Holy fuck the most bizarre interview every between Paul Henry and the head niwa scientist. He blew Henrys tiny selfish little mind. Will be on in 50 minutes on tv3 +1
Embarrassing listening to Paul Henry on this. I’ve never heard anybody trumpet their ignorance on so many topics as loudly as he does. He even described us as “shickered” by climate change, apparently blithely unaware it means drunk. Or maybe he personally does drink to forget it.
I imagine comparatively few Standardistas have given much thought to Key’s next job – always imagining he’d be welcome among the crew that loathed him so much they gave him the nickname the smiling assassin.
Trotter (link not available yet) points to some evidence, being a lapel badge and question answered to the Josie Butler person about it. If she has made shit up like this then it will decimate her credibility – let’s see
“I went to the first security check point which was at the front driveway to the [Rydges] hotel. The guards asked for my ID, and whilst I was getting it out I noticed one of the guys had an army badge pinned to his lapel, I asked him if he was military and he confirmed that all security present today were army personnel.”
– Shouldn’t be too hard to find out if this is true
From accounts I’ve heard from others, the write up mentioned above is a pretty good reflection of the event in Dunedin. I haven’t heard anybody witnessing any members of the military amongst the security in Dunedin but there was certainly a large contingent of police, Armourgard employees and security chaps in suits.
Wonder if there will be the high level of security in Invercargill tomorrow for Todd McClays visit?
“Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide last year rose by the biggest margin since records began, according to a US federal science agency.
Fossil fuel burning and a strong El Niño weather pattern pushed CO2 levels 3.05 parts per million (ppm) on a year earlier to 402.6 ppm, as measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Wednesday.”
And right on call Global temperatures are going through the roof. Following on from a record monthly Global Temperature in January – February 2016 was the warmest month on record by a whopping 0.2o C! That surge in Global Temperatures brings the Earth to the 1.50 C above pre-industrial levels aspirational target that the COP 21 agreed the world must stay just last year.
Now the surge in Global temperatures that we are currently experiencing is not unexpected considering that we are in the middle of an El Nino event the like of which hasn’t been experienced since 1997-98, when there was a similar spike in Global temperatures. However the current spike (and I’m sure that temperatures will drop back – this is a temporary aberration) is far more pronounced than even the massive spike of the 97-98 event. The Earth is now on a new “Plateau” on the upward journey of increasing Global Temperatures.
Here in New Zealand, National are considering “fixing” the ETS. Submissions have been called and I’m sure many have submitted. I have done so in the past but this time I did not. In my opinion submitting again on this new amendment to a now useless Emissions Trading Scheme is a complete waste of time and energy because this is a Government of “consultation” in name only. They think that consultation involves telling others what is to happen. Not only that, there are enough “hot air” credits slopping around in the scheme to cover NZ’s arse for the next couple of years, laundered by the Government, so that NZ can meet its targets without spending any money. So expect nothing creditable to emerge from this new assessment of a scheme that is already worthless, and has done nothing to limit NZs GHG emissions. It is again simply window dressing and the rearrangement of deck chairs on a sinking ship.
NZ’s ETS is beyond redemption. It needs scraping and replaced by a Carbon Tax of at least $50 per tonne initially (I’m sure others would argue for more) and applied across all sectors. The revenue generated to be redistributed through vastly increased initiatives in public transport, alternative energies, energy efficiencies, subsidies for private solar, wind, and electric and hybrid vehicles, insulation of houses, and research and education wrt climate change.
Electric vehicles – Talking of which – much hypocrisy here! But great photo op!/sarc
NZ’s ETS is beyond redemption. It needs scraping and replaced by a Carbon Tax of at least $50 per tonne initially (I’m sure others would argue for more) and applied across all sectors.
Want to grow the economy while also helping the environment? Well, slap a $200 per metric ton tax on carbon dioxide emissions, according to a new study by an environmental group that claims such a policy would grow the economy and create jobs.
$200 per tonne of CO2. That puts a price on coal of $600 per tonne before you even start to think about digging it out of the ground. Petrol and diesel get a carbon tax of 50 to 60 cents per litre.
Bring it on. There will be massive economic stimulus from bringing online all the substitutes.
TPP- the ISDS is one of the most contentious parts of the TPP. The countries with which we have ISDS clauses in our FTAs have not featured highly in data on ISDS.
However, as you can see in the linked page of an interactive site on ISDS (showing the countries, the number of cases brought against the country using the ISDS and the Home state of the claimant corporation.) US and Canada are high on the litigant side.
Without ISDS a claimant still can get justice by using the existing judicial systems. ISDS is simply a ploy to bypass these and is used to threaten states.
So how would you test such arguments? Well, in a way we did carry out an experiment. In the early 1990s there was a widespread orthodoxy that “outward-looking” development policies were much more favorable to growth than “inward-looking” policies. This orthodoxy had a lot to do with the rapid growth of Asian economies, which had followed an export-oriented path rather than the import substitution tried by much of the world in the 50s and 60s. The question, however, was whether you would see dramatic acceleration of growth in other places, such as Latin America, when policy shifted away from inward focus.
And the answer turned out to be, not so much. Look at Mexico, which did a radical trade liberalization in 1985-88, then joined NAFTA. It has seen a transformation of its economy in many ways; it has gone from an economy that didn’t export much besides oil and tourism to a major manufacturing export power. And the effect on development has been … undewhelming.
So Brad could be right; but the evidence is far from conclusive. I would still argue very strongly that it’s crucial to keep markets open for poor countries. But we should be cautious in our claims about the virtues of free trade.
Such an outward looking way to boost an economy is underwhelming because everyone can do it and productivity is so high that only a small percentage of the world population is needed to provide everything we need (although, there probably isn’t enough actual resources to do that – the problem of over population).
The only way left to develop an economy is broadly within it’s own scope. In other words, local manufacture from local resources for local use.
I will say this though, the climate change news is scarey beyond what we’ve had in the past. I think a lot of people aren’t well equipped to deal with that, so how about we all try and be a bit kinder to each other this week? (I’m looking at myself there too).
Not surprised that you think its fine to stereotype white males of a certain age, but then call me the bigot. And then try and talk about kindness. Your hypocrisy climbs to new heights.
I didn’t say it’s fine CV and I don’t actually think it’s fine. You’re making an incorrect assumption about my politics. Again. All I did was stand up and point out your behaviour again because I’m sick of the whole bullshit false binaries and pathologising whole groups of people. Pineapples made a single comment and people are free to call them on it as they see fit. You’ve been spraying your negative shit that’s now out and out bigotry around the site for many months. It’s tedious and it’s having a negative effect on discussions and what we can do here. I’m not willing to let that slide in such an important thread.
stereotyping and bigotry aren’t exactly the same thing though, right? Feel free to call me on bigotry any time you like, so long as you can point to an example and explain why you think it’s bigoted and then engage in a conversation about that.
As Bill pointed out, the climate denialists are well represented by older white guys. I don’t think anyone that agrees with that statement thinks that that means that most older white guys are denialists (although I might be tempted to say that if I lived in the US).
You’re the one accusing CV of bigotry though, what was his bigoted comment? pointing out their whiteness doesn’t do anything to help the problem – just gives people more reason to discount what you say
CV’s bigotry is related to people he hates on and likes to now treat as a class eg ‘the left’.
“pointing out their whiteness doesn’t do anything to help the problem – just gives people more reason to discount what you say”
Contrary to what CV was thinking, I wasn’t fine with Pineapple’s comment. I thought it unnecessarily inflammatory and pretty much irrelevant outside of a conversation that was looking at power structures. It might have worked further down the thread, but as the first comment, when people were just finished reading something pretty challenging, having to jump into a conversation like that was jarring and likely to derail the thread.
Do I think that the classes of people who control both the creation of cc and whether we prevent the worst of it are dominated by older white men? Yes. Is there any disputing that? Do I think that most older white men are responsible? No. It always pays to talk to people about their politics and find out what they believe rather than jumping to conclusions based on projection.
But if you yourself stereotype people in that way, it’s all hunky dory, apparently. Seriously, mate, you need to own your prejudices and stop being such a hypocrite.
I’m going to suggest that one of the moderators shifts the whole subthread too because it’s completely off topic and it’s an important thread for people not to be put off by derailments at the top of the comments.
It’s so interesting to see CV being pursued by you weka. He is receiving the same treatment that I used to get when I attempted to say anything about rape culture, and question its pervasiveness. When people like yourself set up as gatekeeper to everything it acts to enforce censorship. But it seems that you weka are trying to dominate the discourse and control the site to the point where critical attacks are common.
And for those who don’t know what all this gerfuffle is about – this was what got it started. I think that everyone should stop, rethink and stick to the political discussion. If someone makes a pointed criticism in the heat of the moment, let it pass, particularly weka, Colonial Viper and Te Reo Putake. It is not impressive to see the unreasoning hostility that amounts to bullying, then provoking reaction. I thought The Standard was aiming higher than this unpleasant nitpicking.
February breaks all records.
esoteric pineapples 1
15 March 2016 at 10:32 am
Now all we have to do is wait for a bunch of white males over 40 to tell us either a) scientists don’t know what they are talking about or b) its a hoax driven by the illuminati or some other conspiratorial group.
Thanks grey. I’m more than happy to be challenged on what I am doing, and I’m not that happy with how I have been here lately (my questioning the macho culture of ts is in part because it tends to bring out the worst in me if I don’t keep an eye on what I am doing).
I’m going to disagree with your interpretation though. The problem I have with CV is his behaviour not his politics, so I’m not sure the comparison works re you trying to bring in a different view on rape culture. It was the same with Pete George. When people’s behaviour affects a community so negatively then I think it’s valid for others to do something about it. If I was the only person challening CV on what he is doing I might agree with your interpretation that I am trying to control the debate somehow. But many people are sick of what he is doing. Many. If you take me out of the equation, CV still sprays his shit around too much and many people react against that. They aren’t doing those things because of me.
Whether my own behaviour makes that situation better or worse, I don’t really know at the moment. I think CV does respond to people encouraging him to be more proactive rather than just spraying shit around the site, so I try and do that until I lose my patience. I think in the instance the other day it was unfortunate that he put up an intentionally provocative post when feelings were already running high about his behaviour, because the subject he raised was important and it just got lost in the mess. I can also see that because of how ts is, he was probably limited in how he could bring that topic up, so in hindsight it was just a clusterfuck that no-one could do much about. For my part I wish I had taken a more proactive approach in my own critiques.
I basically walked out of that recent climate change thread because it was painful, and it was painfully obvious that by far the majority of people here wanted yet another round of talking rather than doing something. I have no tolerance for that and I’m sure it affected how I was posting for some time.
The stuff at the start was nothing to do with that, it was just a distraction. But I think the painful nature of the topic of the post probably contributed to the subsequent aggro. As for that convo *starting the whole thing, again I’ll disagree. It was just a continuation of something that’s pretty much continual here. My main comments at the start were to suggest we didn’t derail the thread and to suggest that the diversion get taken to OM. I’m not sure how that was a problem.
I don’t know if I am gatekeeper so much as caretaker who’s reached a point of frustration at the mess. Characterising CV’s comments as only something said in the heat of the moment misses the wider context and the impact he has on the site. If you think that I am also having a negative impact, please keep calling me on that (I don’t really get quite what you were meaning above, but I do remember you once telling me I was commenting too often, so I’ll have a think about that and whether I’d be better off making more comments from a more discerning place).
Well we live in a patriarchy that favours white males over males of other skin hue, and so they tend to have accumulated more of the available privilege that comes courtesy of the status quo . And older people tend to have more invested in the status quo than younger people, so…sure, a broad brush stroke, but to say that idiots advocating the status quo can be sort of characterised as”white males over 40″ seems fair enough in my book.
Nothing particularly sexist in it. Nothing particularly ageist in it. Absolutely nothing racist in it (can’t be racist towards whites – impossible)
Lol @ patriarchy and “can’t be racist towards whites” of course you can! It’s easy and people do it all the time, it just isn’t as harmful overall because of where power lies in western societies currently
Racism has very specific roots – Social Darwinism. Sure, other cultures may well have thought of themselves superior, but only one (as far as I’m aware) touted itself, essentially, as a race apart from and above the human race – humanity. That allowed, informed or excused colonisation by the white west of every non-white area of the world.
That all means that a white person can be on the receiving end of discrimination but never racism, because racism’s a very particular type of discrimination that always holds ‘whiteness’ as above and better and ‘god given’ (as it were).
Gawd.
Muldoon, Bolger, Clark and Key all took till their third term before they started displaying their Messiah complexes.
Muldoon and Clark got really virulent cases. Remember how Piggy was going to save the world’s monetary system? Now Little has got the bug.
Little has got it already and he has only had a year and a bit as leader of a minor party.
Please Labour . Get things sorted out. Get rid of Little and all the deadwood.
New Zealand cannot afford such a useless second party.
I have some very simple principles.
Politicians should define what outcome they want.
Then they should get out of the way.
They should never try and run a business. If they do that they will never stop doing something stupid. They are unable to admit they have done something foolish so they keep throwing money at it rather than shut it down.
They are also completely unaware that they really don’t know anything about it.
That is why we have to get a new Government every few years. The new lot don’t have anything committed to the mistake so they are willing to fix things.
If we get Little, or any other politician, making decisions about what a bank should charge in interest or who is to get loans they will make mistakes. Then they will use tax-payers money to hide the mistake. If the bank starts making unhappy noises they will give them more money to shut them up.
In the case of the Reserve Bank for example Roger Douglas laid down the first principles, and left how it was done to the Governor. Everyone since has left the Governor to get on with it and they have done very well. If they don’t they can be sacked because the blame can be put on them, not the poly.
Little seems to think he knows better. So did Muldoon and we ended up with stagflation.
Can I ask, if you are a man of principal, did you vote national in any of the last 3 elections, given that it was as obvious as hell to any one vaguely interested in politics that national us very dirty tactics around election time!
Yes I did. And I didn’t find their tactics any different to their predecessors.
I have voted in 11 of the last 12 elections. 5 Labour, 6 National and 1 when, living overseas I didn’t think I should vote.
However in 2008 I thought Labour were old, tired and corrupt. A change was essential.
They had the same people on 2011. Nothing had really changed had it? In general Labour were still useless so I voted for the ones who were better for New Zealand.
2014 was even worse. Can you really imagine a no-hoper like Cunliffe as PM?
Seriously? He seemed to have more DCMs than anyone I had ever heard of.
Now? I want to see some alternative to the current Government who was competent but at the moment Labour looks just as useless as ever. At the moment Key still seems better for the country.
I want a better option.
I think Helen Clark was responsible for the Labour party woes. She wanted people there who were subservient to her and would do what she demanded. Not a rebel or even a free thinking person in the lot of them. And they are still there!
By the way the word I used was PRINCIPLE, not PRINCIPAL. I bow down to no-one.
” Not a rebel or even a free thinking person in the lot of them.”
Can I point that not one nat with exception to the odius corrupt Collins has ever slightly broken ranks in 7 years.
For a laugh on day I asked the member for Taupo on her Facebook page what her views on keys ponytail pulling where, it got removed quickly I can tell you.
By the way I was pissed with Clarke to , for giving our land to the southern gentry, and not working more with the greens. And I always saw goff as a caretaker leader.
As for Cunliffe I found him a bit cringe worthy but he would of done a good job IMO .
Maybe, but it would still be good to see the Reserve Bank concentrate on more than just inflation. Its job is to balance the growth in the economy with inflation targets, and its concentrating on just inflation.
There’s plenty more signals Little needs to make against the retail banks. He just needs the support of the Reserve Bank to do its actual job.
Things looking pretty damn shity for Israeli Arabs
About half of Israel’s Jews support the transfer of Arabs to other countries, according to a survey by the American Pew Research Center published Tuesday. The poll was conducted among Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis from the end of 2014 until the middle of 2015, before the latest wave of terror.
One of the questions in the survey, based on face-to-face interviews of 5,601 individuals, asked to what degree they agreed with the following statement: “Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel.” The result, among the Jewish respondents: Twenty-one percent “strongly agree” and 27 percent “mostly agree.” If those two groups are combined, about half of Israeli Jews questioned – 48 percent – support transfer of Arab citizens. On the other hand, a similar proportion – 46 percent – say they oppose such a move, with 29 percent saying that they “don’t really agree” and 17 percent responding that they “don’t agree at all” to the expulsion of Arabs.
Back in 2002, polls suggested more than 40% of Israelis agreed with the expulsion (either through force or encouragement) of Israeli Arabs. By 2006, that sentiment had risen to almost 50% (forced transfer) rising to over 55% (if encouragement of Arab emigration was included).
Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of Israelis (polls have generally suggested well over 80%) have long opposed a two-state settlement grounded in international Law (in which Israel withdraws to the pre-June 67 border and allows a significant Palestinian Capital in East Jerusalem). In other words, the Israeli public fully supports the rejectionist stance of consecutive Israeli Govts over the decades.
What the majority of Israelis do support (in some polls, by a very large majority) is the sort of “settlement” of the “conflict” where Israel annexes all of the major settlement Blocs, splitting the West Bank into separate little cantons, annexes most of Jerusalem and nullifies the Right of Return.
Recent polls have also suggested a majority of Israelis support Jewish/Arab segregation on public transport, 55% supported segregated recreational facilities, large minorities agree that Arab-Israelis shouldn’t be employed in hospitals, nursing institutions or kindergartens. 75% opposed living in the same apartment buildings as Arabs, 55% believed Israeli-Arabs didn’t have the ability to reach the same level of cultural development as Jews, 61% were unwilling to have an Arab visit their home, 64% believe Arab-Israelis endanger the state of Israel because of their high birth rates. And a large minority considered Arab culture inferior.
A 2008 poll found 40% of Jewish Israelis believed Arab Israelis should not be allowed to vote, with 78% against Arab politicians having any involvement in govt and 80% opposed to Arabs being involved in “important decisions”. A 2010 poll found 57% agreed that Israeli Human Rights organisations that expose “immoral conduct by Israel” shouldn’t be allowed to operate freely. Majorities also favoured punishing Israeli citizens and journalists who either support sanctions (BDS) or report on facts that reflect badly on Israel’s international reputation.
And, of course, polls suggest overwhelming Israeli support for the IDF’s regular massacres and carpet-bombing of Gaza and Lebanon.
Just enjoying watching questions in the house today on playback, the best bit is being able to fast forward National MP’s vacuous responses and patsy questions.
tbh I’m not sure who bears the costs of these visits. I suspect the US State Dept bears much of the cost but we will be providing a shit load of outer perimeter security, state events/banquets, closing down large areas of cities at Secret Service request etc.
I wonder who this is? Reminds me of another “person of some public interest” from up North who is facing some serious charges in court very soon! Wonder when that case will start rolling out?
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Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
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New Zealand talks with Iran.
So RNZ allows an Israeli spokesperson on air to tell what New Zealand to do.
And then a wretched interview ensues.
‘wretched’ ? You are being kind. Try unprepared, incoherent, self-aggrandising, self-delusional ..
According to Sputnik & RT, Russia is to start withdrawing its main forces in Syria
https://www.rt.com/news/335554-putin-orders-syria-withdrawal/
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160314/1036274550/putin-orders-syria-withdrawal.html
Reaction from Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem ..
http://m.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Syrian-opposition-says-Russian-withdrawal-would-be-positive-44791
yes RNZ propaganda is one sided, uncritical and pathetic …I listen to RNZ less and less
I think that should have read *ground* forces ..
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russia-withdraws-ground-troops-not-air-force/
Exposing the Libyan Agenda: A Closer Look at Hillary’s Emails’
http://www.globalresearch.ca/exposing-the-libyan-agenda-a-closer-look-at-hillarys-emails/5514010
Holy fuck the most bizarre interview every between Paul Henry and the head niwa scientist. He blew Henrys tiny selfish little mind. Will be on in 50 minutes on tv3 +1
Any chance of a link ? I’d like to see &/or hear that .. I lost interest in teevee a long time ago.
Audio only but that was hard enough for this Henry avoider to listen to, even though it would have been interesting to watch his facial expressions.
Have similar to Morrisey’s view on the banter and sycophantic laugh track so best leave it at that for comments from me.
Embarrassing listening to Paul Henry on this. I’ve never heard anybody trumpet their ignorance on so many topics as loudly as he does. He even described us as “shickered” by climate change, apparently blithely unaware it means drunk. Or maybe he personally does drink to forget it.
A bit of fun from a mate of mine that pretty much encapsulates (in less than 1 minute) my view of the the current flag debate… 🙂
F**king Flag by RedKey (expliciy lyrics)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udVN9-KKxXo
+1
I imagine comparatively few Standardistas have given much thought to Key’s next job – always imagining he’d be welcome among the crew that loathed him so much they gave him the nickname the smiling assassin.
But there is a role in which his talents would give him a unique competitive advantage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKPwtDjzJMI
Even narcissists can benefit society if they find the appropriate position.
So has the military been protecting the TPPA roadshow, as Chris Trotter asks in his piece this morning in the paper?
As Trotter outlines, this is surely the most pressing and substantial issue.
Is the military protecting the TPPA roadshow?
Does anybody know?
The consequences and implications are fucking scary
Was there any evidence attached? I am in the military and to be honest would find it very surprising if this was the case.
Yes same.
Trotter (link not available yet) points to some evidence, being a lapel badge and question answered to the Josie Butler person about it. If she has made shit up like this then it will decimate her credibility – let’s see
It should be followed up quite seriously imo
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/77838411/chris-trotter-protecting-the-tpp
“I went to the first security check point which was at the front driveway to the [Rydges] hotel. The guards asked for my ID, and whilst I was getting it out I noticed one of the guys had an army badge pinned to his lapel, I asked him if he was military and he confirmed that all security present today were army personnel.”
– Shouldn’t be too hard to find out if this is true
The police can’t waste money on this – they’ve got burglars to hunt down.
I’m not saying shes wrong, lying or mistaken but, when it comes to the TPPA, I’ll need more evidence from her before I believe her
I’ve seen someone on twitter who was at a roadshow talking about the army being there. I agree, it would be good to see it confirmed.
This person has a write up about attending (no idea who they are),
https://skepticnz.wordpress.com/2016/03/14/inside-the-tppa-roadshow-experience/
From accounts I’ve heard from others, the write up mentioned above is a pretty good reflection of the event in Dunedin. I haven’t heard anybody witnessing any members of the military amongst the security in Dunedin but there was certainly a large contingent of police, Armourgard employees and security chaps in suits.
Wonder if there will be the high level of security in Invercargill tomorrow for Todd McClays visit?
I have a feeling the army were at the Chch one?
CO2 and Global Temperatures reach record Highs, and National fiddles with the ETS.
As reported in the Guardian today
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/10/co2-levels-make-largest-recorded-annual-leap-noaa-data-shows
And right on call Global temperatures are going through the roof. Following on from a record monthly Global Temperature in January – February 2016 was the warmest month on record by a whopping 0.2o C! That surge in Global Temperatures brings the Earth to the 1.50 C above pre-industrial levels aspirational target that the COP 21 agreed the world must stay just last year.
Now the surge in Global temperatures that we are currently experiencing is not unexpected considering that we are in the middle of an El Nino event the like of which hasn’t been experienced since 1997-98, when there was a similar spike in Global temperatures. However the current spike (and I’m sure that temperatures will drop back – this is a temporary aberration) is far more pronounced than even the massive spike of the 97-98 event. The Earth is now on a new “Plateau” on the upward journey of increasing Global Temperatures.
Here in New Zealand, National are considering “fixing” the ETS. Submissions have been called and I’m sure many have submitted. I have done so in the past but this time I did not. In my opinion submitting again on this new amendment to a now useless Emissions Trading Scheme is a complete waste of time and energy because this is a Government of “consultation” in name only. They think that consultation involves telling others what is to happen. Not only that, there are enough “hot air” credits slopping around in the scheme to cover NZ’s arse for the next couple of years, laundered by the Government, so that NZ can meet its targets without spending any money. So expect nothing creditable to emerge from this new assessment of a scheme that is already worthless, and has done nothing to limit NZs GHG emissions. It is again simply window dressing and the rearrangement of deck chairs on a sinking ship.
NZ’s ETS is beyond redemption. It needs scraping and replaced by a Carbon Tax of at least $50 per tonne initially (I’m sure others would argue for more) and applied across all sectors. The revenue generated to be redistributed through vastly increased initiatives in public transport, alternative energies, energy efficiencies, subsidies for private solar, wind, and electric and hybrid vehicles, insulation of houses, and research and education wrt climate change.
Electric vehicles – Talking of which – much hypocrisy here! But great photo op!/sarc
Yep, $200 per tonne:
$200 per tonne of CO2. That puts a price on coal of $600 per tonne before you even start to think about digging it out of the ground. Petrol and diesel get a carbon tax of 50 to 60 cents per litre.
Bring it on. There will be massive economic stimulus from bringing online all the substitutes.
Whilst we won’t be like Mexico. To many white people live here. The TTP will make us poorer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZmWBRsJ4gA
‘EXCLUSIVE: Why US Spy Boss is really in NZ’
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/03/15/exclusive-why-us-spy-boss-is-really-in-nz/
Why would you travel in a Globemaster?
Surely a Lear or Gulfstream would be much quicker and comfortable.
There was discussion here yesterday on the three planes that arrived in Wellington – see this link and the thread, plus the links to photos.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14032016/#comment-1146112
One of my favourite thinkers this century.
Dr. Vijay Prashad is interviewed by Abbey Martin, about Syria. If you have not read any of his books take the time, it is worth it.
The last 2 minutes of this interview is just wonderful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8x-rMRZcdo
please swap “is just wonderful” to “are just wonderful”
Sheesh how bad was that error…
Most excellent my friend..your old flatmate from Chambers ST.
TPP- the ISDS is one of the most contentious parts of the TPP. The countries with which we have ISDS clauses in our FTAs have not featured highly in data on ISDS.
However, as you can see in the linked page of an interactive site on ISDS (showing the countries, the number of cases brought against the country using the ISDS and the Home state of the claimant corporation.) US and Canada are high on the litigant side.
http://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/ISDS/FilterByCountry
Without ISDS a claimant still can get justice by using the existing judicial systems. ISDS is simply a ploy to bypass these and is used to threaten states.
Notice that the claims/cases per year has doubled in five years. Who is next?
Globalization and Growth
Such an outward looking way to boost an economy is underwhelming because everyone can do it and productivity is so high that only a small percentage of the world population is needed to provide everything we need (although, there probably isn’t enough actual resources to do that – the problem of over population).
The only way left to develop an economy is broadly within it’s own scope. In other words, local manufacture from local resources for local use.
Trade is defunct.
[r0b: This comment was moved, as per request below, to open mike. It was originally a reply to
http://thestandard.org.nz/february-breaks-all-records/#comment-1146794 ]
what is this crappy racist sexist ageist shite.
LOL!
As usual, the Left leads the way.
As usual, another day of CV’s bigotry.
I will say this though, the climate change news is scarey beyond what we’ve had in the past. I think a lot of people aren’t well equipped to deal with that, so how about we all try and be a bit kinder to each other this week? (I’m looking at myself there too).
Not surprised that you think its fine to stereotype white males of a certain age, but then call me the bigot. And then try and talk about kindness. Your hypocrisy climbs to new heights.
I didn’t say it’s fine CV and I don’t actually think it’s fine. You’re making an incorrect assumption about my politics. Again. All I did was stand up and point out your behaviour again because I’m sick of the whole bullshit false binaries and pathologising whole groups of people. Pineapples made a single comment and people are free to call them on it as they see fit. You’ve been spraying your negative shit that’s now out and out bigotry around the site for many months. It’s tedious and it’s having a negative effect on discussions and what we can do here. I’m not willing to let that slide in such an important thread.
You don’t think its fine but you were silent about it. But you point the finger at me for making a bigoted comment.
What was that bigoted comment by the way? I have no idea what I said that you got in such a twist about.
“You don’t think its fine but you were silent about it.”
For various reasons. Plus strange as it may seem, I don’t comment on every thing I disagree with.
“What was that bigoted comment by the way? I have no idea what I said that you got in such a twist about.”
I’m happy to have that conversation but not in this thread because it’s so off topic. Let’s take it to Open Mike.
CV is a negative nelly it’s true but weka you do seem to be quite comfortable stereotyping white males sometimes so I think it’s a fair point
stereotyping and bigotry aren’t exactly the same thing though, right? Feel free to call me on bigotry any time you like, so long as you can point to an example and explain why you think it’s bigoted and then engage in a conversation about that.
As Bill pointed out, the climate denialists are well represented by older white guys. I don’t think anyone that agrees with that statement thinks that that means that most older white guys are denialists (although I might be tempted to say that if I lived in the US).
You’re the one accusing CV of bigotry though, what was his bigoted comment? pointing out their whiteness doesn’t do anything to help the problem – just gives people more reason to discount what you say
CV’s bigotry is related to people he hates on and likes to now treat as a class eg ‘the left’.
“pointing out their whiteness doesn’t do anything to help the problem – just gives people more reason to discount what you say”
Contrary to what CV was thinking, I wasn’t fine with Pineapple’s comment. I thought it unnecessarily inflammatory and pretty much irrelevant outside of a conversation that was looking at power structures. It might have worked further down the thread, but as the first comment, when people were just finished reading something pretty challenging, having to jump into a conversation like that was jarring and likely to derail the thread.
Do I think that the classes of people who control both the creation of cc and whether we prevent the worst of it are dominated by older white men? Yes. Is there any disputing that? Do I think that most older white men are responsible? No. It always pays to talk to people about their politics and find out what they believe rather than jumping to conclusions based on projection.
But if you yourself stereotype people in that way, it’s all hunky dory, apparently. Seriously, mate, you need to own your prejudices and stop being such a hypocrite.
Hey TRP, you’re such a straight shooter, hope you make it high on to the Labour List.
how about we take this to OM?
I’m going to suggest that one of the moderators shifts the whole subthread too because it’s completely off topic and it’s an important thread for people not to be put off by derailments at the top of the comments.
Good call. I’m happy to stop while I’m ahead 😉
I agree – and the irony is that the scientists quoted in the story was … a white male over 40. Too funny for words.
how is that ironical?
The irony is not apparent to everyone it seems.
What was ironical was you getting all het up with your own identity politics.
It seems that you understand irony just fine when you decide to.
Maybe, but I’m willing to be that you can’t explain what the irony was that cyclonemike referred to.
It’s so interesting to see CV being pursued by you weka. He is receiving the same treatment that I used to get when I attempted to say anything about rape culture, and question its pervasiveness. When people like yourself set up as gatekeeper to everything it acts to enforce censorship. But it seems that you weka are trying to dominate the discourse and control the site to the point where critical attacks are common.
And for those who don’t know what all this gerfuffle is about – this was what got it started. I think that everyone should stop, rethink and stick to the political discussion. If someone makes a pointed criticism in the heat of the moment, let it pass, particularly weka, Colonial Viper and Te Reo Putake. It is not impressive to see the unreasoning hostility that amounts to bullying, then provoking reaction. I thought The Standard was aiming higher than this unpleasant nitpicking.
February breaks all records.
esoteric pineapples 1
15 March 2016 at 10:32 am
Now all we have to do is wait for a bunch of white males over 40 to tell us either a) scientists don’t know what they are talking about or b) its a hoax driven by the illuminati or some other conspiratorial group.
Thanks grey. I’m more than happy to be challenged on what I am doing, and I’m not that happy with how I have been here lately (my questioning the macho culture of ts is in part because it tends to bring out the worst in me if I don’t keep an eye on what I am doing).
I’m going to disagree with your interpretation though. The problem I have with CV is his behaviour not his politics, so I’m not sure the comparison works re you trying to bring in a different view on rape culture. It was the same with Pete George. When people’s behaviour affects a community so negatively then I think it’s valid for others to do something about it. If I was the only person challening CV on what he is doing I might agree with your interpretation that I am trying to control the debate somehow. But many people are sick of what he is doing. Many. If you take me out of the equation, CV still sprays his shit around too much and many people react against that. They aren’t doing those things because of me.
Whether my own behaviour makes that situation better or worse, I don’t really know at the moment. I think CV does respond to people encouraging him to be more proactive rather than just spraying shit around the site, so I try and do that until I lose my patience. I think in the instance the other day it was unfortunate that he put up an intentionally provocative post when feelings were already running high about his behaviour, because the subject he raised was important and it just got lost in the mess. I can also see that because of how ts is, he was probably limited in how he could bring that topic up, so in hindsight it was just a clusterfuck that no-one could do much about. For my part I wish I had taken a more proactive approach in my own critiques.
I basically walked out of that recent climate change thread because it was painful, and it was painfully obvious that by far the majority of people here wanted yet another round of talking rather than doing something. I have no tolerance for that and I’m sure it affected how I was posting for some time.
The stuff at the start was nothing to do with that, it was just a distraction. But I think the painful nature of the topic of the post probably contributed to the subsequent aggro. As for that convo *starting the whole thing, again I’ll disagree. It was just a continuation of something that’s pretty much continual here. My main comments at the start were to suggest we didn’t derail the thread and to suggest that the diversion get taken to OM. I’m not sure how that was a problem.
I don’t know if I am gatekeeper so much as caretaker who’s reached a point of frustration at the mess. Characterising CV’s comments as only something said in the heat of the moment misses the wider context and the impact he has on the site. If you think that I am also having a negative impact, please keep calling me on that (I don’t really get quite what you were meaning above, but I do remember you once telling me I was commenting too often, so I’ll have a think about that and whether I’d be better off making more comments from a more discerning place).
(cut and pasted from CC thread)
Well we live in a patriarchy that favours white males over males of other skin hue, and so they tend to have accumulated more of the available privilege that comes courtesy of the status quo . And older people tend to have more invested in the status quo than younger people, so…sure, a broad brush stroke, but to say that idiots advocating the status quo can be sort of characterised as”white males over 40″ seems fair enough in my book.
Nothing particularly sexist in it. Nothing particularly ageist in it. Absolutely nothing racist in it (can’t be racist towards whites – impossible)
Lol @ patriarchy and “can’t be racist towards whites” of course you can! It’s easy and people do it all the time, it just isn’t as harmful overall because of where power lies in western societies currently
You can be bigoted towards towards white people, that is a given
But, how on God’s green earth can the privileged group have racism directed at them?
You get that the exercise of power is a fundamental aspect of racism, Tim?
.
Because people of other races can have power over white people… White people aren’t invincible lol
Racism has very specific roots – Social Darwinism. Sure, other cultures may well have thought of themselves superior, but only one (as far as I’m aware) touted itself, essentially, as a race apart from and above the human race – humanity. That allowed, informed or excused colonisation by the white west of every non-white area of the world.
That all means that a white person can be on the receiving end of discrimination but never racism, because racism’s a very particular type of discrimination that always holds ‘whiteness’ as above and better and ‘god given’ (as it were).
Nice.
/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkSRJSUY0vs&feature=youtu.be
He’s gotta be troling, I hope.
Nick Kalman Verified account
@NickKalmanFN
.@realDonaldTrump supporters sporting armbands in Florida http://campl.us/suUn
https://twitter.com/NickKalmanFN/status/709460365122338816
They’re a couple of political jokesters it seems
https://twitter.com/mviser/status/709463922059911168
Today’s misanthropy red lining….
Ali Alimadadi
@alialimadadi110
#Hamoo,#Iraqi father who pushes handicapped daughter on #Greek border, seeking a better future beyond barbed wires
https://twitter.com/alialimadadi110/status/709474642122117120
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/77905481/labour-leader-andrew-little-warns-banks-cut-rates-or-face-compulsion
When both National and the Greens think its a bad idea then you know you’ve really outdone yourself
Gawd.
Muldoon, Bolger, Clark and Key all took till their third term before they started displaying their Messiah complexes.
Muldoon and Clark got really virulent cases. Remember how Piggy was going to save the world’s monetary system? Now Little has got the bug.
Little has got it already and he has only had a year and a bit as leader of a minor party.
Please Labour . Get things sorted out. Get rid of Little and all the deadwood.
New Zealand cannot afford such a useless second party.
Ha ha right winger doesn’t like it when a leftwing poly says something that gets him a positive head line. # takingthefuckersonattheirowngame
I have some very simple principles.
Politicians should define what outcome they want.
Then they should get out of the way.
They should never try and run a business. If they do that they will never stop doing something stupid. They are unable to admit they have done something foolish so they keep throwing money at it rather than shut it down.
They are also completely unaware that they really don’t know anything about it.
That is why we have to get a new Government every few years. The new lot don’t have anything committed to the mistake so they are willing to fix things.
If we get Little, or any other politician, making decisions about what a bank should charge in interest or who is to get loans they will make mistakes. Then they will use tax-payers money to hide the mistake. If the bank starts making unhappy noises they will give them more money to shut them up.
In the case of the Reserve Bank for example Roger Douglas laid down the first principles, and left how it was done to the Governor. Everyone since has left the Governor to get on with it and they have done very well. If they don’t they can be sacked because the blame can be put on them, not the poly.
Little seems to think he knows better. So did Muldoon and we ended up with stagflation.
Can I ask, if you are a man of principal, did you vote national in any of the last 3 elections, given that it was as obvious as hell to any one vaguely interested in politics that national us very dirty tactics around election time!
Yes I did. And I didn’t find their tactics any different to their predecessors.
I have voted in 11 of the last 12 elections. 5 Labour, 6 National and 1 when, living overseas I didn’t think I should vote.
However in 2008 I thought Labour were old, tired and corrupt. A change was essential.
They had the same people on 2011. Nothing had really changed had it? In general Labour were still useless so I voted for the ones who were better for New Zealand.
2014 was even worse. Can you really imagine a no-hoper like Cunliffe as PM?
Seriously? He seemed to have more DCMs than anyone I had ever heard of.
Now? I want to see some alternative to the current Government who was competent but at the moment Labour looks just as useless as ever. At the moment Key still seems better for the country.
I want a better option.
I think Helen Clark was responsible for the Labour party woes. She wanted people there who were subservient to her and would do what she demanded. Not a rebel or even a free thinking person in the lot of them. And they are still there!
By the way the word I used was PRINCIPLE, not PRINCIPAL. I bow down to no-one.
” Not a rebel or even a free thinking person in the lot of them.”
Can I point that not one nat with exception to the odius corrupt Collins has ever slightly broken ranks in 7 years.
For a laugh on day I asked the member for Taupo on her Facebook page what her views on keys ponytail pulling where, it got removed quickly I can tell you.
By the way I was pissed with Clarke to , for giving our land to the southern gentry, and not working more with the greens. And I always saw goff as a caretaker leader.
As for Cunliffe I found him a bit cringe worthy but he would of done a good job IMO .
Maybe, but it would still be good to see the Reserve Bank concentrate on more than just inflation. Its job is to balance the growth in the economy with inflation targets, and its concentrating on just inflation.
There’s plenty more signals Little needs to make against the retail banks. He just needs the support of the Reserve Bank to do its actual job.
Things looking pretty damn shity for Israeli Arabs
About half of Israel’s Jews support the transfer of Arabs to other countries, according to a survey by the American Pew Research Center published Tuesday. The poll was conducted among Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis from the end of 2014 until the middle of 2015, before the latest wave of terror.
One of the questions in the survey, based on face-to-face interviews of 5,601 individuals, asked to what degree they agreed with the following statement: “Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel.” The result, among the Jewish respondents: Twenty-one percent “strongly agree” and 27 percent “mostly agree.” If those two groups are combined, about half of Israeli Jews questioned – 48 percent – support transfer of Arab citizens. On the other hand, a similar proportion – 46 percent – say they oppose such a move, with 29 percent saying that they “don’t really agree” and 17 percent responding that they “don’t agree at all” to the expulsion of Arabs.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.707589
Yep, but nothing new in that.
Back in 2002, polls suggested more than 40% of Israelis agreed with the expulsion (either through force or encouragement) of Israeli Arabs. By 2006, that sentiment had risen to almost 50% (forced transfer) rising to over 55% (if encouragement of Arab emigration was included).
Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of Israelis (polls have generally suggested well over 80%) have long opposed a two-state settlement grounded in international Law (in which Israel withdraws to the pre-June 67 border and allows a significant Palestinian Capital in East Jerusalem). In other words, the Israeli public fully supports the rejectionist stance of consecutive Israeli Govts over the decades.
What the majority of Israelis do support (in some polls, by a very large majority) is the sort of “settlement” of the “conflict” where Israel annexes all of the major settlement Blocs, splitting the West Bank into separate little cantons, annexes most of Jerusalem and nullifies the Right of Return.
Recent polls have also suggested a majority of Israelis support Jewish/Arab segregation on public transport, 55% supported segregated recreational facilities, large minorities agree that Arab-Israelis shouldn’t be employed in hospitals, nursing institutions or kindergartens. 75% opposed living in the same apartment buildings as Arabs, 55% believed Israeli-Arabs didn’t have the ability to reach the same level of cultural development as Jews, 61% were unwilling to have an Arab visit their home, 64% believe Arab-Israelis endanger the state of Israel because of their high birth rates. And a large minority considered Arab culture inferior.
A 2008 poll found 40% of Jewish Israelis believed Arab Israelis should not be allowed to vote, with 78% against Arab politicians having any involvement in govt and 80% opposed to Arabs being involved in “important decisions”. A 2010 poll found 57% agreed that Israeli Human Rights organisations that expose “immoral conduct by Israel” shouldn’t be allowed to operate freely. Majorities also favoured punishing Israeli citizens and journalists who either support sanctions (BDS) or report on facts that reflect badly on Israel’s international reputation.
And, of course, polls suggest overwhelming Israeli support for the IDF’s regular massacres and carpet-bombing of Gaza and Lebanon.
Speaking of fascist, authoritarian, militarised, apartheid nations
Just enjoying watching questions in the house today on playback, the best bit is being able to fast forward National MP’s vacuous responses and patsy questions.
Is it true that President Obama is going to come to New Zealand soon … or is it just another vicious rumour spread by the National Party? LOL.
Key is on a build up to an early election so he is going to do everything he can to get Obama over here.
Getting Obama here will make his Richie McCaw and All Black suck-a-thon pale into total insignificance.
Ironically so many of the anti-Obama mob are Key supporters but they will go into a suck up frenzy if their lord and master gets his way.
As an aside, how much would any such visit cost us?
tbh I’m not sure who bears the costs of these visits. I suspect the US State Dept bears much of the cost but we will be providing a shit load of outer perimeter security, state events/banquets, closing down large areas of cities at Secret Service request etc.
@Colonial Viper
Why do you say that John Key is building up to an early General Election?
You are the first person I have heard mention this.
I wonder who this is? Reminds me of another “person of some public interest” from up North who is facing some serious charges in court very soon! Wonder when that case will start rolling out?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11606101