Fine if you are well-placed to do those things. Pandemics are a classic example of things we can tackle most successfully through collective measures, not individual ones. The US is about to show us that.
We are sitting on 4% unemployed and there's a good risk this will double within 6 months.
Whereas we are 5 infections.
But actually what you heard from the PM's mouth in Parliament is that her focus is on the health of the New Zealand people. This was her clear response to Bridges. You can look it up.
Silent spread from Pre-symptomatic, Asymptomatic & Mild cases … but like the US & various other Western nations … we're in the Don't Test / Don't Tell phase where the economy is prioritised over human life… as opposed to taking urgent & decisive action to slow it down & prevent overwhelmed hospitals & needless death.
(Note: Pre-symptomatic (100% of those infected with COVID-19 go through Pre-Symptomatic incubation period of up to 2 weeks),
Asymptomatic (around20% of infected)
Mild cases (around 60% of those infected experience symptoms similar to a cold)
The number of tests being conducted every day was increasing, he said.
"Yesterday around the country, at least 100 tests were being done, but all our tests yesterday were negative.
"At the moment our labs can do over 500 tests in a day if they have to, and that capacity can be scaled up if needs be."
I read somewhere – but can't find the link – that there had been around 1000 tests done in NZ at that time. That would be around 200 tests per 1,000,000 people which would place NZ around 10th on the list of testing for the virus, above France and just below Australia.
So while you maybe right that there are a few more out there, the fact that testing of suspected cases is occurring and coming back negative – does give some hope that we might dodge the full effect.
But there are tests available and they are testing now over 100 a day and have capacity to be testing up to 500 a day and are working to expand that capacity. See my link above
The other thing is that testing might be the definitive diagnostic tool, but it's not the only diagnostic tool. Case history and symptom diagnosis provide the "probable" case count and suspected cases. Both are similarly sluggish in NZ, probably due to nation-of-origin traveller restrictions and screening.
Ironic/amusing that Robertson is actually flying to Australia for these talks. Because closing the border with Australia is the thing nobody will want to do, but has to happen soon to help prevent community spread here.
And in a broader note – getting the PMC and the wider middle class off aeroplanes would be a good thing not only in this crisis but into the future.
Grant Robertson will be in Australia tomorrow for a scheduled visit to Canberra where he will meet with Australian political and business leaders.
He will hold talks with his Australian counterpart Josh Frydenberg to discuss the actions both Governments are taking on the economic impacts of COVID-19, along with discussions about other economic matters.
The only thing I would add to this clip is that for the est Dems and the liberal media and all their billionaire and corporate master is this was and has never never been about beating Trump, it has always been about stopping Bernie and his progressive movement taking over the Democratic party.
Yeah pretty much. I still think that if you are a Sanders supporter you have a moral obligation not to vote for Trump – and if you are in a swing state to vote for Biden however tightly you have to hold your nose doing so.
I have been pretty amused by the attempts on here and elsewhere to rehabilitate Biden, explain his popularity and disguise his weaknesses. They look to me like obfuscations of a pretty simple phenomenon:
objectively, democratic party voters prefer most of Sander's policy positions (M4A, etc.) if they are discussed independently from the actual primary process
the same voters are less enamoured with some of Sanders rhetoric about democratic socialism and taking on the establishment, but could probably overlook it
the voters are desperate to beat Trump and are looking for guidance from party grandees on who can do this – the bullshit 'electability' myth pushed by the PMC-dominated corporate wing of the Democratic Party has been hugely successful and entirely to be expected as they move to protect their financial and class interests
Biden is a weak candidate because his terrible record will allow Trump to outflank him on the left (e.g. on trade deals and job losses), because of the real or apparent corruption swirling round him (Burisma) and because he is clearly a step or two down in terms of electioneering performance and rhetorical fluency compared to 2016
All up this promises to be the most grimly hilarious and simultaneously sickening US election in a long time. If Covid-19 overwhelms it and the administration proposes postponing it, that might be very interesting to watch too (for those of us who are still around at least)
"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." President John Quincy Adams
The “lesser evil” argument in NZ general elections has been run forever, with some obvious merit re needed reforms of course, MMP, and the 30 year neo liberal consensus between National, Labour and later the Greens notwithstanding!
However in the USA in 2020 as Krystal said in the vid–“shoot me or stab me” is the working class’ choice. Nothing will change for the millions without health care if Mr Biden is elected, or any of the other grim shit that currently goes down in the land of the free.
Bernie should stay in the contest as long as he likes because he owes literally nothing to the US ruling class of which the Democratic elite is part, due to his working class funded campaign. He should use any platforms for the future development of the movements that have enabled him. The moderates have to own Biden now.
Bernie is definitely still in the race, he only trails by 148 delegates, Biden is on 800+, Bernie is on 700+, there are still 2000+ to fight for, don’t listen to the media, Bernie will fight the billionaires to the bitter end
Lefties don't owe Biden their vote. It's merely in their very strong interest to give it him rather than put it anywhere else. To ensure the Turd Tornado doesn't get another completely unrestrained four years to trash the remnants of everything lefties value.
The idea that things getting worse will bring the glorious revolution sooner is a craptacularly bad idea that has a historical success rate of zero.
The situation we now have is a testament to the power of patient incrementalism, as practised by the right.
The damage that tRump, and the repugnants who provide him with the power base in the Senate, have done to the climate, the environment, the safe guards of a functioning society, the rights of people, and to the justice system and the courts, whilst enriching themselves at the public expense, is immense; and will not be undone in one or even two terms of office.
The only hope for America is a complete Blue wave in Nov and that realistically can only be achieved with a candidate who appeals to a large cross section of society.
Anyone who thinks Biden is different from trump is completely captured by fear. Both are of the same ilk, corporate lap dogs. trumps a complete dog f&**&^g muppet, but the reality is biden has voted for many things, which if your left wing you would oppose – but no doubt will make up some excuse.
No one wants a revolution, what anarchist are asking for is the left to actually be the bare minimum of left (social democrat) – rather than corporate lick spittles.
FFS! Open your eyes to what is actually going on in the US right now. If you think that things will continue as they are now under the most corrupt, despotic, xenophobic, misogynistic, environmental vandal to have ever disgraced the White House you are very much mistaken, Even so the damage he has wrecked in the 3 long years he has been there is unbelievable – but just take a look a what he has done to the environment for a start:
Grow up, and look at what happened to america for the last 30 years.
trump is a more of an open arsehole than people like biden and co, but they are no different. They might be able to smile better or say all the right words like Obama did, but they still nothing more than hacks for the corporations.
The whole lesser evil argument is spent, the whole trump is the worst is bullshit – try reading how much of an arsehole James Buchanan was, or my personal least favourite fuckwit to sit in the oval office Herbert Hoover. Stop burying you head in fubar rhetoric. Every president since Reagan has been a tool for corporate america.
Face the real world, the USA has been taken over by the corporations and people no longer count.
Obviously you have no understanding of how political action happens in the US nor any appreciation of where the power lies in terms of the implementation of policy. I totally agree with you that America is now a corporatocracy – but that is not just the fault of successive Presidents. If you really want to point the finger at the failure of successive American administrations to implement progressive policies look no further than the far right and the Republican party who have consistently opposed Bill after Bill passing either through the House or the Senate. Take for example the Bill proposed by Democrats to ensure that all persons in America can receive free Covid-19 testing and those without sick leave will receive at least 14 days paid leave. Mitch McConnell is on record as saying that sort of legislation will never be put to the Senate. Despite the fact that Pelosi has been in discussion with the Administration to put together this package. This just the latest example of Republicans sitting on proposed legislation that would be of benefit to all Americans were it to be passed. Gun Laws, Health Care, Environmental Protections, Work and Safety, Employment legislation, indeed dozens of Bills passed by the House this past year sit at McConnell's pleasure and will never see the light of day. As leader of the Senate he does not have to place these Acts to be voted on and he never will.
To effect real change in America will require that the current democrat control of the House is maintained, the Democrats retake control of the Senate (easier said than done), and a Democratic President to ensure that progressive legislation is finally signed into law,
But even that will not ensure the safety of progressive legislation, because the 3rd side of equation – the courts – will come into play. Right wing players opposed to anything that would jeapodise their wealth will sue and bring court actions to oppose anything they disagree with. For instance, we have seen these actions taken by civil rights groups to oppose some of the extreme measures instituted by the Trump administration. Now under a fair court system one would expect justice to prevail and the principles of fair dealings would be sacrosanct. However that can no longer be taken for granted after the past 3 years of Trump. You may not be aware that during this time the only thing that McConnell has been doing in the Senate is to introduce incompetent, unqualified, white, right wing men, to the task of lifetime judges. The courts are now stacked with right wing justices whose sole task is to support the right wing agenda, and this will be so for the next 30+ years. This will be Trumps legacy, along with the destruction of the Constitution, the collapse of civil law and order, and the destruction of the environment.
Indeed just today a senior Judge has resigned from a Bar of the Supreme Court from what he perceives as the Courts being turned into "a junior partner to Trump's Republican Party".
@ Andre, "The situation we now have is a testament to the power of patient incrementalism, as practised by the right"….you are quite right, however you forgot to add it is a trick they learnt from the liberal left who have perfected that very technique themselves over the past 25-30 years.
This MPI document highlights just how severely the dairy industry is in debt. It looks like some sort of ponzi scheme. Here's a few quotes:
On-farm bank debt has increased by $30.1 billion since 2003 and currently stands at $41.4 billion. a 267 percent increase since 2003
In the 2017–2018 season dairy farms on average had a debt-to-asset ratio of 50.7 percent. However, many farms are holding high levels of debt: 24 percent have ratios over 70 percent; and 4 percent have ratios over 90 percent.
Relative to production, farm debt levels have more than doubled from $9.48 per kilogram of milksolids in 2003 to $21.99 in 2019.
The average level of bank debt held per hectare has more than tripled since 2003, rising from $7,700 to $23,600 in 2018.
In addition, the number and proportion of farms Distribution of dairy sector debt per kg of milk solids 2014 and 2018 holding high levels of debt have also increased.
In particular, the percentage of farms holding greater than $30 of debt per kilogram of milk solids produced annually has increased from 16 percent in 2014 to 30 percent in 2018.
Despite falling interest rates over recent years, the burden of servicing this elevated debt has increased. Since 2014, the average annual cost of servicing this elevated debt has increased by 11 cents to $1.22 per kilogram of milk solids in 2018.
Relative to production, farm debt levels have more than doubled from $9.48 per kilogram of milksolids in 2003 to $21.99 in 2019.
The average level of bank debt held per hectare has more than tripled since 2003, rising from $7,700 to $23,600 in 2018.
In addition, the number and proportion of farms Distribution of dairy sector debt per kg of milk solids 2014 and 2018 holding high levels of debt have also increased.
In particular, the percentage of farms holding greater than $30 of debt per kilogram of milk solids produced annually has increased from 16 percent in 2014 to 30 percent in 2018.
Despite falling interest rates over recent years, the burden of servicing this elevated debt has increased.
Since 2014, the average annual cost of servicing this elevated debt has increased by 11 cents to $1.22 per kilogram of milk solids in 2018.
To be that leveraged when interest rates are so low….Sitting ducks.
None of the potential escape routes are flash: Extract even more milk solids from each hectare or surf the imaginary wave of ever increasing farm capital growth.
If the figures in the report related to a rental property portfolio I think the banks would of said "No more money for now" a long time ago. Too risky.
I wonder if there is a degree of faith from the banks with farm lending because of potential escape routes. eg: 'The govt won't let us fail en masse, we're too important to fail.'
Waiting for 25 million Australian climate refugees to push land prices up?
The house of cards that was farming for tax free Capital gains,, by borrowing to pay land prices way over the amount justified by farm incomes, depends on either bigger suckers, or continued exponential population increase.
It is almost bound to burst at some stage.
Unless we sell it all to billionaire refugees, from the mess they have made in their own countries.
Yes. Rather strange when most New Zealanders were either escaping from the power of feudal style land ownership in the UK, or Māori, who had a more socialised model of land ownership.
I suppose because the squattocracy very quickly grabbed land, and power, before the majority got the vote.
Looking past the title, this is an intelligent and reasonably even-handed discussion. Quite a long read but usefully examines the characteristics of the three main systems we've tried to date; feudalism, capitalism and socialism.
As we said at the start, it’s hard these days to find heartfelt support for capitalism. But it is relatively easy to find a reluctant, perhaps begrudging, endorsement of what passes for capitalist ways of running contemporary societies. Thus, it is sometimes said that socialism is a utopian but unrealistic body of ideas — one that simply assumes that people would be willing to work hard for the common good. Socialist theories, it is often said, simply go about describing how nice things would be if this were so.
Of course, the begrudging defence of capitalism goes, such optimistic assumptions about human nature are false. The reality is that humans are selfish creatures, who seek to advance their own good over that of society, perhaps only seeking to help close family and a few friends. To get people to be productive in ways that benefit everyone, we need to set up society with the right incentives. This inevitably results in things like economic inequality, high levels of consumption, and pretty harsh enforcement of laws that protect private property. This state of affairs may be less desirable than a socialist utopia, but it’s the best we can hope for. After all, feudalism as a third alternative is horrible.
Those who advance such an argument see it as an effective defence of capitalism — and it may be — but it’s not typically sold as an ethical defence. On this approach, capitalism simply has no “ethics,” in terms of having moral foundations. Instead, it’s a sort of remedial way of organising the economy, one that tries to save us from ourselves and from each other, without aspiring to any higher moral goal or justification. On this view, capitalism is, at best, second best. Socialism may have moral foundations, but it’s utopian — capitalism, on the other hand, is realistic.
In this view, feudalism is unacceptably tyrannical and unjust, while pure socialism is utopian and unrealistic, leaving capitalism as we know it the compromise we can live with. Yet there isn’t much enthusiasm for capitalism either … which means we need fresh thinking about where to go from here, taking into account the known boundaries of what works.
Expecting, pure, anything, is just delusional. Even with feudalism, the lord was expected to defend the peasants, and release his grain stores in time of famine. Those that didn’t tended to end up on a pitchfork.
If you care to read the article, it points out that all modern societies are some mixture of all three systems, and most developed nations exhibit elements of capitalism and socialism in particular.
You can even point to feudalism and make the argument that it lasted a lot longer than all the other alternatives, even though nowadays we reject it because of it's innate injustice.
And every marxist revolution, which is the 'purest' form of socialism we've tried so far, has ended in catastrophic failure. Only the truly self-deluding would argue otherwise.
Capitalism (or commercialism as it might be more accurately named) carries by itself no expression of any ethical system to be palatable in it's pure form either, it contains no obvious incentives to do the right thing. Maybe there is the problem, we make a fundamental mistake when we expect economic systems, any economic system, to stand duty for personal ethics.
Maybe if we want people to do the right thing, we need to be looking in an entirely different domain, because humans have never been inspired to greatness by purely material interests alone.
Capitalism, is going to end human civilisation.
All human civilisations, including all those greatly pre-dating ‘capitalism’, have come and gone.
Bull. The "purest form" of socialism, in history, occurred in New Zealand from the first Labour Government, and many other Western countries, until overtaken by the return of neo-liberal capitalism. Note that by all measures, they were the most successful societies, ever.
If you consider an undemocratic totalitarian dictatorship, with a wealthy class of "nomenclatura" on top hogging most of the resources, "socialism," you have NFI. Taken in by the same bs, that has USA voting for billionaires, against their own best interests.
The Soviet Union was "socialist" and "Democratic" for about two weeks,, before the Bolsheviks took over. The problem with any revolution, including our own Neo-liberal one, is that the most ruthless, self interested bastards, end up on top.
You can hardly claim China, is a failure if you consider that a “Marxist revolution”. Rather a misinterpretation of Marx, BTW.
I don’t like their Government or the methods. Almost as ruthless as the USA, but they have bailed out US, capitalism, several times, and our own economic dependence on the “communists” is becoming painfully obvious.
This New Zealand you paint as a socialist utopia was entirely funded on the back of capitalist enterprise. Most people worked in entirely capitalist enterprises, personal property was still owned by almost everyone; it was at best a 'mixed economy' featuring large components of both capitalism (which appeals to individual self-interest) and socialism (which presumes most people are willing to be altruistic to at least some degree).
As it happens I too share a considerable nostalgia for this all too short era. It seems to me we hit a sweet spot for a few short decades, based largely on the experience of the war generations who had learned the value of sacrifice for the greater good. But that alone was never the basis for a stable ethical system, the trauma of depression and war always fades with time.
But to describe it as the 'purest form of socialism' we have tried is bunk.
If it were just the Bolsheviks you might have a point, but the same brutal failures happened everywhere else that marxism was tried. Besides you are talking with one of the very few kiwis who has stood at the place where the Revolution was actually born, in Sverdlovsk during the Czarist era. Revolutions are by their nature undertaken by people who are willing to pay any price for their victory; the brutality was baked in right from the outset.
More crap. You are parroting the US right wing propaganda view of socialism.
And you have certainly never bothered to read Marx, or Adam Smith for that matter.
Hint. They were not that far apart.
I never thought you would adopt the same self serving religious, and justification for fucking everyone else over, thinking the US, republicans, and our National party parrot.
George Orwell in The Road to Wigan Pier characterised it more accurately as ' bitter middle class socialists who resented those more successful than them far more than any real concern they had for the poor'.
If you really want to see envy, which I have first hand, it is the rich parasite with the 40m yachts resentment of the rich parasite with the 100m yacht.
And yes correct, there seem to be way too many "chardonnay socialists" like our current Labour party, and right wing converts pretending to be “socialist” who given the opportunity to remove poverty, prefer to keep their own comfort.
Sighs … you pretend not to be resentful, but then describe people more successful than yourself as 'parasites'. Twice in the same sentence. Terms of disgust and disease used to vilify whole groups of people is something you should ask a Jewish friend about; they know very well how that works.
The parroting of US propaganda and right wing memes, from a formerly sensible commentator, is painful to read.
Why don't you just say it "A rising tide lifts all boats". I.e. Trickle down. Which is what you are claiming with your bull.
If a young unemployed bloke, through no fault of his own, on a measly $154 a week, is a "bludger" then someone getting thousands of times more money than their contribution to society justifies, is most definitely a "parasite". Existing on what they have taken off that young fellow, and many others.
"Parasite" is not being envious, just descriptive.
I am comfortable and well off enough in my own life, that I don't envy, anyone. I do however, think everyone should have the same chances I had.
Extremes of wealth and poverty, are what has destroyed civilisations in the past.
The dominance of political power by the "rich" and distressingly the support of other comfortable people, who have forgotten how society helped them get there, is destroying my society.
"Parasite" is not being envious, just descriptive.
It's exactly the same language Hitler used to demonise the Jewish people. It's indefensible.
Extremes of wealth and poverty, are what has destroyed civilisations in the past.
I've lost count how many times I've expressed the identical sentiment here over the years. Probably at least twice a month for over a decade. So don't pretend to lecture me on this.
I've said this many times too, the paradoxical thing is that the modern post WW2 world has dramatically reduced absolute poverty to an extent never seen before in 10,000 years of human history. The left pretends it's all for the eradication of poverty, but much to our chagrin it was highly industrialised, financialised and commercialised economies that did it. Marxism by contrast was a bitter failure wherever it was tried.
It's time we got honest about this, the denial indefensible.
Yet at the same time, these same incredibly productive economies have increased relative poverty dramatically. And it turns out that just throwing more money at this problem makes it worse. The underlying problem is that success creates opportunity and this in turn creates more success. This is a positive feedback loop that for some people drives extreme success.
Even though we can institutionally allocate everyone pretty much the same initial opportunities (and this is the other great achievement of the past few hundred years), humans are not all identical and we don't want to be. We do have different temperaments, different talents, capabilities, and sometimes fortune smiles and other times she doesn't. There is nothing we can do about this, you can have freedom of action, or equality of outcome, but not both. This means that the extremes of wealth is a much harder problem to address than everyone imagines.
To use a crude analogy, we could achieve equality of outcome in the 100m sprint if we cut Usain Bolt's legs off, but that wouldn't make anyone else run any faster, nor make anyone much happier except perhaps those who envied his natural talent.
This is the point I invite you to think about, please don't skip it. It's my sense that relative poverty (or gross inequality) is not best thought of as an economic problem. Certainly it's superficial manifestation can be measured in monetary terms, but the reason why gross disparity causes social instability is much less obvious. The underlying drivers have more to do with human psychology and moral values than anything in the monetary domain.
Wealth by itself is not the problem; it is how it is used that should concern us. This is and the temptation to fall into hubris and entitlement is the ethical or moral question.
At the other extreme, once you have gotten out of absolute poverty, the lack of wealth is not directly the problem either. It is the fact of being hopelessly wedged at the bottom of the social heap which can easily prompt responses of resentment and self sabotage is the underlying problem that traps people into bitterness.
In simple terms, the manifest symptoms of inequality are very different depending on your position in the economic hierarchy, but the moral nature of them lies in the same domain. And maybe reframing the debate this way we can find some fresh thinking toward actual solutions.
We "hit a sweet spot" as a result of returning soldiers determination not to be an underclass, on their return from war.
However returning to a Nation with poverty and an underclass, was the result of deliberate decisions, by two successive Governments, less than 60 people each time, to have poverty, to force people into low wage, exploitative jobs. It wasn't a necessity. Even Bolger had the grace to admit they went too far.
Reversing it will simply take another Government decision, to raise welfare above starvation levels.
The motivation was stated by Wayne Mapp, on this blog. He a lawyer, believed there was "too much equality" exemplified by wharfies "getting paid more than Lawyers". The arrogance and self interest is obvious. He never explained when asked, why, a lawyer should get more than a Wharfie.
You can hardly claim China, is a failure if you consider that a “Marxist revolution”.
It was a monumental failure right up to the point where Nixon opened up the global economy to them and the CCP decided to stop being communist and make filthy capitalist money instead.
That's a pretty narrow view their Redlogix, one based on a whole lot of misconceptions.
It ignores the reality of the failed state that was China in the Warlord period, you double down on it by ignoring the damage done by Japan during the second world war.
No one would argue that Mao was a great economic mind, actually on that front he was bloody useless. But he did win two wars.
The CCP had a plan, and the did stick to it, to uplift the peasantry out of drudgery. They used a planned economy and some aspects of capitalism. But they too have the problems of capitalism – namely the PLA which is frightening corporation
But capitalism as a dominate economic system is deeply flawed for two main reason (actually many more) – monopoly and the concept of growth. Monopoly is a fundamental problem we are stuck with at present. Growth is a problem because we live in a finite planet.
Up until the end of WW2 the historic pattern of the world was always empire. From around 1000AD onward I recall an article that counted over 30 of them.
The simple idea was that in order to develop beyond the physical constraints of your existing territory (usually due to geography or the limits of photosynthesis) it was necessary to grab the resources of others. So you built an army and a navy and set about controlling as much trade and territory as possible. While white ethnicities dominated this game in the past 500 years, history quickly shows that everyone who could had a crack at it.
The process started out pretty crude and brutal, outright theft and tyranny was the norm for centuries. Over time however the process of empire became more sophisticated and the development that it generated were slowly extended to more and more groups. With industrialisation and the massive increase in productivity this process accelerated.
At the end of WW2 the Americans had the only military left standing, the same damage you rightly say happened to China, had left the British and Europeans equally devastated. Germany especially. But the Soviets remained a threat that didn't have a clear military solution to, the logistics of the Americans attempting a ground war into Russia was clearly impossible.
At Bretton Woods the Americans decided to try something different, unprecedented in human history. Instead of building yet another overt empire they cut a deal with the rest of the world that said "we will use our overwhelming naval power to protect trade routes everywhere in the world, and in return you have to be on our side in the Cold War". They essentially bribed up a global alliance.
It also meant that trade routes everywhere were open and secure. The US Navy assured this. You could sent goods between any two nations, and the Americans provided the implicit security without any overt impost. You were expected to use US dollars as the trading currency and support the US politically against Stalin's Soviet Union … but that was pretty much it. It was a hegemony, but not like any that came before it.
And in terms of human development, this innovation was wildly successful. Since the end of WW2 the gradual elimination of absolute poverty has accelerated to the point that in 2016 fully half the human race is now middle class by local standards. That is a stunning achievement, utterly unprecedented, that most lefties like to pretend hasn't happened.
As for China, it's geography means that it is utterly dependent on the freedom of the seas for almost all of it's development. It's trade routes to essential resources and exports are long and vulnerable; without US Naval protection, China would never have become 'the factory of the world' that is today (well it was until a few weeks ago). All the Americans have to do to collapse China is to go home.
This isn't a moral narrative; it isn't a justification for all the obvious fuck ups the American's have made along the way, but it is a realistic description of the unique global order that we have flourished under since WW2.
I could equally describe the myriads of failures in the US attempts to impose capitalist dictatorships around the world. Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, Honduras, just being the latest.
Even the attempt to run Sears, in the States, as a competitive capitalist corporation within itself has been a dismal failure. Even capitalist corporations cannot exist without social cohesion and Co operation.
The reality is that humans are selfish creatures, who seek to advance their own good over that of society
I'm sick and tired of social darwinist bullshit being peddled as some sort of universal "Truth". Especially in economic discussions – it like some bad rerun of 80's tv. "Dallas" was a tv show, and in no way did it represent reality.
If this social darwin troup was true, then libertarian economics would work, and the social experiment of the last 30 odd years would make everyone a winner! Funny it's almost a complete failure. As this recession we are entering will be particular brutal on individuals.
Mutual aid, is a concept a lot on the left just don't get. It's what makes socialist economics work. The realisation that working together on somthing is beneficial for you and yours. As an anarchist I'd argue that those thing are limited – health care, education, and housing all work better under a mutual aid model. As for material production and agriculture I'm for mix of co-operative and individualist approaches. Some planning is necessary.
And to give Ad his due, we need trade, trade is a good. But trade is not capitalism, nor is dependant on capitalism. Trade can exist without capitalism.
Capitalism is a broken model, as is Marxist economics. We have to look at more than just profit and the next growth cycle.
Capitalist ideas that people can only by motivated by greed, doesn't explain most Teachers, Doctors Aunties, Caregivers and the many other people who are certainly not motivated by greed, that make society function.
Those that are motivated purely by self interest, are totally unable to understand other motivations, though they are happy to profit from them. The main differential between the current left and right in New Zealand. Once we had economic right wingers who agreed that prosperity for all was a goal. We just differed on how to get there. That I could respect. I cannot respect the current self serving justification for what amounts to, theft.
The scientist that gave away the rights to insulin to save lives, is a being beyond their limited comprehension.
Thatcher's, "there is no such thing as society" is one of the most pernicious and dangerous, ideas of modern times. Adam Smith did not say "greed is good". In fact he wanted the people that Marx called, "rentiers" those who got paid from "owning" not "working" to pay the taxes.
The U.S. has just carried out multiple air strikes in Iraq targeting Iranian-backed Shia militia. The air strikes are retaliation for yesterday's rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at camp Taji north of Baghdad.
Every idiot who says "photo op" or "show pony" about Ardern should really watch the media conference she just gave in ChCh.
Anyone can read an autocue (except Trump) but it's the subsequent Q & A that really shows her quality. The key point is that she is saying what she thinks – not what some spin staffer has told her to say. The best fluency comes from sincerity.
Every idiot who's down the "photo op" or "show pony" track could see the media conference, hear the media conference and come away with the same crap they usually parrot.
To compound the sad situation they're in, they would see Simon Bridges doing better, being better and stunning the gathering with his eloquence and presence.
About fkn time. The hero whistleblower who actually took the risks and paid the price and stood up for her principles is finally being released from prison. The assholes are still trying to squeeze her financially, though, by refusing to cancel fines that should never have been imposed.
They tossed her in the slammer because she wouldn't cough up new material to use against Assange (on the perfectly reasonable grounds she didn't have any new material to give them). So I don't really see how releasing her is in any way negative for Assange.
It all depends on why they released her now it’s at the trial stage in the UK (too late to present anything obtained form her or they have reason to be confident about getting the extradition).
From wikipedia (source info is apparently NYT and WaPo):
On March 12, 2020, U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga of the Eastern District of Virginia found that the business of the grand jury had concluded. Since Manning's testimony was no longer needed, the judge found that detention no longer served any coercive purpose, and ordered her released.[243] He denied a request by Manning's lawyers to vacate her accrued fines of $256,000, which he ordered due and payable immediately.[244]
If the Grand Jury has wrapped up, then they've more or less finished putting together their case against Assange. Which would presumably include all of Manning's previous testimony, and she says she's already testified to everything she knows.
TOP party talking UBI again. In case anyone missed release around 10 March. Maybe with inflation indexed safeguards, this inflation calculation to include rents and rise in house prices?
To be fair, he's correct: holding mass religious gatherings during a pandemic would demonstrate quite clearly just how much power faith has to affect material reality, ie none. Pretty expensive demonstration if you value human life, though…
But a great way of disabusing people of the hilarious notion that the magical sky wizard will protect them from pestilence, famine, war and other interesting ways of dying.
Part of me is in favour of it. A small, dark, bloody-minded part of me I do my best to keep suppressed most of the time.
Turkey's control of coronavirus testing kits is fuelling concerns over a cover-up, a prominent surgeon wrote for The National Interest on Wednesday.
“To date, Turkey has done about 2,500 tests. The lack of any identified cases provoked suspicion because if the test is negative, there was no other way to prove that the test might be positive,” said Dr. Ergin Koçyıldırım, a paediatric cardiothoracic surgeon and an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburg’s School of Medicine.
A source at a privately owned hospital in Istanbul told Ahval that the government was controlling the distribution of kits and not allowing hospitals to independently order alternatives.
Turkey has said its own virus detection kits are the fastest and most accurate in the world. While most detection kits generally yield results in around 24 hours, the Turkish government said its kits – produced in Turkey by a private company and funded by the state – can produce results in 90 minutes.
Despite the Health Ministry’s claims that Turkish coronavirus detection kits have been exported to several countries, including the United States, Koçyıldırım said that – to his knowledge – there was not a single institution or lab in that country using the tests.
Koçyıldırım also said that the Turkish government’s censorship of information was preventing people receiving reliable information on the coronavirus and was a disaster waiting to happen.
Turkey is the world’s biggest jailer of journalists and has threatened to take legal action against social media users or journalists who criticise its coronavirus detection approach, said Koçyıldırım.
The global coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries mobilize to fight it, a senior Chinese medical adviser said on Thursday, as China declared the peak had passed there and new cases in Hubei fell to single digits for the first time.
Around two-thirds of global cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in China’s central Hubei province, where the virus first emerged in December. But in recent weeks the vast majority of new cases have been outside China.
[…]
“Broadly speaking, the peak of the epidemic has passed for China,” said Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission. “The increase of new cases is falling.”
Zhong Nanshan, the Chinese government’s senior medical adviser, said at a news conference on Thursday that as long as countries take the outbreak seriously and are prepared to take firm measures, it could be over worldwide in a matter of months.
“My advice is calling for all countries to follow WHO instructions and intervene on a national scale,” he said. “If all countries could get mobilized, it could be over by June.”
Mr. Zhong, an 83-year-old epidemiologist renowned for helping combat the SARS outbreak in 2003, said viruses in the same family typically become less active in warm months, which could help slow the spread.
“My estimate of June is based on scenarios that all countries take positive measures. But if some countries do not treat the infectiousness and harmfulness seriously, and intervene strongly, it would last longer.”
We'll find out if the Chinese approach works as they go back to work in the next few weeks.
If they do not go back to work soon the global supply chain is stuffed, if they do and there is a renewed spread of the virus … then that demonstrates there is no guarantees form harsh prolonged action.
They insist that – beyond taking extra care with their personal hygiene – healthy festival-goers need only come prepared to have a good time.
WOMAD is being held at Brooklands Park in New Plymouth for the 16th time this year and can attract up to 15,000 people on each of its three days.
Festival director Emere Wano said its management had been monitoring health officials' advice and so far everything pointed to the event going ahead.
Wano said WOMAD was following steps set out in its risk management plan.
"It's common sense stuff really, when you look at the environment it's all about basic hygiene. If you're not well don't come to the festival, don't come and get amongst groups of people. Look after yourself.
"Washing hands, we should all be doing those things anyway. They're not rocket science as we see it."
insert many many face palm, head on desk and back to face palm
WOMAD. So Sad. Such utter ignorance and disregard for the health and safety of their workers and their patrons.
All public assembly should be banned forthwith.
Where is our leadership? Everyday we delay taking simple, decisive action to contain spread of the virus will cause exponentially greater suffering at the peak.
The normally excellent Mehdi Hassan making the mistake of thinking it's a problem that Joe Biden lies a lot. Sorry Mehdi, in a world where Sanders gets pilloried for NOT lying about Cuba, it matters not a jot.
Good article on the trials of the great Dr Jordan Peterson:
Dependency goes against the core tenets of Peterson’s philosophical brand: stoicism, self-reliance, the power of the will over circumstance and environment.“No one gets away with anything, ever, so take responsibility for your own life,” he admonished in his bestselling self-help book 12 Rules for Life.
What a statement of the Trump era that much international diplomatic business goes on at Mar-a-Lago, barely 2km away from the house of Trump's good friend, Jeffrey Epstein.
I wouldn't gloat at this either. Those poor fucking viruses – I'm just glad they lack the cognitive capacity to realise what a sack of shit they're living in.
Give the present dreadful state of American politics, there are quite a number of 'representatives' for whom, some may say, federally funded retrospective abortions could be a very good idea! 😉
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 ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
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 arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
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. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dog’s shit for others to deal with doesn’t make you a hero – it’s precious and entitled behaviour. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stood on the shoreline of Auckland’s Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by ‘working as little as possible’. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like “what do you do for a crust?” “I teach chemistry at university,” is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
Winston Peters might not give a ‘rat’s derriere’ about last night’s poll, but it revealed the unusual absence of a honeymoon period and little payoff for the government’s action plan approach, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco de Jong, Lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset. ...
The government's treatment of Māori raised eyebrows, with countries saying New Zealand needed to do more to reduce health, education and justice inequities. ...
The age of criminal responsibility was one of numerous human rights issues raised during Aotearoa New Zealand’s UPR. Other key themes were racism and discrimination, the disproportionate representation of Māori in prison, and to uphold the UN Declaration ...
In a sitdown interview ahead of his final day at Parliament this week, the former Green Party co-leader tells RNZ about his lowest point during 2017's rough election campaign. ...
Is the fringe radio station really in a financial crisis, or is it just running a hyped-up donation drive? Fringe internet radio station Reality Check Radio was launched by the anti-vaccine mandates group Voices for Freedom in March 2023. For the next year, it undertook probably the most aggressive promotional ...
Above the Fold: On Monday, the biggest Māori screen production company faced down the biggest funder of Māori content at the High Court. It was an incredibly tense moment – then, just as quickly, it resolved. Duncan Greive breaks down a strange day in the screen sector.Yesterday morning, Māori ...
When it comes to talking about the Government’s controversial fast-track consenting process, political scientist Richard Shaw refers to the famous Chinese sci-fi novel Three-Body Problem, while RNZ’s In Depth journalist Farah Hancock talks about zombie projects. Shaw is referring to the three-party coalition Government and how the proposed legislation is ...
Opinion: The debate over single gender versus co-educational schooling has long been controversial. I went to a co-ed school and was inspired by a remarkable woman who was my maths teacher, and because of her deep knowledge and passion for the subject, I knew that maths was definitely an option ...
He won everything and he earned a knighthood and he was a senior literary figure to the point that he was a living monument to himself until his death in the weekend at 86, but there was something about Vincent O’Sullivan that flew under the radar, that was independent and ...
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It’s a ride that’s lasted almost 30 years for mother and daughter BMX riders Nancy and Toni James, and the next stop is the World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Almost 27 years ago, Nancy and her husband Gerrard took their oldest child, Daniel, to the Waitākere BMX Club. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The rate of women killed by their partners in Australia grew by 28% from 2021–22 to 2022–23, according to new statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Clean Energy Council / Neoen As Australia’s rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached “saturation point” and ...
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Why to take action urgently. https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca
I fear this advice will fall on stony ground.
I guess it is up to us, individually.
Stock up, self isolate.
Look after whanau.
Fine if you are well-placed to do those things. Pandemics are a classic example of things we can tackle most successfully through collective measures, not individual ones. The US is about to show us that.
I'm liking our PM's measured approach.
Ratcheting up only in response to our conditions here.
Also Robertson synchronizing mesdures with Australian Treasurer with well timed talks.
Goods heads team.
It's all just fine and dandy…did I hear yesterday from the PM’s own mouth that she's listening to the business community?
All good.
Safe hands.
Rolls eyes.
We are sitting on 4% unemployed and there's a good risk this will double within 6 months.
Whereas we are 5 infections.
But actually what you heard from the PM's mouth in Parliament is that her focus is on the health of the New Zealand people. This was her clear response to Bridges. You can look it up.
The PM and the Government she leads are currently striking the right balance between health and economic issues, IMHO.
;
Many more than that, I'd say.
Silent spread from Pre-symptomatic, Asymptomatic & Mild cases … but like the US & various other Western nations … we're in the Don't Test / Don't Tell phase where the economy is prioritised over human life… as opposed to taking urgent & decisive action to slow it down & prevent overwhelmed hospitals & needless death.
(Note: Pre-symptomatic (100% of those infected with COVID-19 go through Pre-Symptomatic incubation period of up to 2 weeks),
Asymptomatic (around20% of infected)
Mild cases (around 60% of those infected experience symptoms similar to a cold)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/411572/no-more-cases-of-covid-19-in-nz-for-fifth-straight-day
I read somewhere – but can't find the link – that there had been around 1000 tests done in NZ at that time. That would be around 200 tests per 1,000,000 people which would place NZ around 10th on the list of testing for the virus, above France and just below Australia.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/covid-19-testing/
So while you maybe right that there are a few more out there, the fact that testing of suspected cases is occurring and coming back negative – does give some hope that we might dodge the full effect.
Are tests available?
No? then we have absolutly no idea how many are affected and will not know until they become very ill.
Might pay to keep that in mind.
But there are tests available and they are testing now over 100 a day and have capacity to be testing up to 500 a day and are working to expand that capacity. See my link above
yei.
how long for the test results to come back?
also, Mrs. Trudeau has the virus, and Mr. Trudeau is in 'self isolation'. 🙂
The test results are known within a day. Of the over 100 test carried out on Wednesday all were negative. See the comment of Dr Bloomfield.
good.
at least there is that. Now hopefully they get the numbers of tests up to something a bit more then 500 a day.
The other thing is that testing might be the definitive diagnostic tool, but it's not the only diagnostic tool. Case history and symptom diagnosis provide the "probable" case count and suspected cases. Both are similarly sluggish in NZ, probably due to nation-of-origin traveller restrictions and screening.
Ironic/amusing that Robertson is actually flying to Australia for these talks. Because closing the border with Australia is the thing nobody will want to do, but has to happen soon to help prevent community spread here.
And in a broader note – getting the PMC and the wider middle class off aeroplanes would be a good thing not only in this crisis but into the future.
He isn't flying to Australia.
Did I make the mistake of believing something in the NZ herald? My bad if I did.
Skype meeting
you made the mistake of reading the thing in the first place!
Mea culpa
Is he swimming to OZ ?
Grant Robertson will be in Australia tomorrow for a scheduled visit to Canberra where he will meet with Australian political and business leaders.
He will hold talks with his Australian counterpart Josh Frydenberg to discuss the actions both Governments are taking on the economic impacts of COVID-19, along with discussions about other economic matters.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2003/S00101/finance-minister-heads-to-australia-to-meet-with-political-and-economic-leaders.htm
A lot can change in a few hours.
Australia trip is cancelled. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/411639/grant-robertson-cancels-trip-to-australia
The left doesn't owe Joe Biden their vote
The only thing I would add to this clip is that for the est Dems and the liberal media and all their billionaire and corporate master is this was and has never never been about beating Trump, it has always been about stopping Bernie and his progressive movement taking over the Democratic party.
Yeah pretty much. I still think that if you are a Sanders supporter you have a moral obligation not to vote for Trump – and if you are in a swing state to vote for Biden however tightly you have to hold your nose doing so.
I have been pretty amused by the attempts on here and elsewhere to rehabilitate Biden, explain his popularity and disguise his weaknesses. They look to me like obfuscations of a pretty simple phenomenon:
All up this promises to be the most grimly hilarious and simultaneously sickening US election in a long time. If Covid-19 overwhelms it and the administration proposes postponing it, that might be very interesting to watch too (for those of us who are still around at least)
"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." President John Quincy Adams
The “lesser evil” argument in NZ general elections has been run forever, with some obvious merit re needed reforms of course, MMP, and the 30 year neo liberal consensus between National, Labour and later the Greens notwithstanding!
However in the USA in 2020 as Krystal said in the vid–“shoot me or stab me” is the working class’ choice. Nothing will change for the millions without health care if Mr Biden is elected, or any of the other grim shit that currently goes down in the land of the free.
Bernie should stay in the contest as long as he likes because he owes literally nothing to the US ruling class of which the Democratic elite is part, due to his working class funded campaign. He should use any platforms for the future development of the movements that have enabled him. The moderates have to own Biden now.
Bernie is definitely still in the race, he only trails by 148 delegates, Biden is on 800+, Bernie is on 700+, there are still 2000+ to fight for, don’t listen to the media, Bernie will fight the billionaires to the bitter end
You're still in the first stage of grief.
Give yourself the time to get to the next one.
Same joke from 2016 – but so many of you have not got over trump…
You are in the final stage of condescension. Back off and leave Adrian alone.
You probably thought that was funny when you read it somewhere.
Lefties don't owe Biden their vote. It's merely in their very strong interest to give it him rather than put it anywhere else. To ensure the Turd Tornado doesn't get another completely unrestrained four years to trash the remnants of everything lefties value.
The idea that things getting worse will bring the glorious revolution sooner is a craptacularly bad idea that has a historical success rate of zero.
The situation we now have is a testament to the power of patient incrementalism, as practised by the right.
Exactly!
The damage that tRump, and the repugnants who provide him with the power base in the Senate, have done to the climate, the environment, the safe guards of a functioning society, the rights of people, and to the justice system and the courts, whilst enriching themselves at the public expense, is immense; and will not be undone in one or even two terms of office.
The only hope for America is a complete Blue wave in Nov and that realistically can only be achieved with a candidate who appeals to a large cross section of society.
We should put up the Christmas lights now.
Anyone who thinks Biden is different from trump is completely captured by fear. Both are of the same ilk, corporate lap dogs. trumps a complete dog f&**&^g muppet, but the reality is biden has voted for many things, which if your left wing you would oppose – but no doubt will make up some excuse.
No one wants a revolution, what anarchist are asking for is the left to actually be the bare minimum of left (social democrat) – rather than corporate lick spittles.
Too soon…
FFS! Open your eyes to what is actually going on in the US right now. If you think that things will continue as they are now under the most corrupt, despotic, xenophobic, misogynistic, environmental vandal to have ever disgraced the White House you are very much mistaken, Even so the damage he has wrecked in the 3 long years he has been there is unbelievable – but just take a look a what he has done to the environment for a start:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policy_of_the_Donald_Trump_administration
Grow up, and look at what happened to america for the last 30 years.
trump is a more of an open arsehole than people like biden and co, but they are no different. They might be able to smile better or say all the right words like Obama did, but they still nothing more than hacks for the corporations.
The whole lesser evil argument is spent, the whole trump is the worst is bullshit – try reading how much of an arsehole James Buchanan was, or my personal least favourite fuckwit to sit in the oval office Herbert Hoover. Stop burying you head in fubar rhetoric. Every president since Reagan has been a tool for corporate america.
Face the real world, the USA has been taken over by the corporations and people no longer count.
"The whole lesser evil argument is spent"…exactly right+1
Obviously you have no understanding of how political action happens in the US nor any appreciation of where the power lies in terms of the implementation of policy. I totally agree with you that America is now a corporatocracy – but that is not just the fault of successive Presidents. If you really want to point the finger at the failure of successive American administrations to implement progressive policies look no further than the far right and the Republican party who have consistently opposed Bill after Bill passing either through the House or the Senate. Take for example the Bill proposed by Democrats to ensure that all persons in America can receive free Covid-19 testing and those without sick leave will receive at least 14 days paid leave. Mitch McConnell is on record as saying that sort of legislation will never be put to the Senate. Despite the fact that Pelosi has been in discussion with the Administration to put together this package. This just the latest example of Republicans sitting on proposed legislation that would be of benefit to all Americans were it to be passed. Gun Laws, Health Care, Environmental Protections, Work and Safety, Employment legislation, indeed dozens of Bills passed by the House this past year sit at McConnell's pleasure and will never see the light of day. As leader of the Senate he does not have to place these Acts to be voted on and he never will.
To effect real change in America will require that the current democrat control of the House is maintained, the Democrats retake control of the Senate (easier said than done), and a Democratic President to ensure that progressive legislation is finally signed into law,
But even that will not ensure the safety of progressive legislation, because the 3rd side of equation – the courts – will come into play. Right wing players opposed to anything that would jeapodise their wealth will sue and bring court actions to oppose anything they disagree with. For instance, we have seen these actions taken by civil rights groups to oppose some of the extreme measures instituted by the Trump administration. Now under a fair court system one would expect justice to prevail and the principles of fair dealings would be sacrosanct. However that can no longer be taken for granted after the past 3 years of Trump. You may not be aware that during this time the only thing that McConnell has been doing in the Senate is to introduce incompetent, unqualified, white, right wing men, to the task of lifetime judges. The courts are now stacked with right wing justices whose sole task is to support the right wing agenda, and this will be so for the next 30+ years. This will be Trumps legacy, along with the destruction of the Constitution, the collapse of civil law and order, and the destruction of the environment.
Indeed just today a senior Judge has resigned from a Bar of the Supreme Court from what he perceives as the Courts being turned into "a junior partner to Trump's Republican Party".
The idea that things getting worse will bring the glorious revolution sooner is a craptacularly bad idea that has a historical success rate of zero.
You've added a wonderful new word to my vocabulary! Along with a perfect usage context.
@ Andre, "The situation we now have is a testament to the power of patient incrementalism, as practised by the right"….you are quite right, however you forgot to add it is a trick they learnt from the liberal left who have perfected that very technique themselves over the past 25-30 years.
This MPI document highlights just how severely the dairy industry is in debt. It looks like some sort of ponzi scheme. Here's a few quotes:
On-farm bank debt has increased by $30.1 billion since 2003 and currently stands at $41.4 billion. a 267 percent increase since 2003
In the 2017–2018 season dairy farms on average had a debt-to-asset ratio of 50.7 percent. However, many farms are holding high levels of debt: 24 percent have ratios over 70 percent; and 4 percent have ratios over 90 percent.
Relative to production, farm debt levels have more than doubled from $9.48 per kilogram of milksolids in 2003 to $21.99 in 2019.
The average level of bank debt held per hectare has more than tripled since 2003, rising from $7,700 to $23,600 in 2018.
In addition, the number and proportion of farms Distribution of dairy sector debt per kg of milk solids 2014 and 2018 holding high levels of debt have also increased.
In particular, the percentage of farms holding greater than $30 of debt per kilogram of milk solids produced annually has increased from 16 percent in 2014 to 30 percent in 2018.
Despite falling interest rates over recent years, the burden of servicing this elevated debt has increased. Since 2014, the average annual cost of servicing this elevated debt has increased by 11 cents to $1.22 per kilogram of milk solids in 2018.
Relative to production, farm debt levels have more than doubled from $9.48 per kilogram of milksolids in 2003 to $21.99 in 2019.
The average level of bank debt held per hectare has more than tripled since 2003, rising from $7,700 to $23,600 in 2018.
In addition, the number and proportion of farms Distribution of dairy sector debt per kg of milk solids 2014 and 2018 holding high levels of debt have also increased.
In particular, the percentage of farms holding greater than $30 of debt per kilogram of milk solids produced annually has increased from 16 percent in 2014 to 30 percent in 2018.
Despite falling interest rates over recent years, the burden of servicing this elevated debt has increased.
Since 2014, the average annual cost of servicing this elevated debt has increased by 11 cents to $1.22 per kilogram of milk solids in 2018.
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/38930/direct
Yes, the trendlines in those stats are all ugly.
To be that leveraged when interest rates are so low….Sitting ducks.
None of the potential escape routes are flash: Extract even more milk solids from each hectare or surf the imaginary wave of ever increasing farm capital growth.
If the figures in the report related to a rental property portfolio I think the banks would of said "No more money for now" a long time ago. Too risky.
I wonder if there is a degree of faith from the banks with farm lending because of potential escape routes. eg: 'The govt won't let us fail en masse, we're too important to fail.'
I wonder if they're thinking Australia is running out of decent farmland.
Waiting for 25 million Australian climate refugees to push land prices up?
The house of cards that was farming for tax free Capital gains,, by borrowing to pay land prices way over the amount justified by farm incomes, depends on either bigger suckers, or continued exponential population increase.
It is almost bound to burst at some stage.
Unless we sell it all to billionaire refugees, from the mess they have made in their own countries.
No freedom to roam, whoever owns it.
Yes. Rather strange when most New Zealanders were either escaping from the power of feudal style land ownership in the UK, or Māori, who had a more socialised model of land ownership.
I suppose because the squattocracy very quickly grabbed land, and power, before the majority got the vote.
Liberal free market economics is all a ponzi scheme..just check out the house hold debt to income ratio's…pretty scary..
https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/households-debt-to-income#:~:text=Households%20Debt%20To%20Income%20in,the%20first%20quarter%20of%201991.
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/key-graphs/key-graph-household-debt
Bolsonaro aide who met Trump tests positive for Covid-19. Possible double-whammy-maybe there is a non-malevolent God after all?
But, but, but……trump refuses to take one of the 'beautiful' Covid19 tests.
It may sound cruel but I'm going to laugh my arse off if he get's it.
And PeedaDuddin – maybe nonmalevolent god has a sensa yuma?
Is there an ethical case for Capitalism?
Looking past the title, this is an intelligent and reasonably even-handed discussion. Quite a long read but usefully examines the characteristics of the three main systems we've tried to date; feudalism, capitalism and socialism.
In this view, feudalism is unacceptably tyrannical and unjust, while pure socialism is utopian and unrealistic, leaving capitalism as we know it the compromise we can live with. Yet there isn’t much enthusiasm for capitalism either … which means we need fresh thinking about where to go from here, taking into account the known boundaries of what works.
We did try socialism.
It worked.
Capitalism, is going to end human civilisation.
Expecting, pure, anything, is just delusional. Even with feudalism, the lord was expected to defend the peasants, and release his grain stores in time of famine. Those that didn’t tended to end up on a pitchfork.
We did try socialism. It worked.
If you care to read the article, it points out that all modern societies are some mixture of all three systems, and most developed nations exhibit elements of capitalism and socialism in particular.
You can even point to feudalism and make the argument that it lasted a lot longer than all the other alternatives, even though nowadays we reject it because of it's innate injustice.
And every marxist revolution, which is the 'purest' form of socialism we've tried so far, has ended in catastrophic failure. Only the truly self-deluding would argue otherwise.
Capitalism (or commercialism as it might be more accurately named) carries by itself no expression of any ethical system to be palatable in it's pure form either, it contains no obvious incentives to do the right thing. Maybe there is the problem, we make a fundamental mistake when we expect economic systems, any economic system, to stand duty for personal ethics.
Maybe if we want people to do the right thing, we need to be looking in an entirely different domain, because humans have never been inspired to greatness by purely material interests alone.
Capitalism, is going to end human civilisation.
All human civilisations, including all those greatly pre-dating ‘capitalism’, have come and gone.
Bull. The "purest form" of socialism, in history, occurred in New Zealand from the first Labour Government, and many other Western countries, until overtaken by the return of neo-liberal capitalism. Note that by all measures, they were the most successful societies, ever.
If you consider an undemocratic totalitarian dictatorship, with a wealthy class of "nomenclatura" on top hogging most of the resources, "socialism," you have NFI. Taken in by the same bs, that has USA voting for billionaires, against their own best interests.
The Soviet Union was "socialist" and "Democratic" for about two weeks,, before the Bolsheviks took over. The problem with any revolution, including our own Neo-liberal one, is that the most ruthless, self interested bastards, end up on top.
You can hardly claim China, is a failure if you consider that a “Marxist revolution”. Rather a misinterpretation of Marx, BTW.
I don’t like their Government or the methods. Almost as ruthless as the USA, but they have bailed out US, capitalism, several times, and our own economic dependence on the “communists” is becoming painfully obvious.
This New Zealand you paint as a socialist utopia was entirely funded on the back of capitalist enterprise. Most people worked in entirely capitalist enterprises, personal property was still owned by almost everyone; it was at best a 'mixed economy' featuring large components of both capitalism (which appeals to individual self-interest) and socialism (which presumes most people are willing to be altruistic to at least some degree).
As it happens I too share a considerable nostalgia for this all too short era. It seems to me we hit a sweet spot for a few short decades, based largely on the experience of the war generations who had learned the value of sacrifice for the greater good. But that alone was never the basis for a stable ethical system, the trauma of depression and war always fades with time.
But to describe it as the 'purest form of socialism' we have tried is bunk.
If it were just the Bolsheviks you might have a point, but the same brutal failures happened everywhere else that marxism was tried. Besides you are talking with one of the very few kiwis who has stood at the place where the Revolution was actually born, in Sverdlovsk during the Czarist era. Revolutions are by their nature undertaken by people who are willing to pay any price for their victory; the brutality was baked in right from the outset.
More crap. You are parroting the US right wing propaganda view of socialism.
And you have certainly never bothered to read Marx, or Adam Smith for that matter.
Hint. They were not that far apart.
I never thought you would adopt the same self serving religious, and justification for fucking everyone else over, thinking the US, republicans, and our National party parrot.
"The poor resent the rich" FFS.
"The poor resent the rich" FFS.
George Orwell in The Road to Wigan Pier characterised it more accurately as ' bitter middle class socialists who resented those more successful than them far more than any real concern they had for the poor'.
Yeah sure.
If you really want to see envy, which I have first hand, it is the rich parasite with the 40m yachts resentment of the rich parasite with the 100m yacht.
And yes correct, there seem to be way too many "chardonnay socialists" like our current Labour party, and right wing converts pretending to be “socialist” who given the opportunity to remove poverty, prefer to keep their own comfort.
Sighs … you pretend not to be resentful, but then describe people more successful than yourself as 'parasites'. Twice in the same sentence. Terms of disgust and disease used to vilify whole groups of people is something you should ask a Jewish friend about; they know very well how that works.
The lack of self awareness is painful to watch.
The parroting of US propaganda and right wing memes, from a formerly sensible commentator, is painful to read.
Why don't you just say it "A rising tide lifts all boats". I.e. Trickle down. Which is what you are claiming with your bull.
If a young unemployed bloke, through no fault of his own, on a measly $154 a week, is a "bludger" then someone getting thousands of times more money than their contribution to society justifies, is most definitely a "parasite". Existing on what they have taken off that young fellow, and many others.
"Parasite" is not being envious, just descriptive.
I am comfortable and well off enough in my own life, that I don't envy, anyone. I do however, think everyone should have the same chances I had.
Extremes of wealth and poverty, are what has destroyed civilisations in the past.
The dominance of political power by the "rich" and distressingly the support of other comfortable people, who have forgotten how society helped them get there, is destroying my society.
https://eand.co/this-is-how-a-society-dies-35bdc3c0b854
"Parasite" is not being envious, just descriptive.
It's exactly the same language Hitler used to demonise the Jewish people. It's indefensible.
Extremes of wealth and poverty, are what has destroyed civilisations in the past.
I've lost count how many times I've expressed the identical sentiment here over the years. Probably at least twice a month for over a decade. So don't pretend to lecture me on this.
I've said this many times too, the paradoxical thing is that the modern post WW2 world has dramatically reduced absolute poverty to an extent never seen before in 10,000 years of human history. The left pretends it's all for the eradication of poverty, but much to our chagrin it was highly industrialised, financialised and commercialised economies that did it. Marxism by contrast was a bitter failure wherever it was tried.
It's time we got honest about this, the denial indefensible.
Yet at the same time, these same incredibly productive economies have increased relative poverty dramatically. And it turns out that just throwing more money at this problem makes it worse. The underlying problem is that success creates opportunity and this in turn creates more success. This is a positive feedback loop that for some people drives extreme success.
Even though we can institutionally allocate everyone pretty much the same initial opportunities (and this is the other great achievement of the past few hundred years), humans are not all identical and we don't want to be. We do have different temperaments, different talents, capabilities, and sometimes fortune smiles and other times she doesn't. There is nothing we can do about this, you can have freedom of action, or equality of outcome, but not both. This means that the extremes of wealth is a much harder problem to address than everyone imagines.
To use a crude analogy, we could achieve equality of outcome in the 100m sprint if we cut Usain Bolt's legs off, but that wouldn't make anyone else run any faster, nor make anyone much happier except perhaps those who envied his natural talent.
This is the point I invite you to think about, please don't skip it. It's my sense that relative poverty (or gross inequality) is not best thought of as an economic problem. Certainly it's superficial manifestation can be measured in monetary terms, but the reason why gross disparity causes social instability is much less obvious. The underlying drivers have more to do with human psychology and moral values than anything in the monetary domain.
Wealth by itself is not the problem; it is how it is used that should concern us. This is and the temptation to fall into hubris and entitlement is the ethical or moral question.
At the other extreme, once you have gotten out of absolute poverty, the lack of wealth is not directly the problem either. It is the fact of being hopelessly wedged at the bottom of the social heap which can easily prompt responses of resentment and self sabotage is the underlying problem that traps people into bitterness.
In simple terms, the manifest symptoms of inequality are very different depending on your position in the economic hierarchy, but the moral nature of them lies in the same domain. And maybe reframing the debate this way we can find some fresh thinking toward actual solutions.
We "hit a sweet spot" as a result of returning soldiers determination not to be an underclass, on their return from war.
However returning to a Nation with poverty and an underclass, was the result of deliberate decisions, by two successive Governments, less than 60 people each time, to have poverty, to force people into low wage, exploitative jobs. It wasn't a necessity. Even Bolger had the grace to admit they went too far.
Reversing it will simply take another Government decision, to raise welfare above starvation levels.
The motivation was stated by Wayne Mapp, on this blog. He a lawyer, believed there was "too much equality" exemplified by wharfies "getting paid more than Lawyers". The arrogance and self interest is obvious. He never explained when asked, why, a lawyer should get more than a Wharfie.
He never explained when asked, why, a lawyer should get more than a Wharfie.
When the day comes you really need a good one, you don't care how much they get paid.
You can hardly claim China, is a failure if you consider that a “Marxist revolution”.
It was a monumental failure right up to the point where Nixon opened up the global economy to them and the CCP decided to stop being communist and make filthy capitalist money instead.
That's a pretty narrow view their Redlogix, one based on a whole lot of misconceptions.
It ignores the reality of the failed state that was China in the Warlord period, you double down on it by ignoring the damage done by Japan during the second world war.
No one would argue that Mao was a great economic mind, actually on that front he was bloody useless. But he did win two wars.
The CCP had a plan, and the did stick to it, to uplift the peasantry out of drudgery. They used a planned economy and some aspects of capitalism. But they too have the problems of capitalism – namely the PLA which is frightening corporation
But capitalism as a dominate economic system is deeply flawed for two main reason (actually many more) – monopoly and the concept of growth. Monopoly is a fundamental problem we are stuck with at present. Growth is a problem because we live in a finite planet.
Redlogix, has had a "road to Damascus".
And turned into "Gordon Gecko".
If that's what being a landlord does to you, I'm pleased I decided not to add more petrol to our housing market.
Up until the end of WW2 the historic pattern of the world was always empire. From around 1000AD onward I recall an article that counted over 30 of them.
The simple idea was that in order to develop beyond the physical constraints of your existing territory (usually due to geography or the limits of photosynthesis) it was necessary to grab the resources of others. So you built an army and a navy and set about controlling as much trade and territory as possible. While white ethnicities dominated this game in the past 500 years, history quickly shows that everyone who could had a crack at it.
The process started out pretty crude and brutal, outright theft and tyranny was the norm for centuries. Over time however the process of empire became more sophisticated and the development that it generated were slowly extended to more and more groups. With industrialisation and the massive increase in productivity this process accelerated.
At the end of WW2 the Americans had the only military left standing, the same damage you rightly say happened to China, had left the British and Europeans equally devastated. Germany especially. But the Soviets remained a threat that didn't have a clear military solution to, the logistics of the Americans attempting a ground war into Russia was clearly impossible.
At Bretton Woods the Americans decided to try something different, unprecedented in human history. Instead of building yet another overt empire they cut a deal with the rest of the world that said "we will use our overwhelming naval power to protect trade routes everywhere in the world, and in return you have to be on our side in the Cold War". They essentially bribed up a global alliance.
It also meant that trade routes everywhere were open and secure. The US Navy assured this. You could sent goods between any two nations, and the Americans provided the implicit security without any overt impost. You were expected to use US dollars as the trading currency and support the US politically against Stalin's Soviet Union … but that was pretty much it. It was a hegemony, but not like any that came before it.
And in terms of human development, this innovation was wildly successful. Since the end of WW2 the gradual elimination of absolute poverty has accelerated to the point that in 2016 fully half the human race is now middle class by local standards. That is a stunning achievement, utterly unprecedented, that most lefties like to pretend hasn't happened.
As for China, it's geography means that it is utterly dependent on the freedom of the seas for almost all of it's development. It's trade routes to essential resources and exports are long and vulnerable; without US Naval protection, China would never have become 'the factory of the world' that is today (well it was until a few weeks ago). All the Americans have to do to collapse China is to go home.
This isn't a moral narrative; it isn't a justification for all the obvious fuck ups the American's have made along the way, but it is a realistic description of the unique global order that we have flourished under since WW2.
Partially correct on what happened, but not the cause.
A convenient fiction from the Yanks.
I could equally describe the myriads of failures in the US attempts to impose capitalist dictatorships around the world. Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, Honduras, just being the latest.
Even the attempt to run Sears, in the States, as a competitive capitalist corporation within itself has been a dismal failure. Even capitalist corporations cannot exist without social cohesion and Co operation.
https://eand.co/this-is-how-a-society-dies-35bdc3c0b854 The USA, and New Zealand if we keep allowing greedy thieves, power, is a failing society.
I'm sick and tired of social darwinist bullshit being peddled as some sort of universal "Truth". Especially in economic discussions – it like some bad rerun of 80's tv. "Dallas" was a tv show, and in no way did it represent reality.
If this social darwin troup was true, then libertarian economics would work, and the social experiment of the last 30 odd years would make everyone a winner! Funny it's almost a complete failure. As this recession we are entering will be particular brutal on individuals.
Mutual aid, is a concept a lot on the left just don't get. It's what makes socialist economics work. The realisation that working together on somthing is beneficial for you and yours. As an anarchist I'd argue that those thing are limited – health care, education, and housing all work better under a mutual aid model. As for material production and agriculture I'm for mix of co-operative and individualist approaches. Some planning is necessary.
And to give Ad his due, we need trade, trade is a good. But trade is not capitalism, nor is dependant on capitalism. Trade can exist without capitalism.
Capitalism is a broken model, as is Marxist economics. We have to look at more than just profit and the next growth cycle.
Capitalist ideas that people can only by motivated by greed, doesn't explain most Teachers, Doctors Aunties, Caregivers and the many other people who are certainly not motivated by greed, that make society function.
Those that are motivated purely by self interest, are totally unable to understand other motivations, though they are happy to profit from them. The main differential between the current left and right in New Zealand. Once we had economic right wingers who agreed that prosperity for all was a goal. We just differed on how to get there. That I could respect. I cannot respect the current self serving justification for what amounts to, theft.
The scientist that gave away the rights to insulin to save lives, is a being beyond their limited comprehension.
Thatcher's, "there is no such thing as society" is one of the most pernicious and dangerous, ideas of modern times. Adam Smith did not say "greed is good". In fact he wanted the people that Marx called, "rentiers" those who got paid from "owning" not "working" to pay the taxes.
The U.S. has just carried out multiple air strikes in Iraq targeting Iranian-backed Shia militia. The air strikes are retaliation for yesterday's rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at camp Taji north of Baghdad.
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2020/03/retaliatory-strikes-attack-troops-iraq-200312220946232.html?__twitter_impression=true
Virus pandemic or no virus pandemic, the show must go on.
Every idiot who says "photo op" or "show pony" about Ardern should really watch the media conference she just gave in ChCh.
Anyone can read an autocue (except Trump) but it's the subsequent Q & A that really shows her quality. The key point is that she is saying what she thinks – not what some spin staffer has told her to say. The best fluency comes from sincerity.
The visiting Australian journalists seem to respect her.
Well-said. Her natural and unprocessed responses are inherently decent. Much respect and admiration due to her for that.
Every idiot who's down the "photo op" or "show pony" track could see the media conference, hear the media conference and come away with the same crap they usually parrot.
To compound the sad situation they're in, they would see Simon Bridges doing better, being better and stunning the gathering with his eloquence and presence.
About fkn time. The hero whistleblower who actually took the risks and paid the price and stood up for her principles is finally being released from prison. The assholes are still trying to squeeze her financially, though, by refusing to cancel fines that should never have been imposed.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/us-judge-orders-wikileaks-source-chelsea-manning-released-from-prison/ar-BB1179bc?li=BBqdg4K&ocid=mailsignout
Wow. I missed that. An interesting and hopefully welcome development.
Given that it's come right after a serious suicide attempt, I hope like hell she's got damn good wraparound support post-release.
Not so good for Assange if it means the Americans are confident he is going to be extradited.
How do you figure that?
They tossed her in the slammer because she wouldn't cough up new material to use against Assange (on the perfectly reasonable grounds she didn't have any new material to give them). So I don't really see how releasing her is in any way negative for Assange.
It all depends on why they released her now it’s at the trial stage in the UK (too late to present anything obtained form her or they have reason to be confident about getting the extradition).
From wikipedia (source info is apparently NYT and WaPo):
If the Grand Jury has wrapped up, then they've more or less finished putting together their case against Assange. Which would presumably include all of Manning's previous testimony, and she says she's already testified to everything she knows.
Yes. I saw that today.
There might be a go fund me page or something.
TOP party talking UBI again. In case anyone missed release around 10 March. Maybe with inflation indexed safeguards, this inflation calculation to include rents and rise in house prices?
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/03/10/top-calls-for-ubi-stimulus-in-response-to-covid-19/#comment-494949
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income
This gives good details about UBI.
Doing the lord's work.
/
https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1237761136507981824
To be fair, he's correct: holding mass religious gatherings during a pandemic would demonstrate quite clearly just how much power faith has to affect material reality, ie none. Pretty expensive demonstration if you value human life, though…
But a great way of disabusing people of the hilarious notion that the magical sky wizard will protect them from pestilence, famine, war and other interesting ways of dying.
Part of me is in favour of it. A small, dark, bloody-minded part of me I do my best to keep suppressed most of the time.
Darwin's theory at work.
https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1238110096334479364
edit:
https://twitter.com/mbaram/status/1238076910539870208
If you want to consider another threat, then there is bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ9bP6wo8rA&feature=emb_title
And yes we import pork from China.
WHO reckon they'll be killing 4 times as many annually as cancer does within 20 years.
Pork's in trouble from swine flu which's decimating the pig population. China faces an internal shortfall so great it'll probably cease exporting.
The fear is if it hits Germany (as it's in Poland now) there goes the global market as they're one of the biggest pork exporters.
Yes that is a positive, as the pork export from China was another worldwide health threat.
Authoritarian despot doing his thing.
Turkey's control of coronavirus testing kits is fuelling concerns over a cover-up, a prominent surgeon wrote for The National Interest on Wednesday.
“To date, Turkey has done about 2,500 tests. The lack of any identified cases provoked suspicion because if the test is negative, there was no other way to prove that the test might be positive,” said Dr. Ergin Koçyıldırım, a paediatric cardiothoracic surgeon and an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburg’s School of Medicine.
A source at a privately owned hospital in Istanbul told Ahval that the government was controlling the distribution of kits and not allowing hospitals to independently order alternatives.
Turkey has said its own virus detection kits are the fastest and most accurate in the world. While most detection kits generally yield results in around 24 hours, the Turkish government said its kits – produced in Turkey by a private company and funded by the state – can produce results in 90 minutes.
Despite the Health Ministry’s claims that Turkish coronavirus detection kits have been exported to several countries, including the United States, Koçyıldırım said that – to his knowledge – there was not a single institution or lab in that country using the tests.
Koçyıldırım also said that the Turkish government’s censorship of information was preventing people receiving reliable information on the coronavirus and was a disaster waiting to happen.
Turkey is the world’s biggest jailer of journalists and has threatened to take legal action against social media users or journalists who criticise its coronavirus detection approach, said Koçyıldırım.
https://ahvalnews.com/coronavirus/turkeys-control-coronavirus-testing-kits-fuels-concerns-over-cover-surgeon
Overly optimistic?
The global coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries mobilize to fight it, a senior Chinese medical adviser said on Thursday, as China declared the peak had passed there and new cases in Hubei fell to single digits for the first time.
Around two-thirds of global cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in China’s central Hubei province, where the virus first emerged in December. But in recent weeks the vast majority of new cases have been outside China.
[…]
“Broadly speaking, the peak of the epidemic has passed for China,” said Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission. “The increase of new cases is falling.”
Zhong Nanshan, the Chinese government’s senior medical adviser, said at a news conference on Thursday that as long as countries take the outbreak seriously and are prepared to take firm measures, it could be over worldwide in a matter of months.
“My advice is calling for all countries to follow WHO instructions and intervene on a national scale,” he said. “If all countries could get mobilized, it could be over by June.”
Mr. Zhong, an 83-year-old epidemiologist renowned for helping combat the SARS outbreak in 2003, said viruses in the same family typically become less active in warm months, which could help slow the spread.
“My estimate of June is based on scenarios that all countries take positive measures. But if some countries do not treat the infectiousness and harmfulness seriously, and intervene strongly, it would last longer.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-chinese-medical-official-says-coronavirus-pandemic-could-be-over-by/
We'll find out if the Chinese approach works as they go back to work in the next few weeks.
If they do not go back to work soon the global supply chain is stuffed, if they do and there is a renewed spread of the virus … then that demonstrates there is no guarantees form harsh prolonged action.
oh well….sure thing, why not
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/411655/coronavirus-womad-organisers-ask-unwell-attendees-to-stay-home
insert many many face palm, head on desk and back to face palm
WOMAD. So Sad. Such utter ignorance and disregard for the health and safety of their workers and their patrons.
All public assembly should be banned forthwith.
Where is our leadership? Everyday we delay taking simple, decisive action to contain spread of the virus will cause exponentially greater suffering at the peak.
The normally excellent Mehdi Hassan making the mistake of thinking it's a problem that Joe Biden lies a lot. Sorry Mehdi, in a world where Sanders gets pilloried for NOT lying about Cuba, it matters not a jot.
Apparently, Dolt45 fired the US pandemic response team in 2018. Sounds too stupid and timely to be true? Passes the Snopes test.
The yanks are lucky he has a natural genetic talent for sciencing.
Good article on the trials of the great Dr Jordan Peterson:
https://newrepublic.com/article/156829/happened-jordan-peterson
Showing the way.
https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/1237982834226106368
BUT NO TOILET PAPER! USELESS!!!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120276244/coronavirus-australian-politician-peter-dutton-has-coronavirus
Hahahahahaha!
We should really ban travel from Australia. Filthy beasts.
Certainly a problem fot the top end of town.
https://twitter.com/gabstargardter/status/1238118508166348800
https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1238195857608134657
What a statement of the Trump era that much international diplomatic business goes on at Mar-a-Lago, barely 2km away from the house of Trump's good friend, Jeffrey Epstein.
That's well over the line.
Which bit?
Probably the bit about laughing at Dutton having the disease.
Although that was close to my first impulse, too. Odious man.
Well, he's single-handedly caused a surge in violent crime in this country, so fuck him.
As a kiwi living in Australia I’ve been aware of Dutton’s odious policies long before most people here. But I’d still not gloat at this.
Then there is the ‘filthy beasts’ reference to all Australians. That’s a line with dark precedents.
Can't really get myself to worried about people who do gloat at it, though.
But would the gloaters consider losing as Tom Hanks too high a price for the world to pay?
Not sure Tom Hanks has worked so very hard to destroy the close relationship between New Zealand and Australia.
Could be wrong – I'll rewatch his movies 🙂
Can't really get myself to worried about people who do gloat at it, though.
But if hypothetically Ardern was to be hospitalised, and someone on kiwiblog made a similar ugly comment I'm sure you'd be fairly unimpressed.
What has Ardern done to export crime to other countries?
Lol
Plenty of right wingers have long list of grudges against her and would be as equally motivated to gloat as you have.
Grudges for what? Hugging people wearing a hijab?
Regardless of the motive, gloating is always ugly and reveals far more about the character of the person doing it than anything else.
By all means have a bit of a smirk to yourself, but FFS think before typing.
I'll throw a "thoughts and prayers" in there for Dutton, then. Apparently that does the trick.
I wouldn't gloat at this either. Those poor fucking viruses – I'm just glad they lack the cognitive capacity to realise what a sack of shit they're living in.
I wouldn't feel too sorry for those viruses…
https://twitter.com/bornmiserable/status/1237946460764684289
Will you still be laughing if Dutton has given Coronavirus to Tracey Martin?
Nope. Just Dutton.
Seems that this virus really does bring out the worst in some people.
oh fuck
https://twitter.com/JustSchmeltzer/status/1238166536130420737
The Hyde amendment blocks the use of federal funds to pay for abortion.
https://twitter.com/brianschatz/status/1238100336923086848
https://twitter.com/elwasson/status/1238133144173281280
Give the present dreadful state of American politics, there are quite a number of 'representatives' for whom, some may say, federally funded retrospective abortions could be a very good idea! 😉
Faith based healthcare, ain't it grand?
however,
it goes hand in hand with this.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/93988v/whole-foods-suggests-that-workers-share-paid-time-off-during-coronavirus
Whole foods is wholly owned by Amazons Jeff Bezo.