Rachel Stewart highlights a vital issue by pointing to an important article.
Our farming is NOT sustainable.
She says
Every New Zealander should read this. Why? To fully grasp how deeply our economy is built on myriad products that directly hurt others, our land, and our waterways. Farming must change, or it will be taken out of our hands.
The cycle that underpins New Zealand’s economy starts with a town in the desert, shielded by a minefield. A white, dusty rock is stripped from the earth and put on a conveyor belt, which rumbles slowly across the Sahara – flat, desolate and silent – for 100km. It leaves a cloud of dust so vast it can be seen from satellites, etching a scar across Northern Africa.
When it reaches port, the rocks topple off the belt and are loaded onto trucks, which are driven to awaiting cargo ships. They sail a tedious route south, ducking beneath the horn of South America to avoid nations that may confiscate the cargo.
The ships arrive at their destination: It could be Bluff, Dunedin, Lyttelton, Napier, or Tauranga, depending on who is buying the cargo. The rock is driven to a factory and blended with other rocks, mixed with sulfuric acid, and compressed into small, white balls. The balls are dropped with precision from planes over the countryside and bleed into the soil, releasing nutrients into plants, which are eaten by sheep and cows, which are eaten by us.
The scale of the operation is enormous. The conveyor belt is the longest in the world, as is the minefield protecting it.
……If you are a farmer in New Zealand and you use Superphosphate fertiliser, it is likely the raw materials came from the western side of the world’s longest minefield, and made the long, slow journey to the sea on the world’s longest conveyor belt.
When it arrives in New Zealand, records will say the phosphate came from Morocco, but the many thousands of people in Algerian refugee camps would say it was stolen from them.
“New Zealand farmers are the only clients in the whole world of the Moroccan plunder of Western Sahara,” says Erik Hagen of Western Saharan Resource Watch, an NGO that monitors trade from the region.
“New Zealand stands alone now as the main funder of the illegal occupation… They are buying stolen goods.”
“Labour ministers seem to have been painfully slow to learn that lesson, presenting as policy decisions that have not been signed off by Peters. And Peters is the ultimate showman, timing those lessons for maximum effect. But it’s Ardern who has had to pay the price by having to turn the other cheek to Peters’ gamesmanship and opportunism.”
“Peters jumped down the throat of reporters who questioned on Wednesday whether Labour’s latest sacrifice might be the multi employer agreements specified under its industrial relations reforms – but, notably, he also refused to commit to supporting them. Stuff has been told that NZ First has drafted changes to the legislation for when it comes back before the House. The end game appears to be either leverage, or oxygen, or kudos from the business sector for moderating Labour’s union base – or at least cultivating that perception.”
So we have Labour ministers allowed to operate like loose cannons and announce policies that haven’t actually been agreed to by NZF, giving Winston the opportunity to market his brand as superior. Does such political brand differentiation really work to the advantage of either party? Not at present. Makes more sense in a suitable part of the electoral cycle: 2020.
“The government was forced to halt a planned announcement about its Crown/Māori Relations portfolio after New Zealand First raised last minute objections. It’s the latest in a string of incidents where New Zealand First has pulled its support for Labour-led initiatives at the 11th hour.”
“Media were briefed and invited to attend an announcement by Crown/Māori Relations Minister Kelvin Davis and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday, where the new agency was set to be unveiled following sign-off at Cabinet. But Ms Ardern and Mr Davis had to roll back the announcement after NZ First refused to support it.”
That must be the fourth or fifth such instance in recent times! “It’s understood the lines of communication between Labour and NZ First are still not clear almost one year into the coalition arrangement. RNZ has been told the two parties are at odds over whether NZ First was properly consulted over such policies.”
So, after a year in government, when the coalition ought to be shifting into second gear at least, if not third, it seems instead intent on proving that the training wheels have yet to be removed!! Leadership now essential. Do it.
There appears to be a complete lack of leadership and communication between the partners. There is just this constant stream of missteps that should be getting cleared up behind closed doors, not in the media.
National doesn’t have to do anything at the moment as the sloppy management of this government is getting splashed all over the media on a daily basis.
Jacinda is a great on screen communicator but she needs to get the back of house management sorted
You got it. Not only that, his boss forgot to check it was okay with His Pomposity’s boss. Almost like deliberately, as if playing a game called `let’s forget we’re supposed to be govt awhile – more fun competing with NZF than the Nats’…
As Hurricane Florence bears down on the US Atlantic coast, residents would not be comforted to know that the persecution of immigrants has been put above their safety….
And as well as being soft on fascism and against public health care, the Trump administration; has rolled back regulation of Coal, of asbestos, of air quality, of automatic weapons….. and….. and…. nuclear weapons…..
Scary times…you betcha, here is the warmongering no conservative John Bolton sounding like a villain straight out a 1980’s Robocop movie, threatening the International Criminal Court and it’s judges and anyone who assists them…
Looks like the US might be going year zero..
Unfortunately we probably don’t get to see all the villains get their justice at the end.
there are almost 8 billion people on this planet. Literally 4 billion give or take a few millions to many.
Its not a death cult, its an extermination cult by proxy. It kills the old, the sick, the ailing, the infirm first by refusing to fund health care and aged care and disabled care. It kills the young ones by refusing to vaccinate on grounds of what ever. It kills the women by not funding female centric health care, it kills them pregnant, in child birth, it kills the mothers or the babies and sometimes both.
It kills the men by removing any rule, any legislation that would make work safe, that would prevent death through accidents, toxic waste etc.
it kills all without difference by refusing to send aid to disaster areas, it will kill the people in hospitals by not fixing the electricity net, by not cleaning the water ways, by not fixing the infra structure needed to bring in aid after a natural disaster.
Of course it will kill the poor first. The poor people of color will die before the poor white people die. But die they will.
the rich, the monied, the connected, the pundit class, the political class, the technocrats have known at least since the Bush 2nd years that climate change is coming, and with it rising sea levels, floods, destruction of habitat and arable land and with it migration.
It is about time to take of the blinders and stop believing that we can still stop this. We can’t. Its well underway. And our governments – any and all – know this, and they also know that mass migration and poverty are what awaits us. And the US is happy to let die all those the ruling class believe are surplus, they are happy for the preachers to screech stay at home, the righteous will be saved – after all are n’t they all righteous?
And we have had the same mindset here for the last years under National. So they are poor? Thems lazy buggers. So the child is poor and hungry? Should have choose better parents. So they don’t have a house? Should get another job. So they aren’t healthy? Must have been something they done. Right?
There are too many humans on this planet, The ruling class and their technocrats know this, and we – the unwashed masses – are surplus to requirement. We will not be saved, we will not be educated, we will not be considered of importance. And they don’t hide it. Time to stop acting surprised.
It is about time to take of the blinders and stop believing that we can still stop this.
Erm. But we can. An on-going 10% (or whatever it takes to stay within the known global carbon budget) annual cut in fossil consumption stops it. It might not leave us sitting below 2 degrees. But it might.
Why don’t you hassle the crap out of your local MP and demand they insist that government AGW policy gets written wholly off the back of science, instead of bent to accommodate economics?
And sure, we may already have passed a tipping point that takes the “anthropogenic” out of the global warming equation. Who knows? Maybe that possibility could feed into an unwavering insistence that we do what needs done no matter what?
We can also admit that we are too many on this planet. Capacity is reached, what now. We can admit that our governments world wide do not really care about those that it deems surplus. Namely the very poor, the very old, etc. You get the drift.
We can admit that our government short funds anything that would keep us alive, could make life better and maybe even more sustainable but generally does little more then pay lip service. Again, because they – our elected overlords – care little about our survival, after all theirs is assured.
As for what i do, whom i write to, how i live etc. You know nothing and you should not assume.
Non of us is wrong, and i am not saying it is too late, that is only what you hear. I say that there are to many humans on this planet. There are too many cars on this planet. To many MacMansions that house no one. Too much shit that people have because we need growth. Lol. And i say that non of that is gonna change anytime soon, unless we give up on the myth that the next generation needs it better then we had. We are at the highest living standard literally since ages ago and people still complain that they don’t have enough .We pull fucking boats across the middle of the country to go water skiing in a lake hundreds of kilometers from home, that is how fucked up we are. We inject our self with poison to be young for ever. We pretend to have it all with an empty fridge at home and no electricity. We buy on tick and then complain that we own nothing.
Yeah, right lets tell the poor that they can’t have it all, in fact what little they have they should give it up;, that they should not aspire to get out of the muck. . Cause it ain’t our ruling classes and their enablers that are gonna give up the tiniest sliver of their excesses.
You want change? Start with giving up hope that those task to know better actually know better.
Poor Winston. Trying to stay relevant. Don’t think much of his methods. Everything last minute. Not exactly showing Labour any respect at all. Shame! Oh well. Hes dominating news this morning so he and B@B will all be ecstatic. I hope he doesn’t stop Labour from doing it’s best to return NZ to its egalitarian status. Bloody annoyed at his timing.
Takes two to tango. He wouldn’t be able to grandstand if Labour didn’t keep on giving him the opportunities. The government ought to be doing consensus politics. It ought not to be allowing individual Labour ministers to hijack the process.
Ardern knows she can only be successful by securing agreement. Sometimes that means working through disagreement by solving problems. She isn’t telling us that the process has failed, has she? So the obvious conclusion is that they didn’t even try. Labour arrogance, presumably, as Mahuta demonstrated. What’s missing currently is leadership at the top. Those loose cannons must be brought under control before they sink the ship.
“In her speech from the porch of the whare runanga, Jacinda urged Maori to hold the Labour-NZF-Green government to account if it failed to deliver on its promises of uplift and renewal”
Winston is effectively doing everyone elses job they forgot to do!!!!!!!.
Best to make the best decision, not the first decision, so let’s hope NZF are delaying for worthy reasons. Anyway, Labour coalition is still performing better than the last lot of crims, so there’s that!
Bullshit. Labour are trying to do leftish things like reverse Labour law changes but Winston first is blocking it. Labour are trying to make attempts to honour the treaty by setting up the Maori/Crown thing but Winston is blocking it. Labour are trying to make meaningful changes to prisons but Winston is blocking it. Etc. Winston is the great dragging break on most of the progressive stuff that Labour and the Greens want to do.
“Putin called on the two men to appear in the media to protest their innocence, saying he “wanted to address them directly”. The Russian’s president’s words marked a departure from his country’s earlier position, which was to dismiss the evidence released by Scotland Yard as a fabrication.”
Apart from questions being raised around identical date stamps on video stills that appeared to be from the same location (and that was cleared up), what “fabrication” are you referring to marty?
‘I am cautious in who i read and what I believe from them. Even people i love like russell brand I still am circumspect rather than just like all they say because i really like something they say.’
I just wrote that and then thought, it sums up the problem well. We really struggle with this good person doing bad, bad person doing good, previous good person now doing bad and previous bad person now doing good. (I’m ignoring the value judgments of what is good or bad). I wonder why we can’t seem to compartmentalize a person’s actions and them or is that the problem – they are holistic. I’ve seen leftie unionists turn into capitalist pigdogs. I read good stuff and absolute rubbish from the same author. Probably just a reflection, a mirror of inside us and the turmoil we often live within.
Yes, to some degree as it’s a hangover from old “rat eyes” John Howard’s” era and from memory it maybe something to with Federal funding at the time as I can’t really be sure as I had more important things to worry about.
Back in the 70s Merv Wellington was out Min of Ed. He set out to demand that every kid at every school on every morning should salute the NZ flag and sing the National Anthem. He also asked that every image of nudity be removed from every book in every library. There was at least one Principal who inked out every image of nudity including those in the encyclopaedias. Thank goodness the National Government of the day fell. Very few schools responded to his Methodist beliefs. Phew!
Mr Poole wrote a scathing email to the group behind the Save the Schools campaign expressing his frustration at being included in the ad but Catherine Isaac, who is a supporter of the group and used to head the charter school authorisation board, doesn’t think the ad did any damage.
This government is not “Government was not “Labour-led”
I guess Labour are going to have to wake up to this at some point – else they are going to be continued to be shocked at whats “work in progress” – normally after they announce it.
Good. Some sanity for a change. ” “You had the coalition agreement, then you had the 100-day statement, then you had the Speech from the Throne, then the Budget. If those things we’re talking about are not in those four documents then they are always work in progress,” Peters said. He insisted the Government was not “Labour-led”.” What kind of a dance is it when one partner leads, then the other partner leads?
“What kind of a dance is it when one partner leads, then the other partner leads?”
I was introduced in an alternatives to violence workshop to the concept of effective relationships by the physical act of dancing with a fellow participant. The group felt what it was like, in turn, to dance in a way where both partners led at the same time (conflict and huge waste of energy), where neither led ( boring with nothing happening at all), and then where both partners led in turn.
Great fun. Great learning.
Could work in the great soft shoe shuffle of politics, too.
Better tell Jacinda and her ministers they need to run things pasted Winston then.
Jacinda could be excused for thinking 37% verse 7% did not entitle Winston to have the power to veto / water down key Labour policy.
The “not for public release” NZF – Labour document must not have been explicit enough in that regard!
Winston knows where NZF votes come from…he is positioning NZF not to suffer the minor party fate come 2020. He will trumpet keeping Labour and those looney Greens in check.
Dance is an interesting metaphor from a depiction of Christ’s life in
“Lord of the Dance” to the sex act as in “Shake, Rattle and Roll” to deceit as in leading someone a merry dance to bliss as in “I could have danced all night”.
I guess politics is similar. You just gotta choose if and when you gotta get down close and dirty.
The question remains-“Will you still love me tomorrow?”
And then the next day. Is it “So long, It’s been good to know you” or is it “Silver threads amongst the gold”?
Criminal in Chief puts corporate profits ahead of life.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration moved closer Tuesday to rolling back Obama-era rules reducing oil and gas industry leaks of methane gas, one of the most potent agents of climate change.
The Environmental Protection Agency formally released its proposed substitute for a 2016 Obama administration rule that aimed to step up detection and elimination of methane leaks at well sites and other oil and gas facilities. The agency’s move is part of a broad Trump administration effort to undo President Barack Obama’s legacy programs to fight climate change by cutting emissions from oil, gas and coal.
No Right Turn is reporting that Parliamentary Services is currently advertising for a pair of “security intelligence officers” and quotes the PS ad: “Reporting to the Security Enablement Manager, this role will collect information of intelligence value, conduct analysis of the information collected and prepare standardised intelligence product, in order to inform and influence the security and risk posture of Parliamentary Service.”
NRT: “Why the hell does Parliamentary Services need this? Who will they be collecting intelligence on?” Leakers, I presume. Wonder why that’s not obvious to NRT!
Croaking propagandist Barbara Walters fails miserably
This horrible woman has cozied up to Israeli presidents, American presidents, Henry Kissinger, and bloodstained military leaders like Norman Schwarzkopf and that arch-liar Colin Powell. She says that if she traveled abroad, she would love to have Powell as a “buddy”. She is infamous for her fawning and groveling manner.
However, when it came to interviewing the President of Syria, she tried to come across as an interrogator. Unfortunately for her, besides not having prepared properly, she is not nearly as sharp intellectually as her interlocutor….
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Ian Whittaker, Nottingham Trent University and Gareth Dorrian, University of BirminghamSpace exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth. The coming year is shaping up to be just as interesting. Here are some of ...
Michael Head, University of SouthamptonThe UK has become the first country to authorise the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for public use, with roll-out to start in the first week of 2021. This vaccine is the second to be authorised in the UK – following the Pfizer vaccine. The British government ...
So, Boris Johnson has been footering about in hospitals again. We should be grateful, perhaps, that on this occasion the Clown-in-Chief is only (probably) getting in the way and causing distractions, rather than taking up a bed, vital equipment and resources and adding more strain and danger to exhausted staff.Look at ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... SkS in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to ZeroThat’s one of several recent ...
The situation in the UK is looking catastrophic.Cases: over *70,000* people who were tested in England on 29th December tested positive. This is *not* because there were more tests on that day. It *is* 4 days after Christmas though, around when people who caught Covid on Christmas Day might start ...
by Don Franks For five days over New Year weekend, sixteen prisoners in the archaic pre WW1 block of Waikeria Prison defied authorities by setting fires and occupying the building’s roof. They eventually agreed to surrender after intervention from Maori party co-leader Rawiri Waititi. A message from the protesting men had stated: ...
As we welcome in the new year, our focus is on continuing to keep New Zealanders safe and moving forward with our economic recovery. There’s a lot to get on with, but before we say a final goodbye to 2020, here’s a quick look back at some of the milestones ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has added her warm congratulations to the New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to their communities and the country in the New Year 2021 Honours List. “The past year has been one that few of us could have imagined. In spite of all the things that ...
Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment David Parker has congratulated two retired judges who have had their contributions to the country and their communities recognised in the New Year 2021 Honours list. The Hon Tony Randerson QC has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the New Year’s Honours List 2021 highlights again the outstanding contribution made by Pacific people across Aotearoa. “We are acknowledging the work of 13 Pacific leaders in the New Year’s Honours, representing a number of sectors including health, education, community, sports, the ...
The Government’s investment in digital literacy training for seniors has led to more than 250 people participating so far, helping them stay connected. “COVID-19 has meant older New Zealanders are showing more interest in learning how to use technology like Zoom and Skype so they can to keep in touch ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Bartlett, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle Reports of about 30 deaths among elderly nursing home residents who received the Pfizer vaccine have made international headlines. With Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) expected to approve the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Culum Brown, Professor, Macquarie University How do gills work? Tully, aged 7 Great question, Tully! Animals on land breathe air, which is made up of different gasses. Oxygen is one of these gases, and is made by plants (hug ...
Dairy prices increased by 3.9% across the board at the latest Fonterra global auction. The lift followed rises of 1.3% and 4.3% in the December auctions which took dairy prices to their highest level in 11 months, defying those analysts who believed Covid-19 had disrupted dairy markets. In the latest ...
America's Cup team American Magic has spoken publicly after their boat Patriot capsized when on its way to their first win of the Challenger Selection Series yesterday. Patriot dramatically capsized yesterday, becoming temporarily airborne before crashing back into the water and tipping. The boat, helmed by New Zealander Dean Barker, could not be ...
It’s a seemingly age old question: why do Auckland’s beaches become unswimmable after every single downpour? Stewart Sowman-Lund investigates.Ah, the beach. A staple of the New Zealand summer. Unless, of course, you’re based in Auckland and it’s raining. The start of 2021 has been a lot like every other New ...
We have opened a book, among members of the Point of Order team, on how long it will be before the PM offers to sort out the land dispute at Wellington’s Shelly Bay and (to win the double) how much the settlement will cost taxpayers. Just a few weeks ago ...
Breakfast TV news is back for 2021, and Tara Ward got up early to watch. “Thank god it’s almost Christmas,” John Campbell said during the opening minutes of Breakfast’s premiere episode of the year. “2021’s been rough so far. I’m buggered”. We’re all buggered, to be fair, but I’m worried that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Pearson, Professor of Journalism and Social Media, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University, Griffith University The blame for the recent assault on the US Capitol and President Donald Trump’s broader dismantling of democratic institutions and norms can be ...
Despite a popular and unifying leader of the governing party, divisions both in policy and culture will test the progressive movement, writes Peter McKenzie.‘I think we’re confused.” Marlon Drake is an organiser for the Living Wage Movement. His job takes him all over Wellington, trying to convince businesses to increase ...
Covid-19 Recovery Minister Chris Hipkins says vaccinations should be available to the public by the middle of the year, but other countries are prioritised. ...
It’s as true now as it ever has been: nowhere else offers an education experience like that of Dunedin. But rather than resting on their laurels, the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic have plans to make the city an even more inspiring place for students.From high in the summit ...
Haggis, neeps and tatties and whisky may not be a traditional spread for a summer gathering in NZ, but trust Auckland city councillor and Kiwi-Scot Cathy Casey on this one. Gie it laldy! Rule one: Hold it on (or near) January 25Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759. Since the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University It could be argued artificial intelligence (AI) is already the indispensable tool of the 21st century. From helping doctors diagnose and treat patients to rapidly advancing new drug discoveries, it’s our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University Through recent natural disasters, global upheavals and a pandemic, Australia’s political centre has largely held. Australians may have disagreed at times, but they have also kept faith with governmental norms, eschewing the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Seale, Associate professor, UNSW Health workers are at higher risk of COVID infection and illness. They can also act as extremely efficient transmitters of viruses to others in medical and aged care facilities. That’s why health workers have been prioritised to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jim Orchard, Adjunct Lecturer, Monash University Last week, somewhat overshadowed by the events in Washington, the Democrats took control of the US Senate. The Democrats now hold a small majority in both the House and the Senate until 2022, giving President-elect Joe ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mittul Vahanvati, Lecturer, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University Heatwaves, floods, bushfires: disaster season is upon us again. We can’t prevent hazards or climate change-related extreme weather events but we can prepare for them — not just as individuals ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mandie Shean, Lecturer, School of Education, Edith Cowan University Starting school is an important event for children and a positive experience can set the tone for the rest of their school experience. Some children are excited to attend school for the first ...
Some families in emergency housing are reporting their children are becoming emotionally distressed because of their living conditions. Demand for emergency accommodation has escalated this past year with the number of emergency housing grants increasing by half. Data showed nearly 10,000 people were given an Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant between ...
Summer reissue: Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden are back for a second season of On the Rag, and where better to start than with the mysterious, exhausting world of wellness?First published June 23, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
With few Covid-19 infections and negiligible natural immunity, New Zealand faces being a victim of its own success when it is left till last to get the vaccines, argues Dr Parmjeet Parmar. ...
Steve Braunias reports on a literary cancelling. The Corrections department has refused to allow Jared Savage's best-selling book Gangland inside prison on the grounds that it "promotes violence and drug use". An inmate at Otago Corrections Facility in Dunedin was sent a copy of the book – but it was ...
New data from the CTU’s annual work life survey shows a snapshot of working people’s experiences and outlook heading out of 2020 and into the new year. Concerningly 42% of respondents cite workplace bullying as an issue in their workplace - a number ...
An international player, selector and self-confessed cricket stats nerd, Penny Kinsella has now played a hand in recording the rich history of the women's game in New Zealand. Penny Kinsella’s cricketing career was perched on the cusp of change for the White Ferns. “My first tour to Australia, we ...
The dramatic capsize of American Magic brought out the best in the America's Cup sailing fraternity. But, Suzanne McFadden asks, what does it mean to the crippled New York Yacht Club campaign and to the Prada Cup? It was a scene as unreal as it was calamitous. Right at the moment the ...
The current number of members of parliament is starting to get too low for the job we expect them to do, argues Alex Braae. As a general rule, with the possible exception of their families, nobody likes backbench MPs. But it’s nevertheless time we accepted that parliament should have more of ...
The experience in the Brazilian city of Manaus reveals how mistaken, and dangerous, the herd-immunity-by-infection theory really is. As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop ...
As New Zealand gears up to fight climate change, experts warn that we need to actually reduce emissions, not just plant trees to offset our greenhouse gases. ...
A nationwide poll has found majority support for the government to continue to closely monitor abortions in New Zealand and the reasons for it, despite the Ministry of Health recently suggesting that there is not a use for collecting much of this information. ...
The out-of-control growth in gangs, gun crime, and violent gang activity is exposing our communities to dangerous levels of violence that will inevitably end in tragedy, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The recent incidents of people being shot and ...
Successive governments have paid lip service to our productivity challenge but have failed to deliver. It's time to establish a Productivity Council charged with prioritising efforts. ...
Understanding the connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and ‘long Covid’ might be helpful in treating symptoms that doctors will find all too easy to dismiss.When people began to report signs of “long Covid”, characterised by a lack of full recovery from the virus and debilitating fatigue, I recognised their stories. ...
Nadine Anne Hura, who never considered herself an artist, reflects on what art and making has taught her.I couldn’t clean or cook or wash the clothes, but I could sew. That’s a lie, I’m a terrible sewer, but I left work early to fossick around in the $1 bin of ...
Summer reissue: In the final episode of this season of Bad News, Alice is joined by Billy T award winner Kura Forrester to look at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2020.First published September 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The ...
Lucy Revill’s The Residents is a blog about daily life in Wellington that has morphed into a stylish, low-key coffee-table book featuring interviews and photographic portraits of 38 Wellingtonians. In this extract, Revill profiles Eboni Waitere, owner and executive director of Huia Publishers. The Residents features names like Monique Fiso ...
Pacific Media Watch correspondent The pro-independence conflict in West Papua with a missionary plane reportedly being shot down at Intan Jaya has stirred contrasting responses from the TNI/POLRI state sources, church leaders and an independence leader. A shooting caused a plane to catch fire on 6 January 2021 in the ...
“Last year ACT warned that rewarding protestors at Ihumātao with taxpayer money would promote further squatting. We just didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it is in Shelly Bay” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The prosperity of all ...
Our kindly PM registered her return to work as leader of the nation with yet another statement on the Beehive website, the second in two days (following her appointment of Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council on Wednesday). It’s great to know we don’t have to check with ...
A Pūhoi pub is refusing to remove a piece of memorabilia bearing the n-word from its walls. Dr Lachy Paterson looks at the history of the word here, and New Zealand’s complicity in Britain’s shameful slave trading past.Content warning: This article contains racist language and images.On a pub wall in ...
Supermarket shoppers looking for citrus are seeing a sour trend at the moment – some stores are entirely tapped out of lemons. But why? Batches of homemade lemonade will be taking a hit this summer, with life not giving New Zealand shoppers lemons. Prices are high at supermarkets and grocers that ...
You’re born either a cheery soul or a gloomy one, reckons Linda Burgess – but what happens when gene pools from opposite ends of the spectrum collide?In our shoeboxes of photos that we have to sort out before we die or get demented – because who IS that kid on ...
Summer reissue: Prisoner voting rights are something that few in government seem particularly motivated to do anything about. Could a catchy charity single help draw attention to the issue?First published September 1, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Hundreds more Cook Islanders are expected to begin criss-crossing the Pacific, Air NZ will triple the number of flights to Rarotonga next week, and about 300 managed isolation places will be freed up for Kiwis returning from other parts of the world. When Thomas Tarurongo Wynne took a job in Wellington at ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Ena Manuireva in Auckland It seems a long time ago – some 124 days – since Mā’ohi Nui deplored its first covid-19 related deaths of an elderly woman on 11 September 2020 followed by her husband just hours later, both over the age of 80. The local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral research associate, UNSW A global coalition of more than 50 countries have this week pledged to protect over 30% of the planet’s lands and seas by the end of this decade. Their reasoning is clear: we need greater protection ...
The Reserve Bank Governor’s apology and claim he will ‘own the issue’ is laughable given the lack of answers and timing of its release. Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union said: “It’s been five days since they came clean, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Kokshagina, Researcher – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, RMIT University Are too many online meetings and notifications getting you down? Online communication tools – from email to virtual chat and video-conferencing – have transformed the way we work. In many respects they’ve made ...
The Reserve Bank acknowledges information about some of its stakeholders may have been breached in a malicious data hack. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has commissioned an independent inquiry into how stakeholders' information was compromised when hackers breached a file sharing service used by the bank. “We ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland This story contains spoilers for Ammonite Palaeontologist Mary Anning is known for discovering a multitude of Jurassic fossils from Lyme Regis on England’s Dorset Coast from the age of ten in 1809. ...
A tribute to the sitcoms of old? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Yup. Sam Brooks reviews the audacious WandaVision.Nothing sends a chill up my spine like the phrase “Marvel Cinematic Universe”. Since launching in 2008 with Iron Man, the MCU has become a shambling behemoth, with over 23 films (not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University The alt-right, QAnon, paramilitary and Donald Trump-supporting mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6 claimed they were only doing what the so-called “founding fathers” of the US had done in ...
The Point of Order Ministerial Workload Watchdog and our ever-vigilant Trough Monitor were both triggered yesterday by an item of news from the office of Conservation Minister Kititapu Allan. The minister was drawing attention to new opportunities to dip into the Jobs for Nature programme (and her statement was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Kupz, Senior Research Fellow, James Cook University In July 1921, a French infant became the first person to receive an experimental vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), after the mother had died from the disease. The vaccine, known as Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is ...
The first Friday Poem for 2021 is by Wellington poet Rebecca Hawkes.While you were partying I studied the bladeI your ever-loving edgelord God-emperorof the bot army & bitcoin mine subsistingon an IV drip of gamer girl bathwaterfinally my lonelinessis your responsibility………. you seeI need a girlfriend assigned to me by the ...
The arming of police officers in Canterbury was inevitable with the growing numbers and brazenness of the gangs across the country – this should be a permanent step, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is unfortunate that we have come to the point ...
Celebrations in Aotearoa New Zealand to mark the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will begin on Thursday 21 January with ICAN Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wellington and online event, and continue on Friday ...
Hardly anyone is using their Covid Tracer app. Something needs to change.As the mercury approaches 30°C in Aotearoa, there is a good deal of slipping and slopping, but, let’s face it, piss-all scanning. As few as around 500,000 QR codes are being scanned by users of the NZ Covid Tracer ...
On the East Coast, a group of Māori-owned enterprises is innovating to create new revenue streams while doing what they love.New Zealand’s remote and sparsely populated regions are typically not the best places to create thriving brick-and-mortar businesses. In small communities miles away from any major centres, there are so ...
As we reach the height of summer, it’s not too late to do a safety check on your gas bottle. The Environmental Protection Authority’s Safer Homes programme has some tips and tricks to keep in mind before you fire up the grill. "If you’ve ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold by Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph, $37)If you’re in any way unsure about ...
“We may as well knock on the gang headquarters around this country and tell them we all give up," says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is simply outrageous that violent offender, James Tuwhangai, has been released from ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Ireland, Israel, and Lebanon. Chart by Keith Rankin. The countries with the most recent large outbreaks of Covid19 are those with large numbers of recent recorded cases, but yet to record the deaths that most likely will result. In this camp, this time, are Ireland, Israel ...
RuPaul is in Aotearoa, kicking back in managed isolation to await the filming of an Australasian version of her hugely popular reality show Drag Race. But not everyone is happy about, explains Eli Matthewson. The world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul, is in New Zealand, the government confirmed earlier this week ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Melleuish, Professor, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong What can we make of Clive Palmer? This week, he announced his United Australia Party (UAP) would not contest the upcoming West Australian state election on March 13. After a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gisela Kaplan, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England Have you ever seenmagpies play-fighting with one another, or rolling around in high spirits? Or an apostlebird running at full speed with a stick in its beak, chased by a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Jackson, Program Director, Centre for Policy Development, and Associate Professor of Education, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Childcare centres across Australia are suffering staff shortages, which have been exacerbated by the COVID crisis. Many childcare workers across Australia left when parents started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Rhetoric plays an important role in tax debate and therefore tax policy. If your side manages to gain traction in the public imagination with labels such as “death ...
Rachel Stewart highlights a vital issue by pointing to an important article.
Our farming is NOT sustainable.
She says
The article she refers to is entitled ‘Precious rock New Zealand is accused of stealing from the Sahara’
An excerpt.
Kia ora Ed. Nga mihi maui.
Isn’t the area under Moroccan control?
part of the problem, that is.
Tracey Watkin: “The lesson is that, unless Labour policies are agreed in coalition negotiations and tied down in Ardern’s speech from the throne, it shouldn’t be assumed they are Government policy.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/107025942/why-national-insists-on-calling-jacinda-ardern-weak
“Labour ministers seem to have been painfully slow to learn that lesson, presenting as policy decisions that have not been signed off by Peters. And Peters is the ultimate showman, timing those lessons for maximum effect. But it’s Ardern who has had to pay the price by having to turn the other cheek to Peters’ gamesmanship and opportunism.”
“Peters jumped down the throat of reporters who questioned on Wednesday whether Labour’s latest sacrifice might be the multi employer agreements specified under its industrial relations reforms – but, notably, he also refused to commit to supporting them. Stuff has been told that NZ First has drafted changes to the legislation for when it comes back before the House. The end game appears to be either leverage, or oxygen, or kudos from the business sector for moderating Labour’s union base – or at least cultivating that perception.”
So we have Labour ministers allowed to operate like loose cannons and announce policies that haven’t actually been agreed to by NZF, giving Winston the opportunity to market his brand as superior. Does such political brand differentiation really work to the advantage of either party? Not at present. Makes more sense in a suitable part of the electoral cycle: 2020.
There’s also this: https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/366312/nz-first-pull-support-for-labour-led-initiatives-at-last-minute
“The government was forced to halt a planned announcement about its Crown/Māori Relations portfolio after New Zealand First raised last minute objections. It’s the latest in a string of incidents where New Zealand First has pulled its support for Labour-led initiatives at the 11th hour.”
“Media were briefed and invited to attend an announcement by Crown/Māori Relations Minister Kelvin Davis and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday, where the new agency was set to be unveiled following sign-off at Cabinet. But Ms Ardern and Mr Davis had to roll back the announcement after NZ First refused to support it.”
That must be the fourth or fifth such instance in recent times! “It’s understood the lines of communication between Labour and NZ First are still not clear almost one year into the coalition arrangement. RNZ has been told the two parties are at odds over whether NZ First was properly consulted over such policies.”
So, after a year in government, when the coalition ought to be shifting into second gear at least, if not third, it seems instead intent on proving that the training wheels have yet to be removed!! Leadership now essential. Do it.
I agree completely.
There appears to be a complete lack of leadership and communication between the partners. There is just this constant stream of missteps that should be getting cleared up behind closed doors, not in the media.
National doesn’t have to do anything at the moment as the sloppy management of this government is getting splashed all over the media on a daily basis.
Jacinda is a great on screen communicator but she needs to get the back of house management sorted
Kelv must’ve forgotten to check in with El Pomposo, Prince of the Provinces.
You got it. Not only that, his boss forgot to check it was okay with His Pomposity’s boss. Almost like deliberately, as if playing a game called `let’s forget we’re supposed to be govt awhile – more fun competing with NZF than the Nats’…
Is the US being run by a death cult?
As Hurricane Florence bears down on the US Atlantic coast, residents would not be comforted to know that the persecution of immigrants has been put above their safety….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/107038928/donald-trump-moved-fema-funds-to-ice-at-start-of-hurricane-season
And as well as being soft on fascism and against public health care, the Trump administration; has rolled back regulation of Coal, of asbestos, of air quality, of automatic weapons….. and….. and…. nuclear weapons…..
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/white-house-hobbles-nuclear-weapons-safety-agency/
Scary times
Scary times…you betcha, here is the warmongering no conservative John Bolton sounding like a villain straight out a 1980’s Robocop movie, threatening the International Criminal Court and it’s judges and anyone who assists them…
Looks like the US might be going year zero..
Unfortunately we probably don’t get to see all the villains get their justice at the end.
John S. Hall – America Kicks Ass
there are almost 8 billion people on this planet. Literally 4 billion give or take a few millions to many.
Its not a death cult, its an extermination cult by proxy. It kills the old, the sick, the ailing, the infirm first by refusing to fund health care and aged care and disabled care. It kills the young ones by refusing to vaccinate on grounds of what ever. It kills the women by not funding female centric health care, it kills them pregnant, in child birth, it kills the mothers or the babies and sometimes both.
It kills the men by removing any rule, any legislation that would make work safe, that would prevent death through accidents, toxic waste etc.
it kills all without difference by refusing to send aid to disaster areas, it will kill the people in hospitals by not fixing the electricity net, by not cleaning the water ways, by not fixing the infra structure needed to bring in aid after a natural disaster.
Of course it will kill the poor first. The poor people of color will die before the poor white people die. But die they will.
the rich, the monied, the connected, the pundit class, the political class, the technocrats have known at least since the Bush 2nd years that climate change is coming, and with it rising sea levels, floods, destruction of habitat and arable land and with it migration.
It is about time to take of the blinders and stop believing that we can still stop this. We can’t. Its well underway. And our governments – any and all – know this, and they also know that mass migration and poverty are what awaits us. And the US is happy to let die all those the ruling class believe are surplus, they are happy for the preachers to screech stay at home, the righteous will be saved – after all are n’t they all righteous?
And we have had the same mindset here for the last years under National. So they are poor? Thems lazy buggers. So the child is poor and hungry? Should have choose better parents. So they don’t have a house? Should get another job. So they aren’t healthy? Must have been something they done. Right?
There are too many humans on this planet, The ruling class and their technocrats know this, and we – the unwashed masses – are surplus to requirement. We will not be saved, we will not be educated, we will not be considered of importance. And they don’t hide it. Time to stop acting surprised.
It is about time to take of the blinders and stop believing that we can still stop this.
Erm. But we can. An on-going 10% (or whatever it takes to stay within the known global carbon budget) annual cut in fossil consumption stops it. It might not leave us sitting below 2 degrees. But it might.
Why don’t you hassle the crap out of your local MP and demand they insist that government AGW policy gets written wholly off the back of science, instead of bent to accommodate economics?
And sure, we may already have passed a tipping point that takes the “anthropogenic” out of the global warming equation. Who knows? Maybe that possibility could feed into an unwavering insistence that we do what needs done no matter what?
We can also admit that we are too many on this planet. Capacity is reached, what now. We can admit that our governments world wide do not really care about those that it deems surplus. Namely the very poor, the very old, etc. You get the drift.
We can admit that our government short funds anything that would keep us alive, could make life better and maybe even more sustainable but generally does little more then pay lip service. Again, because they – our elected overlords – care little about our survival, after all theirs is assured.
As for what i do, whom i write to, how i live etc. You know nothing and you should not assume.
Non of us is wrong, and i am not saying it is too late, that is only what you hear. I say that there are to many humans on this planet. There are too many cars on this planet. To many MacMansions that house no one. Too much shit that people have because we need growth. Lol. And i say that non of that is gonna change anytime soon, unless we give up on the myth that the next generation needs it better then we had. We are at the highest living standard literally since ages ago and people still complain that they don’t have enough .We pull fucking boats across the middle of the country to go water skiing in a lake hundreds of kilometers from home, that is how fucked up we are. We inject our self with poison to be young for ever. We pretend to have it all with an empty fridge at home and no electricity. We buy on tick and then complain that we own nothing.
Yeah, right lets tell the poor that they can’t have it all, in fact what little they have they should give it up;, that they should not aspire to get out of the muck. . Cause it ain’t our ruling classes and their enablers that are gonna give up the tiniest sliver of their excesses.
You want change? Start with giving up hope that those task to know better actually know better.
Poor Winston. Trying to stay relevant. Don’t think much of his methods. Everything last minute. Not exactly showing Labour any respect at all. Shame! Oh well. Hes dominating news this morning so he and B@B will all be ecstatic. I hope he doesn’t stop Labour from doing it’s best to return NZ to its egalitarian status. Bloody annoyed at his timing.
+ 1 yep – he is acting like a baby who needs his nappies changes.
Winston gets what Winston wants. Labour gets what Winston allows them to have.
Seems he’s not afraid to simply say “no”.
It was always going to happen – and it’s fun to watch it play out.
That’s what happens when you have such an ill prepared and weak leader like Jacinda (IMHO).
no james it is just life with adults
Takes two to tango. He wouldn’t be able to grandstand if Labour didn’t keep on giving him the opportunities. The government ought to be doing consensus politics. It ought not to be allowing individual Labour ministers to hijack the process.
Ardern knows she can only be successful by securing agreement. Sometimes that means working through disagreement by solving problems. She isn’t telling us that the process has failed, has she? So the obvious conclusion is that they didn’t even try. Labour arrogance, presumably, as Mahuta demonstrated. What’s missing currently is leadership at the top. Those loose cannons must be brought under control before they sink the ship.
Maybe Labour are not dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s properly ?
More like just not asking the boss first (Winston).
Isn’t respect earned?
As DPF points out, labour can’t even run a proper meeting in parliament. Why should Winston show them any respect?
Awesome little aussie battler – thank you Harper, for highlighting this.
“Harper Nielsen claimed the song “Advance Australia Fair” ignored the nation’s indigenous people.
“When it says ‘we are young’ it completely disregards the Indigenous Australians who were here before us,” she told ABC news Australia.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-45495675
That’s a 9 year old with courage.
That’s a well-programmed 9yo.
Yeah they probably had a well rounded education with minimal time on devices or the zombie box.
Does anyone know what this Prime Minister’s speech at AUT on Sunday is all about?
Generally geeing up the troops, or something substantial?
Long live Winston!! our real hero of the north;
Winston is needed to keep Labour honest as Labour has many rigjht wingers in their “broad church”.
So if Winston does not check on labour swinging right who will????
Remember it was Jacinda that challenged all to keep her government to keep her promises at the Whitangi day speak right?
Here is Chris Trotter’s own coverage of the speech that day.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/02/08/blowing-smoke-why-jacinda-needs-to-talk-less-and-do-more/
“In her speech from the porch of the whare runanga, Jacinda urged Maori to hold the Labour-NZF-Green government to account if it failed to deliver on its promises of uplift and renewal”
Winston is effectively doing everyone elses job they forgot to do!!!!!!!.
Best to make the best decision, not the first decision, so let’s hope NZF are delaying for worthy reasons. Anyway, Labour coalition is still performing better than the last lot of crims, so there’s that!
Bullshit. Labour are trying to do leftish things like reverse Labour law changes but Winston first is blocking it. Labour are trying to make attempts to honour the treaty by setting up the Maori/Crown thing but Winston is blocking it. Labour are trying to make meaningful changes to prisons but Winston is blocking it. Etc. Winston is the great dragging break on most of the progressive stuff that Labour and the Greens want to do.
“Putin called on the two men to appear in the media to protest their innocence, saying he “wanted to address them directly”. The Russian’s president’s words marked a departure from his country’s earlier position, which was to dismiss the evidence released by Scotland Yard as a fabrication.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/12/skripal-poisoning-suspects-are-civilians-not-criminals-says-putin-novichok
A good development putting paid to the fabrication conspiracy adherents.
Apart from questions being raised around identical date stamps on video stills that appeared to be from the same location (and that was cleared up), what “fabrication” are you referring to marty?
The one mentioned in the quote bill.
There’s nothing specific mentioned in the quote – just an all encompassing and meaningless mention of “the evidence”.
What are you worried about then.
From what I can tell we still have one story versus another story. We need more evidence from both sides to see what story makes more sense.
If you’re implying there is a change of story so that leans toward guilt. I don’t see that. The president’s latest comment clarifies the earlier one.
Yes I’m sure you can read into it whatever suits.
This report is very much like CNN coverage of Venezuelan. Like the added bit from the CIA – calling people conspiracy theorists.
‘I am cautious in who i read and what I believe from them. Even people i love like russell brand I still am circumspect rather than just like all they say because i really like something they say.’
I just wrote that and then thought, it sums up the problem well. We really struggle with this good person doing bad, bad person doing good, previous good person now doing bad and previous bad person now doing good. (I’m ignoring the value judgments of what is good or bad). I wonder why we can’t seem to compartmentalize a person’s actions and them or is that the problem – they are holistic. I’ve seen leftie unionists turn into capitalist pigdogs. I read good stuff and absolute rubbish from the same author. Probably just a reflection, a mirror of inside us and the turmoil we often live within.
WTF!?
Are Australian kids expected to do a “national anthem” mambo every morning or something?
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/sep/12/rightwing-australian-politicians-criticise-girl-9-in-row-over-anthem
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/queensland-schoolgirl-threatened-with-suspension-after-refusing-to-stand-for-national-anthem/news-story/33a07500c2cbf17d765af7da742c5dfc
Yes, to some degree as it’s a hangover from old “rat eyes” John Howard’s” era and from memory it maybe something to with Federal funding at the time as I can’t really be sure as I had more important things to worry about.
Back in the 70s Merv Wellington was out Min of Ed. He set out to demand that every kid at every school on every morning should salute the NZ flag and sing the National Anthem. He also asked that every image of nudity be removed from every book in every library. There was at least one Principal who inked out every image of nudity including those in the encyclopaedias. Thank goodness the National Government of the day fell. Very few schools responded to his Methodist beliefs. Phew!
Mr Poole wrote a scathing email to the group behind the Save the Schools campaign expressing his frustration at being included in the ad but Catherine Isaac, who is a supporter of the group and used to head the charter school authorisation board, doesn’t think the ad did any damage.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/366348/head-of-two-charter-schools-annoyed-by-newspaper-ad
Catherine Isaac married to the late Roger Kerr. RWs rule Okay!
Managing things to suit themselves first and foremost since at least 1984.
I don’t think that generalised statement will do any damage, even if not true in every letter of that paragraph.
Winston clarfies once and for all.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12124423
This government is not “Government was not “Labour-led”
I guess Labour are going to have to wake up to this at some point – else they are going to be continued to be shocked at whats “work in progress” – normally after they announce it.
Good. Some sanity for a change. ” “You had the coalition agreement, then you had the 100-day statement, then you had the Speech from the Throne, then the Budget. If those things we’re talking about are not in those four documents then they are always work in progress,” Peters said. He insisted the Government was not “Labour-led”.” What kind of a dance is it when one partner leads, then the other partner leads?
“What kind of a dance is it when one partner leads, then the other partner leads?”
I was introduced in an alternatives to violence workshop to the concept of effective relationships by the physical act of dancing with a fellow participant. The group felt what it was like, in turn, to dance in a way where both partners led at the same time (conflict and huge waste of energy), where neither led ( boring with nothing happening at all), and then where both partners led in turn.
Great fun. Great learning.
Could work in the great soft shoe shuffle of politics, too.
Thanks, good response. Let’s hope the coalition proceeds on that basis eh? 😊
Better tell Jacinda and her ministers they need to run things pasted Winston then.
Jacinda could be excused for thinking 37% verse 7% did not entitle Winston to have the power to veto / water down key Labour policy.
The “not for public release” NZF – Labour document must not have been explicit enough in that regard!
Winston knows where NZF votes come from…he is positioning NZF not to suffer the minor party fate come 2020. He will trumpet keeping Labour and those looney Greens in check.
Dance is an interesting metaphor from a depiction of Christ’s life in
“Lord of the Dance” to the sex act as in “Shake, Rattle and Roll” to deceit as in leading someone a merry dance to bliss as in “I could have danced all night”.
I guess politics is similar. You just gotta choose if and when you gotta get down close and dirty.
The question remains-“Will you still love me tomorrow?”
And then the next day. Is it “So long, It’s been good to know you” or is it “Silver threads amongst the gold”?
But the dance goes on, and I’m in the band.
Criminal in Chief puts corporate profits ahead of life.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration moved closer Tuesday to rolling back Obama-era rules reducing oil and gas industry leaks of methane gas, one of the most potent agents of climate change.
The Environmental Protection Agency formally released its proposed substitute for a 2016 Obama administration rule that aimed to step up detection and elimination of methane leaks at well sites and other oil and gas facilities. The agency’s move is part of a broad Trump administration effort to undo President Barack Obama’s legacy programs to fight climate change by cutting emissions from oil, gas and coal.
https://apnews.com/a42323c0e0ed4572be8f752388d86787/EPA-moves-closer-to-rolling-back-Obama-era-rules-on-methane?
No Right Turn is reporting that Parliamentary Services is currently advertising for a pair of “security intelligence officers” and quotes the PS ad: “Reporting to the Security Enablement Manager, this role will collect information of intelligence value, conduct analysis of the information collected and prepare standardised intelligence product, in order to inform and influence the security and risk posture of Parliamentary Service.”
NRT: “Why the hell does Parliamentary Services need this? Who will they be collecting intelligence on?” Leakers, I presume. Wonder why that’s not obvious to NRT!
Croaking propagandist Barbara Walters fails miserably
This horrible woman has cozied up to Israeli presidents, American presidents, Henry Kissinger, and bloodstained military leaders like Norman Schwarzkopf and that arch-liar Colin Powell. She says that if she traveled abroad, she would love to have Powell as a “buddy”. She is infamous for her fawning and groveling manner.
However, when it came to interviewing the President of Syria, she tried to come across as an interrogator. Unfortunately for her, besides not having prepared properly, she is not nearly as sharp intellectually as her interlocutor….