Ross, you are in moderation. Please go back and look at your last comments and see the moderation notes. When you do so, and respond, I will revisit the moderation.
I’ve spent more than enough time on this already, the onus is on you to go look up the morderations. They will be under your last comments onsite before today.
By the way I did as you suggested and in the first thread that appeared there were 132 messages. None of them were from me. I’d consider that punishment enough. 🙂
if you can’t be bothered finding your own comments, why should I? Leaving this here for posterity, because I am not doing this again. My suggestion is that you pay attention to who replies to your comments at the time.
do you agree to stay out of commenting under my posts about climate change?
You've never asked me to do that, so why now? Have you ever thought of becoming more resilient so you can handle disagreements more easily? There are lots of videos on YouTube on how to become more resilient.
You are now banned from commenting under my CC posts. If you comment under my other posts and it looks like climate denial expect moderation without warning. This is using my definition of climate denial, not yours. As already mentioned, the onus is on you to keep track of replies to your own comments including moderations.
Please read the Policy. This is the relevant bit right now,
Generally wasting a moderators time is just not a good idea. We’re there to deal with isolated problems. People persistently sucking up our voluntary time won’t like the results.
Likewise telling authors and moderators what to do. – weka]
Fascinating though the rise of conservative, gay, transphobic activists. We have our own in Ani O'Brien and Rachel Stewart who believe gender is immutable.
Incredible that some gay people would seek to shut down protections for the maginalised and vulnerable.
Have they forgotten the struggle for their own rights so soon?
[‘Conservative’ has a particular political meaning in NZ. O’Brien and Stewart are not conservative, they’re left wing. It’s not ok to misrepresent people’s politics like this, especially on such a controversial topic (this applies to all sides). I tried to address this with you last time in comments, now I’m moderating.
If you want to argue that their politics on gender are conservative, you’ll have to do that specifically, but both of them appear to be gender critical feminists, which is predominantly a left wing movement. If you do try and make this argument you will have to back it up with credible evidence and clear rationale (evidence means links and quotes and explanation of relevance where necessary, not expecting people to read a whole article to parse what you mean). Again, this will apply to all sides of the debate, because there is so much misrepresentation and miscommunication all round – weka.]
… Ani O'Brien and Rachel Stewart who believe gender is immutable.
Gender is a social construct, so I'd be astonished if either of those people has claimed it's "immutable" (or any synonym thereof). Perhaps you've confused sex and gender? If not, can you provide evidence for your claim they believe gender is fixed?
What PM said re sex and gender (in this debate gender is no longer interchangeable with biological sex as a term). You need to now either provide evidence that Stewart and O'Brien believe gender is immutable, or you need to retract this.
To help you out, GCFs believe that biological sex is immutable, and that gender is a social construct that harms women. GCFs generally support gender non-conformity and believe that rigid gender roles should be abolished. Many support trans people having the same rights as everyone else, but they do have significant issues with transphobia within their movement and in the GC movements more broadly (imo it's not dissimilar to say the left having internal issues with sexism/misogyny, or feminism having internal issues with classism or racism).
My advice is that if you want to take part in this debate you educate yourself, because this is not the first time you have gotten the basics wrong.
O'Brien is a GCF. Don't know if Stewart describes herself as that, but she seems generally aligned.
It is immutable given our current level of technology, at least. Or can you point out an example of a human being whose sex changed from one to another?
You've provided some links from scientists trying to obfuscate sex for political purposes. None of those articles alters the facts that Homo Sapiens is sexually dimorphic and in almost all cases the sex of an individual is clear from their physiology. The existence of a tiny percentage of intersex cases (something inevitable given how messy biology is) doesn't make sex a "spectrum."
can you point out an example of a human being whose sex changed from one to another?
Any person who has transitioned.
You've provided some links from scientists trying to obfuscate sex for political purposes.
Um… evidence? You seem to know more about biology than the experts I cited.
None of those articles alters the facts that Homo Sapiens is sexually dimorphic and in almost all cases the sex of an individual is clear from their physiology.
Thus spake Psycho Milt.
It's a messy subject that's for sure, but the certainty that you and GCFs exhibit is unwarranted. It's more complicated than judging people by how they look to you.
No person who has transitioned has changed their sex. We don't have the technical capability to turn male into female and vice versa – maybe we will one day, but we certainly don't right now.
Um… evidence?
The evidence is there in the articles. The attempt to talk up a tiny percentage of intersex cases into sex being a spectrum is unscientific and has an obvious political agenda.
It's more complicated than judging people by how they look to you.
Well, yes, exactly. The fact that somebody looks male or female to you doesn't necessarily mean they are the sex you're assuming – that's the whole basis on which transsexuals use transitioning to help alleviate their gender dysphoria.
Gender can be as complicated as you like. Which sex you are isn't complicated at all though, unless you're one of a very small number of intersex people (who are not "trans" and shouldn't be lumped in with them).
No person who has transitioned has changed their sex.
Says you, because you are wedded to essentialist view of sex and gender.
I was asking for evidence for your assertion that these scientific concepts are "trying to obfuscate sex for political purposes". That's a fairly big claim.
The attempt to talk up a tiny percentage of intersex cases into sex being a spectrum is unscientific and has an obvious political agenda.
A corollary is that your desire to ignore/dismiss a minority of peoples experiences is also unscientific and has a political agenda; one that has many ideologies in common with conservative thought on the issue.
Gender can be as complicated as you like. Which sex you are isn't complicated at all though, unless you're one of a very small number of intersex people (who are not "trans" and shouldn't be lumped in with them).
You have dismissed all of the scientifically proven variations that exist in the biological (chromosomal, hormonal etc) expression of sex that my links provide. Intersex individuals are already 'lumped in' with trans people as part of the minority; Queer people, LGBTQIA+. Why do you assume that there are no trans intersex people?
you are wedded to essentialist view of sex and gender.
Recognising that sexual reproduction involves two sexes and that the two have distinct roles in reproduction isn't "essentialist," it's "rationalist." And what an "essentialist" view of gender would look like I have no idea, given that gender's a social construct.
I was asking for evidence for your assertion that these scientific concepts are "trying to obfuscate sex for political purposes".
And I gave it. Like any biological process, sexual reproduction isn't perfect and there are defects. Occasionally those defects occur in the reproductive system itself. In humans, the defects large enough to bring the sex of the person into question involve a fraction of one per cent of live births. For a scientist to present this tiny minority of defects as evidence that sex is a spectrum can only be deliberate obfuscation, because a scientist wouldn't do that in error – it would be like claiming that the existence of birth defects involving the legs means that humans aren't bipedal and number of legs is a spectrum. Likewise, the motivation for the obfuscation is clearly political – scientists don't obfuscate just because they're bored.
… your desire to ignore/dismiss a minority of peoples experiences is also unscientific…
I don't dismiss anyone's experiences, unless their claimed experience is highly unlikely (eg I dismiss people's experiences of being cured by faith healers) or contradicted by physical reality (eg I dismiss Muhammad's experience of riding a flying horse to Jerusalem). The idea that a human can change sex under our current technological capability is contradicted by physical reality.
You have dismissed all of the scientifically proven variations that exist in the biological (chromosomal, hormonal etc) expression of sex that my links provide.
Not at all. I've just pointed out that they don't alter the fact that Homo Sapiens is sexually dimorphic.
Why do you assume that there are no trans intersex people?
Trans intersex people? Which sex would they be transitioning from, do you think?
I tire of your deliberate ignorance of the terminology of this subject that you are clearly deeply invested in. I will not continue to attempt to correct your assumptions.
Trans intersex people? Which sex would they be transitioning from, do you think?
From the one they were assigned at birth, like all trans people.
For a scientist to present this tiny minority of defects as evidence that sex is a spectrum can only be deliberate obfuscation… …Likewise, the motivation for the obfuscation is clearly political – scientists don't obfuscate just because they're bored.
What is this 'clear Political motivation'? What is their goal?
I tire of your deliberate ignorance of the terminology of this subject that you are clearly deeply invested in.
Right back atcha. I'm invested in this subject only to the extent that it's the most intense example of the infestation of the left with postmodernist bullshit. That, I care a lot about.
What is this 'clear Political motivation'? What is their goal?
You've demonstrated the motivation in this thread – it's to provide gender identity enthusiasts with ammunition to claim biological sex is a spectrum. The goal is public acceptance of sex self-id.
I reject your assertion that 'Feminists have written plenty about what the issue is' because plenty of feminists have no issue with sex self-ID. Some percentage of self-described feminists have a problem with it.
I notice you have failed to articulate how you intend to ID peoples sex if self-ID is an issue
…plenty of feminists have no issue with sex self-ID.
I think most people reading this blog grasp the idea that feminism isn't a monolith and don't need me to explain it to them.
I notice you have failed to articulate how you intend to ID peoples sex if self-ID is an issue
Given the lack of difficulties arising from doing without sex self-ID for the last however-many-million years, I don't believe it needs any explanation.
Right so the particular group you're referring to when you say 'Feminists have written plenty about what the issue is' are a small minority of feminism who are arguing against the majority of feminism, I have read their arguments and found them lacking. As you say it is an Appeal to Nature 'for the last however-many-million years'.
But the reason this issue is being discussed is because we have differing views about the 'lack of difficulties' preceding this present. Trans, non-binary and intersex people are among the most marginalised people around the globe and enforcing a Manichaean view of sex/gender etc isn't helping people feel welcome in this world.
…[gender-critical feminists] are a small minority of feminism…
…in your opinion. I haven't seen any figures putting percentages on it, but it wouldn't alter my statement anyway. A minority opinion is no less valid than a majority opinion, what counts are the arguments.
I'm the last person who'd argue that 'natural' is a synonym for 'good.' I'm arguing that physical reality is unaltered by our feelings about it.
Trans, non-binary and intersex people are among the most marginalised people around the globe…
That's a situation that can't be improved via dishonesty. It's wrong to discriminate against them per se, there's no need to invent stories about sex supposedly being a matter of what your feelings about it are.
I have provided links to back up my argument. You have decided that you know better than the science and don't need to provide any evidence beyond your reckons, and your appeal to nature.
I think people use the term sex in somewhat different ways. For instance there is no scientific doubt that humans need two different sexes to reproduce, and that humans have only two sexes. We call them male and female, but the mechanism for reproduction relies on large gametes (egg) and small ones (sperm), there is no third gamete in that, only two and they are binary (distinct from each other always but needed in relationship to each other) There are important evolutionary reasons for this. This is how it is for a great many organisms.
This is different from how humans ascribe meaning to biological sex (and consequently gender). I think what is happening currently is a fight over power to determine what meaning 'sex' has for humans (and consequently gender), and science is being used by several sides to justify their position. I can see it argued both ways, but remain unconvinced that either is absolutely right (apart from the bit above about reproduction). I'm much more interested in who is served by the fight over power. I don't think it is women or trans ppl. Also not the left or progressives or life on earth that is under threat from human civilisations.
My preference is to step out that of that binary thinking (TA vs GCF, right vs wrong) and see what can be salvaged and rebuilt past the damage done by the war. I also think that being able to talk about it is critical and much of the damage has occurred because of heavy duty suppression of debate.
For instance there is no scientific doubt that humans need two different sexes to reproduce, and that humans have only two sexes.
There needs to be two types of gametes yes, not necessarily two different sexes, and their is indeed scientific doubt that there are only two sexes, I provided the links. The association of these types of gametes with the physiological forms of 'male' and 'female' is the essentialist thinking we must move beyond. If I am infertile, if I choose not to reproduce, if I produce both gamete types, I am no longer male or female? Also how are we to know what type of gametes a person produces before assigning their sex/gender? I understand there is fight of these definitions but I fail to see who is benefitting by restricting sex/gender to these essentialist lines. It is a rehashing of the conservative 'its just natural' argument.
Could you perhaps point me to a definition of the gender-critical position?
I'm confused. Someone who has surgery to become binary means there's a third gender? Evolution wisely doesn'twant adaptive pressure on sexual reproduction since invariable it would mean infertility, since there has been a quite recent development of the chemical industrial revolution… …sure no absolutes in evolution but also a very plausible reason for the new wave of people needing surgery.
Evolution wants to survive to reproduce, it will choose behaviours that accomplish this since those that don't aren't successful. Wisely evolution guards most intensely against changes to sexual reproducion, those strains more likely to mutate their sexually are also less likely to reproduce. Humans are currently experiencing a over population period that all species, sooner or later, adapt their environment to increase resources, reduce risks of death naturally enter into. This is when species bifurcated, over population in Africa push early hominids into desert regions and a land bridge to Asia.
If it needs surgery it ain't a gender change, it's a cultural one. Since the genes aren’t passed on any more or less than they would have been.
The association of these types of gametes with the physiological forms of 'male' and 'female' is the essentialist thinking we must move beyond.
We must? Given that 'male' and 'female' are the names of the two sexes producing those two types of gametes, there is no obvious reason why we 'must' change their definitions to something unrelated to the two sexes.
If I am infertile, if I choose not to reproduce, if I produce both gamete types, I am no longer male or female?
Nope. Humans have two arms and two legs, but that doesn't mean you cease to be human if you lose a limb.
… who is benefitting by restricting sex/gender to these essentialist lines.
Sex and gender are different things. Who is benefiting by conflating them into "sex/gender?"
The fact that biological processes aren't perfect doesn't make people "defects." This kind of deliberate misrepresentation is part of the "fight" weka refers to.
People who do not neatly fit into either, or both, false binaries.
Gender isn't binary. Sex is. This stuff isn't rocket science, despite postmodernists' attempts to portray it as a great, complicated mystery.
The fact that biological processes aren't perfect doesn't make people "defects."
It certainly read that way. I apologise if that wasn't your intention.
From my first link:
It means you may be genetically male or female, chromosomally male or female, hormonally male/female/non-binary, with cells that may or may not hear the male/female/non-binary call, and all this leading to a body that can be male/non-binary/female.
Sex isn't binary either. It's not rocket science, it's not postmodernism, it's biology.
Yes, that's a good example. List the various ways sexual reproduction doesn't work perfectly in a tiny fraction of the population, describe them as though they were common and widespread features of that population, and to the credulous it sounds like sex isn't binary. It's obfuscation, and it's deliberate.
The idea that gender or sex are binary harms everyone by stigmatizing traits that lie outside of what society considers normal. Changing attitudes and social structures to recognize sex as a spectrum is a daunting task, but it is possible. To make real change, we need both public education about the biological sex spectrum as well as policy changes. We should ban surgeries on intersex people without their consent and reinstate the Obama-era interpretation of Title IX to enact laws that specifically protect those who are intersex, transgender, or non-binary.
It's deliberate alright. The goal is positive change for marginalised people, why is this bad?
1. Sex isn't a spectrum. Promoting something obviously untrue is unethical and causes rational people to reject your ideas, which is counter-productive.
2. Scientists using their knowledge to obfuscate rather than inform brings science into disrepute and harms every other area of science (eg, if we know that there are biologists with an agenda peddling a lie for political purposes, we might be more inclined to believe AGW-denier propaganda).
3. Promoting something obviously untrue doesn't actually help marginalised people, because the bigots marginalising them will regard the fact their opposition is lying as an endorsement of their views, and otherwise-neutral people will regard other claims in support of marginalised people with suspicion.
4. Because sex clearly is binary even to people who know little about it, conflating sex and gender can only encourage people to think of gender as binary, which is horribly counter-productive for everybody, not just trans people.
I have provided links to back up my argument. You have decided that you know better than the science and don't need to provide any evidence beyond your reckons, and your appeal to nature.
I doesn't seem to matter what I post about, there is a lengthy authoritarian statement with demands in bold to follow.
Having worked at home this morning I have to physically go to work now so I will not be able to meet your requests until later.
I did think my last response on this topic after your last bold writings was sufficient, with short explanations and links as demanded above, because you didn't respond letting me know whether it was satisfactory or not, according to you.
I sincerely hope other moderations and the owner of this site see things differently.
Later is fine. I probably lost track of the last time, I'll have a look and respond. I did look up the previous gender discussion before I moderated today and saw a similar pattern that I thought I had addressed clearly. Making assertions about public figures requires evidence if there is doubt about accuracy. If someone posted a political comment that included that say Ardern believed that NZ should be more centrist than it is, I'd certainly expect them to provide some evidence.
As I've said today, I think if you want to engage in this debate you need to educate yourself. You can still take the position you do, but you cannot mislead especially about public figures.Also, I’m no saying this to be patronising, but the debate elsewhere on the internet is often a nasty shit show and I’d highly encourage you to take the time to learn the deeper debate so you can avoid that. My commitment at the moment is to prevent debate on TS from becoming a shit show as well.
In terms of your general commenting history, you have posted here for many years about all sorts of things and not gotten a huge amount of moderator attention. To me this moderation today is just a setting of boundaries as discussion about trans/gender on TS increases. It's not even about you, you're just the one being more proactive about it. Whoever brings this topic up needs to take more care than usual, and again this applies to all sides.
Please also bear in mind that much of moderation boils down to us not having to spend excess time on moderation. The requirement from me about how to provide evidence has been consistent for most of the time I've been moderating. It's mostly about me not having to read lengthy pieces and trying to guess why someone thinks it backs up their assertion. But it's also because other people shouldn't have to do this either, and debate improves when communication is clear.
Without going over that discussion again, I think you are missing the core of the moderation now. You can make whatever political arguments you want (within the limits of the Policy), and you can express opinions, but when you start making assertions you have to back them up if required. This has been TS Policy for longer than I have been here,
This includes making assertions that you are unable to substantiate with some proof (and that doesn’t mean endless links to unsubstantial authorities) or even argue when requested to do so. Such comments may be deleted without warning or one of the alternatives below may be employed. The action taken is completely up to the moderator who takes it.
In terms of forecast pledged delegates, Sanders is in about the same position this time as he was against Hilary Clinton. Biden is still the firm favourite to win the Democratic Presidential nomination.
With Booker and Williams out, Buttigieg fading and Warren long since plateaued, delegates and donors will be able to focus their minds and stop wasting their time on the never-coulda outliers.
I could not possibly think of any reason why donald Trump would agree with you and confirm Bernie Sanders as the frontrunner in the Democratic candidate race 🙂
“It doesn’t matter who it is,” the senior Trump official said. “The proposals the eventual nominee will have will be so liberal and so extreme as to be outside the mainstream. It truly does not matter to us which one is carrying the banner.”
Assad runs an hereditary, thuggish kleptocracy tRump can only dream of.
In a video of the conversation between Assad and Putin at the Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in Damascus, Assad mentions the Apostle Paul’s conversion to Christianity after a vision at the gate of Damascus, Axios reported.
“If Trump arrives along this road, everything will become normal with him too," the Syrian leader said, according to the news outlet.
“It will be repaired … invite him. He will come,” Putin reportedly responds, with Assad responding that he is prepared to invite Trump and Putin resolving to pass the message along.
Stats NZ reports that a 2.7% lift in monthly building consents for November saw the annual level of consents around the country hit over 37,000 for the first time since the 1970s
There are a lot of interesting links in this dairy at Daily Kos. (Disclaimer: i have enjoyed DK since 2003 when some of the writers there were Steve Gilliard (rip) and Billmon (who stopped blogging. Moon of Alabama comes of the defunkt BillmonBlog )
btw, it finally 'rained'. Its more of a drizzle, but at least it has been a fairly constant one, it is needed as our soils are dry. Trees dropping fruit and leaves browning. Its that lingering drought of ours. We should think about that every now and then.
When temperatures between day and night time can vary as much as 20 degrees. And differences between seasons can vary by even more.
How can a small average rise of one or two degrees, globally, be dangerous?
How can an average global rise of only a few millimetres in our oceans be dangerous?
The clue is in the words 'globally' and 'average'
Think of it this way way.
In the open ocean the tides raised by the pull of the moon are only a little over a half a metre.
It is because the average tidal pull of the moon on the earth's oceans gets amplified locally that we can get tides of up to 16m in some places.
The same with an average rise in sea level of one or two millimetres due the melting of Greenland ice cap. A small rise in average oceanic sea levels can in some places and on some occasions be amplified to more than a metre. When you add in the effect of climate change fueled super storms, in some places and on some occasions a small global average rise in sea level can multiply localised storm surges by 3m or more.
The same with climate change, some places the effects of climate change are more pronounced than others. The North polar region, for instance, is heating up much faster than almost any other region of the planet. (with global consequences).
These localised effects and amplifications can vary, already dry places may get dryer. Already wet places may get wetter. Depending on different varying local conditions, (topography, wind and water currents), the inverse can also happen.
Another question people ask, is how can CO2 which is a trace gas in our atmosphere, amounting to only 0.04% of Earth's Atmosphere be responsible for so much heating?
The answer lies in the qualitative difference between CO2 and nitrogen. At 78% nitrogen makes up the vast bulk of our atmosphere, but nitrogen is completely transparent to infrared radiation, (radiative heat). CO2 on the other hand blocks radiative heat, trapping it.
Think of it this way
Fill a bath to the top with completely transparent water from your bath tap. Now get an eye dropper and fill it with Indian ink. Drop into the clear bath water the same proportion of Indian ink into the clear bath water as there is CO2 in the atmosphere. Note the very visible difference in the bath water to let visible light pass through it.
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
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dropping food for the critters taht survived the fires.
i wonder how long they can keep that up for.
https://globalnews.ca/news/6402115/australia-animals-food-fires/
Test
Ross, you are in moderation. Please go back and look at your last comments and see the moderation notes. When you do so, and respond, I will revisit the moderation.
hmmm I don’t know what my last comments were although you likely disagreed with them. Maybe you could simply explain what the issue is?
I’ve spent more than enough time on this already, the onus is on you to go look up the morderations. They will be under your last comments onsite before today.
Maybe you could link to them. There is no heading entitled ‘moderations’. Cheers
Put ‘Formerly Ross’ into the search box, then look for your last comments, and my replies to them.
And then? As you know I’ve repeatedly said climate change is man made, so am not sure what the problem is. Quoting Bjorn Lomborg is OK?
By the way I did as you suggested and in the first thread that appeared there were 132 messages. None of them were from me. I’d consider that punishment enough. 🙂
if you can’t be bothered finding your own comments, why should I? Leaving this here for posterity, because I am not doing this again. My suggestion is that you pay attention to who replies to your comments at the time.
if you can’t be bothered finding your own comments, why should I?
I followed your advice, which was incorrect. Don't shoot the messenger.
do you agree to stay out of commenting under my posts about climate change?
do you agree to stay out of commenting under my posts about climate change?
You've never asked me to do that, so why now? Have you ever thought of becoming more resilient so you can handle disagreements more easily? There are lots of videos on YouTube on how to become more resilient.
[I’ll take that as a no then. Here’s the mod note where I asked you to stay out of my CC posts. https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-04-01-2020/#comment-1676987
You are now banned from commenting under my CC posts. If you comment under my other posts and it looks like climate denial expect moderation without warning. This is using my definition of climate denial, not yours. As already mentioned, the onus is on you to keep track of replies to your own comments including moderations.
Please read the Policy. This is the relevant bit right now,
Generally wasting a moderators time is just not a good idea. We’re there to deal with isolated problems. People persistently sucking up our voluntary time won’t like the results.
Likewise telling authors and moderators what to do. – weka]
mod note above.
If you comment under my other posts and it looks like climate denial
It doesn't look like climate denial and never has. You simply cannot accept an opinion different from your own.
It is sad news that a young man has lost his life in the ongoing Culture Wars.
Fascinating though the rise of conservative, gay, transphobic activists. We have our own in Ani O'Brien and Rachel Stewart who believe gender is immutable.
Incredible that some gay people would seek to shut down protections for the maginalised and vulnerable.
Have they forgotten the struggle for their own rights so soon?
[‘Conservative’ has a particular political meaning in NZ. O’Brien and Stewart are not conservative, they’re left wing. It’s not ok to misrepresent people’s politics like this, especially on such a controversial topic (this applies to all sides). I tried to address this with you last time in comments, now I’m moderating.
If you want to argue that their politics on gender are conservative, you’ll have to do that specifically, but both of them appear to be gender critical feminists, which is predominantly a left wing movement. If you do try and make this argument you will have to back it up with credible evidence and clear rationale (evidence means links and quotes and explanation of relevance where necessary, not expecting people to read a whole article to parse what you mean). Again, this will apply to all sides of the debate, because there is so much misrepresentation and miscommunication all round – weka.]
… Ani O'Brien and Rachel Stewart who believe gender is immutable.
Gender is a social construct, so I'd be astonished if either of those people has claimed it's "immutable" (or any synonym thereof). Perhaps you've confused sex and gender? If not, can you provide evidence for your claim they believe gender is fixed?
mod note for you Muttonbird.
What PM said re sex and gender (in this debate gender is no longer interchangeable with biological sex as a term). You need to now either provide evidence that Stewart and O'Brien believe gender is immutable, or you need to retract this.
To help you out, GCFs believe that biological sex is immutable, and that gender is a social construct that harms women. GCFs generally support gender non-conformity and believe that rigid gender roles should be abolished. Many support trans people having the same rights as everyone else, but they do have significant issues with transphobia within their movement and in the GC movements more broadly (imo it's not dissimilar to say the left having internal issues with sexism/misogyny, or feminism having internal issues with classism or racism).
My advice is that if you want to take part in this debate you educate yourself, because this is not the first time you have gotten the basics wrong.
O'Brien is a GCF. Don't know if Stewart describes herself as that, but she seems generally aligned.
Biological sex isn't immutable either.
Biologist explains 'Biological Sex' is complicated: A thread.
Male or female? It's not always so simple
Sex isn’t binary, and we should stop acting like it is
Biological sex isn't immutable either.
It is immutable given our current level of technology, at least. Or can you point out an example of a human being whose sex changed from one to another?
You've provided some links from scientists trying to obfuscate sex for political purposes. None of those articles alters the facts that Homo Sapiens is sexually dimorphic and in almost all cases the sex of an individual is clear from their physiology. The existence of a tiny percentage of intersex cases (something inevitable given how messy biology is) doesn't make sex a "spectrum."
Any person who has transitioned.
Um… evidence? You seem to know more about biology than the experts I cited.
Thus spake Psycho Milt.
It's a messy subject that's for sure, but the certainty that you and GCFs exhibit is unwarranted. It's more complicated than judging people by how they look to you.
Any person who has transitioned.
No person who has transitioned has changed their sex. We don't have the technical capability to turn male into female and vice versa – maybe we will one day, but we certainly don't right now.
Um… evidence?
The evidence is there in the articles. The attempt to talk up a tiny percentage of intersex cases into sex being a spectrum is unscientific and has an obvious political agenda.
It's more complicated than judging people by how they look to you.
Well, yes, exactly. The fact that somebody looks male or female to you doesn't necessarily mean they are the sex you're assuming – that's the whole basis on which transsexuals use transitioning to help alleviate their gender dysphoria.
Gender can be as complicated as you like. Which sex you are isn't complicated at all though, unless you're one of a very small number of intersex people (who are not "trans" and shouldn't be lumped in with them).
Says you, because you are wedded to essentialist view of sex and gender.
I was asking for evidence for your assertion that these scientific concepts are "trying to obfuscate sex for political purposes". That's a fairly big claim.
A corollary is that your desire to ignore/dismiss a minority of peoples experiences is also unscientific and has a political agenda; one that has many ideologies in common with conservative thought on the issue.
You have dismissed all of the scientifically proven variations that exist in the biological (chromosomal, hormonal etc) expression of sex that my links provide. Intersex individuals are already 'lumped in' with trans people as part of the minority; Queer people, LGBTQIA+. Why do you assume that there are no trans intersex people?
you are wedded to essentialist view of sex and gender.
Recognising that sexual reproduction involves two sexes and that the two have distinct roles in reproduction isn't "essentialist," it's "rationalist." And what an "essentialist" view of gender would look like I have no idea, given that gender's a social construct.
I was asking for evidence for your assertion that these scientific concepts are "trying to obfuscate sex for political purposes".
And I gave it. Like any biological process, sexual reproduction isn't perfect and there are defects. Occasionally those defects occur in the reproductive system itself. In humans, the defects large enough to bring the sex of the person into question involve a fraction of one per cent of live births. For a scientist to present this tiny minority of defects as evidence that sex is a spectrum can only be deliberate obfuscation, because a scientist wouldn't do that in error – it would be like claiming that the existence of birth defects involving the legs means that humans aren't bipedal and number of legs is a spectrum. Likewise, the motivation for the obfuscation is clearly political – scientists don't obfuscate just because they're bored.
… your desire to ignore/dismiss a minority of peoples experiences is also unscientific…
I don't dismiss anyone's experiences, unless their claimed experience is highly unlikely (eg I dismiss people's experiences of being cured by faith healers) or contradicted by physical reality (eg I dismiss Muhammad's experience of riding a flying horse to Jerusalem). The idea that a human can change sex under our current technological capability is contradicted by physical reality.
You have dismissed all of the scientifically proven variations that exist in the biological (chromosomal, hormonal etc) expression of sex that my links provide.
Not at all. I've just pointed out that they don't alter the fact that Homo Sapiens is sexually dimorphic.
Why do you assume that there are no trans intersex people?
Trans intersex people? Which sex would they be transitioning from, do you think?
I tire of your deliberate ignorance of the terminology of this subject that you are clearly deeply invested in. I will not continue to attempt to correct your assumptions.
From the one they were assigned at birth, like all trans people.
What is this 'clear Political motivation'? What is their goal?
I tire of your deliberate ignorance of the terminology of this subject that you are clearly deeply invested in.
Right back atcha. I'm invested in this subject only to the extent that it's the most intense example of the infestation of the left with postmodernist bullshit. That, I care a lot about.
What is this 'clear Political motivation'? What is their goal?
You've demonstrated the motivation in this thread – it's to provide gender identity enthusiasts with ammunition to claim biological sex is a spectrum. The goal is public acceptance of sex self-id.
Yikes. I'll just leave you and DF to roll in that sty.
What's the issue? And alternatively how would you be ID-ing peoples sex then?
What's the issue?
Sigh. Feminists have written plenty about what the issue is, it's easy enough to educate yourself on that subject.
I reject your assertion that 'Feminists have written plenty about what the issue is' because plenty of feminists have no issue with sex self-ID. Some percentage of self-described feminists have a problem with it.
I notice you have failed to articulate how you intend to ID peoples sex if self-ID is an issue
…plenty of feminists have no issue with sex self-ID.
I think most people reading this blog grasp the idea that feminism isn't a monolith and don't need me to explain it to them.
I notice you have failed to articulate how you intend to ID peoples sex if self-ID is an issue
Given the lack of difficulties arising from doing without sex self-ID for the last however-many-million years, I don't believe it needs any explanation.
Right so the particular group you're referring to when you say 'Feminists have written plenty about what the issue is' are a small minority of feminism who are arguing against the majority of feminism, I have read their arguments and found them lacking. As you say it is an Appeal to Nature 'for the last however-many-million years'.
But the reason this issue is being discussed is because we have differing views about the 'lack of difficulties' preceding this present. Trans, non-binary and intersex people are among the most marginalised people around the globe and enforcing a Manichaean view of sex/gender etc isn't helping people feel welcome in this world.
…[gender-critical feminists] are a small minority of feminism…
…in your opinion. I haven't seen any figures putting percentages on it, but it wouldn't alter my statement anyway. A minority opinion is no less valid than a majority opinion, what counts are the arguments.
… it is an Appeal to Nature…
I'm the last person who'd argue that 'natural' is a synonym for 'good.' I'm arguing that physical reality is unaltered by our feelings about it.
Trans, non-binary and intersex people are among the most marginalised people around the globe…
That's a situation that can't be improved via dishonesty. It's wrong to discriminate against them per se, there's no need to invent stories about sex supposedly being a matter of what your feelings about it are.
I have provided links to back up my argument. You have decided that you know better than the science and don't need to provide any evidence beyond your reckons, and your appeal to nature.
I think people use the term sex in somewhat different ways. For instance there is no scientific doubt that humans need two different sexes to reproduce, and that humans have only two sexes. We call them male and female, but the mechanism for reproduction relies on large gametes (egg) and small ones (sperm), there is no third gamete in that, only two and they are binary (distinct from each other always but needed in relationship to each other) There are important evolutionary reasons for this. This is how it is for a great many organisms.
This is different from how humans ascribe meaning to biological sex (and consequently gender). I think what is happening currently is a fight over power to determine what meaning 'sex' has for humans (and consequently gender), and science is being used by several sides to justify their position. I can see it argued both ways, but remain unconvinced that either is absolutely right (apart from the bit above about reproduction). I'm much more interested in who is served by the fight over power. I don't think it is women or trans ppl. Also not the left or progressives or life on earth that is under threat from human civilisations.
My preference is to step out that of that binary thinking (TA vs GCF, right vs wrong) and see what can be salvaged and rebuilt past the damage done by the war. I also think that being able to talk about it is critical and much of the damage has occurred because of heavy duty suppression of debate.
There needs to be two types of gametes yes, not necessarily two different sexes, and their is indeed scientific doubt that there are only two sexes, I provided the links. The association of these types of gametes with the physiological forms of 'male' and 'female' is the essentialist thinking we must move beyond. If I am infertile, if I choose not to reproduce, if I produce both gamete types, I am no longer male or female? Also how are we to know what type of gametes a person produces before assigning their sex/gender? I understand there is fight of these definitions but I fail to see who is benefitting by restricting sex/gender to these essentialist lines. It is a rehashing of the conservative 'its just natural' argument.
Could you perhaps point me to a definition of the gender-critical position?
I'm confused. Someone who has surgery to become binary means there's a third gender? Evolution wisely doesn'twant adaptive pressure on sexual reproduction since invariable it would mean infertility, since there has been a quite recent development of the chemical industrial revolution… …sure no absolutes in evolution but also a very plausible reason for the new wave of people needing surgery.
Humans evolution isn't really driven by natural selection, hasn't been for most of history. Evolution isn't 'wise' and does not want anything.
Evolution wants to survive to reproduce, it will choose behaviours that accomplish this since those that don't aren't successful. Wisely evolution guards most intensely against changes to sexual reproducion, those strains more likely to mutate their sexually are also less likely to reproduce. Humans are currently experiencing a over population period that all species, sooner or later, adapt their environment to increase resources, reduce risks of death naturally enter into. This is when species bifurcated, over population in Africa push early hominids into desert regions and a land bridge to Asia.
If it needs surgery it ain't a gender change, it's a cultural one. Since the genes aren’t passed on any more or less than they would have been.
The association of these types of gametes with the physiological forms of 'male' and 'female' is the essentialist thinking we must move beyond.
We must? Given that 'male' and 'female' are the names of the two sexes producing those two types of gametes, there is no obvious reason why we 'must' change their definitions to something unrelated to the two sexes.
If I am infertile, if I choose not to reproduce, if I produce both gamete types, I am no longer male or female?
Nope. Humans have two arms and two legs, but that doesn't mean you cease to be human if you lose a limb.
… who is benefitting by restricting sex/gender to these essentialist lines.
Sex and gender are different things. Who is benefiting by conflating them into "sex/gender?"
No, you are a ‘defect’ apparently. as you said above.
People who do not neatly fit into either, or both, false binaries.
as you said above.
The fact that biological processes aren't perfect doesn't make people "defects." This kind of deliberate misrepresentation is part of the "fight" weka refers to.
People who do not neatly fit into either, or both, false binaries.
Gender isn't binary. Sex is. This stuff isn't rocket science, despite postmodernists' attempts to portray it as a great, complicated mystery.
It certainly read that way. I apologise if that wasn't your intention.
From my first link:
Sex isn't binary either. It's not rocket science, it's not postmodernism, it's biology.
Yes, that's a good example. List the various ways sexual reproduction doesn't work perfectly in a tiny fraction of the population, describe them as though they were common and widespread features of that population, and to the credulous it sounds like sex isn't binary. It's obfuscation, and it's deliberate.
From my third link:
It's deliberate alright. The goal is positive change for marginalised people, why is this bad?
It's bad because:
1. Sex isn't a spectrum. Promoting something obviously untrue is unethical and causes rational people to reject your ideas, which is counter-productive.
2. Scientists using their knowledge to obfuscate rather than inform brings science into disrepute and harms every other area of science (eg, if we know that there are biologists with an agenda peddling a lie for political purposes, we might be more inclined to believe AGW-denier propaganda).
3. Promoting something obviously untrue doesn't actually help marginalised people, because the bigots marginalising them will regard the fact their opposition is lying as an endorsement of their views, and otherwise-neutral people will regard other claims in support of marginalised people with suspicion.
4. Because sex clearly is binary even to people who know little about it, conflating sex and gender can only encourage people to think of gender as binary, which is horribly counter-productive for everybody, not just trans people.
I have provided links to back up my argument. You have decided that you know better than the science and don't need to provide any evidence beyond your reckons, and your appeal to nature.
I know you hate me for some reason, Weka.
I doesn't seem to matter what I post about, there is a lengthy authoritarian statement with demands in bold to follow.
Having worked at home this morning I have to physically go to work now so I will not be able to meet your requests until later.
I did think my last response on this topic after your last bold writings was sufficient, with short explanations and links as demanded above, because you didn't respond letting me know whether it was satisfactory or not, according to you.
I sincerely hope other moderations and the owner of this site see things differently.
Later is fine. I probably lost track of the last time, I'll have a look and respond. I did look up the previous gender discussion before I moderated today and saw a similar pattern that I thought I had addressed clearly. Making assertions about public figures requires evidence if there is doubt about accuracy. If someone posted a political comment that included that say Ardern believed that NZ should be more centrist than it is, I'd certainly expect them to provide some evidence.
As I've said today, I think if you want to engage in this debate you need to educate yourself. You can still take the position you do, but you cannot mislead especially about public figures.Also, I’m no saying this to be patronising, but the debate elsewhere on the internet is often a nasty shit show and I’d highly encourage you to take the time to learn the deeper debate so you can avoid that. My commitment at the moment is to prevent debate on TS from becoming a shit show as well.
In terms of your general commenting history, you have posted here for many years about all sorts of things and not gotten a huge amount of moderator attention. To me this moderation today is just a setting of boundaries as discussion about trans/gender on TS increases. It's not even about you, you're just the one being more proactive about it. Whoever brings this topic up needs to take more care than usual, and again this applies to all sides.
Please also bear in mind that much of moderation boils down to us not having to spend excess time on moderation. The requirement from me about how to provide evidence has been consistent for most of the time I've been moderating. It's mostly about me not having to read lengthy pieces and trying to guess why someone thinks it backs up their assertion. But it's also because other people shouldn't have to do this either, and debate improves when communication is clear.
edited.
just checked, last time this came up I didn't bold moderate.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-29-12-2019/#comment-1675915
Without going over that discussion again, I think you are missing the core of the moderation now. You can make whatever political arguments you want (within the limits of the Policy), and you can express opinions, but when you start making assertions you have to back them up if required. This has been TS Policy for longer than I have been here,
That is sad about the young man's suicide. Am hoping social media wasn't a contributing factor 🙁
It seems it was.
♡ He was just a baby (my opinion is anyone 26 or under) starting out in the world, but seems to have achieved quite a lot. Thoughts with the family x
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_and_gender_distinction
And now they start kicking the Bern.
Amazed it took that long but they can't ignore him any longer.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/13/sanders-flubs-his-new-york-times-ed-board-interview/
In terms of forecast pledged delegates, Sanders is in about the same position this time as he was against Hilary Clinton. Biden is still the firm favourite to win the Democratic Presidential nomination.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primary-forecast/new-hampshire/
With Booker and Williams out, Buttigieg fading and Warren long since plateaued, delegates and donors will be able to focus their minds and stop wasting their time on the never-coulda outliers.
Hmm we should start too see where the race is going after February 3rd with the Iowa caucuses
Biden is no Clinton but a win here is vitally important as is New Hampshire soon after Iowa for that all important momentum.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/us/elections/2020-presidential-election-calendar.html
Check this out.
Bernie leading in Iowa.
I could not possibly think of any reason why donald Trump would agree with you and confirm Bernie Sanders as the frontrunner in the Democratic candidate race 🙂
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-campaign-dubs-bernie-sanders-the-new-dem-frontrunner
Of course he'll turn up.
Assad runs an hereditary, thuggish kleptocracy tRump can only dream of.
In a video of the conversation between Assad and Putin at the Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in Damascus, Assad mentions the Apostle Paul’s conversion to Christianity after a vision at the gate of Damascus, Axios reported.
“If Trump arrives along this road, everything will become normal with him too," the Syrian leader said, according to the news outlet.
“It will be repaired … invite him. He will come,” Putin reportedly responds, with Assad responding that he is prepared to invite Trump and Putin resolving to pass the message along.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/477900-putin-urges-syrias-assad-to-invite-trump-for-visit
No need Joe – tRump already has divinity status
Stats NZ reports that a 2.7% lift in monthly building consents for November saw the annual level of consents around the country hit over 37,000 for the first time since the 1970s
https://www.interest.co.nz/property/103227/stats-nz-reports-27-lift-monthly-building-consents-november-saw-annual-level
There are a lot of interesting links in this dairy at Daily Kos. (Disclaimer: i have enjoyed DK since 2003 when some of the writers there were Steve Gilliard (rip) and Billmon (who stopped blogging. Moon of Alabama comes of the defunkt BillmonBlog )
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/1/13/1909613/-Climate-models-suggest-global-food-system-crisis-at-hand-dust-bowl-scenarios-now-locked-in?utm_campaign=trending
btw, it finally 'rained'. Its more of a drizzle, but at least it has been a fairly constant one, it is needed as our soils are dry. Trees dropping fruit and leaves browning. Its that lingering drought of ours. We should think about that every now and then.
Water is a natural resource and should belong too all New Zealanders.
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2020/01/ending-governments-charade-over-water.html
Why is climate change so dangerous?
Understanding climate change
When temperatures between day and night time can vary as much as 20 degrees. And differences between seasons can vary by even more.
How can a small average rise of one or two degrees, globally, be dangerous?
How can an average global rise of only a few millimetres in our oceans be dangerous?
The clue is in the words 'globally' and 'average'
Think of it this way way.
In the open ocean the tides raised by the pull of the moon are only a little over a half a metre.
It is because the average tidal pull of the moon on the earth's oceans gets amplified locally that we can get tides of up to 16m in some places.
The same with an average rise in sea level of one or two millimetres due the melting of Greenland ice cap. A small rise in average oceanic sea levels can in some places and on some occasions be amplified to more than a metre. When you add in the effect of climate change fueled super storms, in some places and on some occasions a small global average rise in sea level can multiply localised storm surges by 3m or more.
The same with climate change, some places the effects of climate change are more pronounced than others. The North polar region, for instance, is heating up much faster than almost any other region of the planet. (with global consequences).
These localised effects and amplifications can vary, already dry places may get dryer. Already wet places may get wetter. Depending on different varying local conditions, (topography, wind and water currents), the inverse can also happen.
Another question people ask, is how can CO2 which is a trace gas in our atmosphere, amounting to only 0.04% of Earth's Atmosphere be responsible for so much heating?
The answer lies in the qualitative difference between CO2 and nitrogen. At 78% nitrogen makes up the vast bulk of our atmosphere, but nitrogen is completely transparent to infrared radiation, (radiative heat). CO2 on the other hand blocks radiative heat, trapping it.
Think of it this way
Fill a bath to the top with completely transparent water from your bath tap. Now get an eye dropper and fill it with Indian ink. Drop into the clear bath water the same proportion of Indian ink into the clear bath water as there is CO2 in the atmosphere. Note the very visible difference in the bath water to let visible light pass through it.
Wow. That is a powerful analogy.
US attack ads really are something.
https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1216742205328515073