot more re the wife and her family etc and not everything is as it seems but cannot say more. It is a bit of a Through the Looking Glass situation where down seems up and vice versa – and who is the real victim/fall guy/ taking one for the team …………..
Following the money can lead to interesting results.
What you posted he answered
” She is not in police protection; Q 1″
What Hansard says
“It would be very axiomatic that if on three occasions the police had offered protection and she hadn’t availed herself of it, then maybe when the police came with the immigration officer, she wasn’t under protection.”
Yeah, we get you’re a pedant, Chris. Congratulations, you win TS’s Gripper of the Week prize. Now move on or be moved on.
I’m not the one who keeps bringing it up……….Or making shit up
Or she’s realised that when some people read between the lines they come up with pretty weird shit christy.
LOLOL!!
Lol
Macron – minimum wage to increase by 100 euros a month, tax relief for pensioners/low income workers.
https://www.france24.com/en/live
French style protest works.
He’s thrown a bone from the top table.
/
better than NZ, where we get nothing at all and never listened to.
And the last time we took to the streets….oh, that’s right, we don’t.
We post long, verbose, wittering tracts in lieu ….because we’re a craven, I’m all right Jack, ladder pulling mob.
We are short on leaders, but I guess dirty politics also plays it’s part. Also the unions have become very process orientated a bit like the Green Party. But maybe dirty politics also play their part here. We are after all, under mass surveillance and you kinda lose your job or funding if you speak out in NZ.
Save NZ you have got it wrong it’s the support from the middle classes and small businesses who are getting squeezed Macron a cardboard cut out of John Key gave tax cuts to the rich and raised taxes for everyone else the wealthy people and companies pay no tax Macron is one of these uber rich. He got into power promising tax cuts for the over taxed middle classes he didn’t follow through on his promises but still claimed he was a man of his word. So the middle classes are supporting the non violent protest’s outside Paris by feeding and financing protesters. That won’t happen in NZ. The Fascists are causing the violence in Paris because of Bannon is helping the far right racist movement fill a power vacuum the left under Mitterand failed to get the French economy working now Macron is failing Le Pen is stirring up hatred to gain support like Trump. It
A few crumbs of Cake but he will make cuts elsewhere. Except for the non tax paying uber rich.
The Gilet Gaunes have won this battle Macron has caved in so that has emboldened the Yellow Jackets now they will push for more concessions.
gotta love the french.
And i doubt they are done as of now.
And i am sure they will be back on the streets if the need arises.
btw, i think people should refer this not as a ‘french’ movement even tho that france is the one in the news but the gilet jaune/yellow jackets are also active in Belgium, Spain and other places in Europe.
I don’t thing it will just go away with a 100 Euro per month, but for some families it will mean another week of food.
A French person was telling me you can buy a 2 bedroom apartment in Nice for 50,000 euros. So the other issue is that cars over 10 years are being scrapped or taxed more, but there is a 10,000 euro between the compensation and the new car they need to buy. So they need to come up with a considerable amount of money aka 20% of the amount of an apartment to meet the rules. Meanwhile the oil company apparently pays no tax at all, and the government is doing nothing to tax the big oil who are creating the environmental problems in the first place???
I have always admired how the french can ensure a decent quality of life for themselves and plenty of benefits because they go crazy when their government tries to take it away and stop the economy working by blocking the streets. Once you do that, you tend to get your way fairly quickly.
i lived in Nice from 1992 – 1998, you never could buy anything for 50.000 euros in Nice.
sorry, you have been told porkies.
https://www.french-riviera-property.com/en/apartments-for-sale.cfm?idvl2=10
The rental market in the Cote d’Azur reflects the fact that it is high value properties over run by tourists from March – October. Most people i knew lived if they could in an HLM – French Social Housing, especially families with kids.
As for the cars, some cars in France really should not be on the road :), but in saying that, it is a problem that we need to affront at some stage namely that we can’t continue to drive in our single serve boxes, and keep driving really old cars that have terrible exhausts etc.
As anywhere else in hte world the big corporations pay no more taxes in France then they pay in the US or elsewhere…… is that not what they -pay accountants for?
Generally this strike really comes down to the fact that the worker in France can’t be squeezed anymore, that the government spends as if they could squeeze the workers some more and that the increase on Gasoline via taxes was the last drop.
But don’t ever think you can buy an appartment in Nice for 50.000 Euro.
Maybe ‘special price’ if you are not French.
Nope there is no special price for anyone.
high population density coupled with only so much land especially Nice which is wedged inbetween the Mediteranee and the Alpes Maritimes.
You could try and find something in the Ardeches mind, see here all under 50 grand.
https://www.completefrance.com/french-property/buying-property/you-could-buy-these-french-properties-for-less-than-50-000-1-5443462
50,000euro would be a year’s rent for a cheap apartment these days I looked at a few real estate office windows thinking the same thing then my French speaking daughter explained that was the rental section.
But other areas of France land and property prices have fallen since Macron took power the cost of living has gone up considerably and people can’t afford to pay for housing.
Just read on the Nice Matin that the smic will not be increased by 100 euros per month ,but that the increase is actually a top up to a benefit some who are on the smic will receive and that that will happen in steps, i.e. first augmentation of the prime d’activité (similar to our working for families) will be 30 euros, then 20 then 20 etc until a hundred is received.
In saying that not all workers who only gain smic (minimum wage) will receive la prime d’activite.
https://www.nicematin.com/politique/non-le-smic-naugmentera-pas-vraiment-de-100-euros-par-mois-284450?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&#Echobox=1544511407
So they took all the meat off the bone, and then threw it.
Western Springs bush is under threat from councils inept planning. Plans to clear fell the pines and replant in natives ignores the already established and ecologically important native bush regenerating on site. A bush decades old.
My objection is that the bush is a host area for many native fungi, unsung heroes in an important range of ecosystem services. But there’s many plants, birds and insects there that need our help too.
The bush sits above a stream that flows directly into the Waitemata harbor, so removing vegetation is also risky in this regard. This stream and its tributaries are host to native banded kokopu, bullies, eel, and paratya.
You may object with a signature, and even a comment, should you wish.
https://www.toko.org.nz/petitions/save-western-springs-native-forest
Done
ditto.
Worth watching.
Children in state care fragile after ‘trauma upon trauma’
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018674984/children-in-state-care-fragile-after-trauma-upon-trauma
In my view a lot of the rise of mental illness really goes hand in hand with society dysfunction and that is across the board from high to low socio economic groups but with different issues. The problem can be families are working too much and are not strong enough family supports to encourage strong mental health. Nowadays people seem to be fobbed off with a phone line or some external agency that probably does little to nothing. Neoliberalism has made money more important than society.
With state care, any kid who is abused then has to endure 30 different homes in 3 years? if you were mentally ok before as a kid, good chance you wouldn’t be after! By fobbing off bad agency systems, onto ‘metal health’ is also an issue because how the state care system seems to function is the bigger problem causing the mental health issues then and later on top of whatever trauma the kids suffered before they were taken away.
Also hope James Shaw is able to do something about actually creating real data that can be analysed and then better government decisions made. (see video, as the women says, be brave, don’t cover you own ass).
The need for much better statistics is across the board from justice to social welfare, immigration and state care. I even noticed that police keep ethnicity data on victims but not the perpetrators, or at least not in the information I was looking for online?
Weird, is this some woke sop type idea so that they don’t actually do anything about it? They analyse the victims but not detailed data on the criminals so that that they can perhaps try to prevent crimes by being clearer on what is the demographic of criminals increasing or decreasing and the types of crimes?
There are two actions that would reduce our mental health crisis to a manageable level. 1. Stop emotionally, physically and sexually abusing children, it makes for disturbed adults. 2. Stop taking illicit drugs, it makes you mad, if already mad, madder. Remove 1 as above from the equation and 2 will not be an issue.
I completely agree with you Psych nurse, but also think a good look at how we are raising our children, our values and our society in general needs a good look at, too.
Not good enough. We are constantly lowering our standards in NZ and then giving the wrong people too many chances. For a start if a company is not compliant then they should get a massive fine aka $100,000, never be allowed migrant workers sponsored there if they have any, and if they are non compliant again, they get a bigger fine, third time they have license taken away. Also the WOF should have ratings like the restaurants aka A – D ratings so the public can see if they are competent or not.
Like wise with Labour inspectors. 2 fines, no migrants workers allowed and if they get caught again, their ability to hire any workers is taken away.
NZTA inspectors tried to warn of non-compliance issues
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018674668/nzta-inspectors-tried-to-warn-of-non-compliance-issues
The problem with that is that the company just shuts up shop and never pays the fine. The owners walk away with their ill-gotten gains.
Need to make the fine far larger and have it land on the owners. The right-wing should celebrate the personal responsibility and so this government shouldn’t have any problems getting bipartisanship on the bill.
Barclay’s broken down under the pressure of sudden expectations of usefulness. That’s not what he took the job to be.
WTF?
I was only commenting on the ineffectiveness of fining a business when that business can simply deregister and not pay it as we’ve seen time and time again.
FIIK draccy, I was commenting on minister Twyford’s managers all buggering off.
You are right so obviously that is the first thing that should be changed aka not being able to shut up shop when you get a fine to avoid your debts. They need to make people bankrupt unable to own a business for 10 years and also be forced to pay what they owe personally especially if it is employment related.
On the constant employment issues for the government, (Barclay, Handley).
You have to wonder how they can justify some of these salaries in particular the Auckland university chancellor who was closing specialist libraries to save money but the third highest paid public servant on over $700,000!
All these public servants should not be paid more than PM, and the money from McCutcheon bloated un deserved salary (Auckland university gone backwards in international ratings) could have been spent on libraries and saving the 20 jobs and not reducing the quality of Auckland university courses!
University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon to step down
“He is the country’s third highest-paid public official whose salary is fixed by the State Services Commission, earning between $710,000 and $719,999 in the year to June 2017, behind only the heads of the Accident Compensation Corporation ($830,000-$839,999) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment ($800,000-$809,999).
For comparison, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern earns only $471,000, although former NZ Superannuation Fund head Adrian Orr, whose salary was fixed by the super fund’s board, earned more than any of these at $1.2 million in 2016-17.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12144784
While they are about it, the council CEO and exec team should not be paid more than the Mayor in councils. I don’t even think we should have a council CEO. We all got better council services before the bloat of councils, their poorly performing but highly paid lawyers and less leaky buildings.
I think after Fonterra we can see that a bloated salary does nothing to ensure better candidates and outcomes for our organisations here in NZ.
I think a bloated salary is indicative of the wrong priorities for public service.
The title of this link is Peter Hitchens and World War 1.
However, the 15 minute clip looks at the whole history between Germany and Russia, and the Ukraine.
I recommend you watch it all, but if you’re interested in current affairs in Ukraine, I highly recommend you listen to the clip from 10:55
It is Hitchens contention that the NATO and the EU is the aggressor- not Putin.
He parallels the treatment of the Germans by the Allies in the early 1920s to the treatment of Russia by NATO in the 1990s.
He notes the betrayal of Russia by NATO when they expanded to the western borders of the truncated Russia.
I totally agree with him.
NATO (unlike the defunct Warsaw Pact) is a voluntary mutual defence pact. Nations are no coerced to join. If nations that are close to Russia want to join it is not Nato’s fault but Russia’s. Russia should reexamine it’s behaviour rather than seek to blame others.
It’s about nations NOT joining gozzer. If the yankers agreed no ex warpaccers in nato, and then reneged on that, the ruskers might just be a bit pissed off.
The Soviets would be pissed. But why wouldn’t the jolly nice Russians, who are a completely different government, want to join NATO some time in the future?
Where democracy goes the other democracies must support. It is the only way power can be held up to account. Singapore relies on the fellow-feeling Lee Kuan Yew instituted into the ruling class. Japan — no one knows, except we muchly appreciate the resistance to an aggressive army. America, a republic with a democratic element much like the Roman Republic on which their constitution was modelled. Dictatorships tend to offload the cost on to later and others.
Why councils should stick to their knitting and NOT enter into development projects. Another interesting question is, if a building is oversized and nobody approved it, surely they can work out who did the mistake, and then get them to pay for it?
$4.5 million build blowout surprise
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/45-million-build-blowout-surprise
Meanwhile councils seem incapable of doing what they should be with water quality. Maybe less development projects and more keeping an eye and spending their budget on what the ratepayers are paying them for aka keep the water clean for example so they are safe?
US water scientist shocked by NZ’s water quality
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/377890/us-water-scientist-shocked-by-nz-s-water-quality?fbclid=IwAR2-PcO80jmPxCCWvC0rX7c1qdTUZGcbKNuG5mXQdUo69Z7vwwctRkgpcYY
It is interesting that poor water quality influenced the local election towards the democrats. Farmers hoist by their own petard.
Obviously bringing down stock numbers to carrying capacity is an important first step. On top of this we can plant not only riparian edges, but extensively contoured shelter through farms adding water security, flood mitigation, secondary products, fodder, nitrogen fixation and other ecosystem services to offset/nullify various input costs.
The trees (and accompanying earthworks to store water in the land) are planted in a manner to provide deep access for water as well via species that tap deep through hard substrates. The whole shebang slows water down, thus erosion, thus fertiliser losses and topsoil losses. This saves money on fertiliser requirements and subsequently reduces overall fertilisers used in the environment. The trees, biodiversity, and nitrogen fixing species add to fertiliser requirement reductions.
Effluent goes to biodigestors to make biogas to power milking machines, heat water, pump water etc. This greatly reduces pathogens. The solids are then composted for a high value soil amendment, further reducing fertiliser requirements. The liquid remainder is polished in wetlands which can also provide various products and ecosystem services.
With a marked reduction in input costs and some variety in income streams the ‘reduced production’ for farmers, through shifting some land use to tree crops and reducing chemicals, can be just as profitable or even more so. But not so for big oil, big ag, Fonterra et al who all take a cut of the land’s productivity while everyone else pays for it.
Sadly I don’t think it was the poor environmental aspects of the water that made them mad at the Republicans, but the reduction of their property values….
Looks a wee bit like a ratepayer subsidy for favoured local businesses. Sure there’s no conflict of interest though.
and favoured local business didn’t actually want the favour by the look of it, because they do not have 100% occupancy anyway…
Well they don’t want to share with just any riffraff.
Rod oram on business in NZ:
Fonterra
Tip Top
Trademe (Interesting possible line here with advice on private equity floating companies so investors beware) – about 13-15 mins in.
business
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018675082/big-changes-at-fonterra
Big Changes at Fonterra
From Nine To Noon, 11:09 am today
Listen duration 15′ :51″
Business commentator, Rod Oram says there are bigger things happening at Fonterra than putting Tip Top up for sale. The coop has changed its auditors, the first change in 17 years. He’s also been looking into the winners and losers involved in the Metro Glass story.
Oh boy….
Wow simon is this the best you can do?
How many questions have now been asked on the subject, at least 20.
Got any new material simon?
3. Hon SIMON BRIDGES to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her statements, answers, and actions in relation to Karel Sroubek?
Yes that is his best and he is the best gnat, their leader and lord, his bidding they do…
What happens if the PM answers ‘nup’?
I would have laughed even harder Gabby.
PS I love your wit on here, am constantly cracking up with your comments. Thanks for the on going laughs, very much appreciated.
You should be aware that this is what Opposition parties do in Parliament. The last Labour lead opposition did the same. Check Hansard if you don’t believe me.
I’m just impressed he managed to include a specific topic in that question. Obviously plans to spend the day flogging a dead horse.
That’s not flogging ,hes giving it CPR hoping it will come back to life
He’s a right wing politician. Better double-check that’s CPR he’s performing…
MEDICINAL CANNABIS BILL
If anyone is interested, the third reading of the above bill is underway in the House. David Clark has just done the opening speech – and big surprise, Simon Bridges has appeared and is now speaking.
If I heard rightly (Will check later) , he started by saying that this is the first Bill hearing he has spoken in during this Parliamentary session
AND he is now claiming that the Bill will allow loose leaf cannabis to be smoked openly in public !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ?????????????????????
Is this his last stand????
Chloe Swarbrick. Well impressed.
How does the mayor of Clutha know when the tinny houses open?
Has he passed his information on to the local police?
tinny houses have opening hours?
oh my what is the world coming too.
They wait until the local police shut shop normally around 4pm in places of high P manufacture like Helensville. In spite of this the police/government don’t think it is a good idea to keep the police open 24 hours in those places and keep a police presence there at night… I posted an article a while ago about monthly burglaries of local business and thy grab what they want cos they know the police are 40 mins away. Probably the same in Clutha.
i live a sheltered life.
mind, the shop next to mine in West AKL got done three times in a year. We got really good at taking down details to give to the local copper brigade. Not sure if it helped.
Bienvenido al infierno, Señor Betancur
George H.W. Bush wasn’t the only blood-soaked American POS to kick the bucket recently.
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2018/12/11/colombia-the-real-and-bloody-legacy-of-belisario-betancur/
Kia ora Newshub Ka pai to Time Magazine for putting Jamal Khashoggi up and naming him person of the year we can not let them kill our truth tellers off.
Good fantasy it is men who are to blame for the way the world treats wahine all the men in power who cheat and lie to keep wahine out of leadership roles they know the wahine will keep them honest.Ingrid NZ treats our Wahine a lot better than most other country’s I do get what you mean about wahine having to be alerted to dangers of our society everytime they step outside .
The Salvation Army does a great job YES PEE is a big problem in maori communitys it hooks the user and makes them do anything for there next hit hence my anti CRACK word . Who’s on the air nz board this has the same tune as the digger cutting the fuel pipe . gold smith you would prefer to cut all the trees down and ruin our environment.
We have reports that the regions have been starved of resources for years poverty big health problem’s .Ka kite ano
Ka pai to the London Mayor for implementing a strategy to drastically reduce carbon use this is what is needed to save our future .The climate change deniers can not see past there hip pockets Muppet.
Catastrophic climate breakdown might be as little as 12 years away,” she said. “This would have profound impacts on every aspect of our lives in London from flooding and overheating in summers, disruption in our food supply chains as well as in the wider natural world.
“The mayor needs to be at the forefront of this challenge, declaring a climate emergency and an urgent updating of his carbon reduction targets to make London carbon neutral by 2030, decades ahead of his current plans, setting a precedent for other major and world cities.”
Khan said he had already introduced a series of measures to tackle climate breakdown – from investing £500m in low carbon technologies to divesting pension funds from fossil fuels. On Sunday 100 academics, philosophers and authors wrote to the Guardian to back a new civil disobedience group – Extinction Rebellion – and called for people around the world to rise up and organise against the “paralysis” of political leaders. Ka kite ano. links below
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/11/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-city-climate-emergency
Here you go trump and his go oil party are deliberately destroying any chance of there being a positive out come at the UN climate summit ka pai to Vanuatus minister for calling them out over there bulling tact ticks dump trump
The United States and other high carbon dioxide-emitting developed countries are deliberately frustrating the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland, Vanuatu’s foreign minister has said. His warning came as Pacific and Indian ocean states warned they faced annihilation if a global climate “rule book” could not brokered.
In a bruising speech before ministers and heads of state, Vanuatu’s foreign minister, Ralph Regenvanu, singled out the US as he excoriated major CO2-emitting developed countries for deliberately hindering negotiations.
“It pains me deeply to have watched the people of the United States and other developed countries across the globe suffering the devastating impacts of climate-induced tragedies, while their professional negotiators are here at COP24 putting red lines through any mention of loss and damage in the Paris guidelines and square brackets around any possibility for truthfully and accurately reporting progress against humanity’s most existential threat,” links below ka kite ano.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/11/us-accused-of-obstructing-talks-at-un-climate-change-summit
Eco Maori says when one person makes a call that if he is impeached it tells me that he believes he is guilty NO.
Former national security adviser to President Donald Trump Michael Flynn has asked a federal judge to spare him from prison time, according to his defense team’s memo before his sentencing
Flynn is the highest-ranking Trump official to face charges in the Mueller probe. He pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the then-Russian ambassador to the US. Flynn initially denied — but eventually said — that they had discussed sanctions and a United Nations resolution during the presidential transition. The saga led to his early exit from the White House. Ana to kai links below
P.S I would not be so focused on this subject if they were not trying to destroy Papatuanuku and all her creatures just for power and money.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/11/politics/flynn-attorneys-response-sentence/index.html
Kia ora Newshub
That’s the way Winston banning smoking in homes is a stupid move the smoke tax’s caused the poor to become even poorer and shonky new this its a pity the maori party did not figure that out.
Air NZ engineer strike is totally unexceptionable at this time of the year they make heaps of profits to pay for good staff it just a neo stunt never had these problems when shonky was in.
Just depends who is doing the berthing study on the increased risk of getting cancer as they will make the results suit there agenda there is a motive to put Wahine off child birth. I have seen a studys saying marg is better than butter eggs are bad for you ECT any one with a brain can work out the bull from the facts.
Lloyd the towel need to be thrown in A.
Ka pai to Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer trying to stop the USA government shut down .
Personally I strongly discourage Wahine from dating people from dating sights there is to much risk for Wahine.
Reduced speed limit on the speed limits on the intercity limits of Auckland will save lives and minimize traffic jams .
Ka kite ano
Kia ora James & Mulls from the Crowd Goes Wild .
Its good news Ardie staying in Aotearoa playing rugby.
Anna I enjoy the company of a horse had many advencers on a horse good luck to Jonelle & Tim in the Badminton in Aotearoa
I say there will be a good boxing match in Christchurch this weekend guys .
Kane had a good batting match in the Black caps win Ka pai guys better stick to serfing ka kite ano