The People’s Bailout = OWS goes to the mattresses!
Quote:
“Now OWS is launching the ROLLING JUBILEE, a program that has been in development for months. OWS is going to start buying distressed debt (medical bills, student loans, etc.) in order to forgive it. As a test run, we spent $500, which bought $14,000 of distressed debt. We then ERASED THAT DEBT. (If you’re a debt broker, once you own someone’s debt you can do whatever you want with it — traditionally, you hound debtors to their grave trying to collect. We’re playing a different game. A MORE AWESOME GAME.)”
If that is actually feasible in NZ we need to go for it. Forgiving debt like this gives families the opportunity to get out of the poverty trap which is imposible on low wages if you have a debt millstone around your neck. It only takes one dentists bill to screw you over for a very long time… we also need to sort out some sort of dental subsidisation I know too many people with screwed teeth and no way to afford the work…
Wow. Sometimes it is possible, when creditors have given up, to buy a collection of debt for only a few cents on the dollar.
However, the difficulty is ensuring understanding the detail of the underlying debt that efforts go to helping the right people…eg not a millionaire property developer who has walked away from his leaky building project…
When you buy the debt, you buy the ownership title to that debt. You now own it instead of say, the bank’s credit card division which used to own the debt.
And the credit card indebted person now owes the money to YOU not to the originator of the debt (the bank’s credit card division in this example).
If you can understand this, and that debts can be collected together in bundles, and then be considered as cashflow generating assets which can be bought and sold, you’ll also start to understand how the Mortgaged Backed Securities (MBS) subprime crisis happened.
Often too businesses sell debt at a portion of it’s value.
I’m owed $500-00. I can spend $ and time chasing this up or sell it too someone else (say a debt collector) for $200-00. I get some of my money back which helps my cash flow, write off the rest and the debt collector carries the cost of the time and the risk he won’t get his money back.
It’s also why lots of times you can’t pay the money owing back to the firm you owed it too.
Quote:
“In his later years, Stephen had moved from campaigning for the decriminalization of marijuana to focussing on medical cannabis. Green Cross was the realization of that activism. It provided medical quality marijuana to patients with a doctor’s prescription. NZ law allows for doctors to prescribe synthetic marijuana and the 2010 Law Commission review called for that to be widened to organic marijuana as well.
That’s where Green Cross came in. They had a list of patients with doctor’s prescriptions whose illnesses ranged from those with chronic pain to cancer. Synthetic product did not work for many of these people.”
Don’t think Bradbury has made his case yet. Will see what he comes up with in parts 2 and 3. There is more background to why someone kills themselves than Bradbury has presented, and to make the case that the police tactics pushed McIntyre to take his own life would involve the police knowing about the background.
I can understand Bradbury’s anger and sadness at the loss of his friend, and am sure that the police’s actions were bullying and unnecessary.
The way the article reads
The admin privileges
– allow alteration of teachers bank accounts numbers.
– may allow access to teachers bank account to remove money.
So you could divert the teachers salary to your account, or just remove money.
Foss said he had been advised it was “not possible” to confirm that funds had not been diverted.
HUH
“The principal then contacted Novopay who took those admin rights away for that school and gave her admin rights for another school, again.”
HUH
Novopay business owner Rebecca Elvy said the system was rigorously tested to ensure it is a secure online service.
“We take the security of payroll data and employees’ personal information very seriously,” she said.
SURE
Novopay business owner Rebecca Elvy said the system was rigorously tested to ensure it is a secure online service.
“We take the security of payroll data and employees’ personal information very seriously,” she said.
SURE
Fuck yeah, the suffering of these men, this boy or this boy all wrapped up muzza in a glib reference to your own lunacy…. false flag and you’d have had the double.
Joe people died and suffered, absolutely they did/do, but like fcuk, should people not want to learn and understand that those who suffered and died, just like we see in the ME and other parts of the world now, have been and are being used.
That includes family members of mine who served and died!
Why is it that we only care about war fighters and workers after they are dead? They go to war and fight for some obscure reason, that has an outcome more uncertain than a USA presidential election.
It seems that we assuage our callousness as human beings with this token Anzac Day and other remembrances, a good chance to see guns fired and uniforms. And the people running the commemoration do not like anti-war protests. Says a lot.
My birth father did his best and now lies underground in France. He had principles and would be shocked to see what has happened to us all since the War to end all Wars.
And now we are going to spend millions of dollars on some new symbolic edifice to the dead and gone. Let’s instead invest the money into Scholarships, a Trust in their name helping their grandchildren’s children and the country under whose banner they went forth.
I’m hopeful that John Banks will have a fair and unbiased trial, which will eventuate in a guilty verdict for a corrupt practice. A prosecution and conviction for such an offense would undoubtedly mean an end to Banks’ political career, and force a by-election in Epsom…
The Royal Commission finding that there was a culture of production before safety is damning.
The company’s failures are unforgivable. But it would have been comforting if the inquiry had found at least one hero within officialdom, a quiet but determined whistle blower, someone who spoke up, but who was either shushed or ignored.
There used to be a time when you could rely on that. No more.
The culture which has percolated from the top down is built around a fear of repercussions. Reports to the minister are carefully framed. Stark warnings about death and destruction go down like a cup of cold proverbial.
They are a gun to the minister’s head. They are brown envelope fodder, a leak waiting to happen. That’s why they are never sent.
The only documents leaked these days seem to concern pay and conditions. Maybe it’s time to bring back the cardigan wearers.
So part of the the problem within the government sector that was responsible for regulating the mine was that the people feared speaking truth to power.
Well it’s not a democracy then is it? It’s a dictatorship in order to protect those at the top. Don’t speak the truth about problems because they could be used politically against various politicians just shows what a total sham the us against them system is… And the result in this case is lost lives. Don’t expect the government to identify and fix the problem though. What a bunch of culpable idiots!
So far, the only information released has been about the two “concept camps” run at the end of 2010, which showed all but two of the 17 teens on the programme went on to reoffend. Requests for information about the 78 participants in the seven camps run since were refused by both the Ministry for Social Development and its Associate Minister Chester Borrows, who said making public the information about the “nature of offences or offending” could identify the youth involved.
Which is a load of bollocks because offenders are identified in court anyway unless they’re under-age in which case their identities are rightly protected but in that case naming the offences won’t identify the perpetrators.
….But the prize for shameless disaster capitalism surely goes to right-wing economist Russell S. Sobel, writing in a New York Times online forum. Sobel suggested that, in hard-hit areas, FEMA should create “free trade zones—in which all normal regulations, licensing and taxes[are] suspended.” This corporate free-for-all would, apparently, “better provide the goods and services victims need.”
Yes that’s right: this catastrophe very likely created by climate change—a crisis born of the colossal regulatory failure to prevent corporations from treating the atmosphere as their open sewer—is just one more opportunity for more deregulation. And the fact that this storm has demonstrated that poor and working-class people are far more vulnerable to the climate crisis shows that this is clearly the right moment to strip those people of what few labor protections they have left, as well as to privatize the meager public services available to them. Most of all, when faced with an extraordinarily costly crisis born of corporate greed, hand out tax holidays to corporations…..
……..For a long time, climate change was treated by environmentalists as a great equalizer, the one issue that affected everyone, rich or poor. They failed to account for the myriad ways by which the superrich would protect themselves from the less savory effects of the economic model that made them so wealthy. In the past six years, we have seen the emergence of private firefighters in the United States, hired by insurance companies to offer a “concierge” service to their wealthier clients, as well as the short-lived “HelpJet”—a charter airline in Florida that offered five-star evacuation services from hurricane zones. “No standing in lines, no hassle with crowds, just a first class experience that turns a problem into a vacation.” And, post-Sandy, upscale real estate agents are predicting that back-up power generators will be the new status symbol with the penthouse and mansion set.
It seems that for some, climate change is imagined less as a clear and present danger than as a kind of spa vacation; nothing that the right combination of bespoke services and well-curated accessories can’t overcome. That, at least, was the impression left by the Barneys New York pre-Sandy sale—which offered deals on Sencha green tea, backgammon sets and $500 throw blankets so its high-end customers could “settle in with style”. Let the rest of the world eat “social strategies, formal or informal.”
……there are changes we can make that actually have a chance of getting our emissions down to the level science demands. These include relocalizing our economies (so we are going to need those farmers where they are); vastly expanding and reimagining the public sphere to not just hold back the next storm but to prevent even worse disruptions in the future; regulating the hell out of corporations and reducing their poisonous political power; and reinventing economics so it no longer defines success as the endless expansion of consumption.
These are approaches to the crisis would help rebuild the real economy at a time when most of us have had it with speculative bubbles. They would create lasting jobs at a time when they are urgently needed. And they would strengthen our ties to one another and to our communities— goals that, while abstract, can nonetheless save lives in a crisis.
Just as the Great Depression and the Second World War launched populist movements that claimed as their proud legacies social safety nets across the industrialized world, so climate change can be a historic moment to usher in the next great wave of progressive change. Moreover, none of the anti-democratic trickery I described in The Shock Doctrine is necessary to advance this agenda. Far from seizing on the climate crisis to push through unpopular policies, our task is to seize upon it to demand a truly populist agenda.
The reconstruction from Sandy is a great place to start road testing these ideas. Unlike the disaster capitalists who use crisis to end-run democracy, a People’s Recovery (as many from the Occupy movement are already demanding) would call for new democratic processes, including neighborhood assemblies, to decide how hard-hit communities should be rebuilt. The overriding principle must be addressing the twin crises of inequality and climate change at the same time. For starters, that means reconstruction that doesn’t just create jobs but jobs that pay a living wage. It means not just more public transit, but energy efficient affordable housing along those transit lines. It also means not just more renewable power but democratic community control over those projects.
But at the same time as we ramp up alternatives, we need to step up the fight against the forces actively making the climate crisis worse. Regardless of who wins the election, that means standing firm against the continued expansion of the fossil fuel sector into new and high-risk territories, whether through tar sands, fracking, coal exports to China or Arctic drilling. It also means recognizing the limits of political pressure and going after the fossil fuel companies directly, as we are doing at 350.org with our “Do The Math” tour. These companies have shown that they are willing to burn five times as much carbon as the most conservative estimates say is compatible with a livable planet. We’ve done the math, and we simply can’t let them……
……. The good news is that this is a crime in progress; it is still within our power to stop it. Let’s make sure that this time, the good guys win.
The reconstruction from Sandy is a great place to start road testing these ideas. Unlike the disaster capitalists who use crisis to end-run democracy, a People’s Recovery (as many from the Occupy movement are already demanding) would call for new democratic processes, including neighborhood assemblies, to decide how hard-hit communities should be rebuilt. The overriding principle must be addressing the twin crises of inequality and climate change at the same time. For starters, that means reconstruction that doesn’t just create jobs but jobs that pay a living wage. It means not just more public transit, but energy efficient affordable housing along those transit lines. It also means not just more renewable power but democratic community control over those projects.
Naomi Kline
Christchurch should also be a place for road testing new forms of democracy like neighborhood assemblies, to decide how hard hit communities should be rebuilt.
Unfortunately the disaster capitalists are in the saddle in Christchurch and are determined to use the crisis as end run on democracy in the region. The exact opposite of what should be done. You can guarantee that rather than rather than pay a living wage to the workers actually doing the rebuild. the big contractors will be using the disaster as an excuse break down wages and conditions to line their own pockets. These same big contractors, favorites of the National Party, will be awarded huge pork barrel contracts from the taxpayer account, which will all be hidden from public scrutiny and democratic oversight by Brownly and others on the grounds of “commercial sensitivity”. With the huge fortunes that are going to be made in Christchurch by the disaster capitalists with the compliance of their anti-democratic political supporters in National, the Christchurch Earthquake was not bad news just different kind of good news.
We have already seen the scandalous waste of taxpayers money that results when a favourite of the Government was paid an undisclosed amount to provide camper vans for temporary accommodation that was never used by those who needed it because the rentals were way too expensive.
I forgot to mention the disaster capitalists opportunistic use of the Christchurch earthquake disaster to attack social provision in the region, starting it seems with the schools and the school children and families they serve. Whoo hoo, if we can keep this up, a chance of more tax cuts for the rich folk.
“Do you, Cameron Slater, agree that both John Banks and Don Brash should have both been charged as former fellow Directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd, for signing Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 which contained untrue statments – a STRICT LIABILITY offence under s.58(3) of the Securities Act?
PS: If anyone has contact details for Graham McCready – I’m rather keen to have a chat about his private prosecution of John Banks over allegations that he filed a false electoral return for his 2012 Auckland mayoral campaign.
very lolworthy, tv3 just called john keys wife ‘the first lady’, jeez, little america. (i know, i shouldnt watch that crap but im always curious to what they show & dont show (for e.g. no mention of the novapay scandal))
very lolworthy, tv3 just called john keys wife ‘the first lady’, jeez, little america
TV3 always are Little America! For years when we lived in Mt Eden/Albert, we couldn’t get TV1, so I got used to 3 News, and apathy means I don’t change, and so I am familiar with their quirks. Good thing I don’t rely on only them for news!
They have never referred to Bush or Obama as ‘the American President’ but just ‘the president’… also, there are other little things they do. Like Leighton Smith, they report what Steve Wright on the BBC WS used to call ‘bizarre news stories’ from the USA, as if they are local, very misleadingly sometimes.
And it looks like this government’s anti-democratic ways are now starting to get official notice:
Axing Environment Canterbury elections until at least 2016 is a breach of the Government’s commitment to democracy, New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission says.
Chief human rights commissioner David Rutherford yesterday hit out at the Government for introducing the Environment Canterbury (Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Bill, during a Local Government and Environment Select Committee meeting.
Rutherford said the bill breached some of the international human rights commitments the Government had made.
Now, I wonder if the government can be taken to court over those breach of rights.
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A Waitomo-based Jobs for Nature project will keep up to ten people employed in the village as the tourism sector recovers post Covid-19 Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “This $500,000 project will save ten local jobs by deploying workers from Discover Waitomo into nature-based jobs. They will be undertaking local ...
Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw spoke yesterday with President Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. “I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Kerry this morning about the urgency with which our governments must confront the climate emergency. I am grateful to him and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today announced three diplomatic appointments: Alana Hudson as Ambassador to Poland John Riley as Consul-General to Hong Kong Stephen Wong as Consul-General to Shanghai Poland “New Zealand’s relationship with Poland is built on enduring personal, economic and historical connections. Poland is also an important ...
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...
A skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whānau, and ...
The green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rice, Professor of Management, University of New England Elon Musk is now the world’s richest person, edging out previous title holder Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. His rocketing fortune is due to the booming share price of Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles ...
There are now three returnees who contracted the virus in the Auckland isolation facility then left into the community while positive. These are some of the questions that need to be resolved. At 10.20pm last night the Ministry of Health confirmed that the two cases they’d been treating as probable ...
Having a hard time remembering to scan in on the NZ Covid Tracer app when you’re out and about? Get this song stuck in your head and you’ll never forget again.Learn the lyrics:Aotearoa, it’s time to get scanning!I mean if you think about it, it never really wasn’t time we ...
We conclude our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with a review of his stories by John Newton Roger Hickin’s Cold Hub Press is one of the small miracles of contemporary New Zealand publishing. Over the last decade, on what can only be a shoe-string budget, the ...
Thursday 28th January, AUCKLAND: Drive Electric, the not-for-profit with one mission – making electric vehicle uptake in New Zealand mainstream, welcomes the announcement by the Government today as a sign of what’s to come through 2021, and we are confident ...
The Government announced today key policy decisions on the proposed clean car policies. The MIA has stated on many occasions that we support well thought out and constructive policies that will lead to an increased rate in the reduction of CO2 emissions from ...
Get wild, get cultured, get fed and then get to bed: the essential guide to a perfect few days in the southern city. There’s one thing that preoccupies the staff of The Spinoff almost as much as arranging popular food items into arbitrary lists, and that’s Dunedin. A quite remarkable ...
John Banks’ racist exchange with a Magic Talk listener on Tuesday was the latest in nearly 50 years of talkback controversies. Donna Chisholm has the receipts.John Banks axed over Māori ‘stone age culture’ comments on Magic Talk1972: On Radio I, sports talkback host Tim Bickerstaff launches a “Punch a Pom ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission.Two new community Covid-19 cases have been identified as the more infectious South African variant, but Auckland Mayor Phil Goff sayit would be "premature to go into lockdown now". The two new cases of Covid-19 identified in the ...
Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine in Southland to Fonterra’s ...
KiwiRail STOP Hauling COAL Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Dunn, Associate professor, University of Sydney The government is rolling out a new public information campaign this week to reassure the public about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, which one expert has said “couldn’t be more crucial” to people actually getting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan University The COVID vaccine rollout has placed the issue of vaccination firmly in the spotlight. A successful rollout will depend on a variety of factors, one of which is vaccine acceptance. One potential hurdle to vaccine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernard Walker, Associate Professor in Organisations and Leadership, University of Canterbury Kiwis know what it’s like when life throws curveballs. We’ve had major quakes, floods, fires, an eruption, a terrorist attack and now a pandemic. In those situations, it’s the ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Irwin, Emeritus professor, Murdoch University While we continue to be occupied with the COVID pandemic, another life-threatening disease has emerged in northern Australia, one that’s cause for considerable alarm for the millions of dog owners around the country. This disease — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cath Ferguson, Academic, Edith Cowan University Almost half of Australian adults struggle with reading. Similar levels of struggling readers are reported in the United Kingdom and United States. This does not mean all struggling readers are illiterate. It means they often struggle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abbas Shieh, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design, Islamic Azad University The industrial revolution transformed cities, resulting in places of residence and work becoming more distant than ever before. This spatial segregation is still largely embedded in the design of our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: Occupation: Rainfall, written and directed by Luke Sparke Historically, when a sequel to a film was greenlit, you could rest assured this was because the first film made a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 28, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tourism suffers in the shadow of Covid-19, two new positive cases in Auckland confirmed, and National will contest the Māori electorates.The front page of the January 4 Greymouth Star carried grim tidings for several of the glacier towns on the ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Two people who left managed isolation on January 15 have been confirmed as positive Covid-19 cases, with the Ministry of Health urging anyone who visited the same locations during the same time period as the infected pair in Auckland to ...
The watchlist of 'offensive or unreasonable' babies' names is to be reviewed, to include more names from other languages. Generations of the Īhaka family have played a meaningful role in bringing Te Reo and stories of Māori to our wider community. Archdeacon Sir Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka (Te Aupōuri, 1921-93) was known as the orator of ...
After Morocco’s flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara on Friday 13 November 2020 war broke out between the two sides. In the midst of this war Tauranga based Ballance Agri-Nutrients has decided to carry on importing phosphate ...
Nicholas Agar suggests that our handling of the pandemic could be partly down to our distinctive Treaty of Waitangi relationship, and Māori ideas that enabled us to make it through without tens of thousands of deaths A mission for universities in the coming decade will be a deep understanding of the meaning ...
A young girl who once sent $5 to an embattled America's Cup team is now among the women on the water helping run the contest for the Auld Mug. As an eager and generous nine-year-old, Melanie Roberts posted a letter, with a $5 note, to OneAustralia’s America’s Cup team. It was 1995, ...
At 5am today, cock’s crow, the embargo lifted on the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist. Here are the books in the race, followed by thoughts from poetry editor Chris Tse and books editor Catherine Woulfe. A shortlist of four books in each category will be announced March 3, with ...
Ignoring those QR codes when you drop into the supermarket? Can’t be bothered when you grab a coffee? The people serving you notice, and you’re freaking them out.So far, New Zealanders’ use of the Covid-19 Tracer app has been notably woeful. Food industry workers who’ve watched streams of customers walk ...
Steve Braunias reveals the longlist of the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards Apart from one or two unfortunate omissions which cast doubt on the sanity and intellectual acumen of judges, especially the nobodies who judged this year's non-fiction, the longlist for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards is ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea’s biggest hospital is straining to provide medical services to the growing population of the capital Port Moresby – with an estimated growth rate of 3 percent annually, a medical executive says. Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Nationals who attend Thursday’s memorial service in Tweed Heads for Doug Anthony, who died last month aged 90, may muse on the contrast between the state of their party when he led it and now. ...
Returning to quarantine-free travel in 2021 doesn't just need a vaccine, but a way to check whether arriving passengers are actually immune to the virus. A smart Kiwi science start-up is working with a global biometrics giant to make that happen. A deal signed between Kiwi research and development company Orbis Diagnostics, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlyn Forster, PhD Candidate, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney This summer’s wetter conditions have created great conditions for flowering plants. Flowers provide sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen, attracting many insects, including bees. Commercial honey bees are also thriving: ...
Lotto scratchie tickets featuring the pop band Six60 are being withdrawn after a public backlash. In a statement, Lotto NZ said there had been a mutual decision made with the band to remove the tickets from sale following the negative feedback, and it offered an apology. The band faced criticism, both ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England Shell-crushing predation was already in full swing half a billion years ago, as our new research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals. A hyena devouring ...
Vodafone has suspended advertising on the radio station amid calls for talkback host John Banks to be taken off air after yet another racist outburst. Alex Braae reports. In an alarming segment of talkback radio, former Auckland mayor John Banks endorsed the views of a caller who described Māori as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Welch, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland When a COVID-19 case was found in Northland last Sunday, Aotearoa’s second-longest period with no detected community case came to an end. ESR scientists worked late into Sunday night to obtain a whole genome sequence ...
He has the perfect moustache, an exceptional mullet, and he uses terms like ‘face hole’ on national TV. Who or what is Dr Joel Rindelaub?I was drawn in by the moustache, but it was the mullet that really kept me there. Watching TVNZ’s Breakfast yesterday morning I was fixated. Often, ...
We’ll never be royals with nearly a quarter of declined baby names featuring “Royal” in some form or another. Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs has released the list of names declined in 2020 by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and ...
After a raft of inquiries delving into and recommending what should be done about the politically beleaguered Orangi Tamaraki, along with the briefing papers we suppose he has been given, we imagined Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis would have no more need for expert advice. Wrong. He has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University There’s a common assumption men take longer than women to poo. People say so on Twitter, in memes, and elsewhereonline. But is that right? What could explain it? And if ...
Just as sexuality is a spectrum, so too is asexuality. In Ace of Hearts, members of New Zealand’s asexual community talk about the challenges and misconceptions of identifying as ace.First published November 17, 2020.Ace of Hearts is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff.“A ...
Sam Brooks wasn’t allowed to watch kids TV as a kid. Now, as a 30 year old man, he watches it for the first time.My mother’s approach to parenting was unorthodox. I wrote weekly book reports on top of my actual homework, I did maths equations in Roman numerals and ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk More leading Indonesian figures have made racial slurs against Natalius Pigai, former chair of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) – and all West Papuans, says United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda. “Since the illegal Indonesian invasion in 1963, Indonesian ...
“The Government’s failure to even conduct a standard cost-benefit analysis for the most expensive infrastructure project in New Zealand’s history is mind-bogglingly arrogant,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “A ...
The Ministry of Health is today drawing backlash from the local New Zealand vaping industry following its release of proposed regulations for the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act. Vaping Trade Association New Zealand (VTANZ) President, ...
Sophie Gilmour and Simon Day are joined by special guest Hugo Baird, co-owner of Grey Lynn’s Honey Bones and Lilian, to talk about opening new pub Hotel Ponsonby.Auckland is a city of many bars but few really good pubs – the kind of places you’d be just as comfortable going ...
The appointment of an advisory board for Oranga Tamariki is welcome and should be a step toward a total transformation of the care and protection system to a by Māori, for Māori approach, Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft said today. Minister ...
Taking control of your financial wellbeing can have cascading positive impacts for your life and it can also be fun. With the help of the team at Kiwi Wealth, we’ve compiled some simple tricks for balancing your books in 2021. There’s something about the beginning of a new year, especially after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology As we know, getting into New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult. There are practicalities, such as high airfare and managed isolation costs. And there are legal requirements, including pre-flight testing, mandatory ...
New Zealand faces the risk of a generation being locked out of the housing market unless land is freed up and more houses built, National Party leader Judith Collins says. ...
On Sunday, Stuff published a months-long investigation by Alison Mau detailing allegations of harassment and exploitation within the local music industry.The piece, ‘Music industry professionals demand change after speaking out about its dark side’, includes allegations of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power by male artists, international acts and executives; ...
“The Government is all at sea on timelines for Australia and New Zealand’s respective vaccine roll-outs, with the worst news coming from the mouth of Pfizer Australia CEO Anne Harris,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Yesterday, under increasing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Higgins, Senior Research Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden promised the US would demonstrate “global leadership on refugees”. Once elected, he pledged to vastly increase refugee resettlement in the US. If history is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Baumann, Casual Academic, School of Social Sciences & Psychology, Western Sydney University Among the many hard truths exposed by COVID-19 is the huge disparity between the world’s rich and poor. As economies went into freefall, the world’s billionaires increased their already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jan Lanicek, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and Jewish History, UNSW On January 27 communities worldwide commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz — the largest complex of concentration camps and extermination centres during the Holocaust. This is the first year the International ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorinda Cramer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Australian Catholic University The summer break is over, marking a return to the office. For some, this ends almost a year of working from home in lockdown. Some analysts are predicting it might also mark an enduring ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 27, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato New Zealand has a strong history of protecting and promoting human rights at home and internationally, and prides itself on being an outspoken critic and global leader in this area. So, when the most ...
Good morning and welcome to the Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins outlines the plan forward for National, no spread of Covid spotted yet in Northland, and students return for climate protest.In front of a Rotary Club at the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, National leader Judith Collins yesterday set out her ...
*This articlefirst appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The tourism industry isn't holding its breath for a trans-Tasman travel bubble being in place after Australia temporarily closed its borders to New Zealand. New Zealanders could be waiting even longer for a full trans-Tasman bubble, with the ...
We continue our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with an essay by Anahera Gildea on cultural appropriation Every night at 7pm sharp, my Irish Catholic father and his eight siblings would have to kneel on the carpet of the living room, facing the freshly polished nudity of ...
A Covid reset will force costly and inflexible cities to take a hard look at their planning systems, or people will vote with their feet. Broken urban planning systems make for misery even in the best of times. If land use and housing regulations prevent metropolitan areas from growing up or out as ...
Children's Minister Kelvin Davis will have independent eyes and ears across Oranga Tamariki over the next five months as the Government tries to change the work and practices of the ministry. The Government has created a Māori-led watchdog to oversee how the children's ministry, Oranga Tamariki, deals with parents and ...
The People’s Bailout = OWS goes to the mattresses!
Quote:
“Now OWS is launching the ROLLING JUBILEE, a program that has been in development for months. OWS is going to start buying distressed debt (medical bills, student loans, etc.) in order to forgive it. As a test run, we spent $500, which bought $14,000 of distressed debt. We then ERASED THAT DEBT. (If you’re a debt broker, once you own someone’s debt you can do whatever you want with it — traditionally, you hound debtors to their grave trying to collect. We’re playing a different game. A MORE AWESOME GAME.)”
If that is actually feasible in NZ we need to go for it. Forgiving debt like this gives families the opportunity to get out of the poverty trap which is imposible on low wages if you have a debt millstone around your neck. It only takes one dentists bill to screw you over for a very long time… we also need to sort out some sort of dental subsidisation I know too many people with screwed teeth and no way to afford the work…
And make sure you floss, brush and gargle at least twice a day.
AWS. Sounds awesome!
Wow. Sometimes it is possible, when creditors have given up, to buy a collection of debt for only a few cents on the dollar.
However, the difficulty is ensuring understanding the detail of the underlying debt that efforts go to helping the right people…eg not a millionaire property developer who has walked away from his leaky building project…
How does this work? If I buy someone’s debt, doesn’t the person who the debt is owed to just now come after me?
Using a hypothetical example.
When you buy the debt, you buy the ownership title to that debt. You now own it instead of say, the bank’s credit card division which used to own the debt.
And the credit card indebted person now owes the money to YOU not to the originator of the debt (the bank’s credit card division in this example).
If you can understand this, and that debts can be collected together in bundles, and then be considered as cashflow generating assets which can be bought and sold, you’ll also start to understand how the Mortgaged Backed Securities (MBS) subprime crisis happened.
Often too businesses sell debt at a portion of it’s value.
I’m owed $500-00. I can spend $ and time chasing this up or sell it too someone else (say a debt collector) for $200-00. I get some of my money back which helps my cash flow, write off the rest and the debt collector carries the cost of the time and the risk he won’t get his money back.
It’s also why lots of times you can’t pay the money owing back to the firm you owed it too.
The debt no longer belongs to them.
I had no idea about the law around this issue so really glad I came across this story.
Tumeke exclusive: Did police tactics kill Steven McIntyre? (Below is the link to Part 1)
http://tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/tumeke-exclusive-did-nz-police-tactics.html
Quote:
“In his later years, Stephen had moved from campaigning for the decriminalization of marijuana to focussing on medical cannabis. Green Cross was the realization of that activism. It provided medical quality marijuana to patients with a doctor’s prescription. NZ law allows for doctors to prescribe synthetic marijuana and the 2010 Law Commission review called for that to be widened to organic marijuana as well.
That’s where Green Cross came in. They had a list of patients with doctor’s prescriptions whose illnesses ranged from those with chronic pain to cancer. Synthetic product did not work for many of these people.”
“Did police tactics kill Steven McIntyre?”
Don’t think Bradbury has made his case yet. Will see what he comes up with in parts 2 and 3. There is more background to why someone kills themselves than Bradbury has presented, and to make the case that the police tactics pushed McIntyre to take his own life would involve the police knowing about the background.
I can understand Bradbury’s anger and sadness at the loss of his friend, and am sure that the police’s actions were bullying and unnecessary.
Everything John Key’s crappy administration touches turns to shit for ordinary folk:-
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/7933869/Security-fears-in-teachers-pay-leak
The way the article reads
The admin privileges
– allow alteration of teachers bank accounts numbers.
– may allow access to teachers bank account to remove money.
So you could divert the teachers salary to your account, or just remove money.
Foss said he had been advised it was “not possible” to confirm that funds had not been diverted.
HUH
“The principal then contacted Novopay who took those admin rights away for that school and gave her admin rights for another school, again.”
HUH
Novopay business owner Rebecca Elvy said the system was rigorously tested to ensure it is a secure online service.
“We take the security of payroll data and employees’ personal information very seriously,” she said.
SURE
This is what happens when you starve the public service and give private providers carte blanche to do clumsy lazy incompetent shit.
Rigorously tested … blah blah blah
Secure online service … blah blah blah
“We take the security of payroll data and employees’ personal information very seriously” … blah blah blah
Bullshit detector is working overtime …
I am so glad to work for PTEs, now!
Codenames and numbers. Fucking great. What’s ‘Talent3?..or 1?…or whatever? Calling in a drone strike?
Lest we forget.
On the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
Quite something that we are expected to pay rememberance on a date and time representing the number 11, it being a “key” in satanic numerology!.
Using the war, deaths/injuries, physical, mental or otherwise, being remembered, is simply another ritual for the sicko’s in charge!
Least we forget, indeed!
What does the bloody American Remembrance Day have to do with anything Kiwi?
We have our own day that we use to recall war and sacrifice, remember? What was it called again?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day
Thanks…but the article says our national day of remembrance is Anzac Day. Doesn’t hurt to have another one later in the year I suppose.
The 11 11 11 is armistice day, the end of ww1.
Yes and it’s been marked here for around a century – since 1919. RSA NZ had a ceremonies today.
Fuck yeah, the suffering of these men, this boy or this boy all wrapped up muzza in a glib reference to your own lunacy…. false flag and you’d have had the double.
Joe people died and suffered, absolutely they did/do, but like fcuk, should people not want to learn and understand that those who suffered and died, just like we see in the ME and other parts of the world now, have been and are being used.
That includes family members of mine who served and died!
Why is it that we only care about war fighters and workers after they are dead? They go to war and fight for some obscure reason, that has an outcome more uncertain than a USA presidential election.
It seems that we assuage our callousness as human beings with this token Anzac Day and other remembrances, a good chance to see guns fired and uniforms. And the people running the commemoration do not like anti-war protests. Says a lot.
My birth father did his best and now lies underground in France. He had principles and would be shocked to see what has happened to us all since the War to end all Wars.
And now we are going to spend millions of dollars on some new symbolic edifice to the dead and gone. Let’s instead invest the money into Scholarships, a Trust in their name helping their grandchildren’s children and the country under whose banner they went forth.
Anti-Iran Stuxnet computer virus infects US corporations
You can’t make this shit up.
http://rt.com/usa/news/stuxnet-chevron-cyber-virus-348/
In other news, there has been a massive surge in the number of Americans on foodstamps, now 47.1M people.
Yes, they delayed the release of these AUGUST statistics until AFTER the Presidential Elections.
Banks not off the hook
I’m hopeful that John Banks will have a fair and unbiased trial, which will eventuate in a guilty verdict for a corrupt practice. A prosecution and conviction for such an offense would undoubtedly mean an end to Banks’ political career, and force a by-election in Epsom…
This is actually a fairly good article:
So part of the the problem within the government sector that was responsible for regulating the mine was that the people feared speaking truth to power.
That is indicative that our democracy is a sham.
Well it’s not a democracy then is it? It’s a dictatorship in order to protect those at the top. Don’t speak the truth about problems because they could be used politically against various politicians just shows what a total sham the us against them system is… And the result in this case is lost lives. Don’t expect the government to identify and fix the problem though. What a bunch of culpable idiots!
Minister keeps a lid on boot camp failure figures
Which is a load of bollocks because offenders are identified in court anyway unless they’re under-age in which case their identities are rightly protected but in that case naming the offences won’t identify the perpetrators.
Sunday (melancholy and the infinite sadness)
Caption time???
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/royals-remember-new-zealand-s-fallen-5208854
What on earth are Joky Hen and the chap behind him so interested in while HRH and his wife seem to be unfazed by?
Have they both squeezed one out and trying to look innocent?
Naomi Kline tells it like it is.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/06-1
A combination of Free Trade Zones and Free Fire Zones would be the ultimate American dream!
Christchurch should also be a place for road testing new forms of democracy like neighborhood assemblies, to decide how hard hit communities should be rebuilt.
Unfortunately the disaster capitalists are in the saddle in Christchurch and are determined to use the crisis as end run on democracy in the region. The exact opposite of what should be done. You can guarantee that rather than rather than pay a living wage to the workers actually doing the rebuild. the big contractors will be using the disaster as an excuse break down wages and conditions to line their own pockets. These same big contractors, favorites of the National Party, will be awarded huge pork barrel contracts from the taxpayer account, which will all be hidden from public scrutiny and democratic oversight by Brownly and others on the grounds of “commercial sensitivity”. With the huge fortunes that are going to be made in Christchurch by the disaster capitalists with the compliance of their anti-democratic political supporters in National, the Christchurch Earthquake was not bad news just different kind of good news.
We have already seen the scandalous waste of taxpayers money that results when a favourite of the Government was paid an undisclosed amount to provide camper vans for temporary accommodation that was never used by those who needed it because the rentals were way too expensive.
I forgot to mention the disaster capitalists opportunistic use of the Christchurch earthquake disaster to attack social provision in the region, starting it seems with the schools and the school children and families they serve. Whoo hoo, if we can keep this up, a chance of more tax cuts for the rich folk.
Anyone remember the Libertarian movement?
We need too shred those beliefs …… moronic anarchy.
Now these should put to rest all the BS about the left being big spenders of other peoples money:
http://www.johnpemberton.co.nz/html/government_debt.html
http://www.johnpemberton.co.nz/html/new_zealand_government_debt_eom.html
The facts are in, it’s the right that are the big spenders of other peoples money.
WONDERS WILL NEVER CEASE!
AM ABLE TO POST AGAIN ON CAMERON SLATER’S ‘WHALEOIL’ BLOG! 🙂
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2012/11/serial-troublemaker-alleged-blackmailer-graham-mcready-is-at-it-again/
“Do you, Cameron Slater, agree that both John Banks and Don Brash should have both been charged as former fellow Directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd, for signing Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 which contained untrue statments – a STRICT LIABILITY offence under s.58(3) of the Securities Act?
Yes or no?
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com”
______________________________________________________________________________
PS: If anyone has contact details for Graham McCready – I’m rather keen to have a chat about his private prosecution of John Banks over allegations that he filed a false electoral return for his 2012 Auckland mayoral campaign.
This government’s Track Record:
The wages of the top 1% have gone up pretty good, so Key and English have delivered.
Well, they delivered to their actual base. They just haven’t delivered anything that they promised to anyone else.
Brian Edwards excuses for cronyism
Perhaps it was the pervasive right wing stench of Duncan Garner that was clouding his thoughts, or perhaps he is truly that deluded…
very lolworthy, tv3 just called john keys wife ‘the first lady’, jeez, little america. (i know, i shouldnt watch that crap but im always curious to what they show & dont show (for e.g. no mention of the novapay scandal))
TV3 always are Little America! For years when we lived in Mt Eden/Albert, we couldn’t get TV1, so I got used to 3 News, and apathy means I don’t change, and so I am familiar with their quirks. Good thing I don’t rely on only them for news!
They have never referred to Bush or Obama as ‘the American President’ but just ‘the president’… also, there are other little things they do. Like Leighton Smith, they report what Steve Wright on the BBC WS used to call ‘bizarre news stories’ from the USA, as if they are local, very misleadingly sometimes.
And it looks like this government’s anti-democratic ways are now starting to get official notice:
Now, I wonder if the government can be taken to court over those breach of rights.