However, this does mean that it’ll be another week that I don’t make it to the Bandstand to participate in the Many Voices discussion. Also, the Oil Free Otago guest speaker I’d been arranging to have in the vicinity (lawn or pagoda depending on weather) won’t be happening until 2pm the next Saturday (22nd Feb; unless of course, further action intervenes).
Nope. During the Progressive lockout in 2006, many suppliers to the supermarket donated food and goods to the workers as a protest against the way the company was screwing them down. Growers, for example, were told that they had to cut their already low prices by arbitrary percentages if they wanted to keep their contracts. As we have a supermarket duopoly, they had little choice but to comply.
..(he is disliked by so many..the list of possible suspects is a long one..)
..but someone did..
..and i guess we will know soon who is reading this right..
..eh..?
..and if wrong i will issue a suitably grovelling apology..
..and don’t get me wrong..i wanted jones to be right..
..(if he were..it wd fit perfectly into my ‘partial-nationalisation’ idea that i am trying to bring to life/push.(where the state takes a 51% controlling share in key industries..food supplies being one ripe for pn…)
..but when i first heard it i thought it didn’t ring true..
Nothing’s changed since you posted at breakfast time, except the story seems to be taken seriously by the media and the minister Craig Foss. And I see there was limited backing from Katherine Rich from the grocers organisation. As I noted about the lockout, this alleged behaviour is consistent with Woollie’s attitude to its suppliers, so I’m in the no smoke without fire camp till actual evidence confirms it one way or another.
Key now requesting Commerce Commission investigation. Go Jones! Hope it’s stinkier than Simunovich! Key will as ever look like a softcock when it comes to doing actual political work.
What an absolute stench that ShonKey Python should be demanding answers about what everyone else says/knows about/to/of KDC !
Punkarse variously preening/sneering/obfuscating/narcissistic/exceptionalist/giggling/effete banker boy…….the question has been live for months and months and months………starting at the very start ShonKey…….where were/are you at/with/about KDC ?
Answer that question before launching interrogatories at everyone else !
How paradoxical that the guy we’d most like to have a beer with (mythically) is emblematic of the type who’d qualify for a quick crack in the mouth in most of the places where a beer might be had.
John Phillip ShonKey has a lot of front demanding to know what others have had to do with Mr Dotcom.
• Given the proximity of the KDC spread to the PM’s electorate office.
• Given his refusal to even read the Police report on what Banksie had to do with KDC.
• Given his being minister for the official snoopers (NZSIS, GCSB) that know a lot more about the KDC affair than they are so far willing to let on.
The populist nature of Mr Dotcom perhaps indicates the reptilian Prime Minister should write an official letter to everyone asking what they have had to do with KDC?
So all the political Editors are running the John Key lines “going over the top of the Justice system” etc, but no single one has asked Key where he got his information to form his allegations.
Question to Key, is very short and simple. Who told you Winston went to Dotcoms Mansion 3 times and what evidence do you have?
Who told you Norman went two times and was ‘selling questions’ to Dot Com, and what evidence do you have of this?
It would be nice if they did the job they are paid to do not the bidding of Key by repeating his accusations without question. They are all trying to out ‘Gower’ Patrick Gower in the gotcha contest this includes the shooting from the hip and missing like Gower contest .
+100…..and ironic Reptile Key is so paranoid about the visits
….it must really gall him that Winston, who he needs to form a coaliition, has been visiting Dot Com….Key is probably feeling quite desperate in fact…..
…of course he is attacking Norman rather than Paters
….while Norman is putting up a good defensive fight …the fight should be on the offensive
The answer to that would i think be an emphatic No, think SIS, and the question that might need to be asked of Slippery the Prime Minister is the SIS maintaining a 24 hour watch on Kim DotCom or perhaps Slippery as the Minister in charge has them watching Russell Norman and Winston Peters…
Mr Hodge said some of the salaries at Vanguard, in Albany, were about $16,000 more than his school could offer.
New Zealand’s largest secondary school lost five teachers after a charter school was established nearby which could offer better salaries.
I think its immaterial how kids are educated, as long as it produced results that ensure they can be contributing members of society, pursue their ambitions and enjoy the experience. If you judge the efficacy of an education on purely where it was gained then you’re an idiot.
It’s only “growing the pie” because the government is spending additional money on these schools. That’s where the salaries are coming from.
So, instead of the government spending $XX million on charter schools to “grow the pie”, they could have simply spent that same $XX million on state schools and “grown the pie” by the same amount.
Who sort of kids are going to these charter schools?
From my understanding it’s all the kids who are struggling, the 10-20% who fall through the cracks, the ones that tend to go on and feature significantly in all the bad statistics and cost the tax payer a ton of coin.
Mainstream schooling doesn’t work for them for what ever reason, so take them out of that environment and see how they go in another enviroment.
Great for teachers and pupils at mainstream school as these kids are normally a major distraction and a huge drain on the teachers time usually at the expense of the other kids in the class.
This is the ambulance at the top of the cliff, a win win for every one.
You cannot grow a pie. If you bury a pie in the ground it will not sprout new pies or make the buried pie larger. You have to make a pie. If you want a bigger pie you need to use more ingredients.
Now if the kids at the charter schools are getting more pie, where is their pie coming from.
An ambulance at the top of the cliff is next to fucking useless – all the hurt people will be at the bottom and how will the ambulance get down to help them?
BM, you understanding of who will feature as the pupils of these charter schools is either a lie because you choose to behave so or a lie because you are simply stupid,
Please provide us with some evidence of the assertion that you have made, what you will find is that a small % of pupils at such charter schools will be those in the demographic who fail in a normal educative program,
What you will also find is that one or two of this small % of those who will fail in a normal educative setting will receive intensive help in an effort to raise their standard of success who will then be held up to be the poster children of the charter schools scam,
For the others from the small % of those who would fail in a normal educative setting who do not receive such intensive help such charter schools will simply protect their NCEA results by showing them the door early on in the piece…
If the charter school doesn’t make the grade it gets closed down.
Give it a chance it may make all the difference for these kids who would probably otherwise end up in prison or on a bene living in state house somewhere in NZ scratching out some sort of depressing existence.
Fascinating given we don’y close public schools which this govt says are failing children, cos some of them must be failing the kids BM, for the charter schools to be deemed “the solution”
“Give it a chance it may make all the difference for these kids who would probably otherwise end up in prison or on a bene living in state house somewhere in NZ scratching out some sort of depressing existence.”
So about .01% of those being failed get a chance through a charter school? That sounds about right for a national supporter….
So, when the Charter schools close, a bunch of scabs teachers who perhaps found that they couldn’t work well with the majority will become job seekers.
Just not intelligent enough to figure out that Charter schools are part of an ongoing campaign against education which manifests in part in relentless attacks on teachers’ unions? Just not intelligent enough to figure out that supporting ACT policy is an attack on their colleagues?
Oooh! Ooh! I’m representative of the Left! Yee-ha! Hail, the conquering hero! Wait a minute…Wha? You’re saying you think my hyperbole is representative of the Left? No?
Your point is what? That children come a distant third on my list? Um sure, I admit it, I think that pedagogy relies more on the adult environment than the juvenile, but then juvenile seems to be your domain.
Well said tinfoilhat, there seems to be some emotion re the idea of a lack of “solidarity” amongst teachers. My fear is that the “excellent” teachers drawn away to Charter Schools will diminish the teaching standards of state schools (by way of their mentoring etc of their colleagues). The added insult here is that our taxes are funding this ridiculous experiment and ending up in private bank accounts.
As a private sector employer I lose staff when I fail to match competitors salaries etc, People will always go where they get “more”. Teachers are no different. As for “solidarity” amongst teachers it might pay to reflect on the lack of solidarity that secondary teachers have shown to the support staff in schools whose terms and conditions have been constantly eroded. In looking after (very successfully) teachers terms and conditions their Union has in effect created a closed shop mentality with substantial collateral damage to other staff.
No context missing from that analysis or anything? Nothing to say about the fact that sympathetic industrial action was made illegal in one of those relentless attacks I mentioned?
As you rightly say, people will go where the money is, but like freedom of speech, freedom of association has consequences, and one of the consequences of associating with the 0% party is the word scab.
You are 100 percent correct about context: the industrial relations area has been deliberately made to move away from sympathetic action. My comment about the teachers union is made from the direct personal observations and experience of my partner. What is obvious to her is that the context of the industrial relations environment has not prevented (through some sense of collective security or cooperation) the teachers union looking after its members even when it is obvious that others suffer diminished conditions as a consequence. Maybe the word “scab” applies to that. Or maybe we might just drop the word “scab” because ultimately the consequences of not being a “scab” include being disadvantaged by your fellow workers.
PS if you check the record of my comments on TS, they are consistently that I would prefer my employees to be in a union simply to try and get them some equity with one another, and to make dealings with them collective.
People do not “always” go where they will get more. I have no doubt some do but don’t assume all do. many pereople are working in jobs that pay less than they can get elsewhere for a number of reasons. Charities are full of such people.
He said state and state-integrated schools received average funding per student of about $7000, but Vanguard received funding of $19,664 per student this year.
And that’s the bit that’s actually important. The simple fact that charter schools will be costing us more while making a profit.
Notice the teacher pupil ratio at Vanguard?
Vanguard Military School
* Students: 108
* Number of teaching staff: 9
* Principal: Rockley Montgomery.
Ratio 1:12. Now that would be attractive to any teacher!
yup, we are creating an overt lottery for our children…. Get the small chance of a place in a charter school, or swim with the sharks. Step right up, everyone has a chance. That’s equality, National/Act- style
I could well understand that someone going up to HOD from plain teacher might raise their salary and would be attracted to if their future was blocked by a shiny-arsed tired seat warmer of long standing.
On how real political change is thwarted by scandals (individualised, personalised, fragmented, diversionary), drawing people’s anger.
A fresh angle on recent political history. e.g. this:
Like most scandals, Watergate constituted a diversion rather than a decisive break with the past. American democracy absorbed the shock and moved on. The properly significant change occurred later in the decade, during the Carter administration, when a structural shift took place from the remnants of the New Deal economy to the finance capitalism that ultimately let rip in the Reagan years. At the end of the 1970s, Wall Street took over from main street as the dominant force in US political life, a position it has occupied ever since. Watergate provided some of the cover for this to happen. It generated first outrage and then a widespread feeling of disillusionment, once it became clear how little of substance had changed.
Is Dotcom’s prevalent media prescence providing similar cover: a diversion from a strong focus on deep political failings, and a diversion from widespread, game-changing, political change?
Yes and no. Dotcom’s case encapsulates many issues – privacy, freedom of expression, restraint of trade, governmental contempt for the law. Fundamental motivators of opposition to the current economic paradigm, especially as represented by the current government.
Sure there’s a bread and circuses element too, but the airing of views expressed at select committee level, for example, generated a lot of momentum.
Shane Jones fighting like a Maori warrior against Australian supermarket exclusion of NZ products and produce….also the ruthless,predatory price downgrading by Australian supermarkets and their exclusion of producers who don’t comply by bringing their prices down to bankruptsey levels…..eg Countdown
I think i will be shopping at New World in future…and maybe consider boycotting Australian products/produce ( which i usually go to when I cant buy NZ)
We try and buy only the items we cant get elsewhere from supermarkets and it makes a substantial saving. We go to a butchers factory shop or other butchers, I buy veges at the market to substitute my own. The real key is to stop buying processed food where ever possible and buy ingredients such as flour in bulk. Having said that the supermarket still seems to cost a fortune.
Farmers markets in New Zealand should be encouraged ie fruit , veges, handmade goods…and NZ wine and alcohol should be included (at the moment many small boutique growers are going to the wall with supermarket grinding down prices) ….this would cut out the Australian supermarket middle men rorting everyone……Greens support this!….Good for tourism too!
Hi ianmac. I’ve been waiting years for the dodgy way supermarkets deal with their suppliers to come to light and to be challenged.
Although Jone’s allegation that Countdown has been pressuring suppliers to meet the shortfall in profit when a line doesn’t “perform” is a bit out there, I’d fully believe it (and look forward to the truth coming out) going on my my experience working for a supplier to Foodstuff’s.
I have a feeling Foodstuff’s will be packing themselves right now, just a little………
Just a couple of example of lose/win scenario’s:
Suppliers pay all freight costs to get their goods to either the supermarket or distribution centre
Suppliers carry the cost of item’s specialed
Suppliers pay for putting in a display end – the space at the end of an aisle is rented to them for the time they carry their stock there, usually a week
Suppliers are often obliged to provide privately contracted poorly paid casualised merchandisers to fill the shelves when the order comes in – the supermarket keeps costs down on the cost of hiring permanent shelf fillers. (I’ve also gone on about the the disadvantages of merchandising, many times before so no need to repeat)
I can’t prove this or provide a link – it’s just from my experience of dealing with grocery buyers. All of the above is considered standard practice and Countdown does it too. But at least they aren’t actively engaged in Union busting and do have reasonable collective agreements in most stores and of course the distribution centres (covered that one last week)
Countdown is the enemy at the moment because of the Australian connection but were we to look into Foodstuff’s practices I wouldn’t be surprised if there were similarities in their way of doing business. Either way I hope investigations lead to recommendations to make it a more level playing field for suppliers and workers and ultimately to regulation to ensure it.
I do shop at New World to support our local suppliers and keep NZ profits on shore but really it’s the better of two evils. Otherwise I try to purchase some goods at our local organic shop which charges much less for some items.
Its pretty cut throat if you’re a grower of say broccoli, you’re crop is ready at a certain point when progressives come along and say we are going to pay 20c less a head this month you’re left with very little option sell it to recoup something or plow it in and no doubt get blacklisted. If you do the math around a selling point of $ 1.50 a head there is bugger all in it for the grower that takes the risk on planting the crop.
Yes, exactly! Pity the produce growers! Campbell live once had an article about how screwed down the growers are – as per your example above. At the mercy of unreliable season’s and a bully for a customer.
There is tho an easy solution to this, the growers need form co-operative from which all their produce can be marketed,
IF the supermarkets play hardball with the prices such a co-operative only need sell its goods to any remaining green-grocers left operating here, sell direct to the consumer at markets, and assuming that demand will always be there for fresh vege it would be simple to find warehouse space for such a co-operative to directly sell to the public cutting out the supermarkets…
Excepting that there will always be one who will take a little less and sell to a big chain. Bit like scab labour.
The whole thing is vexed, a lot of people in nz by purely on cheapest price and there always seems to be someone who will do it for less. As with anything its cheap for a reason either the producer’s getting nothing or staff are paid dirt or shortcuts get taken… Its a race to the bottom in NZ and plenty of moaning that either the service isn’t up to scratch or if it is to expensive.
Hi there bad. Wouldn’t that be fantastic! But in terms of the supermarkets, the poor ol’ produce growers are only one set of suppliers who suffer. I’m more interested in them and small local producers of non perishables than I am of the fate of the big boys (multi national food groups, eg. unilver)…….who are the ones that will be cautiously coming forward to the Commerce Commission to make a complaint.
However, what happens in a market that is disconnected from it’s suppliers? While in some centres around NZ we have weekend markets where cheap vege is sold, whether it be fancy -smancy -twee -farmer’s market’s or no -questions -asked- sold- off -the -lorry markets, our 6 days a week a green grocers are fastly disappearing. As you say “any remaining green grocers left………..”
Three long term green grocers in this area have closed down in the 8 years within the time of my return to Wellington – ones I used. In that time 2 new supermarkets have opened, and 3 others have had major upgrades and their produce is crap and expensive, unlike the green grocers that were there previously, whose quality and price was good.
And yes, locally, we have warehouse space up for rent so for your idea to work the will of the all important “consumer” would need to “demand” it. (aren’t we are so “demanding” now days). Could be done?
BTW, interesting to see that what I was talking about above in terms of Foodstuff’s and their demands of suppliers did in fact run a parallel to the experience of Countdown suppliers, as reported on Campbell live tonight.
This was on tv last week or so. How the supermarkets are managing the supply chain in Britain. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FyFeuJ9unUg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DFyFeuJ9unUg
But at least govts ( be they led by national or labour) can crow about maintaining low inflation and wages keeping up with living costs. But what price ?
Rosie, just an idea off of the top of my head, the vege co-operative method of vege sales that is,
What is missing now from the New Zealand food selling market is the actual permanent markets where the retailer sold form what was barley ‘a building’, the one that used to be down Tory street in Wellington i remember from my younger days,
Using a warehouse in such a fashion where the produce sellers can hire a space for a day, week or year would probably work, but, like you say ‘things’ would have to get so bad for the producers in their dealings with the supermarkets that they all decide to directly sell to the public,
The other little inkling in the back of my mind is that food being a necessity of life the Government should own it’s own supermarket chain providing direct competition with the other markets…
“The other little inkling in the back of my mind is that food being a necessity of life the Government should own it’s own supermarket chain providing direct competition with the other markets…”
I wonder if other countries do this……….
The other thing is they need to do is take GST off food, being a necessity of life and ‘all. Tax on food is immoral.
“The near-death experience of the world economy was an open goal for lefties: indeed, it was a gaping empty net with the goal-keeper missing. And still they managed to hit the ball wide.”
“We seem, still, to prefer the anonymity of market forces rather than trust people or our flawed institutions to make the key economic decisions. “
See the article, a European perspective on the response to the left’s GFC by Chris Johns in the Irish Times. Elements translate into NZ’s situation.
Cunliffe has to convince the NZ public that his vision is different from both National’s and the 1980 -2013 Labour Party. That vision must be centered on reducing inequality while driving economic growth.
Why were the three big lessons forgotten? Because a few people wanted to be immeasurably richer than they were and the only way to do that was to take more from everyone else. On top of that they wanted a return to feudalism as them as the aristocrats which is what we’ve got it’s just that their power is now hidden behind the politicians and the economic hypothesis that privatisation is better even though it didn’t work last time resulting in the English, French and Russian Revolutions.
Reichs 3 reasons don’t stand scrutiny when coming from a man who is Prof of Public Policy. At no point does he mention the inbuilt propensity of capitalism to go hand in hand with property rights that exclude competition A good example is the intellectual property laws that keep us sending cash to Bill Gates rather than putting his software into the public domain. At no point does Reich like most commentators question the basic tenet that capitalism is meant to push wealth up, it is fekkin good at it. No amount of public policy is going to change that. What Reich is actually saying is “capitalism is good, it just neds to go back to the consumer based Keynesian prescription and it will all be good”…..and it wont.
By the way, those revolutions, yes they challenged absolute rule and the aristocratic hangers on, then voila, meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Now is the time to change direction and reject the failed policies of the last two Labour governments (which have been Tory with a shiny red badge).
The failed policies of sucessive governments since 1984 can been seen in the small minority of filthy rich pricks loving life while the vast majority live in abject poverty.
“[T]he small minority of filthy rich pricks loving life while the vast majority live in abject poverty.”
Rubbish. Median wage in the June 2013 quarter was $575 per week, with GDP based on purchasing power per capita $30,804 per annum. That is not abject poverty.
Zimbabwe, whose GDP by the same measure is $589 p.a., or Liberia at $716 p.a., now that’s abject poverty.
How the hell do you get that? I’m talking about abject poverty. And why shouldn’t someone be allowed to become rich if it is by honest effort and free exchange, or is that not allowed in your world?
You’re aware that the monies (according to some sources anyway) from all the piracy goes straight back to communities that have been severely fucked over by activities of western actors eg – dumping of industrial waste off the coast, foreign vessels over fishing etc?
Who do you think the pirates are? Anyone other than desperate and impoverished fishers etc?
I’m not saying I’d want to be there, but when times get desperate….
Oh – as a libertarian, I think it’s safe for me to say that fisheries management would be as high on the agenda as any other resource management – ie, high. But then, I’m talking libertarianism as a democrat and not as a corporate/fascist fuck who has appropriated the term and twisted new meanings into it. 😉
Time to start calling out these pseudo libertarians for the fascist/corporate fucks that they are. I believe there’s been success with other terms that were formally, falsely appropriated?
I also know that a government that fails to provide social structures other than law will be replaced by a number of smaller, local, social structures that will eventually rise to enough strength to confront the power of the government. As seen in Somalia.
I am having a problem writing a post – I can no longer save changes. Keep getting a message saying saving disabled as connection with the server has been lost – on firefox.
Do these ‘demands’ for cash payments from Kiwi suppliers for “past losses”, and threats that that if they did not make the payments, they faced permanent exclusion from the shelves, and further threats of ‘blacklisting’ if they told anyone about the demands – constitute ‘bribery and corruption’ under the NZ Secret Commissions Act 1910?
The Crimes Act 1961 part 6 (external link) contains criminal offences related to, amongst other things, the corrupt use of official information and the corruption and bribery of:
the Judiciary
ministers of the Crown
members of Parliament
law enforcement officers
public officials.
Penalties include terms of imprisonment of up to 14 years for the most serious cases.
________________________________________________________________________________
Secret Commissions Act 1910
The Secret Commissions Act 1910 (external link) contains bribery and corruption-style offences relevant to the private sector.
Penalties range from $2,000 to two years imprisonment.
________________________________________________________________________________
In this Act, unless a contrary intention appears,—
agent includes any person who is or has been, or desires or intends to be, employed by or acting for any other person, whether as agent, servant, broker, auctioneer, architect, solicitor, director, or in any other capacity whatever, either alone or jointly with any other person
principal includes any person by whom an agent is or has been, or intends or desires to be, employed, or for whom an agent acts or has acted, or intends or desires to act
consideration means valuable consideration of any kind; and particularly includes discounts, commissions, rebates, bonuses, deductions, percentages, employment, payment of money (whether by way of loan, gift, or otherwise howsoever), and forbearance to demand any money or valuable thing.
________________________________________________________________________________
Penny not so bright whu can’t you just make the point without all your added self important polava.
Less is more you haven’t figured that out yet .Especially in the modern sound bite era.
Catherine Rich looked like she was swallowing a very large dead rat when she backed up Shane Jones accusations with evidence.
Was hoping Puckish would share the knowledge regarding whale watching other than the land-based usual suspect. You raise another serious issue though, I’d hate to see the Kaikoura whales chased away.
Open letter to [US Oligarch] Sam Zell: your statements are delusional and dangerous
It’s fine to want to make money, and it’s also fine to just want to be comfortable, content and fulfilled in what you do. I’m not making a judgement call here. What I am saying is that people like you, who are constantly surrounded by people that think just like you, people who obsess 24/7 about how to make more money on money, you think that everyone thinks just like you. Sorry to break it to you, they don’t.
So this is where your delusion begins. You think everyone that has issues with you oligarchs and how the 0.01% is destroying our economy and society is simply envious because you assume they think like you do. Certainly, if you were poor you would be envious of the the rich. You’ve made that clear. However, that is not the primary motivation of the anger and resentment swelling up from the underclasses.
I noticed this from CV s link which seems important:
Canada has been very open to foreign investors, which means that in an age of unprecedented global liquidity cash-rich wealthy individuals who are looking for places to park their excess funds can do so in its housing market.
Until now… As SCMP reports, Canada’s government has announced that it is scrapping its controversial investor visa scheme, which has allowed waves of rich Hongkongers and mainland Chinese to immigrate since 1986.
My Bolding.
There have been reports of Chinese officials taking fraudulently obtained funds offshore and investing in foreign property as a “back up plan” in case they need to leave China in a hurry some time in the future.
It looks to me like the Chinese government has put pressure on the Canadian govt to end this loophole.
I wonder if anyone has a finger on that dyke here, (referring to the folk Netherland tale of the boy and the dyke.)
And that piece about Chinese officials or their families going abroad. It seems to me that is the old externalities deja vue. Make money, cause problems, pocket money, leave the people living in the mess and seek better climes. Though the clim-ate will catch them.
Why the exodus among families who have benefited most from China’s rise?
Aside from education, another obvious motivator is pollution. China’s toxic air and poisonous water are regular topics of complaint among the wealthy (as well as ordinary Chinese).
A less obvious factor is the crackdown on corruption.
Over the last year, Chairman Xi Jinping has overseen investigations into some of China’s wealthiest and most powerful party figures, including those who have profited massively from the state-owned oil industry. He has vowed to take down both “tigers” (top bosses) and “flies” (local officials).
In January, Xi stepped up his campaign by forbidding the promotion of officials who have spouses or children living abroad. These so-called “naked” officials are seen as especially prone to corruption.
“They belong to a high-risk group for corruption,” a party official told the state-run Xinhua news agency. “Around 40 percent of economic cases and nearly 80 percent of corruption and embezzlement cases involve naked officials.” In China, crimes like fraud, bribery, and embezzlement are referred to as economic cases.
This designation covers a large group. According to a report by the Hong Kong newspaper Oriental Daily, a majority of members of China’s 2013 National People’s Congress were “naked officials.”
So the spies and snoops will probably have their favourite focus picked out from meta-data, to be monitored by drones, only nano-ones, like the one in the Harry Potter book. One of the nasties there has shape-shifting genes and can turn herself into an insect and literally be ‘the fly on the wall’. And she happens to be a jonolist I think, so gets lots of stuff that’s not fit to print.
Lots of opportunities for the use of technology to hurt society and the individual.
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Let’s be clear: if Trump is not politically killed off once and for all, he will become a MAGA Dracula, rising from the dead to haunt US politics for years to come and giving inspiration to his wretched family of grifters and thousands of deplorables well into the next decade. ...
Since its demise as an imperial power, and especially its deindustrialisation under Thatcher, the UK's primary economic engine has been its role as a money laundry, using its network of overseas territories as tax havens to enable rich people around the world to steal from the societies they live in. ...
Last month OMV quit the Great South Basin and surrendered its offshore exploration permits outside of Taranaki. This month, Australian-owned Beach Energy has done the same: Beach Energy Resources New Zealand has decided to abandon all of its oil and gas exploration permits off the South Island coast, including ...
The new Northland case has been linked to the South African strain of Covid-19, one of a number of new, more contagious Covid variants. Here’s how they emerge and why. Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA ...
MARVIN HUBBARD, US citizen by birth, New Zealand citizen by choice, Quaker and left-wing activist, has been broadcasting his show, "Community or Chaos", on Otago Access Radio for the best part of 30 years. On 24 November last year, I spoke with him about the outcome of the 2020 General ...
This is a guest blog post by Daniel Tamberg, Potsdam, co-founder and director of SCIARA GmbH. The non-profit organisation SCIARA is developing and operating a flexible software platform for scientific simulation games that allows thousands of players to explore, design and understand possible climate futures together. Decision-makers in politics, business, ...
Yesterday's Gone: Cold shivers are running up and down the spines of conservatives everywhere. Donald Trump may have gone, but all the signs point to there being something much more momentous in the wind-shift than a simple return to the status quo ante. A change is gonna come. ONE COULD ...
Is it possible to live and let live in the post-Trump era? The online campaign to vilify Christopher Liddell, ex-White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to Trump, makes for an interesting case study. Liddell is a New Zealander whose illustrious career in corporate America once earned him plaudits ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 17, 2021 through Sat, Jan 23, 2021Editor's Choice12 new books explore fresh approaches to act on climate changeAuthors explore scientific, economic, and political avenues for climate action ...
This discussion is from a Twitter thread by Martin Kulldorff on 20 December 2020. He is a Professor at Harvard Medical School specialising in disease surveillance methods, infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety. His Twitter handle is @MartinKulldorff #1 Public health is about all health outcomes, not just a single ...
The Treasury forecasts suggest the economy is doing better than expected after the Covid Shock. John Kenneth Galbraith was wont to say that economic forecasting was designed to make astrology look good. Unfair, but it raises the question of the purpose of economic forecasts. Certainly the public may treat them ...
Q: Will the COVID-19 vaccines prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and bring about community immunity (aka herd immunity)? A: Jury not in yet but vaccines do not have to be perfect to thwart the spread of infection. While vaccines induce protection against illness, they do not always stop actual ...
Joe Biden seems to be everything that Donald Trump was not – decent, straightforward, considerate of others, mindful of his responsibilities – but none of that means that he has an easy path ahead of him. The pandemic still rages, American standing in the world is grievously low, and the ...
Keana VirmaniFrom healthcare robots to data privacy, to sea level rise and Antarctica under the ice: in the four years since its establishment, the Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund has supported over 30 projects.Rebecca Priestley, receiving the PM Science Communication Prize (Photo by Mark Tantrum) Associate Professor ...
Nothing more from me today - I'm off to Wellington, to participate in the city's annual roleplaying convention (which has also eaten my time for the whole week, limiting blogging despite there being interesting things happening). Normal bloggage will resume Tuesday. ...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weaponscame into force today, making the development, possession, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons illegal in international law. Every nuclear-armed state is now a criminal regime. The corporations and scientists who design, build and maintain their illegal weapons are now ...
"Come The Revolution!" The key objective of Bernard Hickey’s revolutionary solution to the housing crisis is a 50 percent reduction in the price of the average family home. This will be achieved by the introduction of Capital Gains, Land, and Wealth taxes, and by the opening up of currently RMA-protected ...
by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Michael Cowling, CQUniversity AustraliaWe’ve probably all been there. We buy some new smart gadget and when we plug it in for the first time it requires an update to work. So we end up spending hours downloading and updating before we can even play with our new toy. But ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
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 focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Zero emission buses, cleaner cars and environmentally-friendly biofuels will soon be hitting New Zealand’s roads, as the Government delivers on its election promise to make our transport network more sustainable. ...
The Green Party is already delivering on its commitment for cleaner, climate-friendly transport through our Cooperation Agreement with the Government. ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
Prudence Steven QC, barrister of Christchurch has been appointed as an Environment Judge and District Court Judge to serve in Christchurch, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. Ms Steven has been a barrister sole since 2008, practising in resource management and local government / public law. She was appointed a Queen’s ...
The Government is delivering on its first tranche of election promises to take action on climate change with a raft of measures that will help meet New Zealand’s 2050 carbon neutral target, create new jobs and boost innovation. “This will be an ongoing area of action but we are moving ...
The Government is investing up to $10 million to support 30 of the country’s top early-career researchers to develop their research skills. “The pandemic has had widespread impacts across the science system, including the research workforce. After completing their PhD, researchers often travel overseas to gain experience but in the ...
A Waitomo-based Jobs for Nature project will keep up to ten people employed in the village as the tourism sector recovers post Covid-19 Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “This $500,000 project will save ten local jobs by deploying workers from Discover Waitomo into nature-based jobs. They will be undertaking local ...
Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw spoke yesterday with President Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. “I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Kerry this morning about the urgency with which our governments must confront the climate emergency. I am grateful to him and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today announced three diplomatic appointments: Alana Hudson as Ambassador to Poland John Riley as Consul-General to Hong Kong Stephen Wong as Consul-General to Shanghai Poland “New Zealand’s relationship with Poland is built on enduring personal, economic and historical connections. Poland is also an important ...
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...
A skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whānau, and ...
The green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The New Zealand public sector and judiciary has again been ranked the least corrupt in the world. The 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released today by global anti-corruption organization Transparency International ranks New Zealand first equal ...
New Zealand is again ranked first equal with Denmark in the Transparency International annual index of perceived levels of public sector corruption. Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has welcomed New Zealand’s position in the 2020 index. He says New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Kaufman, Research Fellow, Vaccine Uptake Group, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute The federal government’s A$23.9 million COVID-19 vaccination information campaign, launchedyesterday, aims to reassure the public about vaccine safety and effectiveness. It will also provide information about the vaccine rollout. We’ve ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Hongi Luo, brand director at TikTok.In terms of cultural reach and impact, the ...
After Covid devastated its 2020, Basement Theatre comes roaring into 2021 with its Summer Season. Here’s the rundown of shows in-store, with some comments from programmer Nisha Madhan.Pre-FringeLust IslandWhen’s it on: February 2-6, 8pmWho’s involved: The women of improv troupe Hearthrobs (McKenzie’s Daughters, Salem Bitch Trials), including Brynley Stent, Alice ...
The whānau of Te Ahikaiata Turei supported by Māori and non-Māori staff at Unitec will take back a portrait of the Tūhoe leader who led the establishment of Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae and the values that brought the institute back from the brink of ...
A poll across the Early Childhood Education community found 93% in favour of pausing the ‘lunchbox rules’, or the Ministry of Education’s new Food Safety/choking changes to the Licensing Criteria, which came into effect on 25 January. “The message ...
Cycling advocates are calling for the transformation of urban transport, as New Zealand races to cut carbon. The Climate Change Commission will release its initial advice on Sunday 31 January. “Bikes and e-bikes are perfect for many local trips, ...
Three Ministers, led by the PM, joined in chorus today to warble about a bunch of measures aimed at helping to meet New Zealand’s 2050 carbon neutral target, create new jobs and boost innovation. Mind you, the measures mentioned seem to be more matters of decisions yet to be made ...
Michelle Kidd defines her role at Auckland’s specialist family violence court as te kaiwhakatere – the navigator. It’s a one-of-a-kind job, helping guide defendants through the court system. And there’s no one better suited to it than Whaea Michelle.First published November 24, 2020.Whaea Michelle is part of Frame, a series of short ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sallie Yea, Associate professor & Principal Research Fellow, La Trobe University Each year, thousands of men and boys labour under extremely exploitative conditions on commercial fishing vessels owned by Taiwanese, Chinese and South Korean companies. The Taiwanese fleet, which operates in all ...
Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis believes the Crown should maintain responsibility for the care and protection of at-risk and vulnerable children, regardless of their race. Moreover, he is confident his all-Maori team of advisers will not be taking race into account as they help to improve Oranga Tamariki’s care and protection of ...
It’s easy to sacrifice John Banks. It’s a lot harder for brands, sports organisations and government to truly stop funding racism. Are they willing to try?Yesterday John Banks, the former Auckland mayor and MP, became subject to one of the fastest firings in media history when audio covering his approving ...
A community is outraged after Auckland Council granted consent for a row of trees planted by local kids to be removed along a revitalised waterway in South Auckland, reports Justin Latif. An Auckland Council decision to give contractors the all-clear to chop down 12 mānuka and kānuka trees shading Māngere’s Tararata ...
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu hopes that the recent changes to Oranga Tamariki leadership present an opportunity for a long overdue paradigm shift that will place whānau at the heart of the child welfare sector. Pouārahi Helen Leahy says that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rice, Professor of Management, University of New England Elon Musk is now the world’s richest person, edging out previous title holder Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. His rocketing fortune is due to the booming share price of Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles ...
There are now three returnees who contracted the virus in the Auckland isolation facility then left into the community while positive. These are some of the questions that need to be resolved. At 10.20pm last night the Ministry of Health confirmed that the two cases they’d been treating as probable ...
Having a hard time remembering to scan in on the NZ Covid Tracer app when you’re out and about? Get this song stuck in your head and you’ll never forget again.Learn the lyrics:Aotearoa, it’s time to get scanning!I mean if you think about it, it never really wasn’t time we ...
We conclude our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with a review of his stories by John Newton Roger Hickin’s Cold Hub Press is one of the small miracles of contemporary New Zealand publishing. Over the last decade, on what can only be a shoe-string budget, the ...
Thursday 28th January, AUCKLAND: Drive Electric, the not-for-profit with one mission – making electric vehicle uptake in New Zealand mainstream, welcomes the announcement by the Government today as a sign of what’s to come through 2021, and we are confident ...
The Government announced today key policy decisions on the proposed clean car policies. The MIA has stated on many occasions that we support well thought out and constructive policies that will lead to an increased rate in the reduction of CO2 emissions from ...
Get wild, get cultured, get fed and then get to bed: the essential guide to a perfect few days in the southern city. There’s one thing that preoccupies the staff of The Spinoff almost as much as arranging popular food items into arbitrary lists, and that’s Dunedin. A quite remarkable ...
John Banks’ racist exchange with a Magic Talk listener on Tuesday was the latest in nearly 50 years of talkback controversies. Donna Chisholm has the receipts.John Banks axed over Māori ‘stone age culture’ comments on Magic Talk1972: On Radio I, sports talkback host Tim Bickerstaff launches a “Punch a Pom ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission.Two new community Covid-19 cases have been identified as the more infectious South African variant, but Auckland Mayor Phil Goff sayit would be "premature to go into lockdown now". The two new cases of Covid-19 identified in the ...
Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine in Southland to Fonterra’s ...
KiwiRail STOP Hauling COAL Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Dunn, Associate professor, University of Sydney The government is rolling out a new public information campaign this week to reassure the public about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, which one expert has said “couldn’t be more crucial” to people actually getting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan University The COVID vaccine rollout has placed the issue of vaccination firmly in the spotlight. A successful rollout will depend on a variety of factors, one of which is vaccine acceptance. One potential hurdle to vaccine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernard Walker, Associate Professor in Organisations and Leadership, University of Canterbury Kiwis know what it’s like when life throws curveballs. We’ve had major quakes, floods, fires, an eruption, a terrorist attack and now a pandemic. In those situations, it’s the ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Irwin, Emeritus professor, Murdoch University While we continue to be occupied with the COVID pandemic, another life-threatening disease has emerged in northern Australia, one that’s cause for considerable alarm for the millions of dog owners around the country. This disease — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cath Ferguson, Academic, Edith Cowan University Almost half of Australian adults struggle with reading. Similar levels of struggling readers are reported in the United Kingdom and United States. This does not mean all struggling readers are illiterate. It means they often struggle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abbas Shieh, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design, Islamic Azad University The industrial revolution transformed cities, resulting in places of residence and work becoming more distant than ever before. This spatial segregation is still largely embedded in the design of our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: Occupation: Rainfall, written and directed by Luke Sparke Historically, when a sequel to a film was greenlit, you could rest assured this was because the first film made a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 28, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tourism suffers in the shadow of Covid-19, two new positive cases in Auckland confirmed, and National will contest the Māori electorates.The front page of the January 4 Greymouth Star carried grim tidings for several of the glacier towns on the ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Two people who left managed isolation on January 15 have been confirmed as positive Covid-19 cases, with the Ministry of Health urging anyone who visited the same locations during the same time period as the infected pair in Auckland to ...
The watchlist of 'offensive or unreasonable' babies' names is to be reviewed, to include more names from other languages. Generations of the Īhaka family have played a meaningful role in bringing Te Reo and stories of Māori to our wider community. Archdeacon Sir Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka (Te Aupōuri, 1921-93) was known as the orator of ...
After Morocco’s flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara on Friday 13 November 2020 war broke out between the two sides. In the midst of this war Tauranga based Ballance Agri-Nutrients has decided to carry on importing phosphate ...
Nicholas Agar suggests that our handling of the pandemic could be partly down to our distinctive Treaty of Waitangi relationship, and Māori ideas that enabled us to make it through without tens of thousands of deaths A mission for universities in the coming decade will be a deep understanding of the meaning ...
A young girl who once sent $5 to an embattled America's Cup team is now among the women on the water helping run the contest for the Auld Mug. As an eager and generous nine-year-old, Melanie Roberts posted a letter, with a $5 note, to OneAustralia’s America’s Cup team. It was 1995, ...
At 5am today, cock’s crow, the embargo lifted on the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist. Here are the books in the race, followed by thoughts from poetry editor Chris Tse and books editor Catherine Woulfe. A shortlist of four books in each category will be announced March 3, with ...
Ignoring those QR codes when you drop into the supermarket? Can’t be bothered when you grab a coffee? The people serving you notice, and you’re freaking them out.So far, New Zealanders’ use of the Covid-19 Tracer app has been notably woeful. Food industry workers who’ve watched streams of customers walk ...
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This Saturday Noon (15th Feb), all around Te Waipounamu/ South, is a time to head to a beach and protest against Deepsea Oil Drilling:
http://www.getfree.org.nz/banners/
However, this does mean that it’ll be another week that I don’t make it to the Bandstand to participate in the Many Voices discussion. Also, the Oil Free Otago guest speaker I’d been arranging to have in the vicinity (lawn or pagoda depending on weather) won’t be happening until 2pm the next Saturday (22nd Feb; unless of course, further action intervenes).
And, of course, you’ll be spreading the word on those beaches, aye? 😉
has shane jones been ‘punked’..?
phillip ure..
Nope. During the Progressive lockout in 2006, many suppliers to the supermarket donated food and goods to the workers as a protest against the way the company was screwing them down. Growers, for example, were told that they had to cut their already low prices by arbitrary percentages if they wanted to keep their contracts. As we have a supermarket duopoly, they had little choice but to comply.
edit: a pretty good summary of the blue here: https://libcom.org/history/progressive-lockout-class-struggle-aotearoa-new-zealand-2008
Great site, excellent article fully worth the read.
Thanks TRP.
Great to see Jones stepping in.
..it would seem either jones has been punked..
..or countdown have done a seriously fast u-turn..
..and are lying..
..phillip ure..
my questions have been answered..
..jones was punked..
..idiot..!
..phillip ure..
Answered? By whom? Punked? Who by? I think you may be jumping the gun a tad, Phil.
@ trp..
..i dunno ‘who’ punked him..
..(he is disliked by so many..the list of possible suspects is a long one..)
..but someone did..
..and i guess we will know soon who is reading this right..
..eh..?
..and if wrong i will issue a suitably grovelling apology..
..and don’t get me wrong..i wanted jones to be right..
..(if he were..it wd fit perfectly into my ‘partial-nationalisation’ idea that i am trying to bring to life/push.(where the state takes a 51% controlling share in key industries..food supplies being one ripe for pn…)
..but when i first heard it i thought it didn’t ring true..
..and now i am certain..
..phillip ure..
moderation..?
phillip ure..
Yeah, that’s not very convincing, Phil.
Nothing’s changed since you posted at breakfast time, except the story seems to be taken seriously by the media and the minister Craig Foss. And I see there was limited backing from Katherine Rich from the grocers organisation. As I noted about the lockout, this alleged behaviour is consistent with Woollie’s attitude to its suppliers, so I’m in the no smoke without fire camp till actual evidence confirms it one way or another.
more no-show-evidence from jones..
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/new-zealand-parliament-list-of-questions-for-oral-answer-thursday-13-february-2014/
(excerpt..)
(ed:..i am making the call that jones has been punked..here is his chance to prove his case/me wrong..)
..it’s foss-the-hapless..!..his first turn for the year…!
..jones is making a horses’-arse of a job with his questioning..
..and that was it..?..that’s all jones has..?
..no evidence..just mangled/repeated questions..
..i stand by my claim that jones has been punked..
..and is now just fulminating/thrashing about in despair..
..see shane fly..see shane crash..
(cont..)
phillip ure..
..todays..
..bhoar..
..you to tears word is..?
(excerpt)
..”punked”..
🙁
Phil – I find your comments difficult enough to read and comprehend – now this word ‘punked’. Please – what does it mean?
Key now requesting Commerce Commission investigation. Go Jones! Hope it’s stinkier than Simunovich! Key will as ever look like a softcock when it comes to doing actual political work.
And the response of the Government of the day to the Progressive lockout was?
What an absolute stench that ShonKey Python should be demanding answers about what everyone else says/knows about/to/of KDC !
Punkarse variously preening/sneering/obfuscating/narcissistic/exceptionalist/giggling/effete banker boy…….the question has been live for months and months and months………starting at the very start ShonKey…….where were/are you at/with/about KDC ?
Answer that question before launching interrogatories at everyone else !
How paradoxical that the guy we’d most like to have a beer with (mythically) is emblematic of the type who’d qualify for a quick crack in the mouth in most of the places where a beer might be had.
John Phillip ShonKey has a lot of front demanding to know what others have had to do with Mr Dotcom.
• Given the proximity of the KDC spread to the PM’s electorate office.
• Given his refusal to even read the Police report on what Banksie had to do with KDC.
• Given his being minister for the official snoopers (NZSIS, GCSB) that know a lot more about the KDC affair than they are so far willing to let on.
The populist nature of Mr Dotcom perhaps indicates the reptilian Prime Minister should write an official letter to everyone asking what they have had to do with KDC?
So all the political Editors are running the John Key lines “going over the top of the Justice system” etc, but no single one has asked Key where he got his information to form his allegations.
Question to Key, is very short and simple. Who told you Winston went to Dotcoms Mansion 3 times and what evidence do you have?
Who told you Norman went two times and was ‘selling questions’ to Dot Com, and what evidence do you have of this?
It would be nice if they did the job they are paid to do not the bidding of Key by repeating his accusations without question. They are all trying to out ‘Gower’ Patrick Gower in the gotcha contest this includes the shooting from the hip and missing like Gower contest .
+100…..and ironic Reptile Key is so paranoid about the visits
….it must really gall him that Winston, who he needs to form a coaliition, has been visiting Dot Com….Key is probably feeling quite desperate in fact…..
…of course he is attacking Norman rather than Paters
….while Norman is putting up a good defensive fight …the fight should be on the offensive
Another question for Key: Is the GCSB/Police still monitoring DotCom and is this how you became aware of Winston’s 3 visits to the Mansion.
These are the questions our pussycat media should be asking. But we (posters and bloggers) will do it for them as usual.
The answer to that would i think be an emphatic No, think SIS, and the question that might need to be asked of Slippery the Prime Minister is the SIS maintaining a 24 hour watch on Kim DotCom or perhaps Slippery as the Minister in charge has them watching Russell Norman and Winston Peters…
Perhaps the Police and SIS are keeping tabs on Kim to see he does not abscond quietly before the extradition trial.
Well well look at this.
Mr Hodge said some of the salaries at Vanguard, in Albany, were about $16,000 more than his school could offer.
New Zealand’s largest secondary school lost five teachers after a charter school was established nearby which could offer better salaries.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11200998
There’s a bit of a glut when it comes to people with teaching degrees.
At least it gives some one else an opportunity to get into the teaching profession.
Growing the pie = good.
What bullshit
Funnelling government money into private sector schools may “grow” private sector profits, but it does fuck all else.
Idiot.
I disagree
Dickface
There’s no “growth”; just funnelling of money from public schools into private hands.
Point out where the “growth” is, if you can.
The growth will be in the kids success.
if you rate farming kids as cash cows for private school owners.
I think its immaterial how kids are educated, as long as it produced results that ensure they can be contributing members of society, pursue their ambitions and enjoy the experience. If you judge the efficacy of an education on purely where it was gained then you’re an idiot.
It’s only “growing the pie” because the government is spending additional money on these schools. That’s where the salaries are coming from.
So, instead of the government spending $XX million on charter schools to “grow the pie”, they could have simply spent that same $XX million on state schools and “grown the pie” by the same amount.
Duh.
Who sort of kids are going to these charter schools?
From my understanding it’s all the kids who are struggling, the 10-20% who fall through the cracks, the ones that tend to go on and feature significantly in all the bad statistics and cost the tax payer a ton of coin.
Mainstream schooling doesn’t work for them for what ever reason, so take them out of that environment and see how they go in another enviroment.
Great for teachers and pupils at mainstream school as these kids are normally a major distraction and a huge drain on the teachers time usually at the expense of the other kids in the class.
This is the ambulance at the top of the cliff, a win win for every one.
BM – two cliches a day, please explain?
You cannot grow a pie. If you bury a pie in the ground it will not sprout new pies or make the buried pie larger. You have to make a pie. If you want a bigger pie you need to use more ingredients.
Now if the kids at the charter schools are getting more pie, where is their pie coming from.
An ambulance at the top of the cliff is next to fucking useless – all the hurt people will be at the bottom and how will the ambulance get down to help them?
“From my understanding it’s all the kids who are struggling, the 10-20% who fall through the cracks,”
thats not an understanding – thats you repeating the salesmans spiel
your whole comment is essentially a cut and paste from the advertising!
But do you disagree with what I’ve written.
If so, why?
BM, you understanding of who will feature as the pupils of these charter schools is either a lie because you choose to behave so or a lie because you are simply stupid,
Please provide us with some evidence of the assertion that you have made, what you will find is that a small % of pupils at such charter schools will be those in the demographic who fail in a normal educative program,
What you will also find is that one or two of this small % of those who will fail in a normal educative setting will receive intensive help in an effort to raise their standard of success who will then be held up to be the poster children of the charter schools scam,
For the others from the small % of those who would fail in a normal educative setting who do not receive such intensive help such charter schools will simply protect their NCEA results by showing them the door early on in the piece…
What a load of kaka ow.
If the charter school doesn’t make the grade it gets closed down.
Give it a chance it may make all the difference for these kids who would probably otherwise end up in prison or on a bene living in state house somewhere in NZ scratching out some sort of depressing existence.
The comment of an empty-head, containing none of the ‘evidence’ asked for in my first comment to you,
Not deserving of the pixels required of a further reply…
Fascinating given we don’y close public schools which this govt says are failing children, cos some of them must be failing the kids BM, for the charter schools to be deemed “the solution”
“Give it a chance it may make all the difference for these kids who would probably otherwise end up in prison or on a bene living in state house somewhere in NZ scratching out some sort of depressing existence.”
So about .01% of those being failed get a chance through a charter school? That sounds about right for a national supporter….
h a charter school just opened? You could do an OIA on them BM and find out the truth.
So, when the Charter schools close, a bunch of
scabsteachers who perhaps found that they couldn’t work well with the majority will become job seekers.Bonus!
How are those teachers scabs?
i happen to know each and every one of those teachers and they are all excellent people as well as superb teachers.
Just not intelligent enough to figure out that Charter schools are part of an ongoing campaign against education which manifests in part in relentless attacks on teachers’ unions? Just not intelligent enough to figure out that supporting ACT policy is an attack on their colleagues?
I’m sure they’re all lovely people.
True to form, the left’s prime concern is for the teachers and their unions. School pupils come a distant third.
That whooshing sound was the point going over your head.
Oooh! Ooh! I’m representative of the Left! Yee-ha! Hail, the conquering hero! Wait a minute…Wha? You’re saying you think my hyperbole is representative of the Left? No?
Your point is what? That children come a distant third on my list? Um sure, I admit it, I think that pedagogy relies more on the adult environment than the juvenile, but then juvenile seems to be your domain.
at least kids make the Left’s list.
Well said tinfoilhat, there seems to be some emotion re the idea of a lack of “solidarity” amongst teachers. My fear is that the “excellent” teachers drawn away to Charter Schools will diminish the teaching standards of state schools (by way of their mentoring etc of their colleagues). The added insult here is that our taxes are funding this ridiculous experiment and ending up in private bank accounts.
As a private sector employer I lose staff when I fail to match competitors salaries etc, People will always go where they get “more”. Teachers are no different. As for “solidarity” amongst teachers it might pay to reflect on the lack of solidarity that secondary teachers have shown to the support staff in schools whose terms and conditions have been constantly eroded. In looking after (very successfully) teachers terms and conditions their Union has in effect created a closed shop mentality with substantial collateral damage to other staff.
No context missing from that analysis or anything? Nothing to say about the fact that sympathetic industrial action was made illegal in one of those relentless attacks I mentioned?
As you rightly say, people will go where the money is, but like freedom of speech, freedom of association has consequences, and one of the consequences of associating with the 0% party is the word scab.
You are 100 percent correct about context: the industrial relations area has been deliberately made to move away from sympathetic action. My comment about the teachers union is made from the direct personal observations and experience of my partner. What is obvious to her is that the context of the industrial relations environment has not prevented (through some sense of collective security or cooperation) the teachers union looking after its members even when it is obvious that others suffer diminished conditions as a consequence. Maybe the word “scab” applies to that. Or maybe we might just drop the word “scab” because ultimately the consequences of not being a “scab” include being disadvantaged by your fellow workers.
PS if you check the record of my comments on TS, they are consistently that I would prefer my employees to be in a union simply to try and get them some equity with one another, and to make dealings with them collective.
Acting against their interests probably does include being “disadvantaged” by your fellows. Hardly surprising, really.
If we call them fluffy bunnies instead of scabs I don’t think that’s going to change.
A scab is a sign of healthy wound healing. Appropriate in this case, I would have thought.
Once the scab falls off.
There is strength in numbers, Richard. You righties have your henchmen, we lefties have our freedoms of expression and association.
That’s just the way things are.
Freedom of expression – yeah right. From where did political correctness originate then?
A scab is a sign of healthy wound healing. Appropriate in this case.
better off without the wound in the first place, I would have thought. You’re not left with a scar.
are you a teacher or educationalist of some form?
No, a medical doctor. But from memory, doctor actually means teacher.
People do not “always” go where they will get more. I have no doubt some do but don’t assume all do. many pereople are working in jobs that pay less than they can get elsewhere for a number of reasons. Charities are full of such people.
And that’s the bit that’s actually important. The simple fact that charter schools will be costing us more while making a profit.
Notice the teacher pupil ratio at Vanguard?
Vanguard Military School
* Students: 108
* Number of teaching staff: 9
* Principal: Rockley Montgomery.
Ratio 1:12. Now that would be attractive to any teacher!
yup, we are creating an overt lottery for our children…. Get the small chance of a place in a charter school, or swim with the sharks. Step right up, everyone has a chance. That’s equality, National/Act- style
I could well understand that someone going up to HOD from plain teacher might raise their salary and would be attracted to if their future was blocked by a shiny-arsed tired seat warmer of long standing.
New Statesman article by David Runciman.
On how real political change is thwarted by scandals (individualised, personalised, fragmented, diversionary), drawing people’s anger.
A fresh angle on recent political history. e.g. this:
Is Dotcom’s prevalent media prescence providing similar cover: a diversion from a strong focus on deep political failings, and a diversion from widespread, game-changing, political change?
Of course – bread and circuses!
Yes and no. Dotcom’s case encapsulates many issues – privacy, freedom of expression, restraint of trade, governmental contempt for the law. Fundamental motivators of opposition to the current economic paradigm, especially as represented by the current government.
Sure there’s a bread and circuses element too, but the airing of views expressed at select committee level, for example, generated a lot of momentum.
I agree with you, OAB, it’s not the issues themselves – it’s the treatment of it by Key and the press that is the diversionary circus
Shane Jones fighting like a Maori warrior against Australian supermarket exclusion of NZ products and produce….also the ruthless,predatory price downgrading by Australian supermarkets and their exclusion of producers who don’t comply by bringing their prices down to bankruptsey levels…..eg Countdown
I think i will be shopping at New World in future…and maybe consider boycotting Australian products/produce ( which i usually go to when I cant buy NZ)
He comes across well and speaks a language most people in the middle can understand
@ p.r..
..is that you shane..?
..phillip ure..
He reaches a wider range of people then most in Labour
What makes you think that?
PR likes him, therefore PR thinks Jones has wide appeal.
Logic is not PR’s strong point.
+1000
A fervent supporter of the righ tis best positioned to know what labour voters like.
..by ‘wider’..
..do you mean as in body-dystopia..?
..does he appeal to the (defiant?) fat-vote..?
..phillip ure..
Nothing wrong with being fat phil. Hating fatness though, that’s a kind of pathology.
@ weka..
..do i ‘hate fatness’..
..like i am ‘scared of strong women’..?
..you’re quite funny..eh..?
..and jones does celebrate his lifestyle that got him that way..
..eh..?
..hence the ‘defiant’ fat-vote..
..so..fair comment..?
..phillip ure..
you and yr pop-psychology cliches..eh..?
..are you known for pulling that one..?
..and..did you learn it all in a mag..?
‘how to spot fat-haters who are scared of strong women’..
..was that the title/headline..?
..phillip ure..
We try and buy only the items we cant get elsewhere from supermarkets and it makes a substantial saving. We go to a butchers factory shop or other butchers, I buy veges at the market to substitute my own. The real key is to stop buying processed food where ever possible and buy ingredients such as flour in bulk. Having said that the supermarket still seems to cost a fortune.
Farmers markets in New Zealand should be encouraged ie fruit , veges, handmade goods…and NZ wine and alcohol should be included (at the moment many small boutique growers are going to the wall with supermarket grinding down prices) ….this would cut out the Australian supermarket middle men rorting everyone……Greens support this!….Good for tourism too!
My guess is that New World has the same tactics. Competition you know.
at least New World and Pak’nSave are New Zealand owned
…..and Raewoods has now been bought out by Australian owned Countdown
Hi ianmac. I’ve been waiting years for the dodgy way supermarkets deal with their suppliers to come to light and to be challenged.
Although Jone’s allegation that Countdown has been pressuring suppliers to meet the shortfall in profit when a line doesn’t “perform” is a bit out there, I’d fully believe it (and look forward to the truth coming out) going on my my experience working for a supplier to Foodstuff’s.
I have a feeling Foodstuff’s will be packing themselves right now, just a little………
Just a couple of example of lose/win scenario’s:
Suppliers pay all freight costs to get their goods to either the supermarket or distribution centre
Suppliers carry the cost of item’s specialed
Suppliers pay for putting in a display end – the space at the end of an aisle is rented to them for the time they carry their stock there, usually a week
Suppliers are often obliged to provide privately contracted poorly paid casualised merchandisers to fill the shelves when the order comes in – the supermarket keeps costs down on the cost of hiring permanent shelf fillers. (I’ve also gone on about the the disadvantages of merchandising, many times before so no need to repeat)
I can’t prove this or provide a link – it’s just from my experience of dealing with grocery buyers. All of the above is considered standard practice and Countdown does it too. But at least they aren’t actively engaged in Union busting and do have reasonable collective agreements in most stores and of course the distribution centres (covered that one last week)
Countdown is the enemy at the moment because of the Australian connection but were we to look into Foodstuff’s practices I wouldn’t be surprised if there were similarities in their way of doing business. Either way I hope investigations lead to recommendations to make it a more level playing field for suppliers and workers and ultimately to regulation to ensure it.
I do shop at New World to support our local suppliers and keep NZ profits on shore but really it’s the better of two evils. Otherwise I try to purchase some goods at our local organic shop which charges much less for some items.
Its pretty cut throat if you’re a grower of say broccoli, you’re crop is ready at a certain point when progressives come along and say we are going to pay 20c less a head this month you’re left with very little option sell it to recoup something or plow it in and no doubt get blacklisted. If you do the math around a selling point of $ 1.50 a head there is bugger all in it for the grower that takes the risk on planting the crop.
Yes, exactly! Pity the produce growers! Campbell live once had an article about how screwed down the growers are – as per your example above. At the mercy of unreliable season’s and a bully for a customer.
There is tho an easy solution to this, the growers need form co-operative from which all their produce can be marketed,
IF the supermarkets play hardball with the prices such a co-operative only need sell its goods to any remaining green-grocers left operating here, sell direct to the consumer at markets, and assuming that demand will always be there for fresh vege it would be simple to find warehouse space for such a co-operative to directly sell to the public cutting out the supermarkets…
Excepting that there will always be one who will take a little less and sell to a big chain. Bit like scab labour.
The whole thing is vexed, a lot of people in nz by purely on cheapest price and there always seems to be someone who will do it for less. As with anything its cheap for a reason either the producer’s getting nothing or staff are paid dirt or shortcuts get taken… Its a race to the bottom in NZ and plenty of moaning that either the service isn’t up to scratch or if it is to expensive.
Hi there bad. Wouldn’t that be fantastic! But in terms of the supermarkets, the poor ol’ produce growers are only one set of suppliers who suffer. I’m more interested in them and small local producers of non perishables than I am of the fate of the big boys (multi national food groups, eg. unilver)…….who are the ones that will be cautiously coming forward to the Commerce Commission to make a complaint.
However, what happens in a market that is disconnected from it’s suppliers? While in some centres around NZ we have weekend markets where cheap vege is sold, whether it be fancy -smancy -twee -farmer’s market’s or no -questions -asked- sold- off -the -lorry markets, our 6 days a week a green grocers are fastly disappearing. As you say “any remaining green grocers left………..”
Three long term green grocers in this area have closed down in the 8 years within the time of my return to Wellington – ones I used. In that time 2 new supermarkets have opened, and 3 others have had major upgrades and their produce is crap and expensive, unlike the green grocers that were there previously, whose quality and price was good.
And yes, locally, we have warehouse space up for rent so for your idea to work the will of the all important “consumer” would need to “demand” it. (aren’t we are so “demanding” now days). Could be done?
BTW, interesting to see that what I was talking about above in terms of Foodstuff’s and their demands of suppliers did in fact run a parallel to the experience of Countdown suppliers, as reported on Campbell live tonight.
This was on tv last week or so. How the supermarkets are managing the supply chain in Britain.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FyFeuJ9unUg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DFyFeuJ9unUg
But at least govts ( be they led by national or labour) can crow about maintaining low inflation and wages keeping up with living costs. But what price ?
Thanks for the link Herodotus. Looks good and look forward to getting a chance to watch the doco
Rosie, just an idea off of the top of my head, the vege co-operative method of vege sales that is,
What is missing now from the New Zealand food selling market is the actual permanent markets where the retailer sold form what was barley ‘a building’, the one that used to be down Tory street in Wellington i remember from my younger days,
Using a warehouse in such a fashion where the produce sellers can hire a space for a day, week or year would probably work, but, like you say ‘things’ would have to get so bad for the producers in their dealings with the supermarkets that they all decide to directly sell to the public,
The other little inkling in the back of my mind is that food being a necessity of life the Government should own it’s own supermarket chain providing direct competition with the other markets…
“The other little inkling in the back of my mind is that food being a necessity of life the Government should own it’s own supermarket chain providing direct competition with the other markets…”
I wonder if other countries do this……….
The other thing is they need to do is take GST off food, being a necessity of life and ‘all. Tax on food is immoral.
Spain and Turkey in midst of economic/financial/political crises
So what do their elite decide to do? Build an AIRCRAFT CARRIER of course!!!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-12/surreal-news-du-jour-spain-turkey-jointly-build-aircraft-carrier
“The near-death experience of the world economy was an open goal for lefties: indeed, it was a gaping empty net with the goal-keeper missing. And still they managed to hit the ball wide.”
“We seem, still, to prefer the anonymity of market forces rather than trust people or our flawed institutions to make the key economic decisions. “
See the article, a European perspective on the response to the left’s GFC by Chris Johns in the Irish Times. Elements translate into NZ’s situation.
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/why-has-the-left-failed-to-exploit-the-financial-crisis-1.1687497
Cunliffe has to convince the NZ public that his vision is different from both National’s and the 1980 -2013 Labour Party. That vision must be centered on reducing inequality while driving economic growth.
(this is relevant to the link from not ps..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/why-the-three-biggest-economic-lessons-were-forgotten-comment-there-are-none-so-blind-as-the-ideologically-blind/
(excerpt..)
..(ed:..this is a classic case of ideological-blindness..
..where the right refuse to/can’t see ..
..that the fastest way to kickstart an economy back into life..
..is to increase the incomes of the poorest..
(cont..)
phillip ure..
Why were the three big lessons forgotten? Because a few people wanted to be immeasurably richer than they were and the only way to do that was to take more from everyone else. On top of that they wanted a return to feudalism as them as the aristocrats which is what we’ve got it’s just that their power is now hidden behind the politicians and the economic hypothesis that privatisation is better even though it didn’t work last time resulting in the English, French and Russian Revolutions.
For a good critique read http://cluborlov.com/ on “American exceptionalism”.
Reichs 3 reasons don’t stand scrutiny when coming from a man who is Prof of Public Policy. At no point does he mention the inbuilt propensity of capitalism to go hand in hand with property rights that exclude competition A good example is the intellectual property laws that keep us sending cash to Bill Gates rather than putting his software into the public domain. At no point does Reich like most commentators question the basic tenet that capitalism is meant to push wealth up, it is fekkin good at it. No amount of public policy is going to change that. What Reich is actually saying is “capitalism is good, it just neds to go back to the consumer based Keynesian prescription and it will all be good”…..and it wont.
By the way, those revolutions, yes they challenged absolute rule and the aristocratic hangers on, then voila, meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
American exceptionalism
And yes, that was a good read. I really should read more of Orlov.
Yep. That’s why we need participatory democracy rather than representative democracy. The former empowers the people, that latter empowers the rich.
From the bookmarks.
http://onthecommons.org/truth-about-american-exceptionalism
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/02/22/essay-american-exceptionalism
Hear Hear,
Now is the time to change direction and reject the failed policies of the last two Labour governments (which have been Tory with a shiny red badge).
The failed policies of sucessive governments since 1984 can been seen in the small minority of filthy rich pricks loving life while the vast majority live in abject poverty.
+1
“[T]he small minority of filthy rich pricks loving life while the vast majority live in abject poverty.”
Rubbish. Median wage in the June 2013 quarter was $575 per week, with GDP based on purchasing power per capita $30,804 per annum. That is not abject poverty.
Zimbabwe, whose GDP by the same measure is $589 p.a., or Liberia at $716 p.a., now that’s abject poverty.
Median, Wormtongue? Tell me more. Oh please, tell me more, unbiased one, bringer of stuff that is not partisan at all.
Are you making excuses for the filthy rich McGrath?
Have you no common decency?
How the hell do you get that? I’m talking about abject poverty. And why shouldn’t someone be allowed to become rich if it is by honest effort and free exchange, or is that not allowed in your world?
how about somalia, libertarian paradise?
You’re aware that the monies (according to some sources anyway) from all the piracy goes straight back to communities that have been severely fucked over by activities of western actors eg – dumping of industrial waste off the coast, foreign vessels over fishing etc?
Who do you think the pirates are? Anyone other than desperate and impoverished fishers etc?
I’m not saying I’d want to be there, but when times get desperate….
As opposed to the corruptly legalised and officially sanctioned piracy/highway robbery carried out by corporations.
Well, a chunk. But then fisheries management isn’t part of the libertarian govt purview, either…
Oh – as a libertarian, I think it’s safe for me to say that fisheries management would be as high on the agenda as any other resource management – ie, high. But then, I’m talking libertarianism as a democrat and not as a corporate/fascist fuck who has appropriated the term and twisted new meanings into it. 😉
ah, true, my bad 🙂
Time to start calling out these pseudo libertarians for the fascist/corporate fucks that they are. I believe there’s been success with other terms that were formally, falsely appropriated?
Sorry, no rule of law there so not a libertarian society, more anarchic. But you already knew that.
I also know that a government that fails to provide social structures other than law will be replaced by a number of smaller, local, social structures that will eventually rise to enough strength to confront the power of the government. As seen in Somalia.
I am having a problem writing a post – I can no longer save changes. Keep getting a message saying saving disabled as connection with the server has been lost – on firefox.
You write posts from within ‘ts’? Why not type them up on ‘word’ or whatever on your own computer’s system and then ‘cut and paste’? It’s what I do.
Yes, usually. It’s easier to do the formatting as I write. But I ended up finishing that post on Word when I couldn’t save some of the last edits.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/countdown-rejects-shane-jones-extortion-claim-labour-mp-gets-tacit-backing-rich-ck-151788
FYI – (My comment – yet to be published …)
Do these ‘demands’ for cash payments from Kiwi suppliers for “past losses”, and threats that that if they did not make the payments, they faced permanent exclusion from the shelves, and further threats of ‘blacklisting’ if they told anyone about the demands – constitute ‘bribery and corruption’ under the NZ Secret Commissions Act 1910?
http://www.justice.govt.nz/policy/criminal-justice/bribery-and-corruption/legal-framework
Bribery and corruption offences
New Zealand’s criminal offences relating to bribery are contained in the:
Crimes Act 1961
Secret Commissions Act 1910.
________________________________________________________________________________
Crimes Act 1961
The Crimes Act 1961 part 6 (external link) contains criminal offences related to, amongst other things, the corrupt use of official information and the corruption and bribery of:
the Judiciary
ministers of the Crown
members of Parliament
law enforcement officers
public officials.
Penalties include terms of imprisonment of up to 14 years for the most serious cases.
________________________________________________________________________________
Secret Commissions Act 1910
The Secret Commissions Act 1910 (external link) contains bribery and corruption-style offences relevant to the private sector.
Penalties range from $2,000 to two years imprisonment.
________________________________________________________________________________
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1910/0040/latest/whole.html#DLM177664
2 Interpretation
In this Act, unless a contrary intention appears,—
agent includes any person who is or has been, or desires or intends to be, employed by or acting for any other person, whether as agent, servant, broker, auctioneer, architect, solicitor, director, or in any other capacity whatever, either alone or jointly with any other person
principal includes any person by whom an agent is or has been, or intends or desires to be, employed, or for whom an agent acts or has acted, or intends or desires to act
consideration means valuable consideration of any kind; and particularly includes discounts, commissions, rebates, bonuses, deductions, percentages, employment, payment of money (whether by way of loan, gift, or otherwise howsoever), and forbearance to demand any money or valuable thing.
________________________________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
Penny not so bright whu can’t you just make the point without all your added self important polava.
Less is more you haven’t figured that out yet .Especially in the modern sound bite era.
Catherine Rich looked like she was swallowing a very large dead rat when she backed up Shane Jones accusations with evidence.
That IS a fairly short comment for Ms. Bright … 🙄
Just watched the Managing Director of the supermarket chain on Campbell Live. Has to be the person who took the ‘o’ out of Countdown!
Puckish Rogue…
Is this the KDC you were referring to in your childish attempt at diversion on the “Smirks and inversions” post?
What was your point? Do you want Bennett & co. to go swimming with the whales?
@ fender..is that true..?
..does bennett really ‘swim with the whales’..?
..whoar..!
..’holy disturbing-imagery..!..batman..!”
..phillip ure..
Was hoping Puckish would share the knowledge regarding whale watching other than the land-based usual suspect. You raise another serious issue though, I’d hate to see the Kaikoura whales chased away.
Annoying I forgot to fix the db query cache after doing some edits last weekend. Caused an outage. While I was on the bus..
Fixed and rebooted.
coolest bit of vid for a long time..
..it came at the end of campbell live..
..and is footage of mila the elephant seeing/meeting/trunk-wrapping with another elephant..
..for the first time in 40 yrs..
..and if susceptible to that sort of thing..
..it is tissue-material..
..phillip ure..
“it is tissue-material”
So too was the piece about the 11y/o boy killed with a cricket bat by his father . I could not believe what I was hearing.
aye..
phillip ure..
Open letter to [US Oligarch] Sam Zell: your statements are delusional and dangerous
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/02/06/an-open-letter-to-sam-zell-why-your-statements-are-delusional-and-dangerous/
thumbs uop
The “envy ” tag is a BS throwaway line to justify ignoring the criticism
Deutsche Bank rates NZ housing market as 3rd most over valued in the industrialised world
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-12/did-canada-just-pop-its-housing-bubble
I noticed this from CV s link which seems important:
Canada has been very open to foreign investors, which means that in an age of unprecedented global liquidity cash-rich wealthy individuals who are looking for places to park their excess funds can do so in its housing market.
Until now… As SCMP reports, Canada’s government has announced that it is scrapping its controversial investor visa scheme, which has allowed waves of rich Hongkongers and mainland Chinese to immigrate since 1986.
My Bolding.
There have been reports of Chinese officials taking fraudulently obtained funds offshore and investing in foreign property as a “back up plan” in case they need to leave China in a hurry some time in the future.
It looks to me like the Chinese government has put pressure on the Canadian govt to end this loophole.
I wonder if anyone has a finger on that dyke here, (referring to the folk Netherland tale of the boy and the dyke.)
And that piece about Chinese officials or their families going abroad. It seems to me that is the old externalities deja vue. Make money, cause problems, pocket money, leave the people living in the mess and seek better climes. Though the clim-ate will catch them.
Rats and ships.
Why the exodus among families who have benefited most from China’s rise?
Aside from education, another obvious motivator is pollution. China’s toxic air and poisonous water are regular topics of complaint among the wealthy (as well as ordinary Chinese).
A less obvious factor is the crackdown on corruption.
Over the last year, Chairman Xi Jinping has overseen investigations into some of China’s wealthiest and most powerful party figures, including those who have profited massively from the state-owned oil industry. He has vowed to take down both “tigers” (top bosses) and “flies” (local officials).
In January, Xi stepped up his campaign by forbidding the promotion of officials who have spouses or children living abroad. These so-called “naked” officials are seen as especially prone to corruption.
“They belong to a high-risk group for corruption,” a party official told the state-run Xinhua news agency. “Around 40 percent of economic cases and nearly 80 percent of corruption and embezzlement cases involve naked officials.” In China, crimes like fraud, bribery, and embezzlement are referred to as economic cases.
This designation covers a large group. According to a report by the Hong Kong newspaper Oriental Daily, a majority of members of China’s 2013 National People’s Congress were “naked officials.”
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/140131/war-corruption-ramps-china-s-wealthy-flock-america
Quick question re the NSA and data storage. Are they storing content from all phone calls, or is it just the meta data?
My assumption would be that they are storing everything; listening to what Jacob Appelbaum and others have to say, I think that is a pretty safe bet.
but they will only admit metadata and therefore only ever be forced to cough that up.
Thanks. I had assumed it was everything, but when I looked online there was a lot of contradictory information.
So the spies and snoops will probably have their favourite focus picked out from meta-data, to be monitored by drones, only nano-ones, like the one in the Harry Potter book. One of the nasties there has shape-shifting genes and can turn herself into an insect and literally be ‘the fly on the wall’. And she happens to be a jonolist I think, so gets lots of stuff that’s not fit to print.
Lots of opportunities for the use of technology to hurt society and the individual.