With due respect to that commenter on TDB, who probably meant well (but there’s no link for context), I think such statement, on its own, is naive and orthodox and smells like sentimental nostalgia. It seems to be oblivious of internet, online, digital, or social media activism, for example. Now, if you were to combine old-school activism, whatever that is, and ‘modernise’ it, with digital activism you start to make much more sense. Some things that used to work in ‘the old days’ are still incredibly effective …
All political action needs good strategy and this is a great topic for a post here.
I think digital communications can help if coordinated well with offline activism – informing people; setting up a meet point; telling people what to bring with them; informing them of issues behind the activism, etc.
Just the words take me back to my early days listening to pop music.
You have revived in my head the music of the truly great Chuck Berry.
I’m off to YouTube to listen again to the song of my youth.
If the commenter is that keen on changing budgetary proprities, they wil be organising their resistance through the Council budget process, which is on now.
If you think that’s just too hard and cumbersome, you will be surprised to read that on current consultation numbers, Aucklands currently favour increasing taxes on transport, directly upon Aucklanders.
If the blogger really thinks that “keyboard warriors” have no effect, they will be surprised that the Council budget including the transport project priorities alter after consultation by betwee\n 20 and 25%.
The blogger would do well to have a chat with Generation Zero and ask them: what part did marching up the street in crowds play to changing the entire transport policies of two parties (who are now in government), and draft the Zero Carbon bill (now heading for Parliament).
But as usual, at The Daily Blog, it’s really important to feel real, get out there on the streets, get all mo’shizzle with the kids, and rather than change the system, get out there like Lisa Praeger did yesterday and take to the pavement with a sledgehammer.
For which she was duly arrested for destroying public property.
But if you think that sledgehammers are the way to go, here is an assessment of Prager’s sledgehammering technique and her results (bad; ) and a bit of practical advice on how to do it properly and save your back.
i made my way over to a tpp march/protest one day the only discomfort i suffered was the bit were i was in danger of being hugged by strangers. nice people but hardly pulse raising.
It is good to see people fighting back in Christchurch against the looting of water from the area for private overseas profit.
Court is one thing.
Cantabrians could follow the Bolivian example and boot foreign water companies out.
That is what the people in California thought.
Until there was a drought nobody worried that outsiders had bought up “old” water rights.
Then they found crops being bowled.
The owners of the water rights could make more from on selling water than keeping 50 year walnut trees, workers and factories.
Jobs went. Local economy crumbled. We need to protect our free water from predators like that.
I only ask because there a parts of India (very large parts) where sinking a bore down 100-200 feet produces the most pristine H2O…..far superior to the shit we’ve seen in Hawkes Bay and Canterbury.
There are also people a lot more concerned and knowledgable about preserving the water table than most seem to be in NZ (and that’s despite the lack of rubbish collection and preponderance of surface pollution).
They could teach a few farmers about how to handle cow shit too
False equivalence, I never said it should be free. I just don’t object to bottling water and selling it. It’d be better if they only sold in reusable bottles of course.
My understanding from recent news was that another issue with this water take was the drilling of a new well bore alongside a shallower one and the subsequent risk of cross contamination between two aquifers. The site was formerly a wool scouring plant and that may compound the problem. The deeper bore reaches into the aquifer supplying Christchurch drinking water.
The very idea that a water right for a radically different purpose should be transferable is absurd. The bottling company should have had to make a fresh application based on the situation regarding water now and in the foreseeable future, not leech off a right that should have expired with the demise of the business that secured it legitimately.
According to the article I’ve cited above, a lawyer disagrees and legal action has been filed. The deeper bore was drilled against Council advice.
Is there any legal or moral constraint to the practice of buying a factory with an existing water use (in this case for wool scouring ) in order to use the water right for another and entirely different purpose (in this case the selling of the water overseas by an overseas owner)?
Apart from the ethical issue, there is a practical issue of possible contamination of a city water supply as well.
How long before overseas companies buy a Marlborough vineyard with an existing water right and bottle that, without bothering with cycling it first through a grape vine?
10 litres of bottled costs $27 in China. A vineyard may have a water right of 12 litres per vine per day. That, for a 5 ha vineyard, is 159,000 litres per day. At the $27/10l price, that is $430,000 per day- $157,285,800 per annum. I bet that’s just a bit more than a 5ha vineyard produces in wine!
My point exactly. Seller selling “on behalf of citizens” Councils, (in this case ECAN a political construct), not knowing the real worth of the item, not doing what they should for their rate payers, being sloppy and ignorant, even dubious or dangerous in their actions.
Were the sales legitimate?
How many wells is the new owner of the old scouring works allowed to sink?
How come they can enlarge the original right to such a degree?
The law will decide, and this will pause work while that is settled, quite rightly.
Merely requiring formal legality is setting a pretty low bar.
What sort of people do you think exercise the most influence over what is legal and what is not?
Historically, looting of the commons has often been made legal.
Well that may be true when the sale is to the “Crown”. This is not the case here.
Our law says you must show true ownership to sell something legally. ECAN?????
When I read this article about the WWF, it reminded me about the book End Game by Derek Jensen. I would recommend Standard readers read Jensen for their enlightenment.
This quote of Jensen’s sums up the problem.
“Make no mistake, our economic system can do no other than destroy everything it encounters. That’s what happens when you convert living beings to cash. That conversion, from living trees to lumber, schools of cod to fish sticks, and onward to numbers on a ledger, is the central process of our economic system. Psychologically, it is the central process of our enculturation; we are most handsomely rewarded in direct relation to the manner in which we can help increase the Gross National Product.”
We abandon capitalism or our children and grandchildren die.
Except if you are a female surfer getting a nice big sponsorship deal from a bikini maker who suddenly sees no value in the deal.
A woman being paid in a mutually entered into contract to wear a high cut bikini in a televised competition is surely exercising her agency to chose what she wears, and has to have an expectation of close up shots.
In those circumstance it is worrying that a TV broadcaster feels browbeaten by various feminist puritans into self censorship over broadcasting images of a woman’s backside.
why the hell would they wear them if they don’t want you to look . serious question ?
surly if a woman has her boobs and but hanging out i’m allowed to enjoy the view ?
(no touching rude comments or wolf whistles of course)
I know this might come as a surprise (seriously, but listen to this) – some women like the way they feel when they dress in different ways and it has nothing to do with men.
There is a difference between quietly appreciating the beauty of someone’s body, and ogling. Camera operators zooming in on bikini bottoms is clearly in the latter category. It makes women feel uncomfortable, so just don’t do it.
Short answer no. Unless a woman gives express and enthusiastic consent to be looked at by a male, regardless of what she is wearing … it’s unwanted ogling. All unwanted male sexual behaviour is either criminal or shameful. Don’t do it, look elsewhere.
“LAST CHANCE TO SIGN! PETITION TO SAVE TE KUHA FROM COAL MINING CLOSES THIS SUNDAY, 18 MARCH!”
It’s astonishing and appalling that a Government that says all the right words about the need for action on climate change may nevertheless let a new coal mine go ahead on the West Coast, when it could stop that mine with the stroke of a pen.
Good point Jenny, are Labour Greenies? I think it’s neoliberalism first, liberalism 2nd and environmentalism is just something to try and pretend to do.
Natz and NZ First are similar neoliberalism first, liberalism 2nd and environmentalism something to deny as being loony.
Then when Pike river happens they can’t work out why neoliberalism first, liberalism 2nd and environmentalism something to deny as being loony doesn’t work out in any way, they kill people, leave them to die because they can’t organise a rescue and don’t even get their economic gain as they actually bankrupt their own company. But hey, no lessons learnt no doubt.
I seem to remember RMA removed endangered snails for mining to take place and then DoC accidentally froze them to death.
I’m just wondering who are the loonies and most incompetent here. The environmentalists or the neoliberalists.
I note that NZ is one of the few western nations to so far fail to condemn the Russians for their assassination attacks in the UK. NZ is silent on the matter.
Is this because Peter’s is a Russian apologist and Arden’s afraid to do the right thing and formally condemn Russia’s actions because of her fear as to what Peter’s might do? Like throw a hissy fit and damage the coalition.
Probably standing by the notion , innocent until proven guilty, and in a proper court of law if you don’t mind
Old fashioned ,I know, but worth sticking with
Why are we not continuously condemning Russia for the mass slaughter it is perpetuating in Syria by backing Assad? Now that is a real issue.
Teresa May is grandstanding on this issue, using one boy in blue as a hook, but taking no genuine action at all that will jeopardise Britain’s trading links with Russia or the funding her Conservative Party mates receive from Russian mates.
Screw the British, why should we support them? I say sanction bust – we may even make up all the money we lost when they couldn’t wait to kick us into touch when they joined the EU.
To paraphrase Lord Palmerston (a British politician) “…New Zealand has no eternal friends, New Zealand has no perpetual enemies, New Zealand has only eternal and perpetual interests…”
And I reckon it is more in our interests to sell heaps of stuff to Russia than it is to stand with our ex-colonial master.
We owe the British nothing. They’d sell us down the river in a flash if it suited them. They didn’t give a shit about the impact on our economy when they joined the EU.
This dispute between our ex-colonial master and Russia over an event that occurred in a country on the other side of the world has got zilch to do with us.
It is in our interests to do a trade deal with Russia. Backing the British in their spat with Russia? Not so much.
But this isn’t the moment to enter a new trade deal with Russia – overtly endorsing their murderous attack. The time to sell Russia butter and apples was back when that gibbering idiot John Key quashed the trade deal, which, if we were already doing it we could continue without attracting trade reprisals.
We trade with lots of countries that do awful things domestically and internationally.
Conservatives get upset about this only when it is one of our ‘official enemies’ e.g. Russia.
There is no consistent principle behind what you are saying – just propagandist braying.
it may be….but it would also pay to remember that their payment history isnt great and their main exports are fossil fuels, military hardware and oligarchs
Look, fuck it
I’m sick of this shoddy out of date rubbish
Are you still in the Lada era?
Just lose the age old prejudices and get some new information
And this is just the top 10
“Mineral fuels including oil: US$173.3 billion (48.5% of total exports)
Iron, steel: $18.8 billion (5.3%)
Gems, precious metals: $11 billion (3.1%)
Machinery including computers: $8.5 billion (2.4%)
Wood: $7.9 billion (2.2%)
Cereals: $7.5 billion (2.1%)
Fertilizers: $7.2 billion (2%)
Aluminum: $6.7 billion (1.9%)
Copper: $4.7 billion (1.3%)
Electrical machinery, equipment: $4.3 billion (1.2%)
Russia’s top 10 exports accounted for 70% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Copper was the fastest-growing among the top 10 export categories, up 42.2% from 2016 to 2017.
In second place for improving export sales was Russian cereals which was up 34.3%, led by higher international sales of wheat, barley and corn.
Close behind, Russia’s shipments of iron and steel posted the third-fastest gain in value up 32.9%.
Up 6.7%, electrical machinery and equipment posted the smallest increase among Russia’s top 10 export categories.’
lol
you may wish to speak to some in the industry about dealing with Russian exporters and the quality of their product…..they make china look positively angelic
Where did you get these figures from and why do they not include sales of arms?
This isn’t a terribly good source but the Russian exports of arms seem to be about $US15 billion/year
That number, if correct, should put them at number 3 in your list.
theres a significant ‘unspecified commodities’ category in the trade figures that could account for many things….essentially oil.coal and gas make up over 60% of exports
They also do a breakdown of US exports, similarly not specifying arms sales
For that :from Wiki
2012–2016
Rank Supplier Arms Exp
1 United States 47,169
2 Russia 33,186
3 China 9,132
4 France 8,564
5 Germany 7,946
6 United Kingdom 6,586
7 Spain 3,958
8 Italy 3,823
9 Ukraine 3,677
10 Israel 3,233
US has the record, Russia second, mostly its the members of the SC plus Germany
a country which overwhelmingly relies on the export of soon to be stranded assets that has a history of default…..how much importance do you want to place on a trade agreement with that entity, especially when coupled with enforcement concerns?…..i would suggest not very much at all.
The causes of that particular default are unchanged in Russia today….their foreign reserves are about 100 billion short of their current external debt position ….. and reserves disappear very fast in a poor trading environment,
And the stranded assets???….or do you think theres a future for oil,gas and coal?
Alwyn who doesn’ t know what FB means.
Russia hasn’t stood still spies will have stolen any tech deficiencies they have had.
So if you think Russia hasn’t kept up to date,how come they are so successful at cyber warfare.
Alwyn is still pumping out their fake news and propaganda Putin’s Puppet.
“Alwyn is still pumping out their fake news and propaganda Putin’s Puppet”
Are you always as drunk and incoherent at this time of day?
By the way. When are you going to tell me where the “Mankato” University you are fond of talking about is? https://thestandard.org.nz/joyce-resigns-from-parliament/#comment-1457868
Strange bedfellows Farrar and sections of the intellectual left.
I hear “Puteen and his 13 troll dwarfs” comes out in paperback next year. Soon to be followed by “Sauron’s chemical weapons attack – we know it was you.. so tell us why it wasn’t!” Straight to dvd.
I think any assassinations are not OK by any country.
As well as all the usual countries you would expect, USA had the most drone assassinations under the Obama government. NZ is pretty much trying to ignore the deaths of civilians from our own military in Afghanistan.
Don’t forget the UK started bombing Iraq illegally and against what many of the British people wanted.
So I think while it’s disgusting that apparently Russian’s are openly assassinating people in the UK, it’s not like it’s a one off or they are alone in the world assassinating people in other countries.
Assassination is a growth industry of governments. And its hypocritical to condemn when you are guilty of it yourself.
So far we have May’s assertion that Porton Down has identified the nerve agent as from the Novichok group , originally developed (so it is said, no samples have been scientifically analysed and identified up to now)30 years ago in Russia, and Uzbekistan
Personally, what with the collapse of the Soviet Union and all those chemists who decamped to the west, I’m not convinced Russia managed to hang on to it
So , and wrongly I think, May has identified the means
The motive?
Oh Jesus, you pick it
Sending a message?
Not the kind of message I’d be going for if the OPCW had just declared I’d destroyed all my chemical weapons.
Revenge?
In intelligence circles apparently there is a convention that Spy swaps are sacrosanct,you don’t go after ex spies pardoned and released as part of a spy swap otherwise you fuck up the whole system, its against your interests
Stupidity?
Nah
Noobody knows at present except maybe the victims and I hope they recover, or the perpetrators
Let the OPCW do their work I say instead of muddying the waters with pre emptive
declarations of retaliation
Sorry Cinny, a bit of a long rant
Skripal’s area of concern or operation was Russia. If his killing was politically motivated, and the means of killing him suggest it was not a random local attack, then the obvious suspect is some state or person aggrieved by his activities. In his case that means Russia rather than North Korea, the other country that recently carried out a nerve gas assassination.
The poisoning of former agents is a Russian trope. There was the thalium umbrella poisoning, and the Yuschenko poisoning as well as the Litvinenko poisoning in England and a number of others.
May has stated that the agent was Novichok. It is doubtful she is so up on nerve agents as to have made that up – it will be the finding of some person better qualified in nerve agent chemistry than bloggers. The investigators will be annoyed she let that cat out of the bag as they prefer to contain such details to sort false claims of responsibility. Novichok is of Russian origin, and it is probable that if anyone has access to any it would be the FSB.
Stuart, could you point to those agents who had been arrested then pardoned as part of a spy swap?Then assassinated
Thanks , because I’m not finding it
Litvinenko.. ex FSB…employee of Berezovsky, who himself was rubbished by a British judge .Never part of a spy swap as far as I can tell
The thalium umbrella poisoning..never heard of it
The ricin umbrella poisoning on the other hand takes us back to 1978, when a Bulgarian dissident and writer was “implanted ” with a ricin pellet, via umbrella spike
So that was Georgi Markov, killed by a Bulgarian agent who may or may not have been helped by the KGB
That is still speculation
Yuschenko..A Ukrainian presidential candidate poisoned with dioxin at a dinner in Kiev.Survived after an illness of about 18 mths
Scientists have not been able to determine where the toxin( same as in Agent Orange)came from or who the perpetrator was.But knowing what a hellhole Ukraine has been with its gangsters and warring oligarchs, take your pick
Again, as the spy swap program is considered sacrosanct on all sides, can you point to me your examples , because I have read that this is the first time, and a real departure
Russia being the only possessor of Novichoks?
No, I don’t think the world works like that, I’ve banged on about that already. Even Macro recognises that others would most probably have it
Thalium relates to Nikolai Evgenievich Khokhlov of course – did your FSB briefing not include it?
Ricin – Russian deniability if you buy it. I certainly don’t.
and of course the Russians have “no motive at all” to poison Ukrainian politicians – it’s like the BUK – must’ve been some other aggressive invading imperialistic power with late soviet weapons systems.
“I don’t think the world works like that”
Russia certainly possessed the Novichok agents in greater quantity and accessibility than any other nation during the time that they were developing them.
Although it is possible other parties or nations have the capacity to recreate Novichok, such a sophisticated operation could probably find a more reliable and less obtrusive means of disposing of Skripal, supposing they wished to do so. Your counter presumption, that unknown parties offed Skripal to fit up Russia suffers from lack of evidence. There is simply nothing to suggest that it is anything other than a convenient Kremlin fantasy.
Still looking for the thalium umbrella
Khokhlov I’m afraid is going too far back for me, the Soviet days
I’m looking for previous instances of agents released in spy swaps who then get assassinated by the Russian govt
Never happened before because its against ones own interests to undermine the swap system
And I don’t know who poisoned the Skripals, and neither do you, but by god, there’s certainly a lot of capital being made out of it
And it certainly isn’t going to make for a fair and just investigation
For all I know some family member of someone betrayed by Skripal hired a hitman, a lot of murky things go in in Eastern Europe, it seems to be aswill with weapons sold on the black market
I just find it hard to believe that Russia would sully its reputation for something as petty as revenge, when it had just completed the arduous and long process under the OPCW of destroying its chemical weapons
To then turn around 6 months later and provocatively use a chemical weapon on a target that would point straight back to itself just doesn’t cut the logic mustard http://www.dw.com/en/russia-destroys-last-cold-war-era-chemical-weapons/a-40714097
So why go the enormous expense of destroying your chemical weapons under the auspices of the OPCW
Thats about reputation, first and foremost
Otherwise, why do it?
In 2008 Oleg Gordievsky alleged he’d poisoned with the same substance.
Police are investigating allegations that a former Russian spy who defected to Britain was poisoned in an attempt to assassinate him.
Oleg Gordievsky spent 34 hours unconscious in hospital after falling ill at his home in Guildford in November. He was initially partially paralysed and still has no feeling in his fingers.
Mr Gordievsky, the highest-ranking Soviet spy to defect to the West, claimed he was the victim of a Kremlin-inspired assassination attempt similar to that alleged to have killed the former security agent Alexander Litvinenko.
“I’ve known for some time that I am on the assassination list drawn up by rogue elements in Moscow. It was obvious to me I had been poisoned,” he told The Mail on Sunday. He accused MI6 of forcing Special Branch to drop its early investigations into his allegations.
Mr Gordievsky claims he was poisoned with thallium, a highly toxic metal used in insecticides which was favoured by the KGB in assassinations during the Cold War. Mr Litvinenko was poisoned with polonium, a radioactive element.
Russia more comfortable with its enemies creating economic inequality and helping fund divisive right wing backward looking Nationalism.
Putin is playing the West cyber warfare unstoppable Hypersonic ICBM’s
Ukraine Georgian and Crimean land grabs.
Backing the Sryrian regime .
Arms sales are one of Russia’s main exports ,creating conflict’s helps increase sales as oil prices are down.
Thank you all for the info, you guys are awesome. Helps to get my head around it all. Wonder if there’s anyone who doesn’t make money via war, far out.
theresa may, she’s worn, unpopular and clinging to leadership, desperate now to mark her mark.
Putin…. knocking people off is part of the Russian culture, maybe he’s just over people blaming Russia and is either being bold about his moves or ignoring the critics and just being Putin. Maybe it has nothing to do with Putin. Standby for the doco-drama film…
Media have a huge part to play in this, I wonder who is really pushing the narrative and what do they have to gain…war sells papers/gets clicks.
Time for NZ to become a republic lolololol 🙂 🙂 ?
Am sick of all the global conflict/greed, thought we would have evolved more by now.
Humans are like a culture of yeast in an finite ecosystem as yeast greedily gobbling up all the sugar exceating alcohol eventually killing its self at around 13% alcohol.
Humans are greedily gobbling up all the resources the planet has killing any one who gets in the way and the environment with all our forms of excrement.
As awful as the alleged attack on Russian double agent and his daughter, it is not as awful as the proven Russian and the Assad regime continued breach of the U.N. Security Council mandated 30 day ceasefire for Eastern Ghouta. Despite the fact that Security Council member Russia had voted for the resolution. Russia’s ally Syria, had voted for the resolution in the General Assembly.
“Briefing Security Council on Syria Ceasefire Resolution, Secretary-General Says Humanitarian Convoys Remain Unable to Safely Enter Eastern Ghouta”
Despite the demands of the Security Council’s resolution for a ceasefire in Syria, humanitarian convoys had not been able to enter eastern Ghouta without impediment, members heard today as the Secretary‑General provided an update on the situation.
António Guterres, United Nations Secretary‑General, reporting on the implementation of resolution 2401 (2018), said that there had been no cessation of hostilities in parts of Syria, and violence continued not only in eastern Ghouta but also in Afrin, Idlib, and Damascus and its suburbs. The delivery of humanitarian aid had not been safe or unimpeded, and no sieges had been lifted. He also underscored that efforts to combat terrorist groups did not supersede those humanitarian obligations.
In a disgusting act devoid of humanitarian principles, the Syrian regime has been removing medical supplies from few aid convoys that have been allowed to enter the besieged region of Eastern Ghouta. Though terrible, this act is in keeping with the regime’s targeting of independent hospitals and rescue workers.
On 5 March, the United Nations had sent an inter‑agency convoy of 46 trucks to Douma in eastern Ghouta with food for 27,500 people, representing only one third of the requested beneficiaries, all in desperate need, he continued. Syrian authorities had removed most of the health supplies, with the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that only 30 per cent of medical supplies in the convoy had been allowed to proceed. On 9 March, a 13‑truck convoy had reached Douma, delivering the remaining food assistance. Shelling occurred nearby, despite assurances given by all parties. In Douma, relief workers described conditions as shocking: people sheltering in overcrowded basements with limited access to food, water and sanitation. In eastern Ghouta, health partners advised that some 1,000 people required urgent medical evacuation, which the United Nations was ready to support, in cooperation with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. A prioritized list of those in greatest need had been shared with Syria, and he urged a positive response.
Both Haley and Trump are finally beginning to accept the truth of Putin.
And by the time Mueller is done with the entire Trump organisation and family, they will be both apologising for their complicity with Putin, and in jail where they should be:
Some of the comments on this site smack of McCarthyism in the 50s.
There are many Russophobic folk here.
A study of the Syrian War shows bad being done on all sides, yet we are continually hectored on this site by the neocons that only Assad and Russia are had.
For some reason they feel that Putin and RTV have a monopoly on propaganda.
They so easily forget 9/11, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, the Ukraine…
Yes its great when the International Community gets its shit together and decides the outcome of an investigation before the evidence is produced and presented as per international conventions like the CWC
I’m so proud!
Don’t you just love the rule of law?
They got their shit together in 2011 , too, and did Libya over real good
Well, Ghadaffi had it coming what with the viagra and the black mercenaries and the genocide and all
And those Rooskies deserve it , they’re so STOOOOPID always gassing and things at the most embarrassing times for them , just when the OPCW declares them free of chemical weapons, elections coming up, the World Cup, finalising Nordstream.
Its worked out well for the weapons industry though, bumper sales
Kaching!
,
Sometimes the most obvious explanation for an event is the most obvious and given that the main suspect nation has considerable form and that initial evidence points in a certain direction it is not surprising that there is condemnation from like minded countries.
There will of course be ongoing investigation and I’m sure there will be behind the scenes communication and maneuvering between the UK and Russia, I’m hoping there will be a bit of a change in behavior once Putin is voted back in and he will roll back on the rather extreme nationalism and bigotry that have been on display over the last several months.
Alwyn who doesn’ t know what FB means.
Russia hasn’t stood still spies will have stolen any tech deficiencies they have had.
So if you think Russia hasn’t kept up to date,how come they are so successful at cyber warfare.
Alwyn is still pumping out their fake news and propaganda Putin’s Puppet.Put
You may not be aware of the seriousness of the use of chemical weapons against another country Ed, or more likely be concerned to downplay it out of misplaced loyalty to your Kremlin master.
In this instance the presence of the WMD is already established – it is not a PR artifact to be sold to US opinion formers.
No Sir, we should be asking what planet you come from? Because it’s sounds like you are not following the events in the Baltic States, Putin comments IRT Finland and Sweden of late.
How refreshing to have a party leader willing and able to stand up to bullshit, and media frenzies, and exercise wise judgment, with a clear and sensible way forward.
Recognise that there are 2 possibilities (the Russian government, or Mafia-like rogues who’ve acquired the chemical agents as the result of lax Russian oversight); Complete an investigation. Hold the perps to account. Exclude Russian money from the UK political system. Stop servicing Russian chronic capitalism int he UK.
I question why are there only these 2 possibilities, both originating in Russia?
Soviet era chemists (like Mirzayanov , the self declared creator of Novichok)have spread far and wide in the world, Israel, Canada, Uk, Us,their knowledge and expertise welcome
Mirzayanov has published a book on the Soviet program, complete with formulas for the legendary novichoks
Please, doesn’t logic lead to the idea that the ability to produce novichoks is now out there in the wide world?
As well, Russia may be the inheritor state of the Soviet Union, but after 1991 it was a lawless chaotic mess, incapable of maintaining security ,and totally vulnerable to the criminal looting and pillaging that indeed went on all through the soviet satellite states
When a society collapses, everythings up for grab
As an example
Who but the Russian government would be interested in killing a retiree and his daughter? Their is no motive other than retribution and message sending. While Trump is so obviously pro-Russia, Putin is using that to play some dirty tricks because he knows there will be little consequence.
Would the Russian government kill people for political purposes? Yes.
Would the UK government kill people for political purposes? Yes.
Would most governments in the world kill people for political purposes? Yes.
Would the Russian government kill a retired British spy….?
Trump is so obviously pro Russia he’s sent lethal weapons to Ukraine, increased sanctions, bombed its allies in Syria,weighed in with all the other toadies at the UN denouncing Putin
Are you some kind of political virgin?
Unaware of mischief making amongst the various intelligence agencies over the last few hundred years?
the perfect crime…. get rid of a nuisance whether he knows too much about the Steele dossier..or has become too demanding, maybe wants his BMW upgraded one too many times..
Who knows who he’s pissed off
Traitors aren’t known for their loyalty or moral fibre
Kill a lot of birds with one stone, upping the pressure on Russia to comply, to “behave” , code for opening up wide for foreign corporations, stop opposing American imperialism
Big picture here
“Who but the Russian government would be interested in killing a retiree and his daughter?”
Depends…..he could have pissed off anyone, who knows? He will, his daughter will not.
I seem to remember that the Americans have refused to destroy their stocks of chemical weapons. Surely they have the capacity to manufacture the nerve agent used in the UK attack, and who is to say they haven’t allowed this to be used, by accident or design, by some other country; vicious secretly nuclear-powered Israel comes to mind.
I can’t see why Israel would attempt to murder this particular retired British spy BG.
It would be good to know what Sergei Skripal was doing in his retirement and what circles he moved in, or in what/whose orbits he traveled.
It would also be good to have the identity of the poison verified by the relevant international bodies, as well as clarity on where Novichok was purportedly produced in the first place (both Uzbekistan and deep in Russia have been reported) before getting on to the signature of this particular sample.
When I saw the initial reports (in the Guardian) I immediately thought “here we go”. I was going to throw up a post and map the progress of mainstream reporting as things built. Wish I hadn’t been so damned lazy.
Yep
We have been told in various news accounts he met regularly with his old handler Pablo Miller who also lives in Salisbury and up until his Linked in profile was scrubbed, still working for his old boss Steele , ie Orbis who would have handled Skripals spy drops (the old plastic rock in Moscow caper)until 2004 when he was discovered
Often the beginning of a story , before an “official ” story has emerged, includes a lot more information
When the official story coalesces you only get the stuff that reinforces the already agreed
When Russia opened up its chemical weapons facilities to the OPCW, there should be some documentation available
Then there’s the other exiled Russian who spied for Britain claiming that Skripal regularly visited the Russian Embassy
“Last night, another former Russian agent exiled in the UK, Valery Morozov, claimed that Mr Skripal had maintained ties with Russian intelligence and visited the Russian embassy in London “every month”.
Mr Morozov told Channel 4 news “If you have a military intelligence officer working in the Russian diplomatic service, living after retirement in the UK, working in cyber-security and every month going to the embassy to meet military intelligence officers – for me being political refugee, it is either a certain danger or, frankly speaking, I thought that this contact might not be very good for me because it can bring some questions from British officials.”
Who knows
I have read that he was missing Russia
Berezovsky was said to be wanting to repair relations with Putin and hoped to return shortly before his demise too
Seemed he led a pretty quiet life
I’ve also read that Yulia came over every 2nd month
China would be a better case for a third party – a stoush between the west and Russia reduces the pressure on them. But it would be a mighty long shot.
Bill about Corbyn
Nevertheless he has to watch his back, and pull his punches
Witness how Macron was pulled pretty smartly in to line after showing too much spunk
And the pressure we ourselves are under from the Brits and God knows who else over the FTA with Russia
Funnily enough, after Crimea, and the trade delegation was practically pulled off the plane, NZ quietly continued to trade with Russia, Fonterra in particular
This happened in 2002 and 2003 when the drum for war against Iraq was beaten loudly and repetitively by the media.
I understand the media’s motivations. They are owned by large financial interests and War is profitable.
What I don’t understand is the number of neocons and Mcarthyites on this site.
I’m not counting the obvious trolls, but others who are left wing domestically but have a blind spot internationally; despite Iraq, they still cling to the Blairite doctrine.
Two civilians and a policeman were hospitalized after what has proven to be a chemical attack. Fact. You can bleat about Novichok but you’re not qualified to dispute Portland Down’s evidence and neither is MoonofAlabama.
There was good reason to suppose that Iraqi envoys (Zahawie) visited Niger in search of “yellowcake” uranium ore, but no evidence of a deal or a shipment.
Can you spot the difference?
One relates to an actual attack – the other is little more than an intention.
The fact of the attack proves the existence of some kind of chemical agent.
Yes, but after the existence of Novichok became known to the West, are you sure that the West did not reproduce it to look for antidotes? Maybe 6 miles away from Shrewsbury?
Sorry, but at my age with what I have read in History, I lack your confidence in the veracity of what the standard western media spew out.
Tonkin Gulf… Weapons of Mass destruction… Hit and Run… How often have we really been told the truth?
A natural disaster, being copied by an unnatural disaster.
The proto-dinosaurids of the Permian era were not responsible for deliberately burning the coal, that destroyed their climate, causing the extinction of 90% of all life on earth.
The coal fields were ignited by the intrusion of liquid magma from the Earth’s core.
A more advanced warm blooded species has found a way to deliberately burn all that buried carbon and put it back into the atmosphere.
“Burning coal may have caused Earth’s worst mass extinction”
Levels of various metals in the rock samples were critical in identifying the culprit of this mass extinction event. As in end-Permian samples collected from other locations around the world, Burger didn’t find the kinds of rare metals that are associated with asteroid impacts. There simply isn’t evidence that an asteroid struck at the right time to cause the Great Dying.
However, Burger did find high levels of mercury and lead in his samples, coinciding with the end of the Permian period. Mercury has also been identified in end-Permian samples from other sites. Lead and mercury aren’t associated with volcanic ash, but they are a byproduct of burning coal. Burger also identified a shift from heavier carbon-13 to lighter carbon-12; the latter results from burning fossil fuels.
Scientists are observing many of the same signs of dangerously rapid climate change today. There’s more lighter carbon-12 in the atmosphere because the increase in atmospheric carbon levels is due entirely to humans burning fossil fuels. There are an increasing number of dead zones in the oceans. Burning coal was causing acid rain, although we largely solved that problem through Clean Air Acts, and in the US, a sulfur dioxide cap and trade system implemented by a Republican administration.
We’ve had less success in tackling carbon dioxide pollution, which continues to rise. As a result, the oceans are becoming increasingly acidic, and temperatures increasingly hot. Scientists today also worry about potentially large releases of methane from the ocean floor and Arctic.
These are some of the similarities between the climate change that nearly wiped out life on Earth 252 million years ago and the climate change today. Both appear to have largely been caused by burning coal. A 2011 study found that over the past 500 years, species are now going extinct at least as fast as they did during the five previous mass extinction events.
It’s enough to make you think; maybe coal isn’t so beautiful and clean after all.
“This full potential can only be realised, when government promotes energy development.”
As a new fossil fuel pall is being threatened to be expanded around the globe, one small country needs to take an independent stand, to show that another way is possible.
With these incredible resources my government we will not only achieve the energy independence, we have been looking for so long, but American energy dominance.
And we are gonna be an exporter, an exporter.
We will be dominant. We will export American energy all over the world, all around the globe.
These energy exports will create countless jobs for our people, and provide true energy security to our friends, partners and allies, all across the globe.
This full potential can only be realised, when government promotes energy development.
Lots of Fonterra reps in the room. In his speech he mentioned their commitment to no more new coal fired dryers in a few years. A wry smile: “Well … it’s a start.”
Lol. It’s going to be really interesting to see what changes in the next decade if we get three terms of a govt with the Greens holding that portfolio.
How I learned to stop worrying and love my census.
A few weeks back I decided to take the option of requesting paper forms. Went to the census website, clicked the request paper form option and completed the request. I got a reply saying that it would take up to a week to receive the forms.
A week later, nothing.
So I went online again to the census site, and used the page to submit a question – saying I hadn’t received my paper form.
Both submissions required a contact address. I gave them my email addy.
Another week past – nothing. Last evening I had a knock on my door. My first thought on opening it, especially as it looked like someone official with logos and clip board, etc, was that it was finally someone delivering my census forms. But then I focused on the Mercury logos, and said” Oh, you’re from Mercury. Not interested.” – the guy thought I must have had a bad experience with Mercury in the past.
Then I went to my letter box and found 2 envelops from the census people. I thought it must finally be my forms. But, No. Each envelop contained a repeat of the original form with my code, telling me how to complete the census.
So then I tried to request paper forms by my landline. I took the phone away from my ear to key in my code. When I got the phone back to my ear, I caught the end of something telling me to key something into the keypad, but not what – couldn’t get back to the automaton telling me what to do next.
Gave up on that and went back to making another online request.
I did recall that some people were told the online census often only works properly with google chrome.
So since last night I have made requests on 3 different browsers for paper forms – plus sent a message saying how useless the system is.
It’s now become something of an experiment – how much of a hole is this in the census instructions?
Now, I know some people will say that I should just complete the online form – it’s easier. But any submission of data via the Internet is hackable. I dislike the way we are increasingly pressured to put our data online.
And if they give you an option for complying with a legal requirement, it bloody well should work.
I had similar problems, not as bad but still made me think of really dysfunctional systems. I just phoned them directly and sorted it out that way. Not great, but it did work out in the end.
Did you get a person on the phone? how? Which number? because all I’ve seen/heard are automatons.
Edit: hah. I rang the number. Ignored the option to press #1 to request a form, and pressed#2 to talk to someone in English.
The guy said he had now ordered paper forms to be sent to me. He said the system had read my request for paper forms as a request for new forms just with the code (not the paper ones).
I’m always impressed how Brisband produces some great thinkers on the left. You know the left that actually sees there is a class struggle going on. That the nature of liberal capitalism is effectively one of conflict. Also good to see the ALP has as much bullshit thinking on economics as NZLP.
If you need a dose of reality, then this piece is for you, if you are happy with the current crop of voodoo economics then please avoid. I’d also point out the author uses Marx and marxists analysis in their argument, so that might be a bit much, if you think it would be a bit much for you, then again, please avoid.
There needs to be a wider public conversation around ‘Is This The Sort of Country/Economy We Want’. The sort of thing that was once covered to some degree by documentaries and discussion panels on Public Television.
For instance, we have the Government promising more RSE workers* and, more importantly, refugees to the Hawkes Bay for apple picking.
Now ignoring the fact that Refugee settlement is not supposed to be a source of cheap labour for seasonal jobs, the fact is there is a well recognised housing crisis in the Bay.
Not to mention the report pointing out that the Hawkes Bay was not equipped for refugees.
I dread this development, its only a matter of time before we have shanty towns as part of our ‘Regional Economic Development Plan….infact we already have orchard workers living in shipping containers…but out of sight is out of mind apparently
*which is what Labour campaigned on, hence there were more orchard owners than pickers at their electionaring road show..that Labour didn’t campaign on better wages for pickers is odd, given its such a ‘great’ industry, yet binn rates haven’t increased in 25 years, and most orchards are now just paying minimum hourly wage, tough luck when it rains..
Good evening Eric young from Prime News it good to see a lot of people like you showing respect for Maori culture.
Its a shame to see that bridge collapse America my condolences to all the people who got hurt.
Southern response government insurance the way they behave is because shonky started that bad behaviour and a lot of government agencies behave like that insurance company.
Its good to see Te papa up grading it facilities It a excellent museum. Ka kite ano.
Newshub on TV3 the plastic bottles were forced on to us and we were cond into using plastic milk bottles by multi national companies we should not have abandoned glass bottles they are the environmental friendly option glass bottles provided a streem of pocket money for the mokos
Its a good thing to switch back to glass bottles.
Good Ron Marks I see he is a honorable Kiwi leader who respect OUR environment he recycl every thing he can Ka pai Kia kaha Ka kite ano.
Is it just me, or are we seeing the degree of pedantry rising on TS….especially this year…from a fair few contributors.
How about we just acknowledge how very clever and educated and sophisticated with huge dicks some people are.
Also that some (others-not me of course) just don’t/cannot live up to the smartness, the smarminess, the value, the richness, the supreme intellect of some contributors here.
Truly, i just live in awe sometimes and wish I could be ‘like Mike’ and others.
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dog’s shit for others to deal with doesn’t make you a hero – it’s precious and entitled behaviour. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stood on the shoreline of Auckland’s Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by ‘working as little as possible’. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like “what do you do for a crust?” “I teach chemistry at university,” is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
Winston Peters might not give a ‘rat’s derriere’ about last night’s poll, but it revealed the unusual absence of a honeymoon period and little payoff for the government’s action plan approach, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco de Jong, Lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset. ...
The government's treatment of Māori raised eyebrows, with countries saying New Zealand needed to do more to reduce health, education and justice inequities. ...
The age of criminal responsibility was one of numerous human rights issues raised during Aotearoa New Zealand’s UPR. Other key themes were racism and discrimination, the disproportionate representation of Māori in prison, and to uphold the UN Declaration ...
In a sitdown interview ahead of his final day at Parliament this week, the former Green Party co-leader tells RNZ about his lowest point during 2017's rough election campaign. ...
Is the fringe radio station really in a financial crisis, or is it just running a hyped-up donation drive? Fringe internet radio station Reality Check Radio was launched by the anti-vaccine mandates group Voices for Freedom in March 2023. For the next year, it undertook probably the most aggressive promotional ...
Above the Fold: On Monday, the biggest Māori screen production company faced down the biggest funder of Māori content at the High Court. It was an incredibly tense moment – then, just as quickly, it resolved. Duncan Greive breaks down a strange day in the screen sector.Yesterday morning, Māori ...
It’s a ride that’s lasted almost 30 years for mother and daughter BMX riders Nancy and Toni James, and the next stop is the World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Almost 27 years ago, Nancy and her husband Gerrard took their oldest child, Daniel, to the Waitākere BMX Club. ...
When it comes to talking about the Government’s controversial fast-track consenting process, political scientist Richard Shaw refers to the famous Chinese sci-fi novel Three-Body Problem, while RNZ’s In Depth journalist Farah Hancock talks about zombie projects. Shaw is referring to the three-party coalition Government and how the proposed legislation is ...
Opinion: The debate over single gender versus co-educational schooling has long been controversial. I went to a co-ed school and was inspired by a remarkable woman who was my maths teacher, and because of her deep knowledge and passion for the subject, I knew that maths was definitely an option ...
He won everything and he earned a knighthood and he was a senior literary figure to the point that he was a living monument to himself until his death in the weekend at 86, but there was something about Vincent O’Sullivan that flew under the radar, that was independent and ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The rate of women killed by their partners in Australia grew by 28% from 2021–22 to 2022–23, according to new statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology ...
Ministry of Disabled People employees were promised a permanent role, but were told to start packing three weeks before their fixed term contract finished, says a former employee. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Clean Energy Council / Neoen As Australia’s rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached “saturation point” and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan C. Walsh, Sessional Academic, The University of Queensland Arrest for witchcraft (1866) by John PettieNGV, CC BY-NC In recent decades, governments the world over have increasingly taken action to address the dark history of witch-hunting. In western Europe, memorials to ...
By Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent The US Department of Justice is being urged to condemn and cease its reliance on the “Insular Cases” — a series of US Supreme Court opinions on US territories, which have been labelled racist. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kara Dadswell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Victoria University Ask your son or daughter, niece, or nephew to draw you a picture of a sport coach. They will most probably draw a man. Why? Our latest research published in the Psychology of Sport ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Rinehart, Professor, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Director, Krongold Clinic (Research), Monash University Shutterstock/Brian A. Jackson “Charlie” is an eight-year-old child with autism. Her parents are worried because she often responds to requests with insults, aggression and refusal. Simple demands, such ...
A challenge to all the resolute keyboard heroes out there: Get active!
“Cyber space warriorism get’s us no where, it’s just therapeutic venting at a distance.”
A quote from a commentator on The Daily Blog.
If we want to effect change, we need to take to the streets! We need to get in the face of authority and, yes, risk personal discomfort.
Change won’t happen in cyberspace!
With due respect to that commenter on TDB, who probably meant well (but there’s no link for context), I think such statement, on its own, is naive and orthodox and smells like sentimental nostalgia. It seems to be oblivious of internet, online, digital, or social media activism, for example. Now, if you were to combine old-school activism, whatever that is, and ‘modernise’ it, with digital activism you start to make much more sense. Some things that used to work in ‘the old days’ are still incredibly effective …
All political action needs good strategy and this is a great topic for a post here.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/03/15/must-read-stepping-over-the-homeless-on-our-way-to-the-americas-cup-village/
Last comment by JohnnyBG who seems to have had an activist past.
I think digital communications can help if coordinated well with offline activism – informing people; setting up a meet point; telling people what to bring with them; informing them of issues behind the activism, etc.
JohnnyBG was a guitarist, and no key board hero.
“Who never ever learned to read or write so well
But he could play a guitar just like a-ringin’ a bell.”
His activist past is well documented,
“Go go
Go Johnny go go
Go Johnny go go
Go Johnny go go
Go Johnny go go
Johnny B. Goode”
Just the words take me back to my early days listening to pop music.
You have revived in my head the music of the truly great Chuck Berry.
I’m off to YouTube to listen again to the song of my youth.
If the commenter is that keen on changing budgetary proprities, they wil be organising their resistance through the Council budget process, which is on now.
If you think that’s just too hard and cumbersome, you will be surprised to read that on current consultation numbers, Aucklands currently favour increasing taxes on transport, directly upon Aucklanders.
If the blogger really thinks that “keyboard warriors” have no effect, they will be surprised that the Council budget including the transport project priorities alter after consultation by betwee\n 20 and 25%.
The blogger would do well to have a chat with Generation Zero and ask them: what part did marching up the street in crowds play to changing the entire transport policies of two parties (who are now in government), and draft the Zero Carbon bill (now heading for Parliament).
But as usual, at The Daily Blog, it’s really important to feel real, get out there on the streets, get all mo’shizzle with the kids, and rather than change the system, get out there like Lisa Praeger did yesterday and take to the pavement with a sledgehammer.
For which she was duly arrested for destroying public property.
And achieved nothing.
For those who are not up with the play re Lisa Prager and her sledgehammer, here is an article on Stuff this morning:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/102298217/anticycleway-protester-arrested-after-destroying-traffic-island-with-sledgehammer
But if you think that sledgehammers are the way to go, here is an assessment of Prager’s sledgehammering technique and her results (bad; ) and a bit of practical advice on how to do it properly and save your back.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/auckland/15-03-2018/the-spinoff-reviews-new-zealand-56-lisa-pragers-sledgehammer-technique/
Some much more sane advice from Marianne Elliott to Prager
https://twitter.com/zenpeacekeeper/status/974113987062251520
i made my way over to a tpp march/protest one day the only discomfort i suffered was the bit were i was in danger of being hugged by strangers. nice people but hardly pulse raising.
At the Labour Party Youth Wing camp were you?
“i was in danger of being hugged by strangers”
It is good to see people fighting back in Christchurch against the looting of water from the area for private overseas profit.
Court is one thing.
Cantabrians could follow the Bolivian example and boot foreign water companies out.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/102307238/ecan-accused-of-bending-the-law-over-consents-for-water-bottling-plants
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hn9wujK0ho4
They could, but Is it really a practical solution in New Zealand where we like to give everyone a fair go?
The total sum being removed for bottling is marginal as a percentage
That is what the people in California thought.
Until there was a drought nobody worried that outsiders had bought up “old” water rights.
Then they found crops being bowled.
The owners of the water rights could make more from on selling water than keeping 50 year walnut trees, workers and factories.
Jobs went. Local economy crumbled. We need to protect our free water from predators like that.
That’s what the people of India thought.
And CocaCola took their water.
Coca Cola took all the water in India? Do you understand the meaning of hyperbole?
I’d drink coke before I drank the water in India and I despise coke.
You mean in ALL of India @ SM or are you just being your usual ‘know it all’ pompous smart arse gittus?
Ditt Tuppence.
I only ask because there a parts of India (very large parts) where sinking a bore down 100-200 feet produces the most pristine H2O…..far superior to the shit we’ve seen in Hawkes Bay and Canterbury.
There are also people a lot more concerned and knowledgable about preserving the water table than most seem to be in NZ (and that’s despite the lack of rubbish collection and preponderance of surface pollution).
They could teach a few farmers about how to handle cow shit too
The total iron sands being removed from Australia is marginal as a percentage too.On that basis it should be free as well.
False equivalence, I never said it should be free. I just don’t object to bottling water and selling it. It’d be better if they only sold in reusable bottles of course.
That’s probably why they have limits on the amount allowed to be taken so they can prevent this Being an issue.
The key word being “Probably”
And that’s why people are getting active – they want to know or already know whether that “probably” is true or not.
As they and many people ought to.
But it is
My understanding from recent news was that another issue with this water take was the drilling of a new well bore alongside a shallower one and the subsequent risk of cross contamination between two aquifers. The site was formerly a wool scouring plant and that may compound the problem. The deeper bore reaches into the aquifer supplying Christchurch drinking water.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/03/chinese-company-drills-water-bore-in-christchurch-despite-council-warning.html
The very idea that a water right for a radically different purpose should be transferable is absurd. The bottling company should have had to make a fresh application based on the situation regarding water now and in the foreseeable future, not leech off a right that should have expired with the demise of the business that secured it legitimately.
You know it’s not looting if they are doing it legally right?
According to the article I’ve cited above, a lawyer disagrees and legal action has been filed. The deeper bore was drilled against Council advice.
Is there any legal or moral constraint to the practice of buying a factory with an existing water use (in this case for wool scouring ) in order to use the water right for another and entirely different purpose (in this case the selling of the water overseas by an overseas owner)?
Apart from the ethical issue, there is a practical issue of possible contamination of a city water supply as well.
How long before overseas companies buy a Marlborough vineyard with an existing water right and bottle that, without bothering with cycling it first through a grape vine?
10 litres of bottled costs $27 in China. A vineyard may have a water right of 12 litres per vine per day. That, for a 5 ha vineyard, is 159,000 litres per day. At the $27/10l price, that is $430,000 per day- $157,285,800 per annum. I bet that’s just a bit more than a 5ha vineyard produces in wine!
My point exactly. Seller selling “on behalf of citizens” Councils, (in this case ECAN a political construct), not knowing the real worth of the item, not doing what they should for their rate payers, being sloppy and ignorant, even dubious or dangerous in their actions.
Were the sales legitimate?
How many wells is the new owner of the old scouring works allowed to sink?
How come they can enlarge the original right to such a degree?
The law will decide, and this will pause work while that is settled, quite rightly.
Merely requiring formal legality is setting a pretty low bar.
What sort of people do you think exercise the most influence over what is legal and what is not?
Historically, looting of the commons has often been made legal.
You do realise looting is legal under neoliberal economics right?
Well that may be true when the sale is to the “Crown”. This is not the case here.
Our law says you must show true ownership to sell something legally. ECAN?????
Elegantly phrased, Grey Area. And on the button.
That’s how neoliberalism work.
Organised theft.
AJ put out a fascinating documentary a couple of years back, on this very topic.
Nature wasn’t produced to be sold. It’s not just another product.
“By examining the commercialisation of nature, something that has been in the making for nearly 50 years, we speak to the biggest players in this global arena – the economists championing a “green” economy and the environmentalists challenging it.”
I read the news today.
“Global warming threatening species’ survival, WWF warns
Up to half of the plant and animal species in the Galapagos Islands and the Amazon could be extinct by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report warns.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/352643/global-warming-threatening-species-survival-wwf-warns
When I read this article about the WWF, it reminded me about the book End Game by Derek Jensen. I would recommend Standard readers read Jensen for their enlightenment.
This quote of Jensen’s sums up the problem.
“Make no mistake, our economic system can do no other than destroy everything it encounters. That’s what happens when you convert living beings to cash. That conversion, from living trees to lumber, schools of cod to fish sticks, and onward to numbers on a ledger, is the central process of our economic system. Psychologically, it is the central process of our enculturation; we are most handsomely rewarded in direct relation to the manner in which we can help increase the Gross National Product.”
We abandon capitalism or our children and grandchildren die.
The new puritans are having their way, at least for now…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12011927
“”All cinematographers have been instructed to exercise discretion while shooting the women’s heats.”
(my bold)
Seems okay.
Except if you are a female surfer getting a nice big sponsorship deal from a bikini maker who suddenly sees no value in the deal.
A woman being paid in a mutually entered into contract to wear a high cut bikini in a televised competition is surely exercising her agency to chose what she wears, and has to have an expectation of close up shots.
In those circumstance it is worrying that a TV broadcaster feels browbeaten by various feminist puritans into self censorship over broadcasting images of a woman’s backside.
Worrying…
No, it’s not…
why the hell would they wear them if they don’t want you to look . serious question ?
surly if a woman has her boobs and but hanging out i’m allowed to enjoy the view ?
(no touching rude comments or wolf whistles of course)
I know this might come as a surprise (seriously, but listen to this) – some women like the way they feel when they dress in different ways and it has nothing to do with men.
There is a difference between quietly appreciating the beauty of someone’s body, and ogling. Camera operators zooming in on bikini bottoms is clearly in the latter category. It makes women feel uncomfortable, so just don’t do it.
Short answer no. Unless a woman gives express and enthusiastic consent to be looked at by a male, regardless of what she is wearing … it’s unwanted ogling. All unwanted male sexual behaviour is either criminal or shameful. Don’t do it, look elsewhere.
“LAST CHANCE TO SIGN! PETITION TO SAVE TE KUHA FROM COAL MINING CLOSES THIS SUNDAY, 18 MARCH!”
Good point Jenny, are Labour Greenies? I think it’s neoliberalism first, liberalism 2nd and environmentalism is just something to try and pretend to do.
Natz and NZ First are similar neoliberalism first, liberalism 2nd and environmentalism something to deny as being loony.
Then when Pike river happens they can’t work out why neoliberalism first, liberalism 2nd and environmentalism something to deny as being loony doesn’t work out in any way, they kill people, leave them to die because they can’t organise a rescue and don’t even get their economic gain as they actually bankrupt their own company. But hey, no lessons learnt no doubt.
I seem to remember RMA removed endangered snails for mining to take place and then DoC accidentally froze them to death.
I’m just wondering who are the loonies and most incompetent here. The environmentalists or the neoliberalists.
I note that NZ is one of the few western nations to so far fail to condemn the Russians for their assassination attacks in the UK. NZ is silent on the matter.
Is this because Peter’s is a Russian apologist and Arden’s afraid to do the right thing and formally condemn Russia’s actions because of her fear as to what Peter’s might do? Like throw a hissy fit and damage the coalition.
Just thought you should bring Kiwiblog’s attack lines over here, did you? (This morning’s headline post: NZ Silent on Russia)
Even if s/he is – so what? The point being made is that Winston and this government are not condemning Russia for the attacks.
Why?
Probably standing by the notion , innocent until proven guilty, and in a proper court of law if you don’t mind
Old fashioned ,I know, but worth sticking with
Why are we not continuously condemning Russia for the mass slaughter it is perpetuating in Syria by backing Assad? Now that is a real issue.
Teresa May is grandstanding on this issue, using one boy in blue as a hook, but taking no genuine action at all that will jeopardise Britain’s trading links with Russia or the funding her Conservative Party mates receive from Russian mates.
Why are we not condemning Saudi Arabia and its backers (USA GB included) for the mass slaughter being perpetuated in the Yemen?
Screw the British, why should we support them? I say sanction bust – we may even make up all the money we lost when they couldn’t wait to kick us into touch when they joined the EU.
To paraphrase Lord Palmerston (a British politician) “…New Zealand has no eternal friends, New Zealand has no perpetual enemies, New Zealand has only eternal and perpetual interests…”
And I reckon it is more in our interests to sell heaps of stuff to Russia than it is to stand with our ex-colonial master.
“Screw the British, why should we support them? I say sanction bust ”
So …. screw the fact that used an nerve agent to kill people in the street – we could make a few bob out of this ?
We owe the British nothing. They’d sell us down the river in a flash if it suited them. They didn’t give a shit about the impact on our economy when they joined the EU.
This dispute between our ex-colonial master and Russia over an event that occurred in a country on the other side of the world has got zilch to do with us.
It is in our interests to do a trade deal with Russia. Backing the British in their spat with Russia? Not so much.
They sure as hell aren’t saints.
But this isn’t the moment to enter a new trade deal with Russia – overtly endorsing their murderous attack. The time to sell Russia butter and apples was back when that gibbering idiot John Key quashed the trade deal, which, if we were already doing it we could continue without attracting trade reprisals.
NZ trades with ‘murderous attackers’…
Has been for an age…
‘Thinking’ it matters when a trade deal with Russia is signed could create poor perception…
Not really, thinking. Is it…
A good place to drop this item by David Townsend. British commentator and writer:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/352665/ex-russian-spy-poisoning-what-s-the-real-fall-out
My reckons: he’s got it about right. 😉
Yes – pretty good.
We trade with lots of countries that do awful things domestically and internationally.
Conservatives get upset about this only when it is one of our ‘official enemies’ e.g. Russia.
There is no consistent principle behind what you are saying – just propagandist braying.
it may be….but it would also pay to remember that their payment history isnt great and their main exports are fossil fuels, military hardware and oligarchs
Look, fuck it
I’m sick of this shoddy out of date rubbish
Are you still in the Lada era?
Just lose the age old prejudices and get some new information
And this is just the top 10
“Mineral fuels including oil: US$173.3 billion (48.5% of total exports)
Iron, steel: $18.8 billion (5.3%)
Gems, precious metals: $11 billion (3.1%)
Machinery including computers: $8.5 billion (2.4%)
Wood: $7.9 billion (2.2%)
Cereals: $7.5 billion (2.1%)
Fertilizers: $7.2 billion (2%)
Aluminum: $6.7 billion (1.9%)
Copper: $4.7 billion (1.3%)
Electrical machinery, equipment: $4.3 billion (1.2%)
Russia’s top 10 exports accounted for 70% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Copper was the fastest-growing among the top 10 export categories, up 42.2% from 2016 to 2017.
In second place for improving export sales was Russian cereals which was up 34.3%, led by higher international sales of wheat, barley and corn.
Close behind, Russia’s shipments of iron and steel posted the third-fastest gain in value up 32.9%.
Up 6.7%, electrical machinery and equipment posted the smallest increase among Russia’s top 10 export categories.’
lol
you may wish to speak to some in the industry about dealing with Russian exporters and the quality of their product…..they make china look positively angelic
48.5% mineral fuels.
13% mining.
All owned by oligarchs and the Russian state.
Pat was pretty close.
Russia had the largest Grain exports for 2 years running
Not insignificant
And arms exports were at about the same level last year, but doesn’t seem to be on that list…
Where did you get these figures from and why do they not include sales of arms?
This isn’t a terribly good source but the Russian exports of arms seem to be about $US15 billion/year
That number, if correct, should put them at number 3 in your list.
theres a significant ‘unspecified commodities’ category in the trade figures that could account for many things….essentially oil.coal and gas make up over 60% of exports
https://tradingeconomics.com/russia/exports
http://www.worldstopexports.com/russias-top-10-exports/
They also do a breakdown of US exports, similarly not specifying arms sales
For that :from Wiki
2012–2016
Rank Supplier Arms Exp
1 United States 47,169
2 Russia 33,186
3 China 9,132
4 France 8,564
5 Germany 7,946
6 United Kingdom 6,586
7 Spain 3,958
8 Italy 3,823
9 Ukraine 3,677
10 Israel 3,233
US has the record, Russia second, mostly its the members of the SC plus Germany
a country which overwhelmingly relies on the export of soon to be stranded assets that has a history of default…..how much importance do you want to place on a trade agreement with that entity, especially when coupled with enforcement concerns?…..i would suggest not very much at all.
And when was the last default and why?
https://www.pragcap.com/the-russian-default-what-happened/
And its foreign exchange reserves are looking pretty healthy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign-exchange_reserves
The causes of that particular default are unchanged in Russia today….their foreign reserves are about 100 billion short of their current external debt position ….. and reserves disappear very fast in a poor trading environment,
And the stranded assets???….or do you think theres a future for oil,gas and coal?
Russian computers? Pass me the floppy disc.
“floppy disc”.
Are you serious? The latest model I have seen has just got a cassette tape.
Others still use punch cards and paper tape.
Alwyn who doesn’ t know what FB means.
Russia hasn’t stood still spies will have stolen any tech deficiencies they have had.
So if you think Russia hasn’t kept up to date,how come they are so successful at cyber warfare.
Alwyn is still pumping out their fake news and propaganda Putin’s Puppet.
“Alwyn is still pumping out their fake news and propaganda Putin’s Puppet”
Are you always as drunk and incoherent at this time of day?
By the way. When are you going to tell me where the “Mankato” University you are fond of talking about is?
https://thestandard.org.nz/joyce-resigns-from-parliament/#comment-1457868
Rainbow Warrior, sanky, Rainbow Warrior.
Strange bedfellows Farrar and sections of the intellectual left.
I hear “Puteen and his 13 troll dwarfs” comes out in paperback next year. Soon to be followed by “Sauron’s chemical weapons attack – we know it was you.. so tell us why it wasn’t!” Straight to dvd.
Many on this site have forgotten the legal principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’
As they seems so keen for war, maybe they can jump on planes to the Baltic States as volunteers.
You’ve forgotten that this site isn’t a court of law, just a reflection of people’s opinions given the available information
PS
No
A column in Politik earlier today on this matter is my source for my post.
I note that NZ has so far failed to condemn Saudi Arabia for bombing Yemen.
Is this because New Zealand is a close ally of the United States, which is the main backer and supplier of the Saudi regime?
Why not try to debate the point of the thread?
Yeah Jenny, why are you not following the rwnj attack line?
I get the confusion, the hardright are tossing around so many conspiracy theories these days, it’s hard to keep up.
How are the people in Aleppo these days Jenny?
You do realise that the US has backed ISIS in the Syrian War?
And that ISIS have been responsible for ghastly slaughter against civilians.
Sorry, why exactly do we have to in any way engage in diplomatic activity in this particular case?
I think any assassinations are not OK by any country.
As well as all the usual countries you would expect, USA had the most drone assassinations under the Obama government. NZ is pretty much trying to ignore the deaths of civilians from our own military in Afghanistan.
Don’t forget the UK started bombing Iraq illegally and against what many of the British people wanted.
So I think while it’s disgusting that apparently Russian’s are openly assassinating people in the UK, it’s not like it’s a one off or they are alone in the world assassinating people in other countries.
Assassination is a growth industry of governments. And its hypocritical to condemn when you are guilty of it yourself.
Question please… how do people know for sure that is was Russia, or is it all assumptions based on the nerve agent used and the target selected?
So far we have May’s assertion that Porton Down has identified the nerve agent as from the Novichok group , originally developed (so it is said, no samples have been scientifically analysed and identified up to now)30 years ago in Russia, and Uzbekistan
Personally, what with the collapse of the Soviet Union and all those chemists who decamped to the west, I’m not convinced Russia managed to hang on to it
So , and wrongly I think, May has identified the means
The motive?
Oh Jesus, you pick it
Sending a message?
Not the kind of message I’d be going for if the OPCW had just declared I’d destroyed all my chemical weapons.
Revenge?
In intelligence circles apparently there is a convention that Spy swaps are sacrosanct,you don’t go after ex spies pardoned and released as part of a spy swap otherwise you fuck up the whole system, its against your interests
Stupidity?
Nah
Noobody knows at present except maybe the victims and I hope they recover, or the perpetrators
Let the OPCW do their work I say instead of muddying the waters with pre emptive
declarations of retaliation
Sorry Cinny, a bit of a long rant
There are three things really.
Skripal’s area of concern or operation was Russia. If his killing was politically motivated, and the means of killing him suggest it was not a random local attack, then the obvious suspect is some state or person aggrieved by his activities. In his case that means Russia rather than North Korea, the other country that recently carried out a nerve gas assassination.
The poisoning of former agents is a Russian trope. There was the thalium umbrella poisoning, and the Yuschenko poisoning as well as the Litvinenko poisoning in England and a number of others.
May has stated that the agent was Novichok. It is doubtful she is so up on nerve agents as to have made that up – it will be the finding of some person better qualified in nerve agent chemistry than bloggers. The investigators will be annoyed she let that cat out of the bag as they prefer to contain such details to sort false claims of responsibility. Novichok is of Russian origin, and it is probable that if anyone has access to any it would be the FSB.
Stuart, could you point to those agents who had been arrested then pardoned as part of a spy swap?Then assassinated
Thanks , because I’m not finding it
Litvinenko.. ex FSB…employee of Berezovsky, who himself was rubbished by a British judge .Never part of a spy swap as far as I can tell
The thalium umbrella poisoning..never heard of it
The ricin umbrella poisoning on the other hand takes us back to 1978, when a Bulgarian dissident and writer was “implanted ” with a ricin pellet, via umbrella spike
So that was Georgi Markov, killed by a Bulgarian agent who may or may not have been helped by the KGB
That is still speculation
Yuschenko..A Ukrainian presidential candidate poisoned with dioxin at a dinner in Kiev.Survived after an illness of about 18 mths
Scientists have not been able to determine where the toxin( same as in Agent Orange)came from or who the perpetrator was.But knowing what a hellhole Ukraine has been with its gangsters and warring oligarchs, take your pick
Again, as the spy swap program is considered sacrosanct on all sides, can you point to me your examples , because I have read that this is the first time, and a real departure
Russia being the only possessor of Novichoks?
No, I don’t think the world works like that, I’ve banged on about that already. Even Macro recognises that others would most probably have it
Thalium relates to Nikolai Evgenievich Khokhlov of course – did your FSB briefing not include it?
Ricin – Russian deniability if you buy it. I certainly don’t.
and of course the Russians have “no motive at all” to poison Ukrainian politicians – it’s like the BUK – must’ve been some other aggressive invading imperialistic power with late soviet weapons systems.
“I don’t think the world works like that”
Russia certainly possessed the Novichok agents in greater quantity and accessibility than any other nation during the time that they were developing them.
Although it is possible other parties or nations have the capacity to recreate Novichok, such a sophisticated operation could probably find a more reliable and less obtrusive means of disposing of Skripal, supposing they wished to do so. Your counter presumption, that unknown parties offed Skripal to fit up Russia suffers from lack of evidence. There is simply nothing to suggest that it is anything other than a convenient Kremlin fantasy.
Still looking for the thalium umbrella
Khokhlov I’m afraid is going too far back for me, the Soviet days
I’m looking for previous instances of agents released in spy swaps who then get assassinated by the Russian govt
Never happened before because its against ones own interests to undermine the swap system
And I don’t know who poisoned the Skripals, and neither do you, but by god, there’s certainly a lot of capital being made out of it
And it certainly isn’t going to make for a fair and just investigation
For all I know some family member of someone betrayed by Skripal hired a hitman, a lot of murky things go in in Eastern Europe, it seems to be aswill with weapons sold on the black market
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/moldova-nuclear-weapons-isis/409456/
I just find it hard to believe that Russia would sully its reputation for something as petty as revenge, when it had just completed the arduous and long process under the OPCW of destroying its chemical weapons
To then turn around 6 months later and provocatively use a chemical weapon on a target that would point straight back to itself just doesn’t cut the logic mustard
http://www.dw.com/en/russia-destroys-last-cold-war-era-chemical-weapons/a-40714097
Gangsters don’t give a rats about their reputations.
/
So why go the enormous expense of destroying your chemical weapons under the auspices of the OPCW
Thats about reputation, first and foremost
Otherwise, why do it?
To collect the $15.7 billion in US funding provided for their destruction?
https://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/9354/00Dec_Mostoller.pdf;sequence=1
you think they spent the money on fur coats and taxis instead?
Stuart is beginning to sound like a character in Dr. Stranglelove.
Perhaps you should ask why the US canceled the funding – which was originally to have been a mere $1.7 billion.
Whereas you’re sounding a lot like Harley Quin Ed – the pathetic dupe of a crook that the world and his wife knows for a compulsive liar.
Stuart.
This isn’t a John Wayne film.
It’s a little more complex than the goodies vs the baddies.
Anyway, it would appear no amount of reason will work.
Check out flights to Warsaw.
You can enlist on arrival.
“This isn’t a John Wayne film.”
No shit Sherlock. Try The Spy who Came In From The Cold.
Or The Twelve Chairs.
Flights to Riga are only just over $1250 on 27th April.
” it would appear no amount of reason will work”
Over the last year Ed, you’ve produced little or no reasoning.
Which is why we are concerned by your irrational attachment to this murderous dictator.
Stand up for your principles Ed – make the case for the butcher of Grozny. Such a progressive genocide!
Volunteer Stuart.
Don’t expect others to fight for you.
“Volunteer Stuart.
Don’t expect others to fight for you.”
You know what Ed – I’ll volunteer to defend here if I must – in self defense against malign aggression.
Part of that would necessarily involve rooting out the fifth columnists anyway – there seem to be quite a few of them.
Gangsters…like US, Saudi, ISIS, fascist Ukraine ?
Sure eddy, and there’s nothing those people won’t stoop to.
Reputation?
Hah!
In 2008 Oleg Gordievsky alleged he’d poisoned with the same substance.
Police are investigating allegations that a former Russian spy who defected to Britain was poisoned in an attempt to assassinate him.
Oleg Gordievsky spent 34 hours unconscious in hospital after falling ill at his home in Guildford in November. He was initially partially paralysed and still has no feeling in his fingers.
Mr Gordievsky, the highest-ranking Soviet spy to defect to the West, claimed he was the victim of a Kremlin-inspired assassination attempt similar to that alleged to have killed the former security agent Alexander Litvinenko.
“I’ve known for some time that I am on the assassination list drawn up by rogue elements in Moscow. It was obvious to me I had been poisoned,” he told The Mail on Sunday. He accused MI6 of forcing Special Branch to drop its early investigations into his allegations.
Mr Gordievsky claims he was poisoned with thallium, a highly toxic metal used in insecticides which was favoured by the KGB in assassinations during the Cold War. Mr Litvinenko was poisoned with polonium, a radioactive element.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/double-agent-gordievsky-claims-he-was-poisoned-by-the-kremlin-805308.html
So what happened next/
I’m all ears
Don’t leave me hanging
When did he die?
Russia more comfortable with its enemies creating economic inequality and helping fund divisive right wing backward looking Nationalism.
Putin is playing the West cyber warfare unstoppable Hypersonic ICBM’s
Ukraine Georgian and Crimean land grabs.
Backing the Sryrian regime .
Arms sales are one of Russia’s main exports ,creating conflict’s helps increase sales as oil prices are down.
Thank you all for the info, you guys are awesome. Helps to get my head around it all. Wonder if there’s anyone who doesn’t make money via war, far out.
theresa may, she’s worn, unpopular and clinging to leadership, desperate now to mark her mark.
Putin…. knocking people off is part of the Russian culture, maybe he’s just over people blaming Russia and is either being bold about his moves or ignoring the critics and just being Putin. Maybe it has nothing to do with Putin. Standby for the doco-drama film…
Media have a huge part to play in this, I wonder who is really pushing the narrative and what do they have to gain…war sells papers/gets clicks.
Time for NZ to become a republic lolololol 🙂 🙂 ?
Am sick of all the global conflict/greed, thought we would have evolved more by now.
Humans are like a culture of yeast in an finite ecosystem as yeast greedily gobbling up all the sugar exceating alcohol eventually killing its self at around 13% alcohol.
Humans are greedily gobbling up all the resources the planet has killing any one who gets in the way and the environment with all our forms of excrement.
Ukraine’s Democratic government was removed by a coup funded by the US.
Who are the gangsters ?
No James.
Honour UN Resolution 2401
As awful as the alleged attack on Russian double agent and his daughter, it is not as awful as the proven Russian and the Assad regime continued breach of the U.N. Security Council mandated 30 day ceasefire for Eastern Ghouta. Despite the fact that Security Council member Russia had voted for the resolution. Russia’s ally Syria, had voted for the resolution in the General Assembly.
“Briefing Security Council on Syria Ceasefire Resolution, Secretary-General Says Humanitarian Convoys Remain Unable to Safely Enter Eastern Ghouta”
In a disgusting act devoid of humanitarian principles, the Syrian regime has been removing medical supplies from few aid convoys that have been allowed to enter the besieged region of Eastern Ghouta. Though terrible, this act is in keeping with the regime’s targeting of independent hospitals and rescue workers.
For some balance to the narrative about the Syrian War, here’s what happening in Afrin.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/the-latest-activists-syrian-strikes-target-rebel-enclave/2018/03/15/a0150818-282c-11e8-a227-fd2b009466bc_story.html
Great to see the United States, Germany, France, Britain, form a common voice condemning Russia for the poisoning attack on an ex-spy:
http://www.dw.com/en/france-germany-uk-us-blame-moscow-for-ex-spy-chemical-attack-joint-declaration/a-42990115
Both Haley and Trump are finally beginning to accept the truth of Putin.
And by the time Mueller is done with the entire Trump organisation and family, they will be both apologising for their complicity with Putin, and in jail where they should be:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mueller-subpoena-trump-organization_us_5aaab9e3e4b04221740d4a0a
The Truth of Putin..
‘Truth’ is impossible…
The imperialist nations relentless bare faced ‘attacks’ on Russia, are deflectionary tactics of the most hypocritical nature…
😆 this could’ve been penned by one of the current directors of a Russian troll farm – reminds me of good old Fisiani’s posts about ‘honest John Key’
To be clear to you as well, mullet…so as you can’t misunderstand….
I’ll not be spending energy replying to your comments…not one more…
The level of your comments is far lower than your chronological age group…
Great thanks for that.
Ed?
That was an ed comment. No argument, no point, just mindless slander.
Best way to handle.
in your (very) humble opinion.
Still waiting for you to back up your accusations in the other thread BTW.
Some of the comments on this site smack of McCarthyism in the 50s.
There are many Russophobic folk here.
A study of the Syrian War shows bad being done on all sides, yet we are continually hectored on this site by the neocons that only Assad and Russia are had.
For some reason they feel that Putin and RTV have a monopoly on propaganda.
They so easily forget 9/11, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, the Ukraine…
Yes its great when the International Community gets its shit together and decides the outcome of an investigation before the evidence is produced and presented as per international conventions like the CWC
I’m so proud!
Don’t you just love the rule of law?
They got their shit together in 2011 , too, and did Libya over real good
Well, Ghadaffi had it coming what with the viagra and the black mercenaries and the genocide and all
And those Rooskies deserve it , they’re so STOOOOPID always gassing and things at the most embarrassing times for them , just when the OPCW declares them free of chemical weapons, elections coming up, the World Cup, finalising Nordstream.
Its worked out well for the weapons industry though, bumper sales
Kaching!
,
Sometimes the most obvious explanation for an event is the most obvious and given that the main suspect nation has considerable form and that initial evidence points in a certain direction it is not surprising that there is condemnation from like minded countries.
There will of course be ongoing investigation and I’m sure there will be behind the scenes communication and maneuvering between the UK and Russia, I’m hoping there will be a bit of a change in behavior once Putin is voted back in and he will roll back on the rather extreme nationalism and bigotry that have been on display over the last several months.
I thought we prided ourselves on due process, rule of law, natural justice etc
normal criminal law would declare this a mistrial
from the start
It’s almost like…. the 1% need more money…. quick start a war… an assination that assumes the russians did it should do the trick.
Personally I’m just not convinced that it was the Russians. Something seems way off, I might be wrong, but it just seems too obvious.
Yes Cinny. Seems that way to me also. Mind you they are all a bunch of crooks, only some of them are our crooks.
Alwyn who doesn’ t know what FB means.
Russia hasn’t stood still spies will have stolen any tech deficiencies they have had.
So if you think Russia hasn’t kept up to date,how come they are so successful at cyber warfare.
Alwyn is still pumping out their fake news and propaganda Putin’s Puppet.Put
There is certainly a drive for war.
Asking why suddenly makes the conversation interesting.
Is it because an economic crash is about to happen?
Capitalism usually deals with its crises with violence.
This was an act of war, not mere criminality.
Had Britain used nerve gas to kill a British defector in Russia the trolls would be screaming about an attack on a sovereign nation.
This is still conjecture
Get a grip
Nonsense – a WMD has been used on British soil.
That’s as casus belli as it gets.
Get a grip.
Remember WMD?
You may not be aware of the seriousness of the use of chemical weapons against another country Ed, or more likely be concerned to downplay it out of misplaced loyalty to your Kremlin master.
In this instance the presence of the WMD is already established – it is not a PR artifact to be sold to US opinion formers.
Conjecture.
I really hope they let you nowhere near a jury.
You should volunteer Stuart.
Mark Mitchell has contacts.
I may not need to volunteer Ed, Putin is doing his best to bring the war to us.
Yes Russia is about to invade Europe.
What planet are you on?
The planet where Ukraine is part of eastern Europe Ed, a country upon which Putin’s militaristic ambitions have been solidly established.
No Sir, we should be asking what planet you come from? Because it’s sounds like you are not following the events in the Baltic States, Putin comments IRT Finland and Sweden of late.
For what it’s worth, at least one prominent politician kinda gets it.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/15/salisbury-attack-conflict-britain-cold-war
How refreshing to have a party leader willing and able to stand up to bullshit, and media frenzies, and exercise wise judgment, with a clear and sensible way forward.
Recognise that there are 2 possibilities (the Russian government, or Mafia-like rogues who’ve acquired the chemical agents as the result of lax Russian oversight); Complete an investigation. Hold the perps to account. Exclude Russian money from the UK political system. Stop servicing Russian chronic capitalism int he UK.
I question why are there only these 2 possibilities, both originating in Russia?
Soviet era chemists (like Mirzayanov , the self declared creator of Novichok)have spread far and wide in the world, Israel, Canada, Uk, Us,their knowledge and expertise welcome
Mirzayanov has published a book on the Soviet program, complete with formulas for the legendary novichoks
Please, doesn’t logic lead to the idea that the ability to produce novichoks is now out there in the wide world?
As well, Russia may be the inheritor state of the Soviet Union, but after 1991 it was a lawless chaotic mess, incapable of maintaining security ,and totally vulnerable to the criminal looting and pillaging that indeed went on all through the soviet satellite states
When a society collapses, everythings up for grab
As an example
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/moldova-nuclear-weapons-isis/409456/
Who but the Russian government would be interested in killing a retiree and his daughter? Their is no motive other than retribution and message sending. While Trump is so obviously pro-Russia, Putin is using that to play some dirty tricks because he knows there will be little consequence.
Would the Russian government kill people for political purposes? Yes.
Would the UK government kill people for political purposes? Yes.
Would most governments in the world kill people for political purposes? Yes.
Would the Russian government kill a retired British spy….?
Trump is so obviously pro Russia he’s sent lethal weapons to Ukraine, increased sanctions, bombed its allies in Syria,weighed in with all the other toadies at the UN denouncing Putin
Are you some kind of political virgin?
Unaware of mischief making amongst the various intelligence agencies over the last few hundred years?
the perfect crime…. get rid of a nuisance whether he knows too much about the Steele dossier..or has become too demanding, maybe wants his BMW upgraded one too many times..
Who knows who he’s pissed off
Traitors aren’t known for their loyalty or moral fibre
Kill a lot of birds with one stone, upping the pressure on Russia to comply, to “behave” , code for opening up wide for foreign corporations, stop opposing American imperialism
Big picture here
“Who but the Russian government would be interested in killing a retiree and his daughter?”
Depends…..he could have pissed off anyone, who knows? He will, his daughter will not.
There is a third option.
I seem to remember that the Americans have refused to destroy their stocks of chemical weapons. Surely they have the capacity to manufacture the nerve agent used in the UK attack, and who is to say they haven’t allowed this to be used, by accident or design, by some other country; vicious secretly nuclear-powered Israel comes to mind.
I can’t see why Israel would attempt to murder this particular retired British spy BG.
It would be good to know what Sergei Skripal was doing in his retirement and what circles he moved in, or in what/whose orbits he traveled.
It would also be good to have the identity of the poison verified by the relevant international bodies, as well as clarity on where Novichok was purportedly produced in the first place (both Uzbekistan and deep in Russia have been reported) before getting on to the signature of this particular sample.
When I saw the initial reports (in the Guardian) I immediately thought “here we go”. I was going to throw up a post and map the progress of mainstream reporting as things built. Wish I hadn’t been so damned lazy.
Yep
We have been told in various news accounts he met regularly with his old handler Pablo Miller who also lives in Salisbury and up until his Linked in profile was scrubbed, still working for his old boss Steele , ie Orbis who would have handled Skripals spy drops (the old plastic rock in Moscow caper)until 2004 when he was discovered
Often the beginning of a story , before an “official ” story has emerged, includes a lot more information
When the official story coalesces you only get the stuff that reinforces the already agreed
When Russia opened up its chemical weapons facilities to the OPCW, there should be some documentation available
Then there’s the other exiled Russian who spied for Britain claiming that Skripal regularly visited the Russian Embassy
“Last night, another former Russian agent exiled in the UK, Valery Morozov, claimed that Mr Skripal had maintained ties with Russian intelligence and visited the Russian embassy in London “every month”.
Mr Morozov told Channel 4 news “If you have a military intelligence officer working in the Russian diplomatic service, living after retirement in the UK, working in cyber-security and every month going to the embassy to meet military intelligence officers – for me being political refugee, it is either a certain danger or, frankly speaking, I thought that this contact might not be very good for me because it can bring some questions from British officials.”
Who knows
I have read that he was missing Russia
Berezovsky was said to be wanting to repair relations with Putin and hoped to return shortly before his demise too
Seemed he led a pretty quiet life
I’ve also read that Yulia came over every 2nd month
China would be a better case for a third party – a stoush between the west and Russia reduces the pressure on them. But it would be a mighty long shot.
Those two possibilities aren’t necessarily unconnected Karoraina.
He agrees completely with the action taken by May, but wants more punishment for Russians.
Fair enough.
Corbyn wants to get at the truth. May is just racking up rhetoric to make herself look strong because – look over here not Brxit.
Corbyn wants to wind back the cold war rhetoric and bluster, get at the truth, and respond appropriately to the real problems with Russia.
RNZ OP from ex UK Labour MP – on what May’s measures will achieve – very little of significance.
Bill about Corbyn
Nevertheless he has to watch his back, and pull his punches
Witness how Macron was pulled pretty smartly in to line after showing too much spunk
And the pressure we ourselves are under from the Brits and God knows who else over the FTA with Russia
Funnily enough, after Crimea, and the trade delegation was practically pulled off the plane, NZ quietly continued to trade with Russia, Fonterra in particular
Yup. I read him being circumspect in his words. So agreeing with May’s premise, with caveats, while condemning her reaction.
This happened in 2002 and 2003 when the drum for war against Iraq was beaten loudly and repetitively by the media.
I understand the media’s motivations. They are owned by large financial interests and War is profitable.
What I don’t understand is the number of neocons and Mcarthyites on this site.
I’m not counting the obvious trolls, but others who are left wing domestically but have a blind spot internationally; despite Iraq, they still cling to the Blairite doctrine.
You’re a fool Ed.
The Niger yellowcake was a recycled speculation – the Skripal chemical agent was unquestionably a real chemical agent.
I really hope you’re not on the jury in trials.
Yes, I’m sure you prefer nodding dogs. Have no fear – teachers are routinely struck from juries because they are not readily swayed by legal rhetoric.
Stuart it is you who is repeating the propaganda.
We are questioning it.
Remember WMD and Saddam Hussain – it pays not to accept what you’re told unquestioningly.
Oh wake up you pathetic indoctrinated sheep.
Two civilians and a policeman were hospitalized after what has proven to be a chemical attack. Fact. You can bleat about Novichok but you’re not qualified to dispute Portland Down’s evidence and neither is MoonofAlabama.
There was good reason to suppose that Iraqi envoys (Zahawie) visited Niger in search of “yellowcake” uranium ore, but no evidence of a deal or a shipment.
Can you spot the difference?
One relates to an actual attack – the other is little more than an intention.
The fact of the attack proves the existence of some kind of chemical agent.
Yes, but after the existence of Novichok became known to the West, are you sure that the West did not reproduce it to look for antidotes? Maybe 6 miles away from Shrewsbury?
Sorry, but at my age with what I have read in History, I lack your confidence in the veracity of what the standard western media spew out.
Tonkin Gulf… Weapons of Mass destruction… Hit and Run… How often have we really been told the truth?
A natural disaster, being copied by an unnatural disaster.
The proto-dinosaurids of the Permian era were not responsible for deliberately burning the coal, that destroyed their climate, causing the extinction of 90% of all life on earth.
The coal fields were ignited by the intrusion of liquid magma from the Earth’s core.
A more advanced warm blooded species has found a way to deliberately burn all that buried carbon and put it back into the atmosphere.
“Burning coal may have caused Earth’s worst mass extinction”
“Eerie similarities to today”
“Clean, clean coal”
“This full potential can only be realised, when government promotes energy development.”
As a new fossil fuel pall is being threatened to be expanded around the globe, one small country needs to take an independent stand, to show that another way is possible.
No New Coal Mines.
New-Coal Free New Zealand
Shaw was interesting last night.
Lots of Fonterra reps in the room. In his speech he mentioned their commitment to no more new coal fired dryers in a few years. A wry smile: “Well … it’s a start.”
Lol. It’s going to be really interesting to see what changes in the next decade if we get three terms of a govt with the Greens holding that portfolio.
How I learned to stop worrying and love my census.
A few weeks back I decided to take the option of requesting paper forms. Went to the census website, clicked the request paper form option and completed the request. I got a reply saying that it would take up to a week to receive the forms.
A week later, nothing.
So I went online again to the census site, and used the page to submit a question – saying I hadn’t received my paper form.
Both submissions required a contact address. I gave them my email addy.
Another week past – nothing. Last evening I had a knock on my door. My first thought on opening it, especially as it looked like someone official with logos and clip board, etc, was that it was finally someone delivering my census forms. But then I focused on the Mercury logos, and said” Oh, you’re from Mercury. Not interested.” – the guy thought I must have had a bad experience with Mercury in the past.
Then I went to my letter box and found 2 envelops from the census people. I thought it must finally be my forms. But, No. Each envelop contained a repeat of the original form with my code, telling me how to complete the census.
So then I tried to request paper forms by my landline. I took the phone away from my ear to key in my code. When I got the phone back to my ear, I caught the end of something telling me to key something into the keypad, but not what – couldn’t get back to the automaton telling me what to do next.
Gave up on that and went back to making another online request.
I did recall that some people were told the online census often only works properly with google chrome.
So since last night I have made requests on 3 different browsers for paper forms – plus sent a message saying how useless the system is.
It’s now become something of an experiment – how much of a hole is this in the census instructions?
Now, I know some people will say that I should just complete the online form – it’s easier. But any submission of data via the Internet is hackable. I dislike the way we are increasingly pressured to put our data online.
And if they give you an option for complying with a legal requirement, it bloody well should work.
“And if they give you an option for complying with a legal requirement, it bloody well should work.”
100%.
One hopes there’ll be a significant clearout at Stats NZ after this debarcle.
I had similar problems, not as bad but still made me think of really dysfunctional systems. I just phoned them directly and sorted it out that way. Not great, but it did work out in the end.
Did you get a person on the phone? how? Which number? because all I’ve seen/heard are automatons.
Edit: hah. I rang the number. Ignored the option to press #1 to request a form, and pressed#2 to talk to someone in English.
The guy said he had now ordered paper forms to be sent to me. He said the system had read my request for paper forms as a request for new forms just with the code (not the paper ones).
Why the waka jumping Bill should not move forward in any format:
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/03/15/96985/academics-slam-waka-jumping-bill
Plastic particles found in ‘brand after brand’ of bottled water study
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12013675
Yuk – can’t understand the consumer purchasing decision when buying bottled water in NZ.
I’m always impressed how Brisband produces some great thinkers on the left. You know the left that actually sees there is a class struggle going on. That the nature of liberal capitalism is effectively one of conflict. Also good to see the ALP has as much bullshit thinking on economics as NZLP.
If you need a dose of reality, then this piece is for you, if you are happy with the current crop of voodoo economics then please avoid. I’d also point out the author uses Marx and marxists analysis in their argument, so that might be a bit much, if you think it would be a bit much for you, then again, please avoid.
https://libcom.org/blog/anti-shorten-alp-still-selling-bullshit-13032018
There needs to be a wider public conversation around ‘Is This The Sort of Country/Economy We Want’. The sort of thing that was once covered to some degree by documentaries and discussion panels on Public Television.
For instance, we have the Government promising more RSE workers* and, more importantly, refugees to the Hawkes Bay for apple picking.
Now ignoring the fact that Refugee settlement is not supposed to be a source of cheap labour for seasonal jobs, the fact is there is a well recognised housing crisis in the Bay.
Not to mention the report pointing out that the Hawkes Bay was not equipped for refugees.
I dread this development, its only a matter of time before we have shanty towns as part of our ‘Regional Economic Development Plan….infact we already have orchard workers living in shipping containers…but out of sight is out of mind apparently
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/76781805/napier-and-hastings-rejected-for-refugee-settlement-over-safety-concerns
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018636100/govt-may-settle-refugees-in-hawke-s-bay-to-meet-labour-shortage
http://www.communityhousing.org.nz/resources/article/hawkes-bay-families-struggle-moving-on-from-transitional-housing
*which is what Labour campaigned on, hence there were more orchard owners than pickers at their electionaring road show..that Labour didn’t campaign on better wages for pickers is odd, given its such a ‘great’ industry, yet binn rates haven’t increased in 25 years, and most orchards are now just paying minimum hourly wage, tough luck when it rains..
Good evening Eric young from Prime News it good to see a lot of people like you showing respect for Maori culture.
Its a shame to see that bridge collapse America my condolences to all the people who got hurt.
Southern response government insurance the way they behave is because shonky started that bad behaviour and a lot of government agencies behave like that insurance company.
Its good to see Te papa up grading it facilities It a excellent museum. Ka kite ano.
Eric young from Prime News its a good sports day for ECO MAORI Kia kaha Ka kite ano
Newshub on TV3 the plastic bottles were forced on to us and we were cond into using plastic milk bottles by multi national companies we should not have abandoned glass bottles they are the environmental friendly option glass bottles provided a streem of pocket money for the mokos
Its a good thing to switch back to glass bottles.
Good Ron Marks I see he is a honorable Kiwi leader who respect OUR environment he recycl every thing he can Ka pai Kia kaha Ka kite ano.
Good music The Sound Radio midnight Special kai pai Ka kite ano
Excellent sound from the Sound Radio station Kia kaha Ka kite ano
Titanium good song Polly and Grant Iv got about 1/2 kg of titanium in my legs keep up the good music Ka kite ano
Some one should remind that moron Mark Mitchell who was singling out Ron Mark and his transport that when you are in a glass house don’t throw stones.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10720727
Is it just me, or are we seeing the degree of pedantry rising on TS….especially this year…from a fair few contributors.
How about we just acknowledge how very clever and educated and sophisticated with huge dicks some people are.
Also that some (others-not me of course) just don’t/cannot live up to the smartness, the smarminess, the value, the richness, the supreme intellect of some contributors here.
Truly, i just live in awe sometimes and wish I could be ‘like Mike’ and others.