Watching eng Argentina last night, can’t they make proper rugby jerseys anymore, the numbers were peeling off the backs and they looked like surf rasshie tops.
In football you can’t stay on the field without correct numbering……any rule officianados know if that’s an issue in thugby.
I enjoyed watching the Argentina – England match on TV. Maybe it wasn’t that spectacular, but it was a heroic Argentine effort against a mostly lackluster England performance – gripping fight to the finish. The Argentina supporters in the crowd looked like they were enjoying themselves.
PS I do get fed up withe the MSM giving headline results of matches as they happen – hard to avoid – and before the matches are shown in delayed mode on FTA TV.
Football as in soccer to most rugby heads, sorry I should realize that by now.
no you have to get it attended to before you can return. Happened in a euro qualifying match a few days ago to Ireland’s Richard dune, ref couldn’t read the number so trainer had to magic marker one on.
Yes, I stopped visiting Stuff this morning because of the large vacuously smiling, pseudo-presidential pic of our Prime Mincer promoting that story.
What does he have to say after the failed transport and other issues on Auckland’s waterfront Friday night, after saying people would eat their words and it would all go smoothly?
Favourite quote: John Key on…how he and Obama differ: “I have more engagement with New Zealand than people might think. Unlike the impression I have of the American president, who sits in the Oval Office and people come to them.”
Yes, that’s how you differ from Obama, John…
Carol – notice the anti-Pharmac article beside that photo? Tory all the way this morning…
No mention of the adverse effects of Warfarin, the drug Pradaxa replaces, which caused the bleeding that almost killed my old man.
And the real problem with Pradaxa, GPs prescribing the drug to people who should never have been given it, gets one line in the article.
The kea were among a group of 38 birds fitted with radio transmitters as part of a four-year programme to assess the risk of 1080 on their population.
The Department of Conservation says the pellets were supposed to be it will now look at a different formula as the baits were previously thought to be bird-repelling.
But the Chairperson of the Kumara Environmental Action Group, Gerard Bullimore says the recent deaths just show that 1080 does indeed kill everything.
“The seven keas that they found dead would be a minute percentage of native birds they have killed. Every time locals go out after a 1080 drop they’re always finding (wood) pigeons, weka, everything – flattened.”
That’s a high proportion of “collateral damage”. Most people will agree that dropping poison over large areas is far from ideal. We should be doing far more to research and trial alternative methods of predator control so we can move towards phasing out 1080 as soon as we can.
A bit subjective I know, but I used to live on a block in the countryside.
Like many people I was rather cynical about dropping poisons.
When we first moved there, there were very few native birds, apart from some pukeko.
Most of the pohutukawa were near death.
After a large 1080 drop in the area we noticed some dead birds, lots of dead rats, possums and feral cats. Also got rid of the possum infestation on our roof.
A year later there were big numbers of native birds. Wood Pigeons, Tui, Kiwi and morepork among others. The native trees had normal foliage.
That particular drop was obviously a resounding success.
There’s no doubt there can be benefits but we shouldn’t ignore the downsides – nor should we ignore looking for non-poisonous alternatives. 1080 is a real risk, and could bite us on our “clean green” and food producer bums.
A simple choice – poison or find something better?
Sounds like you have got something in mind Pete…
Cue Petulant Bean announcing a new UF/ National plan for the unemployed:
‘benificiaries to wrestle bare handed with possums in the bush’
Prime Mincer John Keys says he is comfortable with the plan saying ‘we have a lot of pests in this country, some of them are furry and some of them are lazy, may the best one win’
Yes, there’s a risk but overall 1080 drops seem to increase native flora and fauna rather than being a massive negative. And yes, we should also be looking for better methods but that doesn’t mean that we should stop using the successful methods that we are ATM.
Is this the same incident that happenned a few years ago at Franz Josef??? There (from memory) about 14 kea were fitted with transmitters and after the 1080 drop 7 were found dead – a 50% kill rate!
And what would your solution be Pete? A return to the good old days of the bushman and possum trapper like in the Barry Crump books? Any suggesting that a possum bounty will create jobs through a possum fur industry is tosh, simply because trapping possums and living in the bush is more of a lifestyle choice, rather than a way to earn money to maintain any decent standard of living.
Agree without about the need for R and D to create alternatives though. The government even owns a company that makes pesticides so there is no reason why we cannot channel money through that, and sell the products commerically.
With all due respect, PG, please read the recent report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment on 1080 rather than scaremongering with such reports. She has evaluated all the evidence and concluded that 1080 is the best way of dealing with threats to our native fauna. Have you done anything at all like that, or are you just basing you judgements on one report here and there and your ‘gut feeling’?
“Where were you when the world stopped turning?” This song is idiotic, preposterous, disgusting. This is the kind of lamebrained, sentimental, and—worst of all—dishonest rubbish that gives country music a bad name.
Why don’t you put up something to commemorate 9/11/73?
Might want to freshen up on reality there Brett,
The Toronto hearings: Scientists, Engineers and Architects present the best evidence to an esteemed panel amongst whom an Italian investigative judge whose expertise is: State crimes against Democracy such as the murder of Aldo Moro, Gladio and the terror attacks in Italy in the 70s. Also a specialist in Mafia related crime and involved in all of these cases. Not someone ready to through his whole distinguished career to the dogs over tinfoiled crazy conspiracy shit.
Walker said many Maori felt the Government allowed too many immigrants to enter the country, at the expense of the indigenous population.
“The problem of Maori under-performance in New Zealand – in terms of education and dependency on welfare – has not been resolved. If we can’t solve our own internal problems, why add to those problems by bringing more people? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Great questions Ranginui, wise words. After all the academic bullshit we argued this week over what was and was not racism the fact remains Maori under perform (sort of a catch all phrase that could mean anything). As a small island melting pot in the South Pacific we wont ever be a cohesive community and society until we resolve the issue of race and colonialism here. I dont have any easy answers but I do know we cant force a cure, we all need to agree.
At minimum regardless of what we think of Mutus opinions she has put the spot light well and truly back onto issues a large part of our community would ignore whilst blithely counting up the personal ebenfits of tax cuts etc.
We need to stop immigration right about now and then look at supporting the population we do have as well as looking at what we need to do due to Peak Oil. I suspect that solving the latter will also help with the former.
We need to stop immigration right about now and then look at supporting the population we do have as well as looking at what we need to do due to Peak Oil.
Oh sorry, I could not agree less! NZ is vastly underpopulated – we could happily fit in twice as many people, or three times as many.
Peak oil will come no matter how many people we have here, and in NZ we’re better placed to cope with it than anywhere else on earth!
We we get our extra 4 or 8 million people in due course, no doubt, but they will most likely be environmental or economic refugees- of course if it gets really bad elsewhere the globel elite will be flocking here in droves too…
Growth for growths sake is a doomed strategy in any situation where there are limited resources and is certainly ill advised when there is no evidence that bigger is better, and plenty to suggest that in times to come we will have to make more out of less or suffer the unpleasant consequences.
100% correct Campbell and Draco about Peak Oil and growth.
Vicky, we should be very concerned, we are well placed to cope if we are prepared but unfortunately we are not: our attitude is not unlike Britain in the 30s blithely moving toward an appointment with a sure fate. Can we cope with no oil…what are you lioke at ploughing with oxen or horses? Now tell me how many we can feed.
Got any proof that NZ is under populated? Considering that over most of history NZ had a population of less than 1m I’d say that the normal carrying capacity is well below what we have.
Oh sorry, I could not agree less!
That’s probably because you still believe in the delusional growth+ meme of the Catholic Church and the capitalists. Best thing that ever happened to man is birth control and the Catholic Church calls it against gods will.
Peak oil will come no matter how many people we have here…
Yes it will but the fewer people we have here the better off we’ll be as we’ll be more likely to be able to support them on the resources we have. Due to population levels the Northern Hemisphere and some places in the Southern will be hell on Earth with massive amounts of death from famine, disease, war and all the other problems faced by communities that just don’t have enough to support the population that they have.
That’s probably because you still believe in the delusional growth+ meme of the Catholic Church and the capitalists. Best thing that ever happened to man is birth control and the Catholic Church calls it against gods will.
Newsflash, DtB – most Catholics in NZ are leftists.. Plus, do me a favour, and don’t say ‘man’, say humanity, instead… People aren’t the problem, capitalism is.
Peak oil will come no matter how many people we have here…
… Northern Hemisphere and some places in the Southern will be hell on Earth with massive amounts of death from famine, disease, war and all the other problems faced by communities that just don’t have enough to support the population that they have.
See, this is the part that really angers me. You want to say to the rest of the world “bugger you Jack, I’m all right!” and pull up the draw-bridge! Given that some of my family, and 2/3 of my friends are in the Northern Hemipshere, I can’t be that blase about the rest of the world.
Newsflash, DtB – most Catholics in NZ are leftists.
So? The Catholic Church still holds birth control as anathema and yet it is the only thing that can allow us to live within the environments limitations. As that happens to be the case and as you happen to be a Catholic then I will hang the delusional growth meme upon you.
Capitalism is a construct of the people and so is Catholicism and so people are the problem but mostly in the form of ignorance which is what you’re showing.
You want to say to the rest of the world “bugger you Jack, I’m all right!” and pull up the draw-bridge!
Don’t have any choice – it’s probable that we’re already over populated now thus we can’t fit many more here. We certainly can’t fit the tens of millions from the UK that would have to leave there to drop their population down to sustainable levels never mind the hundreds of millions from Europe and the Middle East. And the population centres that I’m most concerned with is Asia/Minor because there’s no way we can fit billions of people here.
As that happens to be the case and as you happen to be a Catholic then I will hang the delusional growth meme upon you
Now that’s the problem – I am not a Catholic! (I am Anglo-Catholic, which is a whole ‘nother matter – and we are not opposed to birth control.) However,often, the issue is that people who hammer birth control are often at heart, racist or at least parochial in their application, or insistence on the application of it. “We must stop those Asians and those third world people from eating us out of house and home”. I am not referring to you specifically here, so don’t get angry!
It’s a fact that world-wide, we could feed the population we’ve got. The problem is distribution, and don’t blame capitalism on Catholicism, or even Anglo-catholicism..
It’s a fact that world-wide, we could feed the population we’ve got.
We can ATM, we won’t be able to in a few years. Actually, it may be true that we can’t feed them now.
don’t blame capitalism on Catholicism, or even Anglo-catholicism.
I didn’t although I admit to thinking that the church’s support the capitalists. They have, after all, always supported the rich and powerful against everyone else.
Of course Mr Keys let himself off the hook after agonizing over ‘misleading the country’ (and is busy demolishing suburbs and the CBD so that his media mates cannot be accused of histrionics either)
Yet somehow misleading the country over the economy, unemployment (‘it’s all relative’) asset sales etc etc and the world over the the state of NZ’s 100% pure environment is something he is comfortable with…
Smile and wave does very little else apart from mislead the country and now is yet again shamelessly using the quake as a means to portray himself in a better light
What happened in and to Christchurch was terrible, but the constant use of other peoples misery for self promotion whilst simultaneously doing not enough to help them is a total disgrace.
NZ’s ‘darkest day’ was when our country elected this charlatan and his government into power
If they have some more urgency, like it seems they probably will, it could easily trample over members bill day and therefore prevent it from being passed (unless the bill itself is put into urgency as well).
VSM, another neoliberal scam to privatise and destroy student services. ‘Freedom’? Like ‘level playing-field’ , leveled to advantage plunderers, and ‘no free lunch’, for you but free banquets for me? Don’t make me puke!
No hate Brett, but righteous anger. Hate is the kind of shite which comes from people like you.
Let’s define victims shall we?
The people who died in the buildings?
Their loved ones who still don’t have answers to 70 % of their questions?
The 70.000 first responders who are ill or dying from the dust and now it turns out the Nano thermite in their lungs and who are still fighting for recognition and some form of compensation and who are treated like they are the terrorists and who have been barred from attending the tenth anniversary of the events?
The American soldiers who died in battle the more then that amount who have killed themselves since they came home or the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who are ill and dying from the exposure to Depleted Uranium?
The more then a million Iraqi dead or the more then 4 million displaced internal and 4 million who fled their country?
The 90% of Afghans who never even heard about 911 and who thought that the burning buildings they saw on photo’s were in Kabul?
Let me tell you something Brett you put a stinking big donation here and I believe you really care. How about doing that!
Otherwise shut the fuck up about remembering these people because doing it once every ten years ain’t nowhere near enough. Take it from me because I remember and fight for these people every day since that 9/11 ten years ago and I find your sentimental drivel quit frankly an abomination in the face of all of these people I mentioned before and who suffered as a result of those atrocities.
It’s not the music, it’s the moronically sentimental and dishonest lyrics. There are lots of brilliant country songs and interesting country singers—but, sadly, Alan Jackson is out of his depth here.
Im sorry that people here dont like any tributes or sympathy to the people of the USA.
Well, I don’t! A handful were “victims” on September 11th, and so they’ve made actual victims out of hundreds of thousands in the rest of the world for the past 10 years.
The link you can put your stonking big donation too are family members who want a new and independent into the events of 911. Most of them are New Yorkers and therefore Americans and they all lost family members on the day itself.
And for a guy you are really very, very passive aggressive!
Was sitting in a Coffee shop in Lyttelton a short time ago, during a quake. Not very pleasant wondering whether to stay inside or run. Most of the customers did not even look up. Must be locals.
The waitress asked if I wanted my coffee stirred, as well as shaken.
I pick up the SST this morning and there is another,” I am going to quit”, from John Keys. I think he has had enough already. He looks like he has aged twenty yeats in the last three. Do yourself and quit while the going is good dude. Miami, Hawaii is much better than hanging out down here with rubes. Take my word for it.
On 9/11 a gang of criminal elites carried out the demolition of buildings which contained large amounts of asbestos, identified as a health hazard long after it had been installed; to have removed the asbestos would have been extraordinarily costly (possibly as much as what the buildings were worth) and would have resulted in a huge loss of rent.
That gang of criminals got together with another gang of criminals who needed a pretext to carry out the invasion of an oil-rich nation which had switched from trading in US dollars to trading in Euros, and to teach an unco-operative government a lesson for blocking the construction of an American-backed oil pipeline. (US oil extraction peaked in 1970 and the US was/is increasingly dependent on imported oil).
There was also the matter of the big reduction in poppy growing that the Taliban had caused, which was impacting badly on the CIA-sponsored drug trade and the laundering operations that were going on via Wall Street.
The idea of flying planes into buidlings had been discussed on many occasions and there had even been a film made about it. The problem was, the Twin Towers had been built to withstand multiple impacts by aircraft. The central colums were just too damed strong to be brought down without being cut. And Thermite (finely divided aluminium/magnesum/iron oxide mix) is about the only practical way of cutting though large steel columsn quickly. Termnite burns at around 2,500 oC, well above the 1500oC needed to melt steel.
By the way, aviation fuel burning in air reaches only 300oC, and in the absence of sufficient air -as evidenced by the black smoke on 9/11- at a considerably lower temperature.
The other problem was that the US Air Force had a ‘nasty’ habit of quickly intercepting planes that were off course; they did it about 67 times in the year 2000. So on 9/11, Dick Cheney sent the jet fighters that were based in the region well away from the region to carry out exercises based on the hijacking of aricraft -just to ensure there would be total confusion should any real hijackings be reported. That allowed aircraft to fly around for up to an hour-and-a-half without being intercepted.
One of those planes supposedly crashed in a field leaving no wreckage. Another supposedly crashed into the Pentagon, resulting in a tiny hole in the building and again leaving no significant wreckage.
There were a few ‘important people’ who had to be kept out of the carnage that was palnned for that day, so they were advised not to go to work. Needless to say, the elites were not the least concerned about deaths of ‘proles’: the elitesd have always regarded the masses as ‘cannon-fodder’ and always will (58,000 casualties in one week in the Battle of the Somme: run towards that machine gun or be shor here).
The event on the day went well for the elites and the preplanned attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq were soon underway.
However, after the event were many reports of serious inconsistencies in the official narrative. After stonewalling for months Bush and company decided it would be best to set up a ‘commision’ that could ignore all the evidence that blew holes in the official narrative and could churn out a whitewash report that validated the lies. That was done by several other members of the gang.
So there you have it. In all of history only three concrete and steel buidling have ever fallen down as a result of short-lived, low temperature fires, and they all did it on the same day, one (Building Seven) not even having been hit by a plane. In all of history only two passenger airliners have crashed in such a way that the titanium alloy engines ‘evaporated’ on impact.
Just ensure that the ‘proles’ were sufficiently brainwashed, the footage was shown again and again and again and again and again, with the words terreor, terrorist, terrorism bleated incessantly.
The sad thing is, we live in a scientifically illiterate society in which any kind of drivel is believed by the masses.
Interestingly, the Project New American Century website that promoted rampant militarism and listed the names of so many of the criminals involved in the 9/11 scam has been amended and it now looks quite innocuous.
We can be quite certain that the myths promoted by the eltites are now so firmly established in the moinds of most people they are irremovable. After all ‘they saw it on TV so it must be true’.
Presumably next year there will be yet another ‘celebration’ of one of the biggest lies in all of history. Howevre, the collapse of the economy due to global peak oil will have progressed a bit further by then and few more people might have woken from the collective trance.
“they have one of those honest Italian judges” – Mr Smith
Ferdinando Imposimato is the Honorary President of the Supreme Court of Italy. As a former Senior Investigative Judge in Italy, he presided over several terrorism-related cases, including the kidnapping and ultimate assassination of President Aldo Moro, the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, and other political assassinations and kidnapping cases and several cases against the Mafia. He is a former Senator who served on the Anti-Mafia Commission in three administrations and a former legal consultant to the United Nations regarding institution of laws to control drug trafficking.
To Pete George and to Mr Smith and every other denier who thinks they know best
If you thought the past ten years were annoying as Truthers bugged you with their silly stories then you had better be prepared. Soon there is going to be a unifying core of information, The Toronto Hearings Report. You and all the other hollow minded minions are going to be downright swarmed by Truth. It does not mean that every post in every blog is going to be inundated or the Newspapers are going to suddenly make reality a news story. It means that as the information being presented goes through the natural stages of conversion, i would step back a bit from the hearth. Currently it just being discussed then it gets digested and then converted into action. That is when it will get really interesting.
The Toronto Hearings will be producing a comprehensive formal report and an appendix heavy DVD which will be unlike any before. The call of the deniers is always the same, where is the evidence, well right now it is sitting in hard drives and vaults in Toronto and in a few months the panelists will release their findings. The Report will be published and you can all see for the first time the incontravertable reality that the events of September 11 2001 did not occur as presented in the (everchanging) accounts of the Official Story . Remember Truth is not about us deciding what did and did not happen, it is about securing an honest and open investigation into the events of that day so the survivors, the families and the World, know the crime was at least investigated. The chance of pointing a finger and getting a conversion is slim to none, we all know that. This is about an Investigation. An Investigation which through the events described and the evidence being discovered would be its own trial, judgement and sentence. A lasting sentence, woven into the fabric of Society, more permanent and more damning than any court could ever provide. We often hear of the thousands killed on 9/11. Would it shock you to discover that to date there has still not been a single murder inquiry regarding any of the deaths on 9/11.
I have ‘attended’ every minute of the past three days of the Toronto Hearings, with one more day to go. One thing is clear though, ‘Impossible’ does not begin to describe the shitstorm mission that deniers have in front of them when this evidence gets into the Public Domain, let alone when it arrives in a court of law.
Your dreams of safety in the warm and bloodsoaked arms of the Official Lie are going to get a very rude awakening. If you do not open your eyes soon then you will only have yourself to blame when that sick feeling in your gut spreads to destroy more of your life and the lives of those you love.
The evidence presented by and in front of experts in many fields has been disturbing in the clear, concise and damning nature of its accuracy, validity and legitimacy. No doubt the lengths some will go to ensure this evidence goes no further is what really will be the nail in the coffin of the deniers. If the Truth is so easy to refute, why are you not watching the Hearings and commenting. If your denials are so strong where are your questions that will show up the expert witnesses.
In short if you thought the matter was over because of a few songs and some coordinated media strikes reminding you of an illusion you swallowed ten years ago, then i have a little message
WAKE UP
This hearing is as real as it gets! There will be a lot more to come but for now just look at your families friends and loved ones, imagine they have all been slaughtered and quietly ask yourself:
Would the investigaton of their murder really matter?
or would you just shrug and accept someone’s word because they said so?
the Objectives of the Hearings, the attending panelists, moderators and guests are all here http://torontohearings.org/
Videos of the past three days and tomorrow’s live stream can be found here http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thetorontohearings
Day four
NZT Monday, September 12, 2011
01:00 – 01:15 Moderators: Opening remarks and Moment of Silence
01:15 – 02:45 David Ray Griffin: Anomalies of Flights 77 and 93
02:45 – 04:00 Peter Dale Scott: 9/11 and Deep State Politics
05:00 – 06:00 Laurie Manwell: SCADs and Psychological Resistance to
Alternative Accounts
07:00 – 8:15 Senator Mike Gravel: State Deception in the Past and Today
08:30 – 09:15 Audience Question and Answer
Well certainly looking forward to all those people coming forward that conspired Freedom, and the up coming trail should be great, but won’t be holding my breath. Maybe I will just wait for the movie with the hollywood ending.
There won’t be any sinking feeling for me either Freedom and to be honest, I couldn’t give a flying fuck about the USA or their conspiracy theories, I live in New Zealand and realized a long time ago that I’m not going to change the world, especially if I can’t even change my neighbors outlook first, so I try to keep it local, but I don’t forget to have my fun and live my life.
Your hubris is juvenile and selfish. Again you miss the point and your movie crack only proves how vacuous are the views of those who deny what happened. That sort of ‘joke’ only emphasises the ignorance of your outlook. Do you honestly believe we exist in some magical isolation from the web of this world. The search for Truth is not about a trial.
The chances of getting anyone prosecuted is slim to none.
9/11 Truth is about AN OPEN AND LEGITIMATE INVESTIGATION.
What about that can you not understand?
Freedom calling me Juvenile and selfish gets you no closer to your truth.
“The chances of getting anyone prosecuted is slim to none.”
That tends to happen when you don’t have a case Freedom, but thats right you are only after the truth.
“What about that can you not understand?”
What I don’t understand is why you can’t just let it go and move on, there was no conspiracy, and even if there was there is no way you will ever prove it or find the truth now, let it go.
“What I don’t understand is why you can’t just let it go and move on”
True, It takes the focus of investigating possible war crimes that have occurred since 9/11. I hear Tony Blair is calling for regime change in Syria and Iran now. Middle East peace envoy …. pfft.
Secondly I dont believe it was a control demolition, but thats another post.
I posted what i did, because its the tenth anniversary, and it was posted to remember the victims and the victims famalies and what americans went through.
The best way to honour the victims of 9/11 and the multitude of people who have died in wars following on from 9/11 is to establish the truth and have the criminals who orchestrated 9/11 brought to justice.
The chance of that is close zero of course, since the elites who were responsible for 9/11 -Bush, Cheney, Rice etc, pehaps even Tony B Liar- are all above the law and are closely connected to the present gang of elites -Obama, Clinton, Cameron, Harper, Key etc. who are destroying the economies of the western world and are destroying the global environment in the name of oil company profits.
BTW Brett an explanation regarding events at the Pentagon would be really useful also, especially after the official Story got annihilated top to bottom at Toronto over the weekend
More good interviews on Chris Laidlaw Radionz this morning. One on Chile. Comment that the present, or recent leader of that country is right wing, but an affable chap, wealthy – sound like the stereotype of Joky Hen? Also the Chilean one went to Harvard the nest of neo liberals or am I wrong.
Most of their young economists trained at Uni of Chicago under Milton Friedman who was developing his theory on the free market and neo liberalism. It is said that Chile was his first proving ground for his ideas. I wish I could get the ear of NZ govt for some of the good social theories that aren’t new, they have been around for long time. (But like what they say of Christianity – sounds like a good idea pity no-one has ever tried it yet.) But no the education here is directed along lines that run through the dollar – strictly uncatholic (with a small ‘c’ note).
That ‘Ideas’ slot this morning was excellent. That Chilean you mention was very articulate and moving. Then there was the VUW academic who provided an excellent analysis of the major protests and political (neo-liberal entrapped) environment.
Oh, yes, and I noticed the remarkable similarity between the Chilean Prime Minister and ours. Affable, smiley, made his millions before becoming PM, has unified the right and centre …
The only difference is that their PM (and government) is facing protests by hundreds of thousands – ‘Someone else’s Country’ all over again.
Hey Puddleglum – Did you note the theme that continues through the Chilean system – that there are many wealthy people who have bought into the government infrastructure and own the major top earning companies?
And the public have supported a centrist coalition in the belief that things were going to improve, even if slowly, but now that there is a change to the right they have galvanised for action because that means a worse life for the majority, less opportunities to improve living conditions. And that university education has been privatised and is now out of reach of most of the young people.
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). 2024 has been a series of bad news for climate change. From scorching global temperatures leading to devastating ...
Ríu Ríu ChíuRíu Ríu Chíu is a Spanish Christmas song from the 16th Century. The traditional carol would likely have passed unnoticed by the English-speaking world had the made-for-television American band The Monkees not performed the song as part of their special Christmas show back in 1967. The show's ...
Dunedin’s summer thus far has been warm and humid… and it looks like we’re in for a grey Christmas. But it is now officially Christmas Day in this time zone, so never mind. This year, I’ve stumbled across an Old English version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen: It has a population of just under 3.5 million inhabitants, produces nearly 550,000 tons of beef per year, and boasts a glorious soccer reputation with two World ...
Morena all,In my paywalled newsletter yesterday, I signed off for Christmas and wished readers well, but I thought I’d send everyone a quick note this morning.This hasn’t been a good year for our small country. The divisions caused by the Treaty Principles Bill, the cuts to our public sector, increased ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30 am include:Kāinga Ora is quietly planning to sell over $1 billion worth of state-owned land under 300 state homes in Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs, including around Bastion Point, to give the Government more fiscal room to pay for tax cuts and reduce borrowing.A ...
Hi,It’s my birthday on Christmas Day, and I have a favour to ask.A birthday wish.I would love you to share one Webworm story you’ve liked this year.The simple fact is: apart from paying for a Webworm membership (thank you!), sharing and telling others about this place is the most important ...
The last few days have been a bit too much of a whirl for me to manage a fresh edition each day. It's been that kind of year. Hope you don't mind.I’ve been coming around to thinking that it doesn't really matter if you don't have something to say every ...
The worms will live in every hostIt's hard to pick which one they eat the mostThe horrible people, the horrible peopleIt's as anatomic as the size of your steepleCapitalism has made it this wayOld-fashioned fascism will take it awaySongwriter: Twiggy Ramirez Read more ...
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
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. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Comment: I’ve been digging up dirt over the past few weekends. I plan to dig up more over summer.As global geo-politics heats up, I’ve impulsively turned to tending my wee patch of the world. The world is complex and messy. But I’m determined my quarter acre won’t be. Apparently, this is ...
Winston Peters was 47 when he founded NZ First. David Seymour is 41. “It’s probably unlikely I’ll still be in Parliament when I’m 47,” he tells Newsroom.“I always said, I have no intention of being a Member of Parliament when I’m 70-something.”In saying that, Seymour has already exceeded his own ...
Asia Pacific ReportSilent Night is a well-known Christmas carol that tells of a peaceful and silent night in Bethlehem, referring to the first Christmas more than 2000 years ago. It is now 2024, and it was again a silent night in Bethlehem last night, reports Al Jazeera’s Nisa Ibrahim. ...
Summer resissue: Has the country changed all that much in three decades? Loveni Enari compares his two New Zealands. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...
Summer reissue: Alex Casey goes on a killer journey aboard the Tormore Express.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.It was a dark and ...
Summer reissue: Speed puzzling is like a marathon for the mind – intense, demanding, surprisingly exhausting. But does turning it into a sport destroy it as a relaxing pastime? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...
Summer reissue: In October, we counted down the top 100 New Zealand TV shows of the 21st century so far (read more about the process here). Here’s the list in full, for your holiday reading pleasure. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue ...
Summer reissue: Told in one crucial moment from every year, by The Spinoff’s founder Duncan Greive. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.2014: An ...
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, Wednesday 25 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed Mike Smith’s “ambitious” climate claim against Attorney-General Judith Collins.Smith, a Māori climate activist, and Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu elder, appealed a High Court decision that found his claims against the Crown – that its action on climate change was inadequate – untenable.The Appeal Court’s ...
Trish McKelvey is listed 139 times in the index of the New Zealand women’s cricket tome The Warm Sun On My Face, authored by Trevor Auger and Adrienne Simpson.She wrote the foreword for the book and headlines two chapters addressing crucial events in the evolution of the sport.McKelvey’s appointment as New Zealand ...
Summer reissue: The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please ...
Summer reissue: You really won’t guess how it ends. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. First published October 4, 2024. Parliament’s Economic Development, Science ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary-Rose McLaren, Professor of Teaching and Learning and Head of Program, Early Childhood Education, Victoria University Collin Quinn Lomax/ Shutterstock Some years ago, my daughter was set a maths problem: how much does it cost to drive a family of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine E. Wood, Associate Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Swinburne University of Technology Asier Romero/ Shutterstock Christmas is coming, and with it many challenges for parents of young children. You likely have one festive event after another, late nights, party ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Nicole Driessen, Postdoctoral Researcher in Radio Astronomy, University of Sydney Tayla Walsh/Pexels With billions of children around the world anxiously waiting for their presents, Father Christmas (or Santa) and his reindeer must be travelling at breakneck speeds to deliver them ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Higgins, Professor & Director, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University Feeling unsure about your child going to a sleepover is completely normal. You might be worried about how well you know the host family, how they manage supervision or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney Exactly 50 years ago, on Christmas Eve 1974, Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin and left a trail of devastation. It remains one of the most destructive natural events in Australia’s history. Wind ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Irmine Keta Rotimi, Doctoral Candidate, Marketing and International Business department, Auckland University of Technology Videos of children opening boxes of toys and playing with them have become a feature of online marketing – making stars out of children as young as two. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Nicholas, Lecturer in Dance and Performance Science, Edith Cowan University Tatyana Vyc/Shutterstock Once the end-of-year dance concert and term wrap up for the year it is important to take a break. Both physical and mental rest are important and taking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kit MacFarlane, Lecturer, Creative Writing and Literature, University of South Australia Capitol Records For those looking to introduce some musical conflict into the holidays, Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart remains a great choice in its 15th anniversary – like it ...
Opinion: It was February 2024 when my friends started getting in touch with me to suggest I run for the Tauranga City Council mayoralty. At the time, the council was governed by four Government-appointed commissioners, who had been in their roles since 2021. Their terms were coming to an end ...
Opinion: As the year winds down and we pause for some reflection, I find myself, as chair of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, contemplating the unprecedented hatred aimed at Jewish New Zealanders. Antisemitism – the prejudice, discrimination or hostility directed at Jews – has snowballed to record levels, so much ...
Summer reissue: Joy Cowley reveals her enthralling life story, from a difficult childhood, to getting drunk with Roald Dahl, to encountering an Arctic polar bear. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and ...
Summer reissue: Alex Casey chats to Nadia Lim and Carlos Bagrie about the challenges of life on a 1,200-acre farm in Central Otago, and why they continue to share it with the nation in Nadia’s Farm. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue ...
Summer reissue: Dominion Road has made a name for itself as a destination for authentic, regionally-specific Chinese food. How did it get here?The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign ...
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, Tuesday 24 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Emma Andrews, Henare te Ua Māori journalism intern at RNZ News From being the headline to creating them, Moana Maniapoto has walked a rather rocky road of swinging between both sides of the media. Known for her award-winning current affairs show Te Ao with Moana on Whakaata Māori, and ...
Kick Back has growing concerns about the impact that denying young people access to shelter is having on the mental health and physical safety of the young people we serve. ...
By Litia Cava, FBC News multimedia journalist Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has revealed how arms and ammunition used to conduct the 1987 military coup were secretly brought into Fiji on board a naval survey ship. Speaking at the commissioning of a new research vessel for the Lands and Mineral ...
Youth advocates are worried tighter rules for emergency housing could lead to someone dying due to the impacts on mental health and physical safety for those denied shelter. ...
“We urge the Health Select Committee to extend the date for submissions,” concluded Rev Bush. “There is too much at stake to leave the outcome of this review only in the hands of politicians or those with vested interests.” ...
A separate passport, citizenship and membership of the United Nations are only available to fully independent nations, Winston Peters' office says. ...
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thetorontohearings
NZT 07:45 – 09:00 Niels Harrit: Incendiary/Explosive Residue in the WTC Dust
LIVE RIGHT NOW WORLD EXPERT IN HIS FIELD
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/08/national-archive-keeps-bulk-of-911-commission-report-sealed/
Also: http://www.archive.org/details/sept_11_tv_archive
Cheers for the TV archive link J!
Watching eng Argentina last night, can’t they make proper rugby jerseys anymore, the numbers were peeling off the backs and they looked like surf rasshie tops.
In football you can’t stay on the field without correct numbering……any rule officianados know if that’s an issue in thugby.
The quality of the numbers was about as good as the quality of the rugby, but the crowd rocked!
It was an alien experience in my home town.
I enjoyed watching the Argentina – England match on TV. Maybe it wasn’t that spectacular, but it was a heroic Argentine effort against a mostly lackluster England performance – gripping fight to the finish. The Argentina supporters in the crowd looked like they were enjoying themselves.
PS I do get fed up withe the MSM giving headline results of matches as they happen – hard to avoid – and before the matches are shown in delayed mode on FTA TV.
The quality of the numbers was about as good as the quality of the rugby, but the crowd rocked!
Actually, it was a tremendously tense and engaging match. That’s why the crowd rocked—it was a rugby match as absorbing as anyone could hope to see.
Pity the Pumas lost. The game needs well performing and strong second tier nations to keep the top teams on their toes.
In football you can’t stay on the field without correct numbering…
Yes, you can stay on the football field without correct numbering—as you have just pointed out, they did exactly that last night.
I share your concern about the poorly made jerseys and poorly attached numbers.
Football as in soccer to most rugby heads, sorry I should realize that by now.
no you have to get it attended to before you can return. Happened in a euro qualifying match a few days ago to Ireland’s Richard dune, ref couldn’t read the number so trainer had to magic marker one on.
Ah the latest lovefest : http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5601825/A-prime-ministers-view
Was quite enjoying my Sunday morning too
Yes, I stopped visiting Stuff this morning because of the large vacuously smiling, pseudo-presidential pic of our Prime Mincer promoting that story.
What does he have to say after the failed transport and other issues on Auckland’s waterfront Friday night, after saying people would eat their words and it would all go smoothly?
Favourite quote: John Key on…how he and Obama differ: “I have more engagement with New Zealand than people might think. Unlike the impression I have of the American president, who sits in the Oval Office and people come to them.”
Yes, that’s how you differ from Obama, John…
Carol – notice the anti-Pharmac article beside that photo? Tory all the way this morning…
Yes, I also registered the anti-Pharmac slant and wondered where that came from.
No mention of the adverse effects of Warfarin, the drug Pradaxa replaces, which caused the bleeding that almost killed my old man.
And the real problem with Pradaxa, GPs prescribing the drug to people who should never have been given it, gets one line in the article.
The five uses of the word “actually” are all quotes from Key.
16 arrested for the ‘Anonymous’ hacks. The mugshots of a surprisingly diverse group of people.
Further proof of the dangers of widespread use of 1080:
That’s a high proportion of “collateral damage”. Most people will agree that dropping poison over large areas is far from ideal. We should be doing far more to research and trial alternative methods of predator control so we can move towards phasing out 1080 as soon as we can.
A bit subjective I know, but I used to live on a block in the countryside.
Like many people I was rather cynical about dropping poisons.
When we first moved there, there were very few native birds, apart from some pukeko.
Most of the pohutukawa were near death.
After a large 1080 drop in the area we noticed some dead birds, lots of dead rats, possums and feral cats. Also got rid of the possum infestation on our roof.
A year later there were big numbers of native birds. Wood Pigeons, Tui, Kiwi and morepork among others. The native trees had normal foliage.
That particular drop was obviously a resounding success.
There’s no doubt there can be benefits but we shouldn’t ignore the downsides – nor should we ignore looking for non-poisonous alternatives. 1080 is a real risk, and could bite us on our “clean green” and food producer bums.
A simple choice – poison or find something better?
Sounds like you have got something in mind Pete…
Cue Petulant Bean announcing a new UF/ National plan for the unemployed:
‘benificiaries to wrestle bare handed with possums in the bush’
Prime Mincer John Keys says he is comfortable with the plan saying ‘we have a lot of pests in this country, some of them are furry and some of them are lazy, may the best one win’
Yes, there’s a risk but overall 1080 drops seem to increase native flora and fauna rather than being a massive negative. And yes, we should also be looking for better methods but that doesn’t mean that we should stop using the successful methods that we are ATM.
Is this the same incident that happenned a few years ago at Franz Josef??? There (from memory) about 14 kea were fitted with transmitters and after the 1080 drop 7 were found dead – a 50% kill rate!
And what would your solution be Pete? A return to the good old days of the bushman and possum trapper like in the Barry Crump books? Any suggesting that a possum bounty will create jobs through a possum fur industry is tosh, simply because trapping possums and living in the bush is more of a lifestyle choice, rather than a way to earn money to maintain any decent standard of living.
Agree without about the need for R and D to create alternatives though. The government even owns a company that makes pesticides so there is no reason why we cannot channel money through that, and sell the products commerically.
With all due respect, PG, please read the recent report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment on 1080 rather than scaremongering with such reports. She has evaluated all the evidence and concluded that 1080 is the best way of dealing with threats to our native fauna. Have you done anything at all like that, or are you just basing you judgements on one report here and there and your ‘gut feeling’?
See: http://www.pce.parliament.nz/media/media-releases/1080-must-not-be-banned-environment-commissioner
“Where were you when the world stopped turning?” This song is idiotic, preposterous, disgusting. This is the kind of lamebrained, sentimental, and—worst of all—dishonest rubbish that gives country music a bad name.
Why don’t you put up something to commemorate 9/11/73?
Or have you not heard of that?
Jeez Brett that’s fricking awful.
Might want to freshen up on reality there Brett,
The Toronto hearings: Scientists, Engineers and Architects present the best evidence to an esteemed panel amongst whom an Italian investigative judge whose expertise is: State crimes against Democracy such as the murder of Aldo Moro, Gladio and the terror attacks in Italy in the 70s. Also a specialist in Mafia related crime and involved in all of these cases. Not someone ready to through his whole distinguished career to the dogs over tinfoiled crazy conspiracy shit.
If Tama iti is the face of Maori terrorism then we have little to worry about, the police could have saved heaps of money and angst if they had only picked up the phone!
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/09/tama-iti-terrorist.html
From todays Dom more comments on Mutu and racism.
Walker said many Maori felt the Government allowed too many immigrants to enter the country, at the expense of the indigenous population.
“The problem of Maori under-performance in New Zealand – in terms of education and dependency on welfare – has not been resolved. If we can’t solve our own internal problems, why add to those problems by bringing more people? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Great questions Ranginui, wise words. After all the academic bullshit we argued this week over what was and was not racism the fact remains Maori under perform (sort of a catch all phrase that could mean anything). As a small island melting pot in the South Pacific we wont ever be a cohesive community and society until we resolve the issue of race and colonialism here. I dont have any easy answers but I do know we cant force a cure, we all need to agree.
At minimum regardless of what we think of Mutus opinions she has put the spot light well and truly back onto issues a large part of our community would ignore whilst blithely counting up the personal ebenfits of tax cuts etc.
We need to stop immigration right about now and then look at supporting the population we do have as well as looking at what we need to do due to Peak Oil. I suspect that solving the latter will also help with the former.
Oh sorry, I could not agree less! NZ is vastly underpopulated – we could happily fit in twice as many people, or three times as many.
Peak oil will come no matter how many people we have here, and in NZ we’re better placed to cope with it than anywhere else on earth!
We we get our extra 4 or 8 million people in due course, no doubt, but they will most likely be environmental or economic refugees- of course if it gets really bad elsewhere the globel elite will be flocking here in droves too…
Growth for growths sake is a doomed strategy in any situation where there are limited resources and is certainly ill advised when there is no evidence that bigger is better, and plenty to suggest that in times to come we will have to make more out of less or suffer the unpleasant consequences.
100% correct Campbell and Draco about Peak Oil and growth.
Vicky, we should be very concerned, we are well placed to cope if we are prepared but unfortunately we are not: our attitude is not unlike Britain in the 30s blithely moving toward an appointment with a sure fate. Can we cope with no oil…what are you lioke at ploughing with oxen or horses? Now tell me how many we can feed.
Got any proof that NZ is under populated? Considering that over most of history NZ had a population of less than 1m I’d say that the normal carrying capacity is well below what we have.
That’s probably because you still believe in the delusional growth+ meme of the Catholic Church and the capitalists. Best thing that ever happened to man is birth control and the Catholic Church calls it against gods will.
Yes it will but the fewer people we have here the better off we’ll be as we’ll be more likely to be able to support them on the resources we have. Due to population levels the Northern Hemisphere and some places in the Southern will be hell on Earth with massive amounts of death from famine, disease, war and all the other problems faced by communities that just don’t have enough to support the population that they have.
Draco T Bastard,
Beatrice Hill (Tinsley), a famous NZ cosmologist, apparently also belonged to a group who believed in population control.
Maybe its time has come.
Newsflash, DtB – most Catholics in NZ are leftists.. Plus, do me a favour, and don’t say ‘man’, say humanity, instead… People aren’t the problem, capitalism is.
See, this is the part that really angers me. You want to say to the rest of the world “bugger you Jack, I’m all right!” and pull up the draw-bridge! Given that some of my family, and 2/3 of my friends are in the Northern Hemipshere, I can’t be that blase about the rest of the world.
So? The Catholic Church still holds birth control as anathema and yet it is the only thing that can allow us to live within the environments limitations. As that happens to be the case and as you happen to be a Catholic then I will hang the delusional growth meme upon you.
Capitalism is a construct of the people and so is Catholicism and so people are the problem but mostly in the form of ignorance which is what you’re showing.
Don’t have any choice – it’s probable that we’re already over populated now thus we can’t fit many more here. We certainly can’t fit the tens of millions from the UK that would have to leave there to drop their population down to sustainable levels never mind the hundreds of millions from Europe and the Middle East. And the population centres that I’m most concerned with is Asia/Minor because there’s no way we can fit billions of people here.
Now that’s the problem – I am not a Catholic! (I am Anglo-Catholic, which is a whole ‘nother matter – and we are not opposed to birth control.) However,often, the issue is that people who hammer birth control are often at heart, racist or at least parochial in their application, or insistence on the application of it. “We must stop those Asians and those third world people from eating us out of house and home”. I am not referring to you specifically here, so don’t get angry!
It’s a fact that world-wide, we could feed the population we’ve got. The problem is distribution, and don’t blame capitalism on Catholicism, or even Anglo-catholicism..
We can ATM, we won’t be able to in a few years. Actually, it may be true that we can’t feed them now.
I didn’t although I admit to thinking that the church’s support the capitalists. They have, after all, always supported the rich and powerful against everyone else.
No that’s just not true? Haven’t you ever heard of liberation theology?
That would be the liberation theology criticised by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith?
Just had a good 4.5-5M-ish jolt. About 2-3 seconds between the P and S waves so I’d guess out by Lyttleton or the Rolleston fault again.
just felt that now…from a long way away
4.5M, out at Lyttleton: http://geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3577039g.html
Also: http://xkcd.com/723/
That seemed to go on for a long long time.
So did your bloody song.
@CV
Remember when back in Feb (27th) we were debating about whether or not Shonkey was scaremongering over the quake?
Apparently he was debating it too – according to the SST the prime mincer was ready to resign over his comments if they were found to be ‘terribly terribly wrong’ (yeah right)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/5602498/Key-almost-quit-over-quake/
Of course Mr Keys let himself off the hook after agonizing over ‘misleading the country’ (and is busy demolishing suburbs and the CBD so that his media mates cannot be accused of histrionics either)
Yet somehow misleading the country over the economy, unemployment (‘it’s all relative’) asset sales etc etc and the world over the the state of NZ’s 100% pure environment is something he is comfortable with…
Smile and wave does very little else apart from mislead the country and now is yet again shamelessly using the quake as a means to portray himself in a better light
What happened in and to Christchurch was terrible, but the constant use of other peoples misery for self promotion whilst simultaneously doing not enough to help them is a total disgrace.
NZ’s ‘darkest day’ was when our country elected this charlatan and his government into power
Hey guys, VSM is about to become law, I am sure you will join me in celebrating this freedom.
The bill hasn’t actually been passed yet.
If they have some more urgency, like it seems they probably will, it could easily trample over members bill day and therefore prevent it from being passed (unless the bill itself is put into urgency as well).
This already happened once.
VSM, another neoliberal scam to privatise and destroy student services. ‘Freedom’? Like ‘level playing-field’ , leveled to advantage plunderers, and ‘no free lunch’, for you but free banquets for me? Don’t make me puke!
Just something to remember the victims by, no need for all the hate.
Crap music is crap music, whatever your reasons. I’ll never hate you though buddy.
No hate Brett, but righteous anger. Hate is the kind of shite which comes from people like you.
Let’s define victims shall we?
The people who died in the buildings?
Their loved ones who still don’t have answers to 70 % of their questions?
The 70.000 first responders who are ill or dying from the dust and now it turns out the Nano thermite in their lungs and who are still fighting for recognition and some form of compensation and who are treated like they are the terrorists and who have been barred from attending the tenth anniversary of the events?
The American soldiers who died in battle the more then that amount who have killed themselves since they came home or the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who are ill and dying from the exposure to Depleted Uranium?
The more then a million Iraqi dead or the more then 4 million displaced internal and 4 million who fled their country?
The 90% of Afghans who never even heard about 911 and who thought that the burning buildings they saw on photo’s were in Kabul?
Let me tell you something Brett you put a stinking big donation here and I believe you really care. How about doing that!
Otherwise shut the fuck up about remembering these people because doing it once every ten years ain’t nowhere near enough. Take it from me because I remember and fight for these people every day since that 9/11 ten years ago and I find your sentimental drivel quit frankly an abomination in the face of all of these people I mentioned before and who suffered as a result of those atrocities.
travellerev:
Again I posted the video, to remember the victims of the attack.
yes Brett you remembered the victims as you remind yourself to forget the crime
Yiou know guys, my post wasnt about politics, wasnt about ideology, wasnt about what country does what to who.
Like the song it was about the victims and their loved ones, it was about the rescue teams and what they went through.
That was it really, Im sorry that people here dont like any tributes or sympathy to the people of the USA.
That was all it was posted for.
I just don’t like bullshit music Brett.
Felix:
I might think the same about yuor taste in music.
Each to their own.
I just don’t like bullshit music Brett.
It’s not the music, it’s the moronically sentimental and dishonest lyrics. There are lots of brilliant country songs and interesting country singers—but, sadly, Alan Jackson is out of his depth here.
Yeah I’m quite fond of country music myself Morrissey. Not so keen on bullshit though.
Actually, by picking only the direct victims in New York you are making a political statement.
Well, I don’t! A handful were “victims” on September 11th, and so they’ve made actual victims out of hundreds of thousands in the rest of the world for the past 10 years.
I dont think I was doing that, I also dont think I should have to sorry for remembering the victims of 9/11 just because they are American.
“just because they are American”
No-one’s saying that Brett. Thing is you only seem to care about the American victims.
Felix:
Again its the anniversary of 9/11, thats why i posted it.
I never expected this type of reaction, sure I may of thought there woould be the odd comment on American Policies.
Im not sure whats passive aggressive about it.
Oh Felix go over to the DU (democratic underground) search my posts during the Bush admin, search my posts about the DSM, you will know where I stand.
Tomorrow is the anniversary Brett. Also, you mean 11/9.
In fact Brett,
The link you can put your stonking big donation too are family members who want a new and independent into the events of 911. Most of them are New Yorkers and therefore Americans and they all lost family members on the day itself.
And for a guy you are really very, very passive aggressive!
Was sitting in a Coffee shop in Lyttelton a short time ago, during a quake. Not very pleasant wondering whether to stay inside or run. Most of the customers did not even look up. Must be locals.
The waitress asked if I wanted my coffee stirred, as well as shaken.
After a while you get to use to these quakes.
I pick up the SST this morning and there is another,” I am going to quit”, from John Keys. I think he has had enough already. He looks like he has aged twenty yeats in the last three. Do yourself and quit while the going is good dude. Miami, Hawaii is much better than hanging out down here with rubes. Take my word for it.
Spotted on the
interest.co.nz
website
by Carpetbagger | 10 Sep 11, 12:57pm
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5598136/German-investment-fun…
So remind me again why we should be so smug about our agriculture sector when slowly but surely it’s being sold to overseas interests who then export the profits?
by Plan B | 11 Sep 11, 5:35am
It is all OK, the farms are being sold to German ‘Mums and Dads’, boy I was worried for a minute!
Wasn’t it choice to hear Pasifikan names pronounced properly, by a Scotsman no less, in the NZ Tonga match ?
Mad props to Gavin Hastings !!!
Shows what ignorant douchebags Ian Smith and Grant Nesbitt are. Even Keith Quinn was nailing the pronunciation with relative ease.
+1 wtl
Lets never let the truth get in the way of whipping up some hysteria for a small party in election year, Ah Pete.
Brett.
On 9/11 a gang of criminal elites carried out the demolition of buildings which contained large amounts of asbestos, identified as a health hazard long after it had been installed; to have removed the asbestos would have been extraordinarily costly (possibly as much as what the buildings were worth) and would have resulted in a huge loss of rent.
That gang of criminals got together with another gang of criminals who needed a pretext to carry out the invasion of an oil-rich nation which had switched from trading in US dollars to trading in Euros, and to teach an unco-operative government a lesson for blocking the construction of an American-backed oil pipeline. (US oil extraction peaked in 1970 and the US was/is increasingly dependent on imported oil).
There was also the matter of the big reduction in poppy growing that the Taliban had caused, which was impacting badly on the CIA-sponsored drug trade and the laundering operations that were going on via Wall Street.
The idea of flying planes into buidlings had been discussed on many occasions and there had even been a film made about it. The problem was, the Twin Towers had been built to withstand multiple impacts by aircraft. The central colums were just too damed strong to be brought down without being cut. And Thermite (finely divided aluminium/magnesum/iron oxide mix) is about the only practical way of cutting though large steel columsn quickly. Termnite burns at around 2,500 oC, well above the 1500oC needed to melt steel.
By the way, aviation fuel burning in air reaches only 300oC, and in the absence of sufficient air -as evidenced by the black smoke on 9/11- at a considerably lower temperature.
The other problem was that the US Air Force had a ‘nasty’ habit of quickly intercepting planes that were off course; they did it about 67 times in the year 2000. So on 9/11, Dick Cheney sent the jet fighters that were based in the region well away from the region to carry out exercises based on the hijacking of aricraft -just to ensure there would be total confusion should any real hijackings be reported. That allowed aircraft to fly around for up to an hour-and-a-half without being intercepted.
One of those planes supposedly crashed in a field leaving no wreckage. Another supposedly crashed into the Pentagon, resulting in a tiny hole in the building and again leaving no significant wreckage.
There were a few ‘important people’ who had to be kept out of the carnage that was palnned for that day, so they were advised not to go to work. Needless to say, the elites were not the least concerned about deaths of ‘proles’: the elitesd have always regarded the masses as ‘cannon-fodder’ and always will (58,000 casualties in one week in the Battle of the Somme: run towards that machine gun or be shor here).
The event on the day went well for the elites and the preplanned attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq were soon underway.
However, after the event were many reports of serious inconsistencies in the official narrative. After stonewalling for months Bush and company decided it would be best to set up a ‘commision’ that could ignore all the evidence that blew holes in the official narrative and could churn out a whitewash report that validated the lies. That was done by several other members of the gang.
So there you have it. In all of history only three concrete and steel buidling have ever fallen down as a result of short-lived, low temperature fires, and they all did it on the same day, one (Building Seven) not even having been hit by a plane. In all of history only two passenger airliners have crashed in such a way that the titanium alloy engines ‘evaporated’ on impact.
Just ensure that the ‘proles’ were sufficiently brainwashed, the footage was shown again and again and again and again and again, with the words terreor, terrorist, terrorism bleated incessantly.
The sad thing is, we live in a scientifically illiterate society in which any kind of drivel is believed by the masses.
Interestingly, the Project New American Century website that promoted rampant militarism and listed the names of so many of the criminals involved in the 9/11 scam has been amended and it now looks quite innocuous.
We can be quite certain that the myths promoted by the eltites are now so firmly established in the moinds of most people they are irremovable. After all ‘they saw it on TV so it must be true’.
Presumably next year there will be yet another ‘celebration’ of one of the biggest lies in all of history. Howevre, the collapse of the economy due to global peak oil will have progressed a bit further by then and few more people might have woken from the collective trance.
Your promotion of conspiracy fairies like this doesn’t help your credibility on your “the end of the world as we know it is imminent” warnings.
Have to agree with you pete, some people are flogging a dead here for sure.
But don’t worry they have one of those honest Italian judges looking into it, and I have know doubt he will get to the bottom of something.
Typo sorry that was meant to read “flogging a dead horse”
“they have one of those honest Italian judges” – Mr Smith
Ferdinando Imposimato is the Honorary President of the Supreme Court of Italy. As a former Senior Investigative Judge in Italy, he presided over several terrorism-related cases, including the kidnapping and ultimate assassination of President Aldo Moro, the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, and other political assassinations and kidnapping cases and several cases against the Mafia. He is a former Senator who served on the Anti-Mafia Commission in three administrations and a former legal consultant to the United Nations regarding institution of laws to control drug trafficking.
What, fairies at the bottom of the garden! I like the concept of conspiracy fairies. Let’s adopt it.
To Pete George and to Mr Smith and every other denier who thinks they know best
If you thought the past ten years were annoying as Truthers bugged you with their silly stories then you had better be prepared. Soon there is going to be a unifying core of information, The Toronto Hearings Report. You and all the other hollow minded minions are going to be downright swarmed by Truth. It does not mean that every post in every blog is going to be inundated or the Newspapers are going to suddenly make reality a news story. It means that as the information being presented goes through the natural stages of conversion, i would step back a bit from the hearth. Currently it just being discussed then it gets digested and then converted into action. That is when it will get really interesting.
The Toronto Hearings will be producing a comprehensive formal report and an appendix heavy DVD which will be unlike any before. The call of the deniers is always the same, where is the evidence, well right now it is sitting in hard drives and vaults in Toronto and in a few months the panelists will release their findings. The Report will be published and you can all see for the first time the incontravertable reality that the events of September 11 2001 did not occur as presented in the (everchanging) accounts of the Official Story . Remember Truth is not about us deciding what did and did not happen, it is about securing an honest and open investigation into the events of that day so the survivors, the families and the World, know the crime was at least investigated. The chance of pointing a finger and getting a conversion is slim to none, we all know that. This is about an Investigation. An Investigation which through the events described and the evidence being discovered would be its own trial, judgement and sentence. A lasting sentence, woven into the fabric of Society, more permanent and more damning than any court could ever provide. We often hear of the thousands killed on 9/11. Would it shock you to discover that to date there has still not been a single murder inquiry regarding any of the deaths on 9/11.
I have ‘attended’ every minute of the past three days of the Toronto Hearings, with one more day to go. One thing is clear though, ‘Impossible’ does not begin to describe the shitstorm mission that deniers have in front of them when this evidence gets into the Public Domain, let alone when it arrives in a court of law.
Your dreams of safety in the warm and bloodsoaked arms of the Official Lie are going to get a very rude awakening. If you do not open your eyes soon then you will only have yourself to blame when that sick feeling in your gut spreads to destroy more of your life and the lives of those you love.
The evidence presented by and in front of experts in many fields has been disturbing in the clear, concise and damning nature of its accuracy, validity and legitimacy. No doubt the lengths some will go to ensure this evidence goes no further is what really will be the nail in the coffin of the deniers. If the Truth is so easy to refute, why are you not watching the Hearings and commenting. If your denials are so strong where are your questions that will show up the expert witnesses.
In short if you thought the matter was over because of a few songs and some coordinated media strikes reminding you of an illusion you swallowed ten years ago, then i have a little message
WAKE UP
This hearing is as real as it gets! There will be a lot more to come but for now just look at your families friends and loved ones, imagine they have all been slaughtered and quietly ask yourself:
Would the investigaton of their murder really matter?
or would you just shrug and accept someone’s word because they said so?
the Objectives of the Hearings, the attending panelists, moderators and guests are all here
http://torontohearings.org/
Videos of the past three days and tomorrow’s live stream can be found here
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thetorontohearings
Day four
NZT Monday, September 12, 2011
01:00 – 01:15 Moderators: Opening remarks and Moment of Silence
01:15 – 02:45 David Ray Griffin: Anomalies of Flights 77 and 93
02:45 – 04:00 Peter Dale Scott: 9/11 and Deep State Politics
05:00 – 06:00 Laurie Manwell: SCADs and Psychological Resistance to
Alternative Accounts
07:00 – 8:15 Senator Mike Gravel: State Deception in the Past and Today
08:30 – 09:15 Audience Question and Answer
Respect, Aroha and Peace
Well certainly looking forward to all those people coming forward that conspired Freedom, and the up coming trail should be great, but won’t be holding my breath. Maybe I will just wait for the movie with the hollywood ending.
There won’t be any sinking feeling for me either Freedom and to be honest, I couldn’t give a flying fuck about the USA or their conspiracy theories, I live in New Zealand and realized a long time ago that I’m not going to change the world, especially if I can’t even change my neighbors outlook first, so I try to keep it local, but I don’t forget to have my fun and live my life.
Your hubris is juvenile and selfish. Again you miss the point and your movie crack only proves how vacuous are the views of those who deny what happened. That sort of ‘joke’ only emphasises the ignorance of your outlook. Do you honestly believe we exist in some magical isolation from the web of this world. The search for Truth is not about a trial.
The chances of getting anyone prosecuted is slim to none.
9/11 Truth is about AN OPEN AND LEGITIMATE INVESTIGATION.
What about that can you not understand?
Freedom calling me Juvenile and selfish gets you no closer to your truth.
“The chances of getting anyone prosecuted is slim to none.”
That tends to happen when you don’t have a case Freedom, but thats right you are only after the truth.
“What about that can you not understand?”
What I don’t understand is why you can’t just let it go and move on, there was no conspiracy, and even if there was there is no way you will ever prove it or find the truth now, let it go.
“What I don’t understand is why you can’t just let it go and move on”
True, It takes the focus of investigating possible war crimes that have occurred since 9/11. I hear Tony Blair is calling for regime change in Syria and Iran now. Middle East peace envoy …. pfft.
Afewknowthetruth:
Again, my post was for the victims of 9/11.
Secondly I dont believe it was a control demolition, but thats another post.
I posted what i did, because its the tenth anniversary, and it was posted to remember the victims and the victims famalies and what americans went through.
The best way to honour the victims of 9/11 and the multitude of people who have died in wars following on from 9/11 is to establish the truth and have the criminals who orchestrated 9/11 brought to justice.
The chance of that is close zero of course, since the elites who were responsible for 9/11 -Bush, Cheney, Rice etc, pehaps even Tony B Liar- are all above the law and are closely connected to the present gang of elites -Obama, Clinton, Cameron, Harper, Key etc. who are destroying the economies of the western world and are destroying the global environment in the name of oil company profits.
ok Brett, if you do not think it was controlled demo, how did WTC 1, WTC 2 & WTC 7 fail?
BTW Brett an explanation regarding events at the Pentagon would be really useful also, especially after the official Story got annihilated top to bottom at Toronto over the weekend
More good interviews on Chris Laidlaw Radionz this morning. One on Chile. Comment that the present, or recent leader of that country is right wing, but an affable chap, wealthy – sound like the stereotype of Joky Hen? Also the Chilean one went to Harvard the nest of neo liberals or am I wrong.
Most of their young economists trained at Uni of Chicago under Milton Friedman who was developing his theory on the free market and neo liberalism. It is said that Chile was his first proving ground for his ideas. I wish I could get the ear of NZ govt for some of the good social theories that aren’t new, they have been around for long time. (But like what they say of Christianity – sounds like a good idea pity no-one has ever tried it yet.) But no the education here is directed along lines that run through the dollar – strictly uncatholic (with a small ‘c’ note).
That ‘Ideas’ slot this morning was excellent. That Chilean you mention was very articulate and moving. Then there was the VUW academic who provided an excellent analysis of the major protests and political (neo-liberal entrapped) environment.
Here’s the audio here
Oh, yes, and I noticed the remarkable similarity between the Chilean Prime Minister and ours. Affable, smiley, made his millions before becoming PM, has unified the right and centre …
The only difference is that their PM (and government) is facing protests by hundreds of thousands – ‘Someone else’s Country’ all over again.
Hey Puddleglum – Did you note the theme that continues through the Chilean system – that there are many wealthy people who have bought into the government infrastructure and own the major top earning companies?
And the public have supported a centrist coalition in the belief that things were going to improve, even if slowly, but now that there is a change to the right they have galvanised for action because that means a worse life for the majority, less opportunities to improve living conditions. And that university education has been privatised and is now out of reach of most of the young people.
Is it possibly true that Don Brash is claiming a Leaders Salary from Parliament in his capacity as a vote losing Leader of the ACT party?
The man hasn’t been a democratically elected cretin Member of Parliament, so therefore has no right to claim a salary.
Can anyone confirm this?
Another tornado hits Auckland.
No deaths reported, but there could easily have been.
Can we just ignore this anymore?
I am over 50 and have lived my whole life in Auckland and this threatening weather phenomenon has never impinged my consciousness before.
How many more of these events can we expect this year, or the next?
When will my suburb/home be hit?
Test bug with auto-embeds enabled and Jetpack short-code embeds enabled allowing video embedding in comments
http://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/1316
Turned off Jetpack short-code embeds and the problem is fixed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0olef0e4JM&feature=related
Fixed. Problem with wordpress auto-embeds and jetpack
Typical: I go and die for a few days with the flu and a new feature bug turns up
Oh there there. Seems you’re over it and sparking, hope that’s the case.
‘
Auckland’s Tornado Ally