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.
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
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