An achievement, but how impressive remains to be seen. Tory leadership contenders will pounce on the deal like vultures, and their sharp beaks will tear off any shred that is a breach of UK sovereignty, and wave them at the public & media. Will the vassal state theory be validated? A cost/benefit analysis in caucus will just be the start, and the fate of May’s government will then be determined in the court of public opinion.
Sad though our political systems do not seem to protect the integrity of those systems as it seems clear in Brexit rules were broken, ethics questionable and nobody seems to be in jail over it. Just an enquiry and slap on the wrist is not exactly keeping the democratic process safe.
We have donations scandals in NZ on tape, and yep, no criminal prosecution or any one interested in preserving the integrity of democracy either, in the face of all that free money.
Then we have the women who put needles in the strawberries who faces years in prison in OZ, 8 years even for that Fonterra milk hoax who did not even do it.
Just an example of how lightly we treat political crimes against other crimes that can effect the entire country or industry.
I’m for a revote of the Brexit referendum, not enough people voted and there was electoral tampering. Then see if same result when the people of Britain go in to vote on it, with their eyes open.
You get your chance to vote so should use it wisely. I didn’t like the last US election. Maybe we should have a re-vote on that and if I still lose, then another vote after that.
Elections are different to a total and dysfunctional divorce based on phony pretences. And a huge number of Brits did not vote because among other things, the remain brigade told everyone they had it in the bag!
Also if there is election tampering then not sure of the process but I don’t think the result is considered valid????
Wight discusses Western imperialism and how ideologies of neoliberalism and domination have been inculcated to Western leaders in elite institutions of education.
And if you thought that was good, I highly recommend you watch the whole show.
As one commentator expresses it, this is an “amazing stream of awareness and consciousness here that exactly depicts the current socio-political and economic realities.”
There is nothing left about supporting despots like Putin.
[Drawing a line under this. I’m way over having to scroll past idiots, who in lieu of having nothing to say and nothing to share, slap their dicks on the table as though that should be seen as a contribution of some sort.
You are one of a number who disagree with the arguments of viewpoints of Ed (or those he links to)? Then either offer a reasoned argument to support your perspective, or a thought out critique of why those people (and so their views) might be best considered as suspect.
But as for the vacuous sloganeering, name calling and personalised attacks – take it to your facebook account or your twitter account or wherever that might be elsewhere. But stop subjecting readers of this collective and diverse space to it, day after day and (it seems) always as a predictable reaction to other commentators whose views you don’t share.
‘The Standard’ is for discussion and debate, not schoolyard or sandpit nonsense. Sort your crap out.] – B.
I have offered reasoned argument to Ed pretty damned often actually.
Lacking the skills to support his views, he carries on regardless.
The point is, they’re not his views – they’re copied and pasted from elsewhere, which is part of the reason he can’t defend them – he doesn’t understand them.
I get it – you’re down with supporting despotic regimes. I’m not.
I object.
I won’t sit silently while Ed shills for this murderous dictator.
Your crude crap about dick measuring is utterly false – when Ed posts about anything else I leave him alone.
[Evidently you’re an idiot Stuart. Instead of taking the intelligent route, which would have been taking note and desisting from your crap in future, you’ve doubled down by broadening out your attack to include me. It’s an odd self martyrdom kind of thing to have done. But hey…
You claim I’m “down with supporting despotic regimes”? Okay. You either provide a damned unequivocal link to be backing that one up. Or offer up a straightforward apology and retraction. You won’t be able to provide a link. And so, failing a retraction and an apology (and not some half arsed nonsense either), your summer break from ‘ts’ will be starting presently] – B.
You’ve made multiple posts trying to cast doubt on the British case against Russia with respect to the Skripals. One quoted Craig Murray “of a type developed by liars” for example. No evidence has come to light suggesting any other chemical agent however, the British claim seems to have been factual.
You made another post about the suspects visiting Salisbury cathedral, suggesting that their motives were altogether innocent, which seems to have been in error, as Bellingcat’s Russian colleagues The Insider were able to show.
It would be fair to say that these statements of yours support Russia and the campaign of disinformation and propaganda that they have maintained since their embarrassment over MH17.
I assert that Russia under Putin is a despotic regime – let’s go with Montesquieu’s definition: one in which rule is accomplished by fear. The murder of Politikovskaya was politically motivated and intended not merely silence her, but also like-minded journalists. A number of Russian journalists have been obliged to flee Russia in the years immediately after that.
The murder of Nemtsov probably related to the position he was taking on the invasion of the Ukraine. An awful lot of people inconvenient to Putin are murdered – and inconvenient news organs like the Moscow Times have been shut down under his rule.
Putin’s elections are invariably accomplished with large scale ballot tampering. My friends, collating reports from over twenty journalists right across Russia were able to demonstrate widespread fraud in his first election. Similar reports, if less comprehensive, are available on subsequent elections.
These actions are those of a despotic regime even without the lengthy record of atrocities relating to the Chechen campaign. I have yet to see a word in print from you that qualifies your support of them, to balance your pro-Russian speculations and echoing of Russian propaganda in respect of the Skripal affair.
Ed’s reposting of their propaganda and disinformatzia is not a public service, on the contrary, it is in service of a despotic regime, and undesirable.
[Questioning an official narrative doesn’t imply support of anyone or anything. I can’t see any link in your comment to me voicing support of despotism Stuart. And I can’t see any apology in that there shopping list you’ve flung up either. So I won’t see any comments from you until after Feb 3rd] – B.
As John Wight says,” Ignorance is increasingly a choice in our world.”
That’s an interesting way to put it and he’s right.
As a hunter/gatherer a person couldn’t afford to be ignorant. They may not have known what we know today but they had to know everything that the group knew and to extend that knowledge.
Today people get to choose to be ignorant and not to believe the truth and that’s causing all sorts of problems. Climate change denial, voting for schmucks because they’re blue, defending unethical behaviour because its legal etcetera.
A national leader wants us to believe he sanctioned one nation because in their view they were leaders, invaded and destroyed another becuase evil existed they, but didn’t send a assassination squad to kill a man who just wanted to get married. Russia, Saudi, it’s all half glass full and whose pouring. Russia spent generations securing Crimea, blood, treasure, and only lost it for a few decades, what about any number of U.S. bases… etc.
I stand on my record of arguing for freedom of expression here at TS; even when it’s annoying or steps over the line. It’s way better to SAY stupid things and get feedback on it, than to actually DO stupid things and find out too late what the awful cost was.
Even as a moderate left winger I’m happy with most of Ed’s contributions; he flirts with the edges of reasonable sometimes but for the most part I put that down to youthful enthusiasm.
What does irk me is seeing the personal vendettas that are clearly going on here; hell I’ve been on the wrong end of a few of them myself over the years. A small group gangs up on someone and reflexively shits on anything they say with no attempt at counter argument or informed debate. Tempers will flare from time to time, but unceasing repetition going turns this into an ugly form of bullying.
Most of the time it just runs it’s course, but this one has been going on too long and everyone involved needs to read Bill’s very pointed moderation note above. Otherwise I can guarantee some well deserved ‘holidays’ will soon be taken.
Can I ask a favour? I am looking for background stuff on the US opioid crisis. I keep hearing that the likes of Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, are behid a huge a epidemic of addiction in the USA and I just want some reputable background information…
Qoute: Investigators discovered that a single pharmacy in Mount Gay-Shamrock, population 1,779, received more than 16.5 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills between 2006 and 2016. In nearby Williamson, population 2,900, distributors sent almost 21 million opioids to two pharmacies during that same period.
“How many other communities across the country have received millions more opioids than their communities could reasonably sustain?” Harper asked.
Democrats and Republicans on the committee faulted the distributors for missing what they said were signs that too many opioids were going into the state. Quote end.
it has been obvious for a while now that certain, especially poor areas, where literally flooded with pain killers replacing proper medical care. This has been ongoing for a while. Once these people are addicted they are addicted. Does not matter how you get on the juice, it matters if you can find a way to get of it.
and just because you take away the prescription drugs does not meant you take away the addiction, so people now find other stuff to fix the need
According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 72,000 people in the US are predicted to have died from drug overdoses in 2017 — nearly 200 a day. That’s up from 2016, which was already a record year in which roughly 64,000 people in the US died from overdoses. At least two-thirds of drug overdose deaths in 2016 and 2017 were linked to opioids.
reminds me of the seventies where one could not open a news paper or watch a news cast without reading / hearing of people falling of high roofs or being found dead in public toilets.
Its a friggin mess, and just say no ain’t gonna cut. Heck they killed Roseanne on the “Connors’ show with an overdose, after she got addicted to pain killers after knee surgeries.
Great news Cinny (4) … after all these years of being lied to, the cover ups etc, the bereaved families, friends and colleagues of the Pike River 29, will hopefully begin to have some closure early next year.
Well done Andrew Little for demonstrating some humanity and respect, which since the tragedy has been sadly lacking.
The darkening clouds gather, startled and skitterish.
“Donald Trump ramped up his spat with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, with a denigrating tweet in which he said Parisians had started to learn German during the second world war before the US saved them from occupation.”
If the Referendum on cannabis goes ahead there would have to be advance information on how decriminalisation would work.
Dr Eric Crampton is Head of Research with The New Zealand Initiative. He suggests modelling such new laws be modelled on existing Alcohol regulations. Sounds good.
“Want to make sure councils are able to set rules appropriate to their areas and implement smoking-ban areas around parks? Local alcohol policies do that for alcohol; councils can set up liquor-ban areas.
So “experts like Graeme Edgeler suggest the only sensible question to ask voters would be whether they prefer the current Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, or whether they prefer to allow the sale and supply of cannabis as provided for in draft legislation.”
Is it really sensible to ask voters to choose between a law and a proposed law? To a lawyer, it may seem so. Anyone else could point out that only a handful are likely to have read each piece of legalese. So the percentage of the electorate able to make an informed choice would be in the region of 0.0000024%.
The recent conference agreed the referendum ought to ask these two questions:
1. Should adults be allowed to grow and possess cannabis for personal use?
2. Should adults be allowed to purchase cannabis & cannabis products from licensed premises?
I agree with the conference decision. Both questions are simple & concise. Voters are unlikely to have difficulty comprehending them. Sharing with friends is implicit in the first question, so maybe no need to specify that.
“So “experts like Graeme Edgeler suggest the only sensible question to ask voters would be whether they prefer the current Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, or whether they prefer to allow the sale and supply of cannabis as provided for in draft legislation.””
If that is really his suggestion then he is an idiot. because its actually TWO separate questions conjoined and those who dont like either option are abused!
Most referendum that have been put to the public so far have suffered from this fault. (do you want more emphasis on the victims of crime AND harsher penalties comes to mind!)
A REFERENDUM QUESTION MUST ONLY HAVE A SINGLE PREMISE !
A REFERENDUM QUESTION MUST ONLY HAVE A SINGLE PREMISE !
A REFERENDUM QUESTION MUST ONLY HAVE A SINGLE PREMISE !
but yes there may well be several referendum run concurrently to allow for better understanding of the peoples choice
Anyone who supports whistleblowers still has an opportunity to send in a submission to the review. Rare for me to be impressed by the quality of work done by our public service, but I give them 10/10 for their articulation of the issues identified by the process thus far: http://ssc.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Targeted-Consultation-Summary-May-2018.pdf
I suspect the Jami-Lee Ross saga points to a loophole that the review & consultation process haven’t noticed. A parliamentarian acting in the public interest, exposing wrongdoing in their own party, deserves a support mechanism. The status quo seems to enable their party to victimise an MP who blows the whistle on corruption. That’s so obviously wrong that I’m likely to make a submission citing the apparent loophole. I’d like feedback from readers on this – would particularly appreciate opinions on how real the loophole actually is…
Every entity and agency and department has their own policy.
It’s not that little stoush public servants point to.
It’s the MoT massive fraud in which people who spoke up were hunted down and thrown out, and not even the CE believed them.
The net outcome of all of them is simple: you will never work in Wellington again.
Climate change will decrease fertility enough to lower the human population. Apparently.
Derived from 80 years of birth and weather data out of the United States, the study confirmed a higher number of babies being born in August and September (nine months after the depths of winter), while fewer babies were conceived in summer due to higher temperatures.
Fewer kids mean fewer emissions, which means slower climate change. FIFY.
Win/win ???
Do you have any idea at all of what we are facing? I suspect not.
A loophole where MPs do not need to disclose investment properties owned in superannuation schemes – and claim up to $78,000 in taxpayer-funded subsidies each year – is “stinging taxpayers in the pocket”, according to a Government lobby group.
A Herald investigation of property records for all 121 members of Parliament has discovered that six National MPs use their private superannuation schemes to own property that does not need to be disclosed – unlike assets held in trusts. This is because of an exception in the rules of the Register of Pecuniary Interests.
Can the rest of us also get $78000 per year subsidies to pay off our mortgages?
Your link goes to a 2013 article, am I missing something recent that makes it relevant? Surely there are sufficient things to be outraged about the current opposition rather than dragging up articles from 5 years ago.
True enough, may well be still happening as the spot light conveniently gets turned off by the MSM and the rorting bludgers in the article will probably have found another way of doing it anyway.
Whilst I don’t like rorting and fiddling and pushing the legal boundaries, there is a reason why MPs should be paid well, and that they be accommodated for the special nature of their job which requires most to live in two places with huge travel and time commitments.
That is, they are on a three year contract, renewable at the whim of others.
But it’s the afterwards also that matters. I think of my local MP who had five years in the job, was not re-elected and never was able to get a job in his home town, being blacklisted by small town employers. He fell back onto being a small farmer, selling produce at his house gate. On the night he lost his seat someone burnt down his hay barn.
He was a most generous man, and loaned to a constituent the necessary extra funds for this solo mother with two kids to purchase a modest home with the scheme introduced by Labour in 72-75 by Minister of Housing Roger Douglas.
I met him again a month ago, a hale and hearty 90 year old, up with the play and with a passion for politics still. A truly Christian Sally gentleman, who suffered for his political beliefs and activism after being an MP.
Whilst I don’t like rorting and fiddling and pushing the legal boundaries, there is a reason why MPs should be paid well, and that they be accommodated for the special nature of their job which requires most to live in two places with huge travel and time commitments.
I’m pretty sure that paying people extra to prevent corruption doesn’t actually prevent any corruption. Those who are corrupt will still do it.
Having to live in two places at once requires that the government make available housing in Wellington. The best way to do this is a government owned housing complex with no money paid out for rent to MP for housing. This would be cheaper and get rid of the rort.
I think of my local MP who had five years in the job, was not re-elected and never was able to get a job in his home town, being blacklisted by small town employers.
And hows that different from the rest of the precariat?
He fell back onto being a small farmer, selling produce at his house gate.
Ah, he was actually well off and could support himself anyway.
Bin double entry accounting in Govt. organisation, to lead a creative capitalist renaissance of the collective value systems of NZ society & citizenry.
Donald Trump’s deputy national security adviser is reportedly set to be fired following a dispute with the first lady, Melania Trump.
The US first lady took the extraordinary step of publicly pushing for the move against Mira Ricardel, the top aide to the national security adviser, John Bolton, on Tuesday.
[…]
Ricardel, who was hired in April by Bolton after he assumed the role of Trump’s national security adviser, reportedly clashed with members of the first lady’s staff over seating on a plane during Melania Trump’s recent trip to Africa.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have announced a new efficiency record for LEDs based on perovskite semiconductors, reportedly rivaling that of the best organic LEDs (OLEDs).
The team stated that compared to OLEDs, which are widely used in high-end consumer electronics, the perovskite-based LEDs can be made at much lower costs, and can be tuned to emit light across the visible and near-infrared spectra with high color purity.
The researchers have engineered the perovskite layer in the LEDs to show close to 100% internal luminescence efficiency, opening up future applications in display, lighting and communications, as well as next-generation solar cells.
Get that … close to 100% efficiency!!! This puts mono-crystalline silicon PV’s into buggy whip territory. OK so it’s lab stuff and probably a decade away from a product …. but this is how real change will happen.
That article is referring to the quantum efficiencyof one small part of the photosynthesis process. Overall, the efficiency of turning sunlight into useful chemical energy via photosynthesis is in the low single digits percentage. Real-life commercial PV panels convert incoming sunlight to useful electrical energy with an efficiency of 10% to 20%.
Uhh, that near 100% efficiency is for a perovskite LED turning electrical energy into light. Not quite the same thing as a PV panel turning incoming light into electrical energy. No reversibility going on in those processes.
Some existing commercial LEDs are already very efficient. It was the development of a very efficient blue LED that paved the way for white LEDs (as well as a Nobel for the inventors). At the top end of efficiency, there have been lab demonstrations of white LEDs putting out over 300 lumens/watt (if there were no inefficiencies other than the phosphorescent conversion of some of the blue light to yellow light, the luminous efficacy would be around 370 lumens/watt). But the led bulbs for sale at Bunnings and supermarkets are sadly still only around 80 to 100 lumens per watt, which is still way batter than fluorescent bulbs at 35ish or incandescents at 12ish.
Quote pulled from the link provided by PR:
“A 17-year-old is put in the dock for her choice of underwear, and she was open to meeting someone was the implication, she was asking for it,” Coppinger said.
“Women in this country are getting a little bit weary at the routine victim blaming going on in Irish courts and the failure of lawmakers in this House to do anything about it.”
Recently fake tan and even contraception had been used to discredit women who had the bravery to go to court.
As she held up the pair of underwear in the “incongruous setting” of the Dail, Coppinger asked: “How do you think a rape victim or a woman feels at the incongruous setting of her underwear being shown in the courts, and when is this Dail going to take serious action on the issue of sexual violence?”
She only held the underwear up for a brief moment, and the camera quickly pulled back from her as she did so. The use of props is against the rules of the Dail.”
‘A barrister in the Cork trial told the jury to look at the way the complainant was dressed. That the complainant was “open to meeting someone” because she was “wearing a thong with a lace front”.’
‘Recently fake tan and even contraception had been used to discredit women who had the bravery to go to court’
‘US Vice President Mike Pence has asked to be seated next to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a dinner on Wednesday evening at the East Asia Summit in Singapore.’
What’s that about?
My first reaction is to say: watch your back, Jacinda. Or am I being unfair?
1+5 my guess. But really i would like to know where “Mother” is gonna sit, considering that he does not want to ‘meet’ women alone without his wife nearby.
My conspiracy theory is that he is going to try to convince her of the error of her ways …. unmarried mother, etc, etc. Whereas she has a long list of subjects such as tariffs, trade etc. LOL. Could be an interesting conversation!
I wonder if he knows that Jacinda is an former Mormon whose uncle is one of the only two NZers who has ever made it to being one of the General Authorities of the worldwide Church of Latter Day Saints?
Aaaah – Pence is actually a born again Catholic … and yes, according to Wikipedia (yes, Adam, Wikipedia) he does follow the Billy Graham Rule.
PS – if anyone wants to know, the PM has gone on this trip without baby or partner. Peters is joining her in Singapore or PNG, from his Paris trip, and Parker is already with her.
Pence is the guy who wants to be caliph at the place of the caliph.
and the caliph needs to go on a tour in Missisipi to help a women win a seat and i think after the last two weeks he just needs to hear a ‘ lock her/him/it/something up” chant to feel all presidential again. I hear all that winning has him packing a sad.
That’s major prestige for Jacinda and New Zealand you ninnys, at an Asian pacific regional meeting. What is this, National Party msm lite?
For our place in the world, what would be most suitable & impactful for NZs image would be if Jacinda could be involved in regular global meet ups with Ivanka Trump and we have a relationship that way – that would give a very popular & memorable image over time in much of the world i would guess, two leading and talented young female ambassadors of their countries on the world stage.
Yes, we like what New Zealand represents, what business links to that can we foster in our own society.
you should buy Ochos, and all other of the NZ artisan made chocolates. There are some really nice products out there and the variety of different chocolates is quite impressive. That does not stop you from also buying Whittakers 🙂 Just don’t ever buy chocolate melts, and cadbury, and Nestle produced chocolates. A lot of that stuff is compound chocolates (vegetable fat vs cocoa butter), contains very little actual chocolate but a lot of sugar.
Don’t worry my wife checks the ingredients list on all chocolate (especially the cooking stuff) we buy but (imho)the best chocolate is Makana chocolate in Blenheim 🙂
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As of today, the novel coronavirus spreading in China is called COVID-19. Why does it matter? Around the office, we’ve had several conversations over the past few weeks about how 2019-nCoV needed its own name. First, it was getting annoying calling it by the above designation, and ‘novel coronavirus’ doesn’t ...
by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Arms (Firearms Prohibition Orders) Amendment Bill (No 2) (Brett Hudson)Its basicly more "tough on crime" nonsense (its already illegal for unlicensed people to own guns) designed to wedge NZ First against its arsehole base. ...
In 2015 the world agreed to the Paris Agreement to fight climate change. Each country would offer a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) "that it intends to achieve", and "pursue domestic mitigation measures, with the aim of achieving [it]". And every five years, they'd improve on it, ratcheting up ambition until ...
In theory, the emissions trading scheme should reduce emissions. Making polluters pay for permits to pollute lets them save money by reducing pollution, giving them a financial incentive to do the right thing. But right from the start the ETS was broken with a system of free allocation, so polluters ...
Irish voters went to the polls on Saturday in parliamentary elections, and perhaps delivered a political revolution. Since independence, Irish politics has been dominated by two parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Basicly patronage networks with indistinguishable policies, their cleavage isn't ideology, but who killed whose father or grandfather in ...
Once again the Aotearoa Bike Challenge is on us, and once again I’m participating. In principle this is not hard because it does not represent a significant switch in behavior for me. I already bike nearly every day. The Bicycle The fascinating thing about cycling is the realisation that this ...
Lately there has been a great deal of misinformation regarding the origins and purpose of Skeptical Science. As John Cook wrote nearly a decade ago, Skeptical Science is primarily a website that debunks climate misinformation with peer-reviewed science. Despite the ever-worsening impacts from climate change, with record after record being broken in ...
Under Attack: By sacking not only RNZ Concert’s presenters, but also its producers and librarians, and reducing the station to an automated purveyor of classical music in-between parliamentary broadcasts, RNZ’s CEO, Paul Thompson, wasn’t simply announcing an operational shake-up, he was declaring war on one of the most important guardians of ...
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Australian smoke plume sets recordsThe recent wildfires in Australia sent one of ...
The Global Protest to #FightInequality was powerful – thankyou and what next? Dear allies, We started the decade with a huge protest to #FightInequality that was heard around the world, including the 1% at Davos. Watch and share the highlights on facebook and twitter. A huge thank you. Together we ...
The Ministry of Health have announced a package that might ensure NZ will never experience another measles epidemic. While at the time of writing the details are still limited it appears that the important limitations in our current programme have been acknowledged and the intent is to address them. Great ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael BakerIn this blog we briefly summarise our assessment of the highly uncertain new coronavirus threat. Given its potential to become a severe and prolonged global pandemic, a precautionary response now means activating all components of our pandemic plan, with a particular focus on ‘keep ...
When Labour was running for election, Jacinda Ardern famously said that climate change was "my generation's nuclear free moment". The implication was that her government would take the problem seriously, and act swiftly to reduce emissions. The reality:New Zealand will emit a million more tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2020 ...
James Renwick is Professor of Physical Geography at Victoria University of Wellington. He studied at Canterbury and the University of Washington and has worked on diverse aspects of climate science, including global atmospheric circulation and Antarctic sea ice. In December 2019 he was appointed to the New Zealand Climate Change ...
by Philip Ferguson Exit polls are showing a three-way virtual tie between the main parties in the south of Ireland. Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are all on just over 22%. FG on 22.4, SF on 22.3, FF on 22.2. Exit polls indicate that over 30% of 18-24 ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 2, 2020 through Sat, Feb 8, 2020 Editor's Pick New Report Details How Fossil Fuel Industry's Climate Destruction Also Exacerbates Human Rights Abuses"Even in the face of the ...
In a previous post I described briefly when and how the Starlink satellite chains – recent launches by Space-X in a scheme to bring 5G internet connectivity to the whole globe – could be seen from New Zealand with the naked eye. Here I provide an update and predictions for ...
Keeping The Faith: This Government’s broad, new, heavily moderated, progressive faith does not require a prime minister with the powers of a medieval pope. Jacinda’s regime has no need of subterranean torture chambers to ensure compliance. A gift for diplomacy and the ability to inspire her fellow human-beings is all ...
Jonathan Freedland of the Guardian has penned a column which chastises the left wing of the Labour party for daring to retain principles and ideals, qualities - it seems - that should be jettisoned in pursuit of power.Never mind that Freedland was an ardent Remainer, that is to say, one ...
Tonight’s news suggests the coronavirus outbreak may have originated from pangolins. Details are very sketchy, almost nothing at all beyond a claim of high similarity. My impression is this claim comes from a press release by South China Agricultural University. Initial discussion online suggests this is a more likely candidate ...
by Susanne Kemp The Fire and Emergency service (FENZ) has recently asked firefighters in Auckland Areas 3, 4 and 5 to take on an additional duty that has rather ominous implications. Namely, to collect names and addresses of everyone on the premises of fires they attend. The firefighters’ union, the ...
Part of the story of the Nazis' rise to power in Germany was the willingness of mainstream right-wing parties to work with them to keep out the left. Because of this, one of the fundamental rules of postwar German politics has been "do not work with Nazis". As a result, ...
There has long been a truism in public broadcasting: don't mess with Concert FM. The theory was that although the station has been in a long-term audience decline, and that audience is steadily ageing out, it has powerful establishment support – and any threat to it would provoke a fury.As ...
This is a re-post from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists The heat absorbed in Earth’s oceans reached a new record in 2019, found a recent study published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. Despite the fact that this has been the case for almost every year over the past decade, this information ...
We are confronted with the spectre of Simon Bridges making clear he cannot, will not, trust Winston Peters – the oft-cited “King Maker” in New Zealand politics.Supporters are lauding it as a master stroke, naturally, because in their eyes, it prevents him being the tail that wags the dog. ...
by Don Franks Under a government claiming empathy with the fine arts, Radio New Zealand ( RNZ) is poised to cut back its classical music station, RNZ Concert. The plan is replacing it on FM radio with music “for a younger audience” as part of a new multimedia music brand. ...
More Thwaites This past week we heard disturbing news about Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier. Helping to fill in the longer term history of Thwaites' behavior and especially helpful in interpreting results of the recent drilling project and what it may say about the future of this unstable mass of ice is Revealing the ...
Inaccuracies are very common in scientific paper abstracts. Image credit:Science in the Abstract: Don’t Judge a Study by its Cover I have come to accept anti-fluoride campaigners will never stop cherry-picking research and findings ...
“The scene is set, the players met…”. And what players they are in this farce of an Election coming up in the United States this year. There is a multi-faceted anger in the broader situation the world finds itself in, in which the false promises of so-called “moderates” find themselves ...
A few years ago, a company lowballed a contract to dispose of toxic waste from the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. So, they dumped it in a disused paper mill in Mataura, then went into liquidation - effectively dumping the problem on local councils. The waste is dangerous - it releases ...
Unhappy with the demonisation of Iran in Western media, I was fortunate to have the Australian Institute of International Affairs invite me to write an alternative analysis for their on-line journal Australian Outlook. I did, and they serialised it into two parts. The essays are short, so I did not ...
Over on The Good Society, Max Rashbrooke suggests that its time to start directly taxing wealth:A wealth tax would be levied on net wealth – that is, the value of people’s assets once their debts have been subtracted. Such a tax would be highly redistributive. Levied at 1% on wealth ...
The quarterly labour market statistics have been released, and unemployment has dropped to 4%. There are now 111,000 unemployed - 15,000 fewer than when Labour took office. Its not the performance we had under Clark (when unemployment was ~3.3%), but its still a reasonable improvement over prevailing conditions under National. ...
Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick Wilson, Louise Delany, Prof Richard Edwards, Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanThe current national measles epidemic in New Zealand is amongst the largest we have experienced in the last 40 years. It can be linked to the problems created by long-term erosion and fragmentation of national public health ...
I’m about to start teaching science communication to tertiary students, which is equally hilarious and terrifying to me. (Hi to my students who have Googled me and found this post.) I loved English at high school, but we spent most of our time reading The Outsiders, discussing the differences between metaphors and ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First spokesperson for Labour and Industrial Relations Unemployment and wage growth numbers released by Stats NZ today demonstrate a labour market in good shape with unemployment falling to 4.0%, the underutilisation rate falling to an 11 year low, and wage growth at a 10-year high ...
Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence Ron Mark, welcomes the official opening of Te Rau Aroha, a new museum at Waitangi Treaty Grounds as part of our Coalition Agreement. “It is a great honour to be part of an effective Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterGood morning,Let us start with important acknowledgements.First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service of our country.Second, special guest Robert ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand will look to build on its relationship with the United Kingdom and recommit to the European Union, after the country officially left the continental union recently. The Minister said New Zealand already cooperates closely with Britain on defence and security issues and has ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for State-Owned EnterprisesGood morning.We promised we would bring back rail, and that’s what we’re doing.In a little over two years we have allocated more than $3 billion to restore a reliable, resilient and safe freight and tourism network.That ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Minister for State Owned EnterprisesHon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentState Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have today announced a $109.7 million investment, through the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), into regional rail that will revitalise train ...
Up to 110 new EV chargers nationwide in cities and regions 50 electric vehicles for ride-sharing The Government is helping deliver more infrastructure and options for low emissions transport through new projects, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. Tauranga, Nelson, Levin, New Plymouth and Oamaru are just some ...
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...
All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard at work to ensure we have an inclusive and productive economy. Today we introduce a Bill to do this for workers in the New Zealand screen industry, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “The Screen Industry Workers Bill will ...
The Government has announced further help for the Southland and Otago regions to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. “I’ve approved Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), making $500,000 available to help with the clean-up in Fiordland, Southland, and the Clutha district in Otago,” Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Following the announcement that more than 340 schools will be funded to run events promoting vocational education, the Government has announced it will fund a further 257 events to be run by employers and industry. “These industry-run events will allow more than 30,000 students to connect with more than 2,000 ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
Southland residents hit by flooding caused by heavy rainfall can now access help finding temporary accommodation with the Government activating the Temporary Accommodation Service, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help ...
“Is that it?” That’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ much-hyped economic speech today. “Simon Bridges just gave the most over-hyped and under-delivered speech that I can remember during my time in politics,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s not surprising. Simon Bridges literally said on the radio this morning ...
A trial deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter in Christchurch will test whether the aircraft would make a significant difference to crime prevention and community safety. “The Bell 429 helicopter will be based in Christchurch for five weeks, from 17 February to 20 March,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The ...
The Government has kept up the pace of its work to promote New Zealand’s trade interests and diversify our export markets, with visits to Fiji and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. Building momentum to bring the PACER Plus trade and development agreement ...
The Coalition Government’s investment in a strong border and disrupting transnational organised crime produced record results for stopping drugs in 2019, says Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. The illegal drugs were seized at the New Zealand border by Customs, and overseas by Customs’ international border partners before the drugs could ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off construction of a separated cycleway alongside Tamaki Drive. A two-way separated cycleway will be built along the northern side of Tamaki Drive, between the Quay Street Cycleway extension and Ngapipi Road. There will be a separate walking path alongside. Phil Twyford said giving ...
Owner-occupiers of unit and apartments living in earthquake-prone buildings will have certainty about the financial support they’ll be eligible for with the release of criteria for an upcoming assistance scheme, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. The Residential Earthquake-Prone Building Financial Assistance Scheme will help unit owners facing ...
Temporary restrictions on travel from China will remain in place as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The restrictions which prevent foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through, mainland China from entering New Zealand have been extended for a further 8 days. This position ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today that Tairāwhiti rangatahi will benefit from an investment made by the Government’s He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) scheme. The funding will go to the Tautua Village, Kauneke programme and the Matapuna Supported Employment Programme which will fund 120 rangatahi over two years. “Both programmes work ...
All parents and caregivers need to ensure that their children go to school unless they are sick, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin said today. “The school attendance results for 2019 show, across the board, a drop in the number of students going to school regularly,” the Minister says. “Apart from ...
A Deed of Settlement agreeing redress for historical Treaty claims has been signed by the Crown and Moriori at Kōpinga Marae on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) today, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little has announced. Moriori have a tradition of peace that extends back over 600 years. This settlement ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today with Māori King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII officially opened the country’s newest road, the $384 million Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway. The 15km four-lane highway with side and central safety barriers takes State Highway 1 east of Huntly town, across lowlands and streams ...
The rapid uptake of life-saving new hepatitis C medicine Maviret since it was funded by PHARMAC a year ago means the elimination of the deadly disease from this country is a realistic goal, Health Minister David Clark says. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus which attacks the liver, proving fatal ...
Kaupapa Māori will underpin the Government’s new plan to deal with homelessness announced by the Prime Minister in Auckland this morning. “Māori are massively overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness, so, to achieve different outcomes for Māori, we have to do things very differently,” says the Minister of Māori Development ...
1000 new transitional housing places delivered by end of year to reduce demand for emergency motel accommodation. Introduce 25% of income payment, after 7 days, for those in emergency motel accommodation to bring in line with other forms of accommodation support. Over $70m extra to programmes that prevents those at ...
Clear requirements for ensuring customers are treated fairly by banks, insurers and other financial service providers are included in new financial conduct legislation that passed its first reading today. “The recent reviews, by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and Reserve Bank of New Zealand, into the conduct of banks and ...
Applications are now open for the fifth round of the Regional Culture and Heritage Fund Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Grant Robertson announced today. “I am delighted to open this year’s fund which has some $7 million available to support performing arts venues, galleries, museums and whare ...
The Minister of Māori Development, Hon Nanaia Mahuta today congratulated Associate Professor Amokura Kawharu on her appointment as the next President of the Law Commission. “Amokura Kawharu will be a standout in her new role, leading in an innovative and forward looking approach to the law reform process. She will ...
Auckland University legal academic Amokura Kawharu has been appointed as the next President of the Law Commission, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Associate Professor Kawharu will take up her new appointment on 11 May 2020. “I would like to congratulate Associate Professor Kawharu on her appointment,” Andrew ...
A programme for employers to help them engage effectively with younger employees was launched today by Minister of Employment, Willie Jackson. The Youth Ready Employer Programme contains a range of on-line templates that employers can easily access to help with employing and retaining young people in their businesses. The programme ...
Budget 2020 will be delivered on Thursday 14 May, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “This year’s Budget will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also preparing the economy for the future. “Those challenges and opportunities cannot be resolved in one budget, ...
I move, That this House place on record its appreciation and thanks for the devoted and distinguished service to New Zealand by the late Rt Hon Michael Kenneth Moore, member of the Order of New Zealand, a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, an Honorary Member of the ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought conditions in Northland as an adverse event for the primary sector, unlocking $80,000 in Government support. “This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on our farmers and growers and additional support ...
The Minister of Police says an operation to smash a trans national drug smuggling ring today will make a significant impact on the methamphetamine trade fuelling harm in our communities. Police have announced 10 arrests and the seizure of up to five million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs after an ...
The Government’s books are in a strong position to withstand global headwinds, with the accounts in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the six months to December. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was above ...
Race courses can improve safety with this year’s second round of funding from the Racing Safety Development Fund. Minister for Racing Winston Peters has announced the second funding round of 2019/20 is open with $347,875 available for distribution. “The racing industry is integral to the economic and social fabric of ...
The Government is committing $300,000 to fund research to update behavioural information to make sure HIV and STI prevention services are targeted appropriately in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson made the announcement at today’s Big Gay Out in Auckland. “There is much talk about ...
The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media has announced work will begin on a business case to assess the viability of forming a new public media entity. “The Government must ensure New Zealanders have a strong independent public media service for decades to come, which means ensuring public ...
Minister of Civil Defence Hon Peeni Henare announced today that the Government will contribute $100,000 to the Southland regional Mayoral Relief Fund, to support communities impacted by the recent flooding in Southland. Mr Henare says this week’s flooding has caused significant disruption to communities in the lower South Island. ...
Heritage buildings throughout New Zealand will benefit from the $1.1 million in Heritage EQUIP funding grants announced today. “These grants for seismic strengthening projects help private building owners get the advice they need to start building work or to get the work completed,” Grant Robertson says. “Timaru’s Grosvenor Hotel has ...
A new survey has found New Zealand’s game development sector has grown beyond expectations and is on track to becoming a billion dollar industry in 2025, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says. “New Zealand’s interactive media sector grew by 42 per cent in last financial year to $203.4 million, according ...
Te Tii, the lower marae at Waitangi, is among more than 70 marae now connected to broadband internet thanks to the Provincial Growth Fund’s marae connectivity scheme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said today. In February 2019, the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) allocated $21 million to connect rural towns ...
The West Coast has had a funding injection of over $1.2 million from the Provincial Growth Fund, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika today. The PGF projects announced are: $800,000 to Development West Coast for a Grey District Regional Digital Hub ...
FIRST Union’s Real Work Real Jobs campaign is expanding its focus to include ‘gig economy’ workers like Uber drivers and dependent contractors, with the public release of the union’s submission on the Government’s Better Protections for Contractors ...
Linda Burgess climbs the eternal staircase at the Opera House in Wellington to watch the virtuoso actor. At the interval her legs are aching. But in the second half, magic happens.There’s one person wearing a face mask, just the one, and it turns his face into a disposable nappy with ...
National Party leader Simon Bridges says the Serious Fraud Office investigation into the New Zealand First Foundation adds weight to calls for Winston Peters to be stood down. ...
Tutors at Northtec have begun strike action this week, action that will be disruptive for the institution and students. “Tutors never want to affect their students in negative ways, but they want their employer to show respect and put a decent pay ...
Dairy prices have fallen again in the latest global dairy auction, as the coronavirus outbreak takes its toll on trade. The average price at the overnight auction fell by almost 3 percent to $US3176 a tonne. Following a 4.7 percent fall at the previous auction two weeks ago, it was ...
Motorists are now able to offset their carbon emissions when they fuel up at Z Energy stations. A new feature in the Z app called Carbon Count will show drivers the carbon impact of each fill, then give them the option to offset that. There will be a per-fill option ...
Growth in bank sector profits stalled last year after years of seemingly unstoppable development. Business advisory firm KPMG's annual sector report showed the industry's collective profits fell just under 1 percent to $5.7 billion, with a growth in lending, while margins were squeezed slightly, costs rose markedly, and bad debts ...
After years of swearword-emblazoned book covers, are readers all out of fucks to give about bad language?Since Adam Mansbuch’s 2011 bestseller, Go the Fuck to Sleep, book titles have been swearing profusely to grab audience attention. The author followed up on the winning formula with You Have to Fucking Eat ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will keep his Ministerial portfolios as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigates the New Zealand First Foundation. ...
Here's how the Government could force you to sell your house for state housing; and impact of drought, coronavirus could lead to recession - economist. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentNZ First donations scandal Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern right to let Winston Peters’ keep his head over donations ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners is calling on Police Minister Stuart Nash to front up and explain, after releasing new figures showing that since 2011, Police employees have been caught 244 times for unauthorised use of confidential and sensitive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Director, Health Program, Grattan Institute Young Australians are abandoning private health insurance in droves. And the overall decline in the percentage of the population with private coverage is continuing. New data for the three months to the end of 2019, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne As the brutal reality of climate change dawned this summer, you may have asked yourself a hard question: am I well-prepared to live in a warmer world? There are many ways we can ready ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eva Plaganyi, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Currents are strong around the Torres Strait Islands, lying between Australia’s northern-most tip and Papua New Guinea. When the tidal conditions are right and the waters relatively still, though, up to 230 islanders – a sizeable ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Fahey, PhD Candidate, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University General Motors has announced the Holden brand will be “retired” in 2021. This week’s announcement has been a long time coming. The Holden brand has been in a state of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra An “unholy coalition” is attacking the planned increase in the superannuation guarantee, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says in his latest “vision statement”, pledging to resist any attempt to stop the legislated rise to 12% going ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University China’s ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, let the cat out of the bag this week when he lambasted Canberra over its decision to exclude Huawei from the build-out of Australia’s 5G network. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thami Croeser, Research Officer, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University The idea that we should decentralise our population has come up many times in Australia. Recently, the National Farmers’ Federation president pushed the notion, calling for a shift to the regions. And ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fresh developments around in the political donations saga, the Chinese ambassador speaks out, and some troubling poll numbers for advocates of cannabis law reform.The Serious Fraud Office is formally investigating the operations of the NZ First Foundation. The confirmation came in ...
ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias interviews Dr Gwendoline Smith about how terrible it is to think too much.Certainly I overthink things, in the sense that I worry and fret and angst, but not in the sense that I actually think very deeply or intelligently. It’s more ...
A major report by the Auditor-General on how New Zealand's drinking, storm and waste waters are managed finds a conflicting, disorganised and stagnant system ill-prepared for climate change. Dileepa Fonseka reports. ...
The 10-year-old girl from Tawa who cherished a cricket bat signed by her 2000 World Cup heroes, now wants to spur a new crop of cricketers through her own swashbuckling deeds. In a recent column looking ahead to the T20 World Cup starting in Australia this week, Sophie Devine wrote that she “hoped to inspire ...
Transforming diseases into foes and therapies into battles isn’t the best way to face contagion. Annemarie Jutel asks: When did panic and catastrophe help anyone organise anything? Public anxiety and nations’ responses to coronavirus (COVID-19) have been shaped by the hyperbolic metaphors surrounding its discussion. Even the usually sedate and measured ...
Overworked and stressed teachers, overcrowded classrooms and substandard nutrition have ECE at crisis point. ECE teacher Susan Bates explains why everyone should care. If you want to know what NZ society might look like in the future, look into the eyes of the young children in your neighbourhood. Ask yourself ...
The pressures on the state budget of a rapidly ageing population must be acknowledged, and treated holistically and with nuance, write Susan St John and Dr Claire Dale The latest three-yearly 2019 Retirement Incomes Review takes a refreshingly holistic view of retirement policy and is welcomed by the Retirement Policy and ...
Manchester City and the Houston Astros are latest inductees into the sports hall of shame. Dirty, rotten cheats. Calculated, cynical, premeditated, habitual, recidivist, despicable cheats. Committed cheats. Add Manchester City and the Houston Astros to a gallery of shame occupied for all eternity by Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, Ben Johnson, ...
The dreaded pea weevil is no more in the Wairarapa, after a successful eradication effort. So why does this matter? OK, what on earth is a pea weevil?It’s a type of leaf beetle, so not actually a weevil after all, but the name is the name. Basically it gets into pea ...
Controversial Australian philosopher Peter Singer is coming to New Zealand in June. While he believes in reducing suffering for all humans and animals, his views on disability have sparked widespread alarm and condemnation.Utilitarian and moral philosopher Peter Singer is best known by many for the parable of the drowning child, ...
Sharon Brettkelly gets a rare look at the internal workings of Immigration New Zealand - and we look at what's holding up visa applications. Immigration New Zealand's Henderson office is like any other, with rows of workers at their computers. But in this workplace the lives of tens of thousands ...
Alex Casey delivers her seventh power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where a group of intruders have herniated the competition’s intestines forever. Click here for previous instalments. Welcome back to The Bachelorette NZ, where everything is made up and every man is suddenly named Mike. Intruders! Five of them! A whole ...
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Solicitor-General Jose Calida asked the Supreme Court today to issue a gag order against ABS-CBN, claiming the Philippines’ largest television network was engaging in “propaganda” to sway the justices in the quo warranto case seeking to void its franchise. Calida filed the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen R Fisher, Professor, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for young children with disability is not equal across Australia. Where you live can hinder access to information about disability support, assistance to apply for ...
The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations applauds the changes to the Residential Tenancies Act released by the government yesterday but does not believe that they go far enough to improving the rights of renters. The power imbalance in the current ...
The Prime Minister will take no action against Deputy Prime Minister and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, after confirmation of a Serious Fraud Office investigation. ...
Eamonn Marra’s debut novel makes a study of the mundane: sanding a fence, heating baked beans, three pizzas for $29.99 delivered. Alie Benge reckons it belongs somewhere between Sally Rooney and Elena Ferrante. It was about page three of 2000ft Above Worry Level. A feeling burst inside me: the joy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzie Gibson, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Charles Sturt University The gothic developed as a European architectural phenomenon in 12th-century France, where awe-inspiring cathedrals reflected a world drenched in religious piety and superstition. Its veneration was revisited in 18th-century English literature, when ...
Financial services company Heartland Bank has reported a solid lift in its first-half profit driven by increased lending despite a squeeze on margins and rising costs. ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, e-bikes are now just a tap away! Josie Adams reviews the latest disruption in transport culture.When Lime launched in 2018, New Zealand’s transport culture got the electric shock it needed. For too long we’d ...
Ministers love to bray about the seizing of illegal drugs. Customs statistics on seizures last year – albeit “preliminary” statistics – therefore were irresistible to Customs Minister Jenny Salesa. They gave her a platform to remind us of her existence as a Minister while acknowledging the work of her officials. ...
The rise of ‘plant-based’ diets seems like a win for those who decry eating meat. But some vegan groups claim the halfway step of vegetarianism is ineffectual if you really care about animal cruelty, climate change, or your own personal health.An article in the Guardian last year asked “Why do ...
FIRST Union General Secretary Dennis Maga says that this morning’s comments from National Party Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith that the party would consider scrapping the Government’s proposed minimum wage increases if elected ...
The State Housing Action Network (SHAN) is deeply disappointed that the Government’s recently announced Aotearoa Homelessness Action Plan fails to provide for increases in the state housing stock which are essential for addressing the homelessness crisis. ...
Electricity retailers will no longer be able to entice former customers with steep and exclusive discounts, the Electricity Authority has announced. ...
The National Party leader Simon Bridges says it came as a surprise to him that the Serious Fraud Office prosecution relates to two $100,000 donations to the party. ...
National Party leader Simon Bridges says it came as a surprise to him that a Serious Fraud Office prosecution relates to two $100,000 donations to the party. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne The federal court’s rejection of the ABC case against the Australian Federal Police raid on its Sydney headquarters in June 2019 reveals two issues of great importance to ...
Zero waste campaigners are petitioning the Government to take a more active stance in tackling Aotearoa New Zealand’s waste crisis, with a comprehensive ban on single-use disposable plastic food and drink serviceware, and a phasing in of accessible, reusable ...
“Callaghan Innovation’s $440,000 grant for an electric ferry design is pure corporate welfare,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “If EV Maritime’s ferries present such good value, then why didn’t it get private ...
President Rodrigo Duterte takes legal action to shut down the biggest broadcaster in the Philippines in what is being described as the most severe attack on media freedom in the country. Video: Al JazeeraPacific Media Watch More than 500 journalists have gathered to protest threats to the survival ...
Pacific Media Centre Papua New Guinea’s Minister for State Enterprises Sasindran Muthuvel has reassured the nation that Air Niugini is taking all necessary steps to protect the country against the spread of coronavirus, reports EMTV News. “The airline has instituted a wide range of measures to minimise the risk ...
Our writers celebrate the best performances you can watch right now on NEON. Basically? They’re iconic.We all love a good story, and a great plot twist can turn a mediocre TV show into addictive weekly viewing. But what really keeps us coming back are the characters, and seeing actors at ...
National finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith has refused to give details on the party's planned tax cut policy announced in a speech by leader Simon Bridges yesterday. ...
The owners of three properties in Twizel will have to sell-up after they failed to seek consent from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO). Vanessa Horne, Group Manager for the OIO, says a group of overseas investors bought the three properties, which ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentNZ First donations scandal Guyon Espiner and Kate Newton (RNZ): NZ First Foundation trustee was lobbying for donor Bryce ...
A Southland school has been criticised for requiring girls to see a counsellor before opting to wear shorts as their uniform. It’s merely a symptom of a bigger problem, Madeleine Chapman writes.On Sunday, Stuff reported that James Hargest College in Southland would soon allow girls to wear shorts or pants ...
The Manawatu Tenants’ Union’ (MTU) celebrates yesterday’s release of the Residential Tenancies Act Reform Bill, but challenges the Minister to stil go further to improving tenancy rights. The Bill would remove the ability for landlords to terminate a tenancy ...
The Government is putting together an $11 million package to offset the fallout from coronavirus and attract tourists from countries other than China. ...
Friends of Sherwood are asking that the following question be put to all voters: “ Should New Zealand stop using all cruel and inhumane poisons, such as 1080, brodifacoum, and PAPP, to kill wildlife because these toxic substances inflict intense and prolonged, ...
Organise Aotearoa will be joining rallies for abortion law reform, scheduled today in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. The National Day of Action is hosted by Fem Force - Feminist Action Aotearoa. “Nobody should be pressured to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By S. Anna Florin, PhD candidate, The University of Queensland Australia’s first people ate a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts and other plant foods, many of which would have taken considerable time and knowledge to prepare, according to our analysis of charred ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Biddle, Associate Professor, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University Last month, the Australian National University contracted with the Social Research Centre (SRC) to survey more than 3,000 Australian adults about their experiences and attitudes related to the ...
Open Mike 14/11/2018 
3 hours ago
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...5 hours ago
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...19 hours ago
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...22 hours ago
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...2 days ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...2 days ago
by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...7 days ago
...1 week ago
Jonathan Freedland of the Guardian has penned a column which chastises the left wing of the Labour party for daring to retain principles and ideals, qualities - it seems - that should be jettisoned in pursuit of power.Never mind that Freedland was an ardent Remainer, that is to say, one ...2 weeks ago
We are confronted with the spectre of Simon Bridges making clear he cannot, will not, trust Winston Peters – the oft-cited “King Maker” in New Zealand politics. Supporters are lauding it as a master stroke, naturally, because in their eyes, it prevents him being the tail that wags the dog. ...2 weeks ago
Inaccuracies are very common in scientific paper abstracts. Image credit: Science in the Abstract: Don’t Judge a Study by its Cover I have come to accept anti-fluoride campaigners will never stop cherry-picking research and findings ... 2 weeks ago
“The scene is set, the players met…”. And what players they are in this farce of an Election coming up in the United States this year. There is a multi-faceted anger in the broader situation the world finds itself in, in which the false promises of so-called “moderates” find themselves ...2 weeks ago
Unhappy with the demonisation of Iran in Western media, I was fortunate to have the Australian Institute of International Affairs invite me to write an alternative analysis for their on-line journal Australian Outlook. I did, and they serialised it into two parts. The essays are short, so I did not ...2 weeks ago
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...42 mins ago
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...5 days ago
Up to 110 new EV chargers nationwide in cities and regions 50 electric vehicles for ride-sharing The Government is helping deliver more infrastructure and options for low emissions transport through new projects, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. Tauranga, Nelson, Levin, New Plymouth and Oamaru are just some ...3 hours ago
FIRST Union’s Real Work Real Jobs campaign is expanding its focus to include ‘gig economy’ workers like Uber drivers and dependent contractors, with the public release of the union’s submission on the Government’s Better Protections for Contractors ...24 mins ago
Linda Burgess climbs the eternal staircase at the Opera House in Wellington to watch the virtuoso actor. At the interval her legs are aching. But in the second half, magic happens.There’s one person wearing a face mask, just the one, and it turns his face into a disposable nappy with ...26 mins ago
National Party leader Simon Bridges says the Serious Fraud Office investigation into the New Zealand First Foundation adds weight to calls for Winston Peters to be stood down. ...28 mins ago
Dairy prices have fallen again in the latest global dairy auction, as the coronavirus outbreak takes its toll on trade. The average price at the overnight auction fell by almost 3 percent to $US3176 a tonne. Following a 4.7 percent fall at the previous auction two weeks ago, it was ...51 mins ago
Motorists are now able to offset their carbon emissions when they fuel up at Z Energy stations. A new feature in the Z app called Carbon Count will show drivers the carbon impact of each fill, then give them the option to offset that. There will be a per-fill option ...1 hour ago
Growth in bank sector profits stalled last year after years of seemingly unstoppable development. Business advisory firm KPMG's annual sector report showed the industry's collective profits fell just under 1 percent to $5.7 billion, with a growth in lending, while margins were squeezed slightly, costs rose markedly, and bad debts ...1 hour ago
The Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says parts of drought hit Northland are in a crisis situation. ...2 hours ago
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will keep his Ministerial portfolios as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigates the New Zealand First Foundation. ...2 hours ago
Here's how the Government could force you to sell your house for state housing; and impact of drought, coronavirus could lead to recession - economist. ...2 hours ago
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias interviews Dr Gwendoline Smith about how terrible it is to think too much. Certainly I overthink things, in the sense that I worry and fret and angst, but not in the sense that I actually think very deeply or intelligently. It’s more ...5 hours ago
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The 10-year-old girl from Tawa who cherished a cricket bat signed by her 2000 World Cup heroes, now wants to spur a new crop of cricketers through her own swashbuckling deeds. In a recent column looking ahead to the T20 World Cup starting in Australia this week, Sophie Devine wrote that she “hoped to inspire ...5 hours ago
Transforming diseases into foes and therapies into battles isn’t the best way to face contagion. Annemarie Jutel asks: When did panic and catastrophe help anyone organise anything? Public anxiety and nations’ responses to coronavirus (COVID-19) have been shaped by the hyperbolic metaphors surrounding its discussion. Even the usually sedate and measured ...5 hours ago
Overworked and stressed teachers, overcrowded classrooms and substandard nutrition have ECE at crisis point. ECE teacher Susan Bates explains why everyone should care. If you want to know what NZ society might look like in the future, look into the eyes of the young children in your neighbourhood. Ask yourself ...5 hours ago
The pressures on the state budget of a rapidly ageing population must be acknowledged, and treated holistically and with nuance, write Susan St John and Dr Claire Dale The latest three-yearly 2019 Retirement Incomes Review takes a refreshingly holistic view of retirement policy and is welcomed by the Retirement Policy and ...5 hours ago
Manchester City and the Houston Astros are latest inductees into the sports hall of shame. Dirty, rotten cheats. Calculated, cynical, premeditated, habitual, recidivist, despicable cheats. Committed cheats. Add Manchester City and the Houston Astros to a gallery of shame occupied for all eternity by Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, Ben Johnson, ...5 hours ago
Sharon Brettkelly gets a rare look at the internal workings of Immigration New Zealand - and we look at what's holding up visa applications. Immigration New Zealand's Henderson office is like any other, with rows of workers at their computers. But in this workplace the lives of tens of thousands ...6 hours ago
Drought combined with the Covid-19 coronavirus might knock economic growth enough to cause a modest recession, a leading economist says. ...18 hours ago
Financial services company Heartland Bank has reported a solid lift in its first-half profit driven by increased lending despite a squeeze on margins and rising costs. ...19 hours ago
Ministers love to bray about the seizing of illegal drugs. Customs statistics on seizures last year – albeit “preliminary” statistics – therefore were irresistible to Customs Minister Jenny Salesa. They gave her a platform to remind us of her existence as a Minister while acknowledging the work of her officials. ...21 hours ago
Electricity retailers will no longer be able to entice former customers with steep and exclusive discounts, the Electricity Authority has announced. ...22 hours ago
The National Party leader Simon Bridges says it came as a surprise to him that the Serious Fraud Office prosecution relates to two $100,000 donations to the party. ...22 hours ago
The Serious Fraud Office takes up police referral over question of political donations. ...23 hours ago
It's a familiar tale of small town New Zealand versus a government rulebook, and both of them refusing to blink. And all for a bit of raw milk. ...23 hours ago
Housing markets across New Zealand have had their busiest January in four years, pushing REINZ's house price index to a record high. ...1 day ago
Court documents show the Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves two donations of $100,000. ...1 day ago
The Government is putting together an $11 million package to offset the fallout from coronavirus and attract tourists from countries other than China. ...1 day ago
Immigration deadlock: 'Endless waiting has destroyed all my dreams'; and 'Beyond the pale': Councils respond to Kāinga Ora powers. ...1 day ago
Looks like Prime Minister may has got her Brexit deal.
She’s called an emergency Cabinet meeting to get it signed off.
That would be an impressive achievement for her, and will truly box her caucus opponents.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/13/cabinet-members-called-in-to-sign-off-mays-brexit-deal
An achievement, but how impressive remains to be seen. Tory leadership contenders will pounce on the deal like vultures, and their sharp beaks will tear off any shred that is a breach of UK sovereignty, and wave them at the public & media. Will the vassal state theory be validated? A cost/benefit analysis in caucus will just be the start, and the fate of May’s government will then be determined in the court of public opinion.
Notably she is briefing each of her Cabinet individually.
Corbyn won’t have an easy time of it.
She won’t get it through parliament.
An unholy alliance of hard-Brexiters, the DUP, tory-Remainers, the SNP and most of the Labour Party will vote it down.
Jo Johnson is sticking it to May at a Remain /People’s Vote event right now. This is a disaster for May who will be gone before Xmas.
Historians will not believe sheer ignorance of Brexit supporters
Future chroniclers will in fact have to distinguish between three kinds of ignorance
“And then there’s pig ignorance – the genuine hallmarked, unadulterated, slack-jawed, open-mouthed, village idiot variety”
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-historians-will-not-believe-sheer-ignorance-of-brexit-supporters-1.3695347
Sad though our political systems do not seem to protect the integrity of those systems as it seems clear in Brexit rules were broken, ethics questionable and nobody seems to be in jail over it. Just an enquiry and slap on the wrist is not exactly keeping the democratic process safe.
We have donations scandals in NZ on tape, and yep, no criminal prosecution or any one interested in preserving the integrity of democracy either, in the face of all that free money.
Then we have the women who put needles in the strawberries who faces years in prison in OZ, 8 years even for that Fonterra milk hoax who did not even do it.
Just an example of how lightly we treat political crimes against other crimes that can effect the entire country or industry.
If Cameron and May’s Brexit leadership leads to the gradual breakup of the EU, I suspect New Zealand will miss it when it’s gone.
I’m for a revote of the Brexit referendum, not enough people voted and there was electoral tampering. Then see if same result when the people of Britain go in to vote on it, with their eyes open.
Too bad.
You get your chance to vote so should use it wisely. I didn’t like the last US election. Maybe we should have a re-vote on that and if I still lose, then another vote after that.
Elections are different to a total and dysfunctional divorce based on phony pretences. And a huge number of Brits did not vote because among other things, the remain brigade told everyone they had it in the bag!
Also if there is election tampering then not sure of the process but I don’t think the result is considered valid????
You get another shot at that in a couple of years kevvy.
That “vote” was marked by massive disenfranchisement, voter suppression, voting machine “malfunctions” and gerrymandering.
Are you pretending Trump and his gang were installed after a fair and transparent process?
And no, I do not endorse the desperate Clintonista fantasy that “the Russians” put him in; it was all Republican Party dirty tricks.
AKA “the Epsom voter”.
John Wight on Western Imperialism.
Wight discusses Western imperialism and how ideologies of neoliberalism and domination have been inculcated to Western leaders in elite institutions of education.
And if you thought that was good, I highly recommend you watch the whole show.
As one commentator expresses it, this is an “amazing stream of awareness and consciousness here that exactly depicts the current socio-political and economic realities.”
Open your minds.
Oh the irony.
[On the assumption that’s to be read as yet another snide dig at another commentator, see below] – B.
You would never listen to John Wight.
Stick to Mike Hosking and Duncan Garner.
They operate at your level.
As John Wight says,” Ignorance is increasingly a choice in our world.”
Keep it up Lord HawHaw – you wretched sell out.
There is nothing left about supporting despots like Putin.
[Drawing a line under this. I’m way over having to scroll past idiots, who in lieu of having nothing to say and nothing to share, slap their dicks on the table as though that should be seen as a contribution of some sort.
You are one of a number who disagree with the arguments of viewpoints of Ed (or those he links to)? Then either offer a reasoned argument to support your perspective, or a thought out critique of why those people (and so their views) might be best considered as suspect.
But as for the vacuous sloganeering, name calling and personalised attacks – take it to your facebook account or your twitter account or wherever that might be elsewhere. But stop subjecting readers of this collective and diverse space to it, day after day and (it seems) always as a predictable reaction to other commentators whose views you don’t share.
‘The Standard’ is for discussion and debate, not schoolyard or sandpit nonsense. Sort your crap out.] – B.
I have offered reasoned argument to Ed pretty damned often actually.
Lacking the skills to support his views, he carries on regardless.
The point is, they’re not his views – they’re copied and pasted from elsewhere, which is part of the reason he can’t defend them – he doesn’t understand them.
I get it – you’re down with supporting despotic regimes. I’m not.
I object.
I won’t sit silently while Ed shills for this murderous dictator.
Your crude crap about dick measuring is utterly false – when Ed posts about anything else I leave him alone.
[Evidently you’re an idiot Stuart. Instead of taking the intelligent route, which would have been taking note and desisting from your crap in future, you’ve doubled down by broadening out your attack to include me. It’s an odd self martyrdom kind of thing to have done. But hey…
You claim I’m “down with supporting despotic regimes”? Okay. You either provide a damned unequivocal link to be backing that one up. Or offer up a straightforward apology and retraction. You won’t be able to provide a link. And so, failing a retraction and an apology (and not some half arsed nonsense either), your summer break from ‘ts’ will be starting presently] – B.
Bill we all know you’re a denialist.
You’ve made multiple posts trying to cast doubt on the British case against Russia with respect to the Skripals. One quoted Craig Murray “of a type developed by liars” for example. No evidence has come to light suggesting any other chemical agent however, the British claim seems to have been factual.
You made another post about the suspects visiting Salisbury cathedral, suggesting that their motives were altogether innocent, which seems to have been in error, as Bellingcat’s Russian colleagues The Insider were able to show.
It would be fair to say that these statements of yours support Russia and the campaign of disinformation and propaganda that they have maintained since their embarrassment over MH17.
I assert that Russia under Putin is a despotic regime – let’s go with Montesquieu’s definition: one in which rule is accomplished by fear. The murder of Politikovskaya was politically motivated and intended not merely silence her, but also like-minded journalists. A number of Russian journalists have been obliged to flee Russia in the years immediately after that.
The murder of Nemtsov probably related to the position he was taking on the invasion of the Ukraine. An awful lot of people inconvenient to Putin are murdered – and inconvenient news organs like the Moscow Times have been shut down under his rule.
Putin’s elections are invariably accomplished with large scale ballot tampering. My friends, collating reports from over twenty journalists right across Russia were able to demonstrate widespread fraud in his first election. Similar reports, if less comprehensive, are available on subsequent elections.
These actions are those of a despotic regime even without the lengthy record of atrocities relating to the Chechen campaign. I have yet to see a word in print from you that qualifies your support of them, to balance your pro-Russian speculations and echoing of Russian propaganda in respect of the Skripal affair.
Ed’s reposting of their propaganda and disinformatzia is not a public service, on the contrary, it is in service of a despotic regime, and undesirable.
[Questioning an official narrative doesn’t imply support of anyone or anything. I can’t see any link in your comment to me voicing support of despotism Stuart. And I can’t see any apology in that there shopping list you’ve flung up either. So I won’t see any comments from you until after Feb 3rd] – B.
Bellingcat
The Insider
My friends
Quite the hyporcrite aren’t you, Stu…
That’s an interesting way to put it and he’s right.
As a hunter/gatherer a person couldn’t afford to be ignorant. They may not have known what we know today but they had to know everything that the group knew and to extend that knowledge.
Today people get to choose to be ignorant and not to believe the truth and that’s causing all sorts of problems. Climate change denial, voting for schmucks because they’re blue, defending unethical behaviour because its legal etcetera.
A national leader wants us to believe he sanctioned one nation because in their view they were leaders, invaded and destroyed another becuase evil existed they, but didn’t send a assassination squad to kill a man who just wanted to get married. Russia, Saudi, it’s all half glass full and whose pouring. Russia spent generations securing Crimea, blood, treasure, and only lost it for a few decades, what about any number of U.S. bases… etc.
For those interested here is a link to one of the UK left wing best writers and thinkers.
https://twitter.com/johnwight1?lang=en
He is also a brilliant speaker.
He is a brilliant speaker. Thanks Ed
Good on you Ed. Please keep up your good work. You are one of the precious few real lefties on this site.
I stand on my record of arguing for freedom of expression here at TS; even when it’s annoying or steps over the line. It’s way better to SAY stupid things and get feedback on it, than to actually DO stupid things and find out too late what the awful cost was.
Even as a moderate left winger I’m happy with most of Ed’s contributions; he flirts with the edges of reasonable sometimes but for the most part I put that down to youthful enthusiasm.
What does irk me is seeing the personal vendettas that are clearly going on here; hell I’ve been on the wrong end of a few of them myself over the years. A small group gangs up on someone and reflexively shits on anything they say with no attempt at counter argument or informed debate. Tempers will flare from time to time, but unceasing repetition going turns this into an ugly form of bullying.
Most of the time it just runs it’s course, but this one has been going on too long and everyone involved needs to read Bill’s very pointed moderation note above. Otherwise I can guarantee some well deserved ‘holidays’ will soon be taken.
Cheers for your comment garibaldi (2.1.2.1.1.1) and to those of Ed as well.
Thank you Garibaldi.
Yes, keep posting Ed. I value your input and am appalled at the attacks on you.
Thanks Ed well worth watching didnt know about Renegade Inc till now John Wright straight shooter damn good stuff .
Worth following on Twitter.
John Wight wrote a brilliant article on Remembrance Day.
Can I ask a favour? I am looking for background stuff on the US opioid crisis. I keep hearing that the likes of Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, are behid a huge a epidemic of addiction in the USA and I just want some reputable background information…
I’d try the agencies that are left to clean up the mess. They won’t pull their punches so there’ll be a bias, but it’s better than cover ups.
I theorise the nasty right wing middle class are mostly just high. And when they clean up, oh, the shame.
Sanctuary,
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/drugs-opioid-oxycontin-drug-addiction-patent-new-drug-richard-sackler-a8529711.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/health/purdue-opioids-oxycontin.html
https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/oxycontin-time-bomb/
https://centerfordiscovery.com/blog/netflix-documentary-heroine-highlights-opioid-documentary/
company sponsored over prescription of certain medication that in the end proved very addictive to certain people.
take West Virginia
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/drug-distributors-missed-suspicious-opioid-sales-to-west-virginia-lawmakers-say
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=over+prescription+of+opiods+in+west+virginia&oq=over+prescription+of+opiods+in+west+virginia&aqs=chrome..69i57.9151j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
trying to turn the tide with legislation
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/justice-oks-legislation-to-reduce-opioid-prescribing-in-wv/article_e9331e45-90e7-50c4-b9d8-5c3e2f83d2ee.html
document on how to turn the tide, large read
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdhhr.wv.gov%2Fbph%2FDocuments%2FODCP%2520Reports%25202017%2FProposed%2520Opioid%2520Response%2520Plan%2520for%2520the%2520State%2520of%2520West%2520Virginia%25201%252010%252018.pdf
company says, surly not us
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/08/drug-crisis-distributor-apologizes-large-opioid-shipments/589760002/
Qoute: Investigators discovered that a single pharmacy in Mount Gay-Shamrock, population 1,779, received more than 16.5 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills between 2006 and 2016. In nearby Williamson, population 2,900, distributors sent almost 21 million opioids to two pharmacies during that same period.
“How many other communities across the country have received millions more opioids than their communities could reasonably sustain?” Harper asked.
Democrats and Republicans on the committee faulted the distributors for missing what they said were signs that too many opioids were going into the state. Quote end.
it has been obvious for a while now that certain, especially poor areas, where literally flooded with pain killers replacing proper medical care. This has been ongoing for a while. Once these people are addicted they are addicted. Does not matter how you get on the juice, it matters if you can find a way to get of it.
and just because you take away the prescription drugs does not meant you take away the addiction, so people now find other stuff to fix the need
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/22/west-virginia-saw-drop-in-opioid-painkillers-prescribed-deaths-rose.html
however if you are really in need of pain medication you are now out of luck in many cases
https://www.timeswv.com/news/chronic-pain-patients-say-opioid-crackdown-is-hurting-them/article_0418958e-54a0-11e7-907f-533b65b2b713.html
The story repeats across the country.
Overdoses killed up to 200 people a day in 2017 according to Study.
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/8/16/17698204/opioid-epidemic-overdose-deaths-2017
According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 72,000 people in the US are predicted to have died from drug overdoses in 2017 — nearly 200 a day. That’s up from 2016, which was already a record year in which roughly 64,000 people in the US died from overdoses. At least two-thirds of drug overdose deaths in 2016 and 2017 were linked to opioids.
reminds me of the seventies where one could not open a news paper or watch a news cast without reading / hearing of people falling of high roofs or being found dead in public toilets.
Its a friggin mess, and just say no ain’t gonna cut. Heck they killed Roseanne on the “Connors’ show with an overdose, after she got addicted to pain killers after knee surgeries.
Look at veterans care, it’s federally run for ex service folk.
Some have been trying to get a switch off opiods onto the growing THC/CBD based medications. Being federal that’s illegal so can’t be done.
They’ve been collating some stats on their opioid addictions and side effects so check them out. Sorry can’t recall what they were called.
Hi sanctuary, you may have seen this or may not be what you are after.
After watching Oxyana a couple of years ago, I can’t stop thinking about it.
Grim viewing.
Red state white people are overdosing in record numbers.
That is all.
THEY ARE GOING IN TO PIKE
Thrilled for the families, so much respect goes out to them for never giving up. May they find answers and closure in due course.
Kudos Andrew Little.
According to police, whose forensic team will be going in… manslaughter charges could be a possibility.
this indeed is good news.
I do hope this brings much needed relieve to their pain, and that hopefully they may lay their loved ones to rest.
Wonderful news
Hopefully Winnie’s going in first show JK how it’s done.
Great news Cinny (4) … after all these years of being lied to, the cover ups etc, the bereaved families, friends and colleagues of the Pike River 29, will hopefully begin to have some closure early next year.
Well done Andrew Little for demonstrating some humanity and respect, which since the tragedy has been sadly lacking.
The darkening clouds gather, startled and skitterish.
“Donald Trump ramped up his spat with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, with a denigrating tweet in which he said Parisians had started to learn German during the second world war before the US saved them from occupation.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/13/trump-macron-eu-army-german-second-world-war
If the Referendum on cannabis goes ahead there would have to be advance information on how decriminalisation would work.
Dr Eric Crampton is Head of Research with The New Zealand Initiative. He suggests modelling such new laws be modelled on existing Alcohol regulations. Sounds good.
“Want to make sure councils are able to set rules appropriate to their areas and implement smoking-ban areas around parks? Local alcohol policies do that for alcohol; councils can set up liquor-ban areas.
A lot of the problems any regulated cannabis regime would need to solve have already been dealt with in our existing alcohol regulations. The rules may not be perfect, but they are the ones with which we are familiar….”
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/11/13/318388/crampton-a-framework-for-legalisation
So “experts like Graeme Edgeler suggest the only sensible question to ask voters would be whether they prefer the current Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, or whether they prefer to allow the sale and supply of cannabis as provided for in draft legislation.”
Is it really sensible to ask voters to choose between a law and a proposed law? To a lawyer, it may seem so. Anyone else could point out that only a handful are likely to have read each piece of legalese. So the percentage of the electorate able to make an informed choice would be in the region of 0.0000024%.
The recent conference agreed the referendum ought to ask these two questions:
1. Should adults be allowed to grow and possess cannabis for personal use?
2. Should adults be allowed to purchase cannabis & cannabis products from licensed premises?
It was organised by the Cannabis Referendum Coalition, a network of individuals and organisations campaigning for cannabis law reform, website here: http://makeitlegal.nz/?fbclid=IwAR3RkPfB7DzQVBNcr4uQU17ptF1PDWyYIZnzpPHtfP9SlFLiDcxtHbAdjfA
I agree with the conference decision. Both questions are simple & concise. Voters are unlikely to have difficulty comprehending them. Sharing with friends is implicit in the first question, so maybe no need to specify that.
“So “experts like Graeme Edgeler suggest the only sensible question to ask voters would be whether they prefer the current Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, or whether they prefer to allow the sale and supply of cannabis as provided for in draft legislation.””
If that is really his suggestion then he is an idiot. because its actually TWO separate questions conjoined and those who dont like either option are abused!
Most referendum that have been put to the public so far have suffered from this fault. (do you want more emphasis on the victims of crime AND harsher penalties comes to mind!)
A REFERENDUM QUESTION MUST ONLY HAVE A SINGLE PREMISE !
A REFERENDUM QUESTION MUST ONLY HAVE A SINGLE PREMISE !
A REFERENDUM QUESTION MUST ONLY HAVE A SINGLE PREMISE !
but yes there may well be several referendum run concurrently to allow for better understanding of the peoples choice
Anyone who supports whistleblowers still has an opportunity to send in a submission to the review. Rare for me to be impressed by the quality of work done by our public service, but I give them 10/10 for their articulation of the issues identified by the process thus far: http://ssc.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Targeted-Consultation-Summary-May-2018.pdf
I suspect the Jami-Lee Ross saga points to a loophole that the review & consultation process haven’t noticed. A parliamentarian acting in the public interest, exposing wrongdoing in their own party, deserves a support mechanism. The status quo seems to enable their party to victimise an MP who blows the whistle on corruption. That’s so obviously wrong that I’m likely to make a submission citing the apparent loophole. I’d like feedback from readers on this – would particularly appreciate opinions on how real the loophole actually is…
Every entity and agency and department has their own policy.
It’s not that little stoush public servants point to.
It’s the MoT massive fraud in which people who spoke up were hunted down and thrown out, and not even the CE believed them.
The net outcome of all of them is simple: you will never work in Wellington again.
Climate change will decrease fertility enough to lower the human population. Apparently.
Derived from 80 years of birth and weather data out of the United States, the study confirmed a higher number of babies being born in August and September (nine months after the depths of winter), while fewer babies were conceived in summer due to higher temperatures.
https://www.dw.com/en/climate-change-reduces-male-fertility-could-help-drive-extinction/a-46276058
Winter just can’t come quick enough.
Less kids means less emissions means slower climate change
Win/win
Fewer kids mean fewer emissions, which means slower climate change. FIFY.
Win/win ???
Do you have any idea at all of what we are facing? I suspect not.
+ 1. Yes exactly. He doesn’t.
MPs’ property loophole ‘stings taxpayers’
Can the rest of us also get $78000 per year subsidies to pay off our mortgages?
Or is that only for ‘special’ people?
Your link goes to a 2013 article, am I missing something recent that makes it relevant? Surely there are sufficient things to be outraged about the current opposition rather than dragging up articles from 5 years ago.
😳
Been awhile that I’ve forgotten to check the date.
Still, I haven’t heard that this rort has been ended.
True enough, may well be still happening as the spot light conveniently gets turned off by the MSM and the rorting bludgers in the article will probably have found another way of doing it anyway.
Whilst I don’t like rorting and fiddling and pushing the legal boundaries, there is a reason why MPs should be paid well, and that they be accommodated for the special nature of their job which requires most to live in two places with huge travel and time commitments.
That is, they are on a three year contract, renewable at the whim of others.
But it’s the afterwards also that matters. I think of my local MP who had five years in the job, was not re-elected and never was able to get a job in his home town, being blacklisted by small town employers. He fell back onto being a small farmer, selling produce at his house gate. On the night he lost his seat someone burnt down his hay barn.
He was a most generous man, and loaned to a constituent the necessary extra funds for this solo mother with two kids to purchase a modest home with the scheme introduced by Labour in 72-75 by Minister of Housing Roger Douglas.
I met him again a month ago, a hale and hearty 90 year old, up with the play and with a passion for politics still. A truly Christian Sally gentleman, who suffered for his political beliefs and activism after being an MP.
I’m pretty sure that paying people extra to prevent corruption doesn’t actually prevent any corruption. Those who are corrupt will still do it.
Having to live in two places at once requires that the government make available housing in Wellington. The best way to do this is a government owned housing complex with no money paid out for rent to MP for housing. This would be cheaper and get rid of the rort.
And hows that different from the rest of the precariat?
Ah, he was actually well off and could support himself anyway.
Most MP’s are professional bludgers IMHO ?
Wouldn’t get a job in the real world ?
Hopefully Winnie’s going in first show JK & the Natzi’s how it’s done ?
Bin double entry accounting in Govt. organisation, to lead a creative capitalist renaissance of the collective value systems of NZ society & citizenry.
NZ1st!
Imelda Marcos, come on down!
Donald Trump’s deputy national security adviser is reportedly set to be fired following a dispute with the first lady, Melania Trump.
The US first lady took the extraordinary step of publicly pushing for the move against Mira Ricardel, the top aide to the national security adviser, John Bolton, on Tuesday.
[…]
Ricardel, who was hired in April by Bolton after he assumed the role of Trump’s national security adviser, reportedly clashed with members of the first lady’s staff over seating on a plane during Melania Trump’s recent trip to Africa.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/13/melania-trump-mira-ricardel-aide-to-be-fired-white-house-latest
Meanwhile in Australia this news will surprise many who haven’t been watching closely:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-14/woodside-ceo-peter-coleman-argues-for-carbon-price/10494026
This is how real change will happen. (And yes I’m sure you can find the self-interest in this, but that’s how things work in the world.)
Eyeroll from Turnbull.
Real change is doing something (as opposed to talking about doing something)
such as the new LNG powered Russian aframax tankers.
http://sovcomflot.ru/en/press_office/press_releases/item99167.html
Game changer:
https://www.perovskite-info.com/cambridge-team-sets-new-efficiency-record-perovskite-leds
Get that … close to 100% efficiency!!! This puts mono-crystalline silicon PV’s into buggy whip territory. OK so it’s lab stuff and probably a decade away from a product …. but this is how real change will happen.
Gee close to 100% efficiency that is well about as efficient as a plant.
http://www2.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/PBD-quantum-secrets.html
That article is referring to the quantum efficiencyof one small part of the photosynthesis process. Overall, the efficiency of turning sunlight into useful chemical energy via photosynthesis is in the low single digits percentage. Real-life commercial PV panels convert incoming sunlight to useful electrical energy with an efficiency of 10% to 20%.
Uhh, that near 100% efficiency is for a perovskite LED turning electrical energy into light. Not quite the same thing as a PV panel turning incoming light into electrical energy. No reversibility going on in those processes.
Some existing commercial LEDs are already very efficient. It was the development of a very efficient blue LED that paved the way for white LEDs (as well as a Nobel for the inventors). At the top end of efficiency, there have been lab demonstrations of white LEDs putting out over 300 lumens/watt (if there were no inefficiencies other than the phosphorescent conversion of some of the blue light to yellow light, the luminous efficacy would be around 370 lumens/watt). But the led bulbs for sale at Bunnings and supermarkets are sadly still only around 80 to 100 lumens per watt, which is still way batter than fluorescent bulbs at 35ish or incandescents at 12ish.
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-physicsprize2014.pdf
Yeah the article makes that clear, but it’s an impressive step all the same. It demonstrates what is possible
Damn…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/108586673/irish-politician-uses-womens-thong-in-parliament-sex-assault-protest
sometimes you need to show the evidence.
Quote pulled from the link provided by PR:
“A 17-year-old is put in the dock for her choice of underwear, and she was open to meeting someone was the implication, she was asking for it,” Coppinger said.
“Women in this country are getting a little bit weary at the routine victim blaming going on in Irish courts and the failure of lawmakers in this House to do anything about it.”
Recently fake tan and even contraception had been used to discredit women who had the bravery to go to court.
As she held up the pair of underwear in the “incongruous setting” of the Dail, Coppinger asked: “How do you think a rape victim or a woman feels at the incongruous setting of her underwear being shown in the courts, and when is this Dail going to take serious action on the issue of sexual violence?”
She only held the underwear up for a brief moment, and the camera quickly pulled back from her as she did so. The use of props is against the rules of the Dail.”
Wow PR, just wow.
‘A barrister in the Cork trial told the jury to look at the way the complainant was dressed. That the complainant was “open to meeting someone” because she was “wearing a thong with a lace front”.’
‘Recently fake tan and even contraception had been used to discredit women who had the bravery to go to court’
That’s so messed up.
Yup
‘US Vice President Mike Pence has asked to be seated next to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a dinner on Wednesday evening at the East Asia Summit in Singapore.’
What’s that about?
My first reaction is to say: watch your back, Jacinda. Or am I being unfair?
where will his wife be seated?
poor Jacinda.
1. He’s a racist who only wants to sit next to european looking people.
2. Photo’s with Jacinda would be excellent publicity for Pence and co.
3. He’s a dirty old man.
4. He genuinely thinks she’s awesome.
5. Something else
1+5 my guess. But really i would like to know where “Mother” is gonna sit, considering that he does not want to ‘meet’ women alone without his wife nearby.
But maybe sitting next to is OK?
In that case it sounds like a very trusting relationship sarc.
Thought of another option lmao
6. Red is also his favourite colour.
Billy Graham rule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Graham_rule
ROFL!!!!!!!!!!
My conspiracy theory is that he is going to try to convince her of the error of her ways …. unmarried mother, etc, etc. Whereas she has a long list of subjects such as tariffs, trade etc. LOL. Could be an interesting conversation!
I wonder if he knows that Jacinda is an former Mormon whose uncle is one of the only two NZers who has ever made it to being one of the General Authorities of the worldwide Church of Latter Day Saints?
Aaaah – Pence is actually a born again Catholic … and yes, according to Wikipedia (yes, Adam, Wikipedia) he does follow the Billy Graham Rule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pence#Personal_life
PS – if anyone wants to know, the PM has gone on this trip without baby or partner. Peters is joining her in Singapore or PNG, from his Paris trip, and Parker is already with her.
Random thought of the day: it seems the rule forbids dining alone with female family members as well as unrelated females not one’s spouse. Hmmm …
His wife apparently sat between him and Jacinda.
bwhahahahahahahahahahah
7.) Pence wants to know – if he’s allowed to build a bunker in Wanaka
and how much NZ citizenship costs
Pence considers her an enemy and is keeping his friends and enemies close.
Saying ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’. imo
Pence is the guy who wants to be caliph at the place of the caliph.
and the caliph needs to go on a tour in Missisipi to help a women win a seat and i think after the last two weeks he just needs to hear a ‘ lock her/him/it/something up” chant to feel all presidential again. I hear all that winning has him packing a sad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iznogoud
That’s major prestige for Jacinda and New Zealand you ninnys, at an Asian pacific regional meeting. What is this, National Party msm lite?
For our place in the world, what would be most suitable & impactful for NZs image would be if Jacinda could be involved in regular global meet ups with Ivanka Trump and we have a relationship that way – that would give a very popular & memorable image over time in much of the world i would guess, two leading and talented young female ambassadors of their countries on the world stage.
Yes, we like what New Zealand represents, what business links to that can we foster in our own society.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/108568669/chocs-to-drop-after-record-crowdfunding-campaign-for-kiwi-chocolate-company-ocho
Well done Ocho, I normally buy Whittakers but I’m sure I could be convinced to try Ochos 🙂
you should buy Ochos, and all other of the NZ artisan made chocolates. There are some really nice products out there and the variety of different chocolates is quite impressive. That does not stop you from also buying Whittakers 🙂 Just don’t ever buy chocolate melts, and cadbury, and Nestle produced chocolates. A lot of that stuff is compound chocolates (vegetable fat vs cocoa butter), contains very little actual chocolate but a lot of sugar.
personally i am loving this story.
Don’t worry my wife checks the ingredients list on all chocolate (especially the cooking stuff) we buy but (imho)the best chocolate is Makana chocolate in Blenheim 🙂
Breaking News…
CIA says Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s murder.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/cia-concludes-saudi-crown-prince-ordered-khashoggi-murder-report-181117004639742.html
Should be on today’s Open Mike
I knew it!