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Open mike 16/08/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 16th, 2020 - 149 comments
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149 comments on “Open mike 16/08/2020 ”

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  1. Andre 1
    16 August 2020 at 6:46 am

    The latest attempt to use clever editing to try and make some sense of Grampa Rage Nappies' noises still doesn't come out making any sense.

  2. aom 2
    16 August 2020 at 7:39 am

    The f-wits of the week award has to go to the organizers and participants in yesterday's Right to Life "Death March" in Christchurch as reported on RNZ this morning. Big deal – the thousand who attended 'obeyed the law' by being in groups of 100. Tell that to the health workers if they all have to be tested because only one carried the Vovid-19 virus. More importantly, which of the self-entitled wankers will apologise to the team on 1.5 million in Auckland for their insensitivity or the thousands of rugby fans who were unable to attend the final match of the season, even though they could have 'obeyed the law' by being in groups of 100. No doubt the small trucking firm owner in Tauranga whose drivers are all having to self-isolate because they were at the border on legitimate business would love to offer some words of advice to the marchers on how to be part of the team of 5 million.

  3. dv 3
    16 August 2020 at 8:43 am

    Murdock cartoon. Cruel an funny

    Make sure to note the inscription on the scythe!!!

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/94869389/sharon-murdoch-cartoons

    • SPC 3.1
      16 August 2020 at 9:04 am

      ACT

      There will be interest on any unpaid student loans until you die, and while you may not choose to euthenasia, our let the coronavirus spread policy will leave you trapped in your home scared to get either assisted care in an old age facility or visit a doctor.

      • Tricledrown 3.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 9:25 am

        Given the number of Doctors dying from Covid 19.Doctors visits could be a thing of the past.we will have to use technology to interact with health care providers to prevent collapse of our health system.

        • SPC 3.1.1.1
          16 August 2020 at 9:31 am

          Sure. The problem then is the net connectivity of some of the aged – some are/were not even able to order food on-line.

          Then there are the many academics with tenure who are refusing to take classes in person this semester in the USA. On-line teaching is going to develop a lot further.

        • greywarshark 3.1.1.2
          16 August 2020 at 9:41 am

          I fear this will happen. I enjoy a friendly as well as reliable relationship with the pair of doctors where I go. That is part of the value of the treatment.

        • Peter 3.1.1.3
          16 August 2020 at 11:06 am

          In the situation of there being no doctors we could use the services of the highly qualified know everything keyboard experts who wanted life to carry on as usual right from the beginning of the virus. They knew so much and would have had no interventions past "You've got this new flu thing, go to the doctor."

          • lprent 3.1.1.3.1
            16 August 2020 at 11:12 am

            I think that you are attributing too much understanding and empathy to Trump. His tweets have never said “go to the doctor”.

            I suspect that they would have said something more like “it is Obama’s fault”.

            /sarc

        • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1.4
          16 August 2020 at 11:49 am

          we will have to use technology to interact with health care providers

          That's not actually a bad thing.

          I have a watch that measures my heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygenation. Throw in an app that records that info and asks questions about how you feel and sends that to the doctor and then a doctor/nurse can determine if you need to see the doctor or not.

          Even without covid this would be a good system to implement.

          • SPC 3.1.1.4.1
            16 August 2020 at 12:48 pm

            I'd supply these to all rest home workers – esp if it includes temperature.

          • George 3.1.1.4.2
            17 August 2020 at 9:43 pm

            Remarkable as these watches can be…we have a reasonably expensive smart watch that also does these things but it records steps..that haven't been taken. Which means it may also record blood pressure that may not be accurate and heart rates that are probably a bit off as well.

            • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1.4.2.1
              17 August 2020 at 10:40 pm

              I did read up on the devices. The blood pressure and oxgenisation seems to be reasonably accurate.

              The heart rate, not so much. I've ended up doing three readings in sequence and then averaging them.

              The long term record would be most important but the devices do need to become more accurate as far as heart rate go.

              And the steps are way out and not to be taken seriously.

  4. Ad 4
    16 August 2020 at 8:45 am

    I found the death notice of one of the world's last Waffen-SS soldiers in Geraldine pretty yuck.

    How many more of these types did we have here?

    https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/south-canterbury/former-waffen-ss-officer-dies-96-geraldine

    • swordfish 4.1
      16 August 2020 at 9:13 am

      .
      Was he one of the world's last Waffen-SS soldiers per se ? or one of the world's last Waffen-SS soldiers specifically in Geraldine ? … if the latter then it sounds like the South Canterbury Township might have been a more popular bolthole for Nazis than the whole of South America.

      By my reckoning, that leaves just 6 remaining SS, 4 Gestapo & 2 SD Stormtroopers left in the secret Geraldine refuge-hideaway … along with 3 remaining Mussolini Blackshirts in the nearby Italian Fascist stronghold of Temuka.

      There’s a plausible theory that Hitler & Von Ribbentrop are still holed up in Gore with a bottle of whisky & a couple cyanide pills. But if it’s ac hoice between Gore & suicide you’d think they would’ve gone for the latter.

      • Pat 4.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 9:24 am

        LMAO

        • greywarshark 4.1.1.1
          16 August 2020 at 10:12 am

          Ha – it's like the opposite of an Easter Egg hunt. The trouble is that we have a different sort of diseased person that afflicts our souls, sort of passe' trying to eliminate these old germs, when there is a new lot of people as diseased in the mind circulating everywhere.

          Brighten up with Crosby SNY Southern Cross – maybe we can sail away from the bad old world to something good leaving the dirty dealers streaked behind us like a comet trail burning up in our wake.

          • greywarshark 4.1.1.1.1
            16 August 2020 at 7:32 pm

            Some good words from Southern Cross for those seeking the real New Zealand.

            When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
            You understand now why you came this way
            'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small
            But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day

      • aj 4.1.2
        16 August 2020 at 9:50 am

        Gore & suicide

        From someone who has never visited Gore, I'd guess

      • woodart 4.1.3
        16 August 2020 at 9:54 am

        gold

        • aj 4.1.3.1
          16 August 2020 at 10:44 am

          Visited a week ago, great meal at a local restaurant then went to a NZIFF screening of Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band at the St James theatre. More class and culture there than long standing mythology would lead anyone to believe.

          • greywarshark 4.1.3.1.1
            16 August 2020 at 11:00 am

            Good country music comes from around Gore and they have an interesting art collection. I know those things about Gore. Don't think it's Ruddygore as Gilbert and Sullivan put it.

            To divert. This is Ruddigore from the Minack Theatre. Amazing

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minack_Theatre

            (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5gcGcxREA71uJW7vR5at7P2M5Pwk_8_5

            And further:

            Anyone read Derek Tangye's stories about his Cornwall time there with wife Jean? Delightful, a very loving relationship in a picturesque setting, growing flowers mainly for the London market.

            (https://www.pinterest.es/pin/384987468144984988/

            https://alchetron.com/Derek-Tangye

            On Google about Derek – Derek Tangye was educated at Harrow and subsequently worked as a journalist on national newspapers. During the war and afterwards he was a member of MI5, before he and Jeannie moved to Minack. Jeannie died in 1986 and Derek in 1996.

            But as I look through the info about them, I find them outed as spies to Russia!! (It isn't amazing that people believe conspiracy theories as we live the White Queen's situation of believing six impossible things before breakfast.)

            But in 1949, to the total astonishment of friends and colleagues, including stars Danny Kaye, Noel Coward, Tyrone Power and Bing Crosby, the Tangyes suddenly abandoned their life as one of London's most glamorous couples and moved to a broken-down cottage in Cornwall.

            The revelation that they were spying for the Soviets suggests they may have been living in fear of exposure and quit London before their treachery was discovered.

            According to the secret Soviet file, they continued spying long after their self-imposed 'retirement', maintaining many valuable connections vital for Moscow but keeping out of the way of MI5 spycatchers. http://not4attribution.blogspot.com/2014/05/spies-princess-margarets-butler-and-top.html

            • greywarshark 4.1.3.1.1.1
              16 August 2020 at 1:49 pm

              And while they were feeding the Russians (bosh or borscht?) they may have been providing a service for MI5 – we must not forget the double-switch with 'watchers'. My money would be on that, a valuable but easy to refute way of maintaining some sort of intelligence balance. Intelligent? Could be.

      • Gabby 4.1.4
        16 August 2020 at 10:57 am

        Tell me more of what you know about the suicide rate in Gore.

        • aj 4.1.4.1
          16 August 2020 at 1:56 pm

          It is not cluster or hotspot to the best of my knowledge. I don't come from Gore, and I shouldn't react to unjustified cheapshots but someone has to stand up for the place. Yes, I know it’s satire but I don’t joke about suicides. Other than that I love Swordfish's posts 🙂

      • AB 4.1.5
        16 August 2020 at 11:49 am

        Poor old Denis Glover – was he thinking of this when he wrote sardonically:

        "I dream of what may yet be seen / in Johnsonville and Geraldine"

        Is Herman Goering in Johnsonville? It is part of the Ohariu electorate and Herman was known as something of a dandy. (Now scanning the photographic archive for any images of him wearing a bow tie, bouffant hairdo etc..)

      • Andre 4.1.6
        16 August 2020 at 2:08 pm

        That was quite an impressive diversion, from a post expressing disgust about us harbouring and delivering glowing whitewashed obituaries for an actual Nazi, turning it into a slagfest on Gore.

        • RedLogix 4.1.6.1
          16 August 2020 at 3:07 pm

          Yet the left gives safe harbour to any number of openly unapologetic marxists. Even here at TS they're either indulged as 'harmless' relics, or we leave unchallenged their endless weasel excuses about why every actual marxist state has been a humiliating, dangerous and miserable failure.

          It's cheap and rewarding to do outrage at right wing fascists and race supremacists, but the willful hypocrisy of also remaining blind to those who go too far on the left does rather invite a some pointed mockery IMHO.

          • Adrian Thornton 4.1.6.1.1
            16 August 2020 at 3:14 pm

            "Yet the left gives safe harbour to any number of openly unapologetic marxists"..what is even more surprising around here is the number of unapologetic free market liberals who still have the gall to call themselves Left.

            • Andre 4.1.6.1.1.1
              16 August 2020 at 3:23 pm

              It must be tough, being "the only leftie in the village".

              • Adrian Thornton …
                16 August 2020 at 4:09 pm

                "It must be tough, being "the only leftie in the village".

                No it isn't… though it is quite sad seeing so many good people being first blinded then turned by the greed mechanism that is inbuilt into the very heart of the ideology of liberalism… witnessing them abandoning bit by bit their core principles and critical thinking abilities to justify to their inner being the reason that they now follow an ideology that they know deep inside is one of insatiable and ultimately suicidal endless growth regardless of the consequences to humans or the planet….that part is a bit hard at times Tbh.

                But I consol myself by just being grateful that I haven’t succumbed to the undeniable allure of that short term free market liberalism trap….that will leave most of our children and grandchildren never owning their own home and without long term job security etc and so forth.

          • Andre 4.1.6.1.2
            16 August 2020 at 3:22 pm

            If that's an attempt to segue into another crack at BLM for being marxist, I think you're a long way off the mark on that one. This Politico piece explains why and delves into the background of how that "BLM is marxist " thing came about as a Repug attempt to damp down the heat they were getting over it.

            https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/10/elections-republicans-black-lives-matterbacklash-389906

            • McFlock 4.1.6.1.2.1
              16 August 2020 at 4:41 pm

              What I find funny is that "Marxist" covers everything from Stalinism to Democratic Socialism and a few more mild flavours at that. I can understand why the yanks shit a brick at the mere word, but anyone with a glancing knowl;edge of the history of the NZLP should know better.

              • AB …
                16 August 2020 at 4:59 pm

                It's foolishness of barely undergraduate level – probably inspired by Jordan Peterson. If I can blame Marx for Stalinism, can I also blame Jesus for the Spanish Inquisition and Nietzsche for the Holocaust?

                • McFlock …
                  16 August 2020 at 5:03 pm

                  It is, however, convenient for people whose real issue is with the name of the movement but can't express that without coming across as more than a bit racist.

                • greywarshark …
                  16 August 2020 at 5:26 pm

                  AB Your argument seems to be logical. But who am I to attempt my individual understanding when there are so many learned people here. Perhaps there could be a hold on ordinary transmission of political theoretical jibes until after the election. Does anyone know whether there is going to be an attempt by Nats and JC to bring the Court into delaying the election? Please correct me severely if that has been discussed elsewhere and direct me to it. Thanks.

                • RedLogix …
                  17 August 2020 at 9:20 am

                  probably inspired by Jordan Peterson.

                  I read Gulag Archipelago shortly after it was first published, and my first trip to Russia was 20 years ago. That was the one when I got to visit the Gulag Museum at Perm. Peterson merely puts the case, a case I had long believed, far more eloquently than I could.

                  As for your 'undergraduate foolishness' crack, I can only note that it was the so-called intellectual left in Europe and America who were most completely sucked in by Stalin for decades, obdurately refusing to acknowledge the undeniable and inescapable suffering of those who died by the tens of millions in his Marxist utopia.

                  And now the truth cannot be whitewashed away, they pretend "it wasn't real marxism". After my experiences I read that with the same gut reaction as if someone tried to defend National Socialism by claiming "Hitler wasn't a real nazi'.

            • RedLogix 4.1.6.1.2.2
              17 August 2020 at 9:06 am

              I've previously linked to the 2015 video where one of the two co-founders openly and unambiguously describes both of themselves as "trained marxists" and links this training to their motivation and vision for the organisation they were creating.

              Case closed.

              • solkta …
                17 August 2020 at 9:29 am

                Mind closed.

                • RedLogix …
                  17 August 2020 at 9:44 am

                  Bravo, scintillating and convincing argument there.

                  Many millions of people who have visited the Holocaust memorial's at Auschwitz come away from the experience with not only a deep emotional impact, but a much broader understanding of exactly what happened. In one sense it opens their minds and hearts, and in another it creates a determination to draw a line in the political sands, a boundary that says fascism and race supremacy theories are unquestionably off limits.

                  I never really planned to go to Perm, it was a spur of the moment decision based on a chance conversation I had while on the train returning from a work trip. It's the same experience as Auschwitz, but one that's far less accessible to most Westerners, and it's spare grim horror remains a chill memory.

                  And again the more recent trip to Magadan was another work trip commissioning a gold processing plant at Polyus. The highway you travel on to get from Magadan to site (it's a long trip) is known as the "Road of Bones". You have to be oblivious to history not to feel something of the past slipping into your soul, while riding on that bus.

                  Whether these experiences (and others) opened my mind to marxism, or closed it off, is a semantic debate you are free to have with yourself.

                  • solkta …
                    17 August 2020 at 9:50 am

                    There is obviously no point in trying to argue with you. You have made up your mind that Marxist equals Holocaust, as you demonstrate again. Others here have an education.

                    • RedLogix …
                      17 August 2020 at 10:03 am

                      It was the 'educated' left wing intellectual elites of Europe and America who were sucked in by Stalin for decades.

                      As any conman will tell you, their lies only succeed because their victims want them to be true.

                    • RedLogix …
                      17 August 2020 at 10:11 am

                      Marxist equals Holocaust

                      And here you make a foolish undergraduate mistake in drawing an equivalence between two things in different categories. Marxism is a political theory, the Holocaust was an event. They cannot be logically compared.

                      On the other hand I am drawing an explicit equivalence between marxism and fascism, and if you wish between the stalags and the gulags.

                    • solkta …
                      17 August 2020 at 10:19 am

                      yawn.

          • Andre 4.1.6.1.3
            16 August 2020 at 5:10 pm

            I was kinda hoping someone else that actually wanted the argument today was going to pick up on this other aspect of that comment about "the left" and TS harbouring marxists: it's a helluva false equivalence between disgust at the idea of harbouring a former actual serving nazi, and allowing keyboard warriors to express their opinions and desires without feeling the need to pull them up by their shorts every time they do, no matter how loony-left or marxist or maoist or stalinist they may be.

          • Draco T Bastard 4.1.6.1.4
            16 August 2020 at 5:16 pm

            why every actual marxist state has been a humiliating, dangerous and miserable failure.

            Because they weren't Marxist. This has been explained – in excruciating detail.

      • mikesh 4.1.7
        16 August 2020 at 4:31 pm

        One writer claimed that Adolf died in 1964 in Patagonia. It has always been suspicious that the Russians won't allow anyone access to his alleged corpse.

    • Adrian Thornton 4.2
      16 August 2020 at 2:49 pm

      Looks like he was part of the 2nd Waffen SS Division Das Reich, judging by where he said he fought, that Div. gained a pretty brutal record of atrocities in France and who knows what the fuck they got up to in Russia! They also earned themselves an extremely formidable combat record as well.

      Not sure if you can condemn all members of the Waffen SS outright, most were just plain combat troops like the troops of other nations, though maybe more ideological, especially during the first few years of the war…even Gunter Grass ended up as a member.

      • Sabine 4.2.1
        16 August 2020 at 3:37 pm

        The Waffen SS demanded a bit more loyalty then the regular conscript into the Wehrmacht.

        As for his claim 'i did not know' fuck him, There is enough photographic evidence to point out his lying, both as for the atrocities committed against Russians, Poles, Jews and anyone else in between but also of the hanging of conscripted Germans on the road side trees for cowardice and treason.

    • Gabby 4.3
      16 August 2020 at 7:02 pm

      He seems to have kept the rallies to a tolerable minimum.

  5. Robert Guyton 5
    16 August 2020 at 8:47 am

    The Chesswas Letter

    (A local National Party official has written to leader Judith Collins with an impassioned plea for the party to oppose Covid-19 restrictions.)

    “This election, more than ever, National has nothing to lose. We need to sack the media-doting risk-averse PR-"guru" advisors and pollsters we have relied on for too long, who focus on only only that portion of Kiwis with an overblown sense of trust in a media that is driven by and feeds human anxieties more than facts and truth,” Chesswas wrote.

    He said National should align itself with the New Conservatives, who are arguing against the new lockdown, and the New Zealand Public Party, whose co-leader has suggested the “plandemic” is a bioweapon.

    Experts have condemned the New Zealand Public Party for spreading this theory, which does not have a basis in fact.

    ”We needs to start sounding like the principled freedom loving right wing Kiwis that are the backbone of our party,” Chesswas wrote."

  6. Patricia Bremner 6
    16 August 2020 at 9:25 am

    So the pressure this disease has provided, shows clearly that we have small but quite deranged groups of people who do not believe in community. Forewarned is forearmed.

    Many have outed themselves as not community minded win at any cost and bring the government into disrepute and practicing the dark art of Dirty Politics.

    We are getting a clear picture of who to trust.

  7. Patricia 2 7
    16 August 2020 at 9:26 am

    Jack Tame is giving Judith Collins a grilling on TV 1. She has obviously had some PR training and is keeping her voice low and speech slow ; not lurching into her usual fish wife style of conversation.

    • joe90 7.1
      16 August 2020 at 9:57 am

      Judith's eyebrows were up, too.

      • Incognito 7.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 12:28 pm

        She doesn’t know which one is up and which one is down so the default position is both up. Just watch for the smug semi-smirk.

    • Morrissey 7.2
      16 August 2020 at 1:28 pm

      her usual fish wife style

      ???? sad

      I know a lot of fishermen's wives. None of them are remotely as nasty or dishonorable as Judith Collins.

      Back in the days of the Bolger/Shipley maladministration, Winston Peters used to abuse fishwives in order to make a point. Whenever the late great Whanganui M.P. Jill Pettis interjected during one of his speeches, he'd say: "It's market day."

    • Muttonbird 7.3
      16 August 2020 at 4:11 pm

      Bacteria is the wife of Unhygienix, the fishmonger.

  8. Observer Tokoroa 8
    16 August 2020 at 9:51 am

    Simplicity – the Winner

    Covid- 19 seems to have some people in an understandable "What The Hec" mode. "We are condemned forever". We have to wash our hands. Keep a distance. Get Check ups. Avoid Transmission. Oh Poor us. tch tch tch

    I dont think we are in great difficulty. 102 days without any Trouble. Currently much much less today.

    Strangely enough, the main worriers are the so called people who keep the Economy going. They are bleeding at the corners of their eyes and heart and every other little doggy bit.

    Month after month the wealthy are nagging "What about the Economy" ? night and day.

    The Vaccines are not yet available. As happens with Viruses. For Virus are living things and they keep a deep control on their living structures.

    Equally, we humans have learnt over time how to cope with the Virus enemy. Right back from the Spanish Collapse and dreadful other Viruses.

    We, the Simple People, are following our wonderful Leaders – Jacinda Ardern, Doctor Bloomfield, Chris Hipkins, Testing staff. And the Sciences.

    Our economy is working if our Foreign Banks allow. If all of us follow our Leaders. And if the Wealthy get off their comforts and stop nagging.

    The very Elderly, will do as they do day in and day out. They will thank Mother Earth on their death bed. For they are robust Kiwi and Whenua and Family.

    • Treetop 8.1
      16 August 2020 at 11:36 am

      My heart sobs for those who have plenty and that they are being restricted by a pandemic in increasing their wealth.

      Losing money may as well be a disease to those with enough who are complaining.

  9. Pat 9
    16 August 2020 at 10:47 am

    The population question (for NZ)

    "The reality of New Zealand’s primary production exports is that the natural resource set is already close to fully used, with environmental sustainability issues already of major importance. There will still be some technological advances that can contribute to improved production and productivity, but it is going to be hard work.

    In relation to population issues, the bottom line has to be that if New Zealand’s population continues to track upwards at rates similar to the last decade, then land-based exports can only decline on a per capita basis. Where will the new exports come from to pay for imports items for which New Zealand is poorly positioned? That issue has to be brought forward into any immigration debate"

    https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/106554/any-debate-immigration-has-consider-fixed-natural-resources-have-be-spread-across

    Its said we currently produce enough food for 20 million people and as Keith Woodford notes we are pretty much at maximum output, difficult improvement aside….with primary production and migration of our two pronged approach to non NZD earnings and one prong badly blunted for the foreseeable (if not permanently) then simple arithmetic suggests any increase in population will provide a corresponding decrease in offshore purchasing power and consequently a loss of national wealth and living standards regardless of distribution issues or demographics

    • greywarshark 9.1
      16 August 2020 at 11:08 am

      Interesting facts that keep breaking through the fog of other considerations. The most important get pushed aside.

    • Foreign waka 9.2
      16 August 2020 at 11:17 am

      Pat, quite right and not to mention that the best land for growing food is used for housing. Stupidity has no bounds.

    • SPC 9.3
      16 August 2020 at 11:21 am

      Short term growth through population increase is no more sustainable than the carbon economy.

    • Draco T Bastard 9.4
      16 August 2020 at 12:09 pm

      Ah, someone's finally starting to notice the actual economics of our nation and not just the delusional finances that has been the bedrock of government policy for decades.

  10. SPC 10
    16 August 2020 at 11:19 am

    Tina Ngata says many of the conspiracy theories circulating online find their genesis in the alt-right, particularly in the United States, and are promoted by white supremacist movements wanting to destabilise centrist governments.

    Health officials trying to stamp out rumours as well as COVID-19 – Hipkins She says New Zealand's history of colonisation and poor treatment of tangata whenua means some sectors of Māori society are particularly susceptible to these conspiracies. "They take advantage of people who have a natural distrust of authority and so it finds very fertile soil in the minds of communities that have been oppressed in the past."

    Māori sociologist Dr Tahu Kukutai agrees. She says there are specific conditions that lead to conspiracy theories being adopted by disadvantaged communities such as economic insecurity, inequality and feeling disempowered and COVID-19 has created a perfect storm of these factors.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/08/block-or-engage-how-to-deal-with-wh-nau-caught-up-in-conspiracies.html

    Which is why Maori should do some work in their community to prevent this, because when MOH is accused of racism for moving to quarantine people infected in the community (only when brown skinned people are the ones being infected) it invites resistance to public safety policy. Seeking a working relationship with MOH cuts both ways.

    • I Feel Love 10.1
      16 August 2020 at 12:23 pm

      They are. Doing work in their own community. Some are reminding their people about the 1918 pandemic & the cost to Maori, not all Maori are conspiracy nutters, in fact the 'protest' in Whangarei was pathetically attended, it's just the keyboard fantasists stirring shit that makes them more prominent than they are. Of course, as we see in the USA this shit is dangerous, the qAnon Republican candidate in Georgia is utterly terrifying. WTF is going on? As if there isn't enough crap to deal with right now.

    • Incognito 10.2
      16 August 2020 at 2:34 pm

      You have a Moderation note waiting for you here: https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-14-08-2020/#comment-1741513. Please respond, thanks.

  11. Gabby 11
    16 August 2020 at 11:22 am

    I'm worried that Big Brown hasn't drawn attention to the unusual delay in announcing the Lotto results. It's interesting is all I'm saying. Does Big Brown know something?

    • I Feel Love 11.1
      16 August 2020 at 12:27 pm

      It is all very convenient isn't it Gabby? That's all I'll say but someone should resign over this, where's that RW journo when you need him.

    • OnceWasTim 11.2
      16 August 2020 at 12:35 pm

      It's really really spooky eh @ Gabs. In a similar 'vein' I'd really really like to know what Billy TK senior thinks of his junior. The disenfranchised of course are open to "draining the swanp" more than most, and its unfortunate that Labour hasn't picked up on this in any useful sort of way (in this space, going forward) – pragmatic incrementalism and all I 'spose prevents it and there's a heap of consultants, media analYsts, ditherers and various other hangers-on that need their tickets to be clipped.

      I guess we'll see in the fullness of time. Of course the senior naturally loves the produce of his loins – and of course he always was a better guitarist.

    • Robert Guyton 11.3
      16 August 2020 at 12:49 pm

      " Does Big Brown know something?"

      Ordinarily, he claims to know nuffink, but here he's implying he knows everyfink, but won't say nuffink and that listeners are free to make up anyfink they want, so long that it hurts Jacinda's reputation. Big Brown then, appears to be a fink!

  12. Robert Guyton 12
    16 August 2020 at 12:57 pm

    "Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion."
    – Barry Lopez

  13. Patricia Bremner 13
    16 August 2020 at 1:01 pm

    Sorry Weka, was skyping elderly friends on the Sunshine Coast.

    The groups are varied. Out Doors Group which seems to have a vocal American voice shouting "Freedom" slogans, Billy Te Kahika with his conspiracy theory party, Facebook users abusing the current covid victims, Gerry Brownlee firing his bosses DP bullets, among others. There are good people in National, and many are onboard with the Health requirements to contain this virus. What we do regarding the dangerous minority is hard to know. Positions are hardening imo

  14. joe90 14
    16 August 2020 at 1:13 pm

    It gets worse.

    It’s not clear what set off the police chase, but Slyman appears to have been convinced by QAnon theories that the government was out to kidnap his children. Inspired by videos he had watched online, Slyman warned his children during the chase that the police were coming to abduct them—or maybe just shoot them in a staged killing. In return, they begged him to pull over. His daughter even tried to grab the wheel of the minivan and drive it off the road after he accused her and his wife, who had dived out of the vehicle at the start of the chase, of being agents of the nefarious cabal that QAnon believers say controls the world.

    “They want to make us crazy,” Slyman said, “but I’m not crazy. My wife and my daughter were a part of it.”

    http://archive.li/hXVPH (dailybeast)

  15. Patricia Bremner 15
    16 August 2020 at 1:15 pm

    I still can not get my reply button to work. Lenovo on vodafone.

  16. aj 16
    16 August 2020 at 2:02 pm

    From openDemocracy

    https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/government-u-turning-on-the-u-turn-on-local-covid-contact-tracing/

    "If you buy something and it's not delivered, you wouldn't buy it again. Right?

    Not, it seems, if you're the UK government and one of your mates or top donors is selling it.

    We've just uncovered how two giant firms – Serco and Sitel – have landed lucrative deals to continue running NHS Track and Trace, despite major failures.

    Serco and Sitel are reaching less than half of the people they're supposed to be contacting. They're charging £900 per person traced. Experts have branded it a 'disaster'.

    Yet now they're getting up to £520 million to carry on – while councils mopping up their failures get no extra cash. Why?"

  17. ianmac 17
    16 August 2020 at 2:07 pm

    National is to release their Covid Policy later this week according to Collins.

    They could claim impossible restrictions because they don't have to action their policy. Things like testing every "frontline staff" weekly. Firing every staff member who slips up. Publishing every bit of information that is not now being published. Demanding that any virus carrier be exposed and named as a carrier. Demanding that the frontline team declares exactly where an infection came from. Compulsory masks. Compulsory everything.

    Demanding that Dr Reti follows Collins position on virus and fire him if he acts in a reasoned manner against the greater Collins knowledge.

    • Treetop 17.1
      16 August 2020 at 2:34 pm

      There are snags when it comes to testing, waiting for the result, being a close contact with a negative result, time isolating and front line testing.

      Getting the who, when, why and how tested is important?

      Throw the politics away as they are mudding the waters. The priority is elimination and for every political party to strive for this. The country will know when elimination cannot be achieved.

  18. Treetop 18
    16 August 2020 at 2:19 pm

    1. Am I correct that if a contact of a cluster a person has to stay home until the result is known and even if a negative result the person has to isolate for a total of 14 days?

    2. Am I correct that if no symptoms and not a close contact and you had a test that you do not need to stay at home?

    3. Or if no test done and a contact from a cluster then you need to isolate for 14 days?

    4. I expect that if a negative result and then you become unwell that you can get retested.

  19. PaddyOT 19
    16 August 2020 at 3:09 pm

    Monique Hanotte: The teenage Belgian spy who walked 140 airmen to freedom.

    Monique (Henriette) turns 100 years old with an inspiring story of courage and selflessness as a young woman assisting the Comet Line.

    " With the benefit of 75 years of hindsight, Monique remains insistent that she didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. "

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/monique-hanotte-teenage-belgian-spy-walked-140-airmen-freedom/

  20. Patricia Bremner 20
    16 August 2020 at 3:44 pm

    PaddyOT, @ 19 Monique was working for the greater good, so she sees herself as a small cog in a big wheel

    Currently we have too many thinking their own good is important, and they are happy to jam the wheel of greater good with self interest

    • PaddyOT 20.1
      16 August 2020 at 5:18 pm

      The same thoughts when posting the story. The idea that examples of selflessness might become more scarce as the past's ' heroes' from all walks disappear and the outlook if societies become driven by self first attitudes is concerning.

  21. observer 21
    16 August 2020 at 3:52 pm

    Winston has read my comment on here yesterday, and is now calling for Oct 17 as the election date. Presumably he's doing a Bridges, and trying to score points by calling for something he already expects to be announced.

    Safe prediction: PM will announce the delay at 10 a.m. tomorrow, and we'll have a silly game of "told you so" by various politicians.

    It will make no difference to the election outcome, which is all that matters.

    • Muttonbird 21.1
      16 August 2020 at 4:06 pm

      He's also trying to distract from the indirect lashing he got from Chippie this afternoon regarding the spreading of fake news.

      He's claiming the GG "should know" the majority of Parliament don't support a Sept 19 election date but since when has it been Parliament's decision? And how on earth does he know a majority of Parliament supports a delay?

      • observer 21.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 4:19 pm

        It says everything about NZF's irrelevance now, that he is giving a press conference and nobody is bothering to carry it live.

      • SPC 21.1.2
        16 August 2020 at 5:06 pm

        It's apparently automatic for the GG to issue the writ as soon as the PM decides on the date.

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12356049

        Peters is inferring a majority for the latest date possible means a later date should be chosen.

        That would not influence a GG, the Electoral Commission is the body repsonsible for the election once the date is decided and the writ issued automatically afterward.

        With parliament no longer standing Peters cannot propose a no confience motion to form an election date coalition (Seymour Peters Collins in no particular order),

        Its mere electioneering. If for example there was another outbreak in November parliament would have to recovence to authorise by 2/3 majority an election next year.

        The PM is still quite free to decide.

        For mine, she could extend the date out 2-4 weeks (longer to cover uncertainty about how long it will take to close this down), and allow a longer period of early voting at level 2 and a slower campaign at Level 2

        (presumption Auckland will go to Level 2 for 2 weeks after the 2 at Level3)

        It willl still be the Electoral Commission who decide if it can be held on the day. I'm not sure what happens if they do not hold it in the day and early voting has already begun. Just keep early voting available until a Saturday can be used?

    • PaddyOT 21.2
      16 August 2020 at 5:27 pm

      Winston's your fanboy following your posts, awww jealous ! sad

  22. Muttonbird 22
    16 August 2020 at 4:46 pm

    Despite me not wanting to hear much from experts, here's a good Skegg article on RNZ. He says of a Hong Kong colleague involved with SARS 1:

    The Hong Kong professor (said) there are three essential components to dealing with these pandemics and they were physical distancing, including mass masking, testing and rapid contact tracing, and border controls.

    He said if you relax any one of those three, you better make sure you really tighten the other two.

    I'm in Auckland and there's not a lot of mask wearing. I don't wear one outside but I do whenever I go inside with the rest of the unwashed. I'd say mask wearing in Auckland indoor public places is still only 30-40%.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/423630/covid-19-how-new-zealand-can-avoid-lockdowns-in-the-future

    • ScottGN 22.1
      16 August 2020 at 6:25 pm

      I think the mask wearing request is starting to get through in Auckland. I’ve just been to the Mt Eden Countdown and I’d say 80% of the queue were masked. I always have mine with me but I don’t wear it if I’m out walking alone and not getting within 2 metres of anyone. I use it for crowded pavements and shops and will presumably use it on the bus when we go back to work.

      • Muttonbird 22.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 8:00 pm

        Hope you are right. I still see a lot of people in close contact situations not doing it.

        National Party voters.

  23. Muttonbird 23
    16 August 2020 at 4:57 pm

    Rimmer wants 4 weeks at L1 before the election date.

    But here's the thing, L1 didn't really work.

    L1 gives us a false sense of security so we shouldn't really be going back to L1 until there's a vaccine, or at least better treatment and testing, and better compliance.

    Curious Rimmer is now on board with levels and such after rubbishing the entire government approach in favour of throwing the vulnerable under the Covid bus.

    Also, I would have thought Rimmer would want an election asap as his stock has never been higher.

    • McFlock 23.1
      16 August 2020 at 5:09 pm

      Level 1 is fine. It stops worry fatigue, and lets the country exist as normally as possible.

      We have a single cluster. Big deal. We've adjusted our conditions to match the threat. When that cluster is eliminated, we'll go back to level 1. When the vaccine comes and is distributed, we'll go back to level zero.

      • Muttonbird 23.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 5:14 pm

        I'd like to see better direction under L1 next time. The Nats and Barry Soper whinged about Covid info being broadcast as a way to keep the populace under Ardern's control!

        But it's clear lots of people need reminding.

        • SPC 23.1.1.1
          16 August 2020 at 5:15 pm

          The mistake we made at was, people

          • SPC 23.1.1.1.1
            16 August 2020 at 5:19 pm

            Not able to edit.

            The mistake we made at level 1 was that people were complacent about testing for COV2 because they presumed it would be cold or flu. Such self isolation is not good enough because of family contact spread and delay in finding out it is back.

      • observer 23.1.2
        16 August 2020 at 5:17 pm

        That's true. It's also another reason to delay (for a short period).

        It's a sad certainty that when gov't announces a reduction in the level, PM will be accused of politicking, she'll say it was on DG's advice, opposition will insinuate DG is biased, etc, etc.

        Better if that doesn't happen a week before the election.

        • McFlock 23.1.2.1
          16 August 2020 at 5:54 pm

          What has it got to do with election timing? Maybe L3 will be an issue, but if it's back to L2/1 by september, no worries

    • SPC 23.2
      16 August 2020 at 5:14 pm

      If we delayed an election until the country was at Level 1, we could be leading the world into an era without elections for 1-2 years. With the US election coming up, its an example Trump would cite again and again.

      • observer 23.2.1
        16 August 2020 at 5:20 pm

        Come on, Trump (and his potential voters) don't know or care what happens in a small European country near Germany called Noo Zeeland.

        • McFlock 23.2.1.1
          16 August 2020 at 10:52 pm

          lol the number of yanks and brits who were sudden twitter experts on our nation beg to differ.

    • Incognito 23.3
      16 August 2020 at 5:20 pm

      Rimmer wants 4 weeks at L1 before the election date.

      Can somebody please ask him when the whole of the country will be back at L1? Or should we ask the virus?

      Can they please also ask him what should happen if there’s another step-up in Alert Levels somewhere in the country?

      If extra time and a delay will play in the hands of National, will it also benefit ACT?

      I’d think that voters want some sense of clarity and certainty. Shifting election dates is ‘shifty’ behaviour, politically speaking. However, voters also like fairness and possibly care less about legitimacy. So, what’s fair and what’s legitimate?

      When the PM writes the writ, how might that affect any possible step-ups in Alert Levels between now and Election Day? The election campaigns of political parties should not take precedent over or come at the expense of measures to keep all of us safe.

      • observer 23.3.1
        16 August 2020 at 5:27 pm

        And of course it's the government that decides levels.

        "New poll out, Labour down, announce return to level 2".

        Just get Seymour to sign a document saying "I hereby declare election null and void in the event of a single positive case of the virus, within one month of scheduled election. Until then government rules indefinitely, with my blessing". That should shut him up.

        • Incognito 23.3.1.1
          16 August 2020 at 6:21 pm

          Seymour is all about freedom, which means freedom from responsibility, and he’ll never sign a document that will put the weight of the nation on his shoulders. He’s all show and only good for show, on TV. Bunch of self-serving nihilists 🙁

      • Muttonbird 23.3.2
        16 August 2020 at 5:28 pm

        +1. I meant to add that Seymour's approach is entirely dependent on what the virus does rather than what people can take control of.

        • Incognito 23.3.2.1
          16 August 2020 at 5:59 pm

          Exactly! It’s no way to plan the Election or govern the country. Might as well read the tealeaves, if we were to follow Seymour’s ‘lead’.

          We already have too much uncertainty due to lockdowns, and the overall effects of the closed border, et cetera. Businesses are facing going belly-up and people are in fear of losing their jobs. School students are looking at 2020 as a very disruptive year, one that will follow them for years to come.

          I wish the current crop of MPs would stop thinking about themselves, less about their own interests, and more about the five million people in this country, many of who have it much tougher than any MP.

    • mauī 24.1
      16 August 2020 at 10:04 pm

      Now imagine what it might be like for Māori, who don't just have 1 misspelled place name, but likely thousands dotted around the country.

  25. joe90 25
    16 August 2020 at 5:29 pm

    Short thread on the Lebanon/Hezbollah snafu.

    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1293624764322414592.html

    • Draco T Bastard 25.1
      16 August 2020 at 5:59 pm

      The problem with that thread is that it assumes that FDI is necessary and is thus the reason for the reform that the author wants.

  26. Robert Guyton 26
    16 August 2020 at 5:54 pm

    "Ardern’s political style rests on her personal appeal, but it has also been criticised as superficial – or, as Bill English put it, “stardust”."

    Bill "Fence Post" English. Respected authority on Dipton, sheep, dipping sheep and double-dipping, reckons the Prime Minister's essential quality is "stardust". We are stardust, Bill, as Joni Mitchell so elegantly sang.

    • mac1 26.1
      16 August 2020 at 6:56 pm

      "and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."

      Great song, beautifully sung, and the science of the words “we are stardust” is so far advanced in its grasp of the universe.

      Then the reference above, (following the line ‘we are stardust, we are golden”), which I read as meaning getting back to simplicity and back to what is important, a vital message post-Covid 19.

      • weka 26.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 11:39 pm

        Incredible song. I take that line to be about that generation taping into the potential spirit of humanity. We've lost so much since then.

        I agree about the simplicity message, and what is needed how.

    • Just Is 26.2
      16 August 2020 at 7:32 pm

      Bills just Jealous cos he was a 3 times bridesmaid, PM 3 times but was never ever, ever, ever, voted into the position by the people of NZ.

      Bill knows that, but still wonders why

  27. Muttonbird 27
    16 August 2020 at 6:00 pm

    Powerful Kiwirail campaign here.

    https://www.nearmisses.co.nz

    • greywarshark 27.1
      16 August 2020 at 7:35 pm

      Can't figure that M. What does it say? Looks about crossing smashes.

      • Muttonbird 27.1.1
        16 August 2020 at 7:56 pm

        It's to draw attention to the high danger around the many level crossings in this country, and to the impact near misses have on train drivers' mental health.

  28. Muttonbird 28
    16 August 2020 at 6:20 pm

    Lotto seems to have fallen off its perch of trust.

    Proud anti-gambler in all its forms here and I think funding of community sports etc needs to be revisited.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12356935

    • Draco T Bastard 28.1
      16 August 2020 at 9:28 pm

      Lotto seems to have fallen off its perch of trust.

      Doesn't sound like it. Just sounds like their computers got swamped as more people than expected signed in to buy online rather than going to the store.

  29. Sabine 29
    16 August 2020 at 9:02 pm

    FDA approved fast and cheap saliva test .

    twitter thread makes for interesting reading

    https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1294654256763609090

  30. Pat 30
    16 August 2020 at 9:08 pm

    "National Australia Bank Ltd on Friday urged customers at high risk of default on their loans to sell their properties sooner rather than later, as it reported ballooning credit impairment charges during the quarter."

    https://www.reuters.com/article/nab-results/update-2-australias-nab-urges-high-risk-clients-to-sell-homes-soon-idUSL4N2FG06O

    whither Australia goes NZ follows

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    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • COVID: Back to Level 1
    After stamping the Coronavirus out via strict lockdown between March and May, New Zealand went through a good three months without any community cases. Then a local outbreak in Auckland rather buggered things up last month. Auckland’s been in level 3 and level 2.5 for the past six weeks. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Climate injustice
    Who's causing our skyrocketing emissions? As with most of our other problems, It's the rich: The wealthiest 1% of the world’s population were responsible for the emission of more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the poorer half of the world from 1990 to 2015, according to new ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Good riddance
    The border closure and resulting lack of foreign slave-workers is driving the fishing industry out of business: One fishing company is effectively out of business while others are bracing for large financial hits as the deepwater New Zealand industry, unable to get skilled foreign workers into the country, have ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #38
    Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... The tipping points at the heart of the climate crisis Many parts of the Earth’s climate system have been destabilised by ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Anyone for Collins?
    In the absence of national public opinion polls, we have had to make do in recent weeks with other guides to voter intentions. Those guides, such as the Auckland Central poll, the incidence of google enquiries and the responses to Vote Compass questions, have suggested, not unexpectedly, that Labour is ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    4 days ago

  • Crusher’s fiscal malfunction
    Crusher Collins - National Party leaderWe all know that the National Party is desperate to gain some traction during this election campaign and have been throwing pretty much everything at the Labour Party in order to try and undermine Jacinda Ardern and what the Coalition Government has achieved. But unfortunately ...
    The Jackal
    4 days ago

  • Much of the commentariat’s reporting of the most recent GDP figure was misleading and unhelpful. The prize for the stupidest remark about the GDP figure for second quarter 2020 (2020Q2) released on Thursday (17 Sept) goes to Judith Collins, whose response to Grant Robertson’s comments indicated she did not ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago

  • Love and Hate as Complementary Revolutionary Acts
    by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh goloing@gmail.com (19/09/2020) Che Guevara said that a true revolutionary is motivated by love i.e. love of the oppressed, the poor, the children dying from preventable illnesses. This phrase of his is true but has been used by reformists and their more hippy wing have taken advantage ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    5 days ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
    A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 13, 2020 through Sat, Sep 19, 2020 Editor's Choice Get to Net-Zero by Mid-Century? Even Some Global Oil and Gas Giants Think it Can Be Done A report by a ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Tax cuts for all!!! (except you, you, and you)
    With the National Party this week announcing a new policy of tax cuts to spice up the election campagin. MyThinks went along to the launch and afterwards we spoke to the party’s finance spokesperson Paul “Golden Touch” Goldsmith. MT: Thanks for speaking to us Mr Goldsmith. PG: No. Thank you. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    6 days ago

  • Great Waves Washing Over New Zealand
    Always to islanders danger Is what comes over the seas ‘Landfall in Unknown Seas’ (Allen Curnow)Six economic issues external to New Zealand, which will greatly impact upon us. 1.         The Diminishing Global Dominance of the US. Since 1941 America has dominated the world economically and politically. Probably it could ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • New Zealand has role to play in resolving crisis on ‘geopolitical fault line’, Helen Clark says
    By Geoffrey Miller New Zealand should continue to champion human rights in Belarus amidst an ongoing crackdown on protests by the country’s regime, former Prime Minister Helen Clark says. Protests in the country often referred to as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’ erupted after the country’s disputed presidential elections on August 9 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    6 days ago

  • Euthanasia referendum: How to cut through the emotions
    Jacqui Maguire, registered clinical psychologist This podcast episode highlights how difficult it is to have effective conversations about euthanasia due to how polarised people’s views are. I’m a clinical psychologist, with a passion for science communication. In early 2020 I founded the podcast Mind Brew, with an aim to make psychological ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    7 days ago

  • Why we need cameras on boats
    In case anyone needed further convincing, there's another example today of why we need cameras on fishing boats: reported seabird bycatch doubled during a camera trial: Commercial fishers operating off Auckland's coast around vulnerable seabirds are twice as likely to report accidentally capturing them when cameras are on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Graham Adams: The religious right’s campaign to spike the euthanasia referendum
    In the leadup to the euthanasia referendum, an array of conservative Christian political organisations is running an expensive campaign to sow doubt about the safety of assisted dying. Graham Adams argues that these religious forces know that Christian arguments aren’t convincing the public, but that it is in the public ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 days ago

  • Opportunistic looting
    The National Party has spent the last six months acting horrified at the cost of supporting people through the pandemic and banging on about how the debt must be repaid. So what was their economic policy released today? Massive tax-cuts for the rich, of course! National has walked back ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Uncomfortable Choices.
    Dangerous Times: This will be the choice confronting those coming of age in the 2020s. Embrace Neoliberalism’s belief in racial and sexual equality; adopt its secular and scientific world view; and cultivate the technocratic, multicultural, global outlook required of those who keep the machinery of hyper-capitalism humming. Or, throw your ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • Tony Burton: Covid and benefit payments
    It would be a great time to reform the benefit system, according to former Deputy Chief Economic Advisor at the Treasury, Tony Burton. He argues the complexity of benefit system means that it’s failing to achieve its difficult three core objectives, which form an “iron triangle”.   New Zealand’s benefit ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 days ago

  • Talking tax: How to win support for taxing wealth
    Tax Justice UK, September 2020 Serious tax reform is on the political agenda for the first time in decades due to the coronavirus crisis. As this debate hots up it is important to understand what people think about public spending, wealth and tax. Tax Justice UK, along with Survation and ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    7 days ago

  • Getting Tough.
    Not Mucking Around: With upwards of 800 dead from the virus’s resurgence in the Australian state of Victoria, leniency is not on Premier Daniel Andrews’ agenda. The Victorian Police are cracking down hard on the protesters the Australian press has labelled "Covidiots".IMAGES OF POLICE, some in riot gear, others on ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • Media Link: Nuclear strategy, then and now.
    Although I had the fortune of being a graduate student of some of the foremost US nuclear strategists of the day (1970s) and later rubbed shoulders with Air Force and Naval officers who were entrusted with parts of the US nuclear arsenal, I seldom get to write or speak about ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago

  • The Chinese List.
    News that Zhenhua Data, an arm of China Zhenhua Electronics Group, a subsidiary of the military-connected China Electronic Information Industry Group (CETC), maintains a list of 800 New Zealanders on a “Overseas Key Information Database” that contains personal information on more than 2.4 million foreign individuals, has caused some consternation ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago

  • Things that grow fast, and things that surprise us
    Marie Becdelievre January 2020. The number of news article mentioning coronavirus exploded and anxious voices whispered about a global pandemic. Whisper? To me, it was only a whisper. I tend to learn about the world through non-fiction books, conferences, and academic research rather than news and social media, so ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37, 2020
    2,082,476,000,000,000 Viability of greenhouse gas removal via the artificial addition of volcanic ash to the ocean  (not open access, unfortunately) walks us through the numbers on a particular means of CO2 removal, addition of volcanic tephra to the ocean. The mechanism is straight chemistry and the cost is fully an order of ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Barbados to become a republic
    Barbados is planning to remove the queen as head of state and become a republic in time for the 55th anniversary of its independence in 2021: Barbados has announced its intention to remove the Queen as its head of state and become a republic by November 2021. [...] Reading ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Party Like It’s 1989: Bait and Switch is a Bad Look, Mr Hipkins
    At the 2017 election, the New Zealand Labour Party promised a Fees Free Policy for tertiary students. Basically, it would make the first year of university education free in 2018, with a second year in 2021, and a third in 2024. It also promised to restore Post-Graduate access to the ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago

  • Will the tropics eventually become uninhabitable?
    Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz What is the impact of temperature increases in the tropics? ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • A first-hand look: What it’s like to live in a 2020 California wildfire evacuation zone
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons It felt like 100 degrees in my in-laws’ Grass Valley, California, kitchen, but at least the lights were on and for the moment we were safely “distanced” from the Jones Fire. We’d just finished dessert, after pizza and a movie ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • COVID-19 is not the only infectious disease New Zealand wants to eliminate, and genome sequencing is...
    Nigel French, Massey University Genome sequencing — the mapping of the genetic sequences of an organism — has helped track the spread of COVID-19 cases in Auckland, but it also plays an important role in the control of other infectious diseases in New Zealand. One example is Mycoplasma bovis, a ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • A flaw in our electoral transparency regime
    A key part of our electoral funding regime is a requirement for some transparency around donations, on the basis that if we can find out who has bought our politicians (typically after we have voted for them) then everything is alright. There are a lot of problems with that regime ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Don’t Steal This Book
    On “In Defense of Looting” Matt Taibibi takes an entertaining look at this generation of woke activists and how they compare with Abbie Hoffman the iconic anti-Vietnam war counter-culture figure of the 1960s On Thursday, August 27th, the same day Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination, National Public Radio ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Carbon prices must rise
    When Parliament introduced the Emissions Trading Scheme, it was worried that carbon prices might get too high. So it introduced a "fixed price option", allowing polluters to pay the government $25 in the place of surrendering credits. The result was predictable: after we were thrown out of international carbon markets ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Disclosure
    The government will finally be requiring large New Zealand companies to disclose their climate change risks: New Zealand finance companies will be made to report on climate change risk, Climate Change Minister James Shaw has announced. The policy will force around 200 large financial organisations in New Zealand to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Tackling the hard issues – trust and relationships
    By Claire Grant, Genomics Aotearoa Communications Manager Community consultation is becoming an increasingly important aspect of research programmes in New Zealand, and with that comes the art of relationship building. Engagement between scientists and user-groups is certainly nothing new. But as stakeholder involvement becomes more of a requirement for science, ...
    SciBlogsBy Genomics Aotearoa
    1 week ago

  • Equality Network – September Newsletter
    Read the Equality Network newsletter here ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    1 week ago

  • The Left’s Lost Allies.
    Rebels In A Wrong Cause: The truly frightening thing about Jami-Lee Ross’s and Billy Te Kahika’s success in persuading thousands of New Zealanders that Covid-19 is just another trick, just another way of stealing away their power, is realising just how many of them once marched at the Left’s side. ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • Legal Beagle: Low-Hanging Fruit
    In a couple of months, the 53rd Parliament will meet in Wellington, and approximately 120 MPs will be sworn in, many of them for the first time.They will all have political goals, some aligning with their party platforms, some not, some complex, and some simple, but they will gain one ...
    Public Address
    1 week ago

  • Closing the Gap thinks that Labour’s proposal to raise the top tax rate is great but………
    Media Statement For Immediate Release 10th September 2020 The income and wealth inequality lobby group, “Closing the Gap” thinks the Labour proposal a great start says Peter Malcolm, a spokesperson for the group. But they need to be aware of what many of the rich do and of what do ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: No nonsense
    ACT is pushing a "no-nonsense climate change plan". What does it involve? Repealing the Zero Carbon Act and Emissions Trading Scheme, reversing the fossil-fuel exploration ban, and allowing mining on conservation land. In other words, repealing any policy which might actually reduce emissions. Which is the very definition of nonsensical. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • My Climate Story: Coming full Circle
    This blog post is a follow up to my recap of Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Training I recently participated in. One of the exercises we were asked to complete was to write about our respective "Climate Story". This is a slightly updated version to the one I had submitted during ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

Older posts

  • Primary sector exports and jobs up again
    Primary sector exports and jobs are up again, demonstrating the sector’s underlying strength amid the COVID-19 global pandemic and US-China trade war, and supporting New Zealand’s economic recovery. Stats NZ today reported New Zealand’s merchandise exports in August were up 8.6% on a year ago, driven by an increase in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago

  • Clean energy future for more schools
    Schools across Aotearoa New Zealand will be supported by the Government to upgrade to run on clean energy, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. The Minister has allocated $50 million from the Clean Powered Public Service Fund to replace, or convert, coal boilers in schools with clean ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Building business strength with digital tools
    New training and tools for digital commerce will give small businesses, especially in the tourism sector, the support they need to adapt and innovate in a COVID world. Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash have announced details of how $20 million digital capability funding set aside ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • New pest lures to protect nature
    The Department of Conservation (DOC) is investing $1.4 million to develop new predator lures that would be game-changers for trapping and surveillance towards a predator-free Aotearoa, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage, announced in Christchurch today. The proposal is to develop long-life lures attractive to a range of predators—rats, mustelids ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Support for innovative Pacific education responses to COVID-19 needs
    Supporting new and creative Pacific education practices as part of our COVID-19 response and recovery is the focus of a new $28.5 million Pacific Education Innovation Fund announced today by Associate Minister of Education Jenny Salesa.  “There is already an incredible amount of innovative and creative work going on in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Eligibility expanded for COVID-19 leave support
    The expanded scheme will cover: People who have COVID-19 like symptoms and meet the Ministry of Health’s criteria, and need to self-isolate while awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test. People who are directed to self-isolate by a Medical Officer of Health or their delegate or on advice of their ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Seasonal work visa available to more people
    The Government is putting in place a range of immigration policy changes to help fill labour shortages in key industries while ensuring New Zealanders, who have lost jobs due to COVID-19, have the chance to find new employment. “Two key sectors we are moving to help are horticulture and wine ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • More border exceptions for critical roles
    The Government has established class exceptions for border entry for a limited number of veterinarians, deep sea fishing crew, as well as agricultural and horticultural machinery operators. “Tight border restrictions remain the backbone of the Government’s border strategy to protect New Zealand against COVID-19 and ensure New Zealand citizens and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Crown will not appeal Dodds v Southern Response decision
    The Crown will not appeal the Court of Appeal decision in the Dodds v Southern Response case, Grant Robertson announced today. “Southern Response will be paying the damages awarded by the Court to Mr and Mrs Dodds shortly. The Crown was already meeting their legal costs for this appeal. “The ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Crucial PGF investments for Northland
    The Provincial Growth Fund is investing nearly $30 million in a diverse range of projects that will create immediate and long-term jobs and lift economic and social outcomes for Northland and its people. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones made the announcement today in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • $27million investment in global vaccine facility
    The Coalition Government has committed to invest $27 million in COVID-19 vaccine development through the global COVAX Facility, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced today. “The COVAX Facility is a key part of our COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy to obtain safe and effective vaccines. It allows us to invest in a high-quality, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Government backing Māori landowners
    The Government will provide up to $1.69 million through the One Billion Trees programme to Māori landowners to make their whenua more productive through the planting of forests, both native and exotic, and improve economic and environmental outcomes, Forestry Minister Shane Jones has announced. “Around 1.5 million ha of land ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • New tools to make nature more accessible
    People planning to head outdoors now have a resource that lets them know how accessible an area is for people with varying levels of mobility, Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. The Halberg Foundation, Sensibel, and the Department of Conservation (DOC) have launched Accessibel, a new tool which helps ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • PGF makes Māori history more accessible
    One of the most significant battle sites of the 1860s Land Wars will receive $2.96 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to improve the site and help tell the New Zealand story to visitors, Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. Nanaia Mahuta ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Making it official: The journey of te reo Māori | Kia whakapūmautia: Ngā piki me ngā heke o te r...
    The journey towards recognising Māori as an official language and taonga has been captured as a web series and launched today during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, announced Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni. “Te reo Māori is a living language, and understanding its significance, and pathways to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Better-than-forecast GDP reflects decision to protect New Zealand
    Today’s better-than-forecast GDP figures show the expected impact of the decision to act quickly to protect New Zealanders from the global COVID-19 pandemic. GDP fell 12.2% in the June quarter from March, reflecting decisions to close New Zealand’s borders and enter Alert Level 4. “This result was better than the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Boost for COVID-19 related Pacific education needs
    The Government is investing $39.7 Million over four years to support the educational needs of Pacific learners and families in the regions hardest hit by COVID-19, with Auckland getting an immediate boost, Associate Minister of Education Jenny Salesa says.   “Like all New Zealanders Pacific families want learners to do well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • More resources for kiwi conservation
    New Zealand’s goal of 100,000 kiwi by 2030 is being helped by an extra $19.7 million in funding to accelerate iwi and community efforts to protect kiwi, Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced. “$19.7 million of Jobs for Nature funding is being invested in kiwi conservation activities including increased predator ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Improving access to affordable electricity
    Ensuring New Zealanders can get the best deal on their electricity takes a step in the right direction today with the South Island launch of the EnergyMate pilot run by the Electricity Retailers’ Association, says Minister of Energy and Resources, Dr Megan Woods. EnergyMate is an industry-led programme providing coaching ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government achieves 50 percent women on state boards
    Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter announced today that the Government has reached its target of 50 percent on women on state sector board and committees – setting a new record level of women on state sector boards. “This Government is committed to having more women in leadership roles - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Record transport investment to help economic recovery and save lives
    Transport Minister Phil Twyford released today the final Government Policy Statement on land transport (GPS) 2021 which outlines the planned $48 billion investment in services and infrastructure over the next decade. “The final GPS supports our Government’s five-point plan for economic recovery by confirming our record investments in transport infrastructure ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Advancing clean energy technology
    Three ambitious and cutting-edge research programmes that will lift New Zealand’s advanced energy technology research capability over seven years, have been supported by Government today, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. The projects will each receive a share of $40.7 million investment from the Strategic Science Investment Fund. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Major milestone reached in Pike River Re-entry
    The critical area for forensic examination known as Pit Bottom in Stone has been reached in what is a major milestone for the Pike River re-entry project, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little announced. “The infrastructure located in Pit Bottom in Stone is of very significant interest in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Economic recovery guides Govt response to retirement income policy review
    The Government is working on how New Zealand’s retirement income policies and settings can best support Kiwis in light of the COVID-19 economic recovery, with the help of the Retirement Commissioner’s latest review, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said. “The Retirement Commissioner’s three-yearly review into New Zealand’s retirement ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Iwi community hub opens in Murupara
    A new digital hub and development centre in Murupara will be instrumental in growing the region’s productivity, said Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau at the official opening of two community initiatives today. “I’m pleased to be here celebrating a significant milestone for two projects set to make a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • PREFU shows economy doing better than forecast
    PREFU shows economy doing better than forecast Unemployment to peak at 7.8%, down from 9.8% forecast in the Budget Year-to-June accounts show tax revenue, debt and OBEGAL better than forecast Global forecast downgraded as COVID-19 second waves and uncertainty grows Balanced plan to support critical public services, manage debt and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Spruce-up for Ōtaki community facilities
    The Kāpiti Coast town of Ōtaki will receive $1.4 million in Government funding for two projects providing scores of jobs for locals while improving community facilities, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Māoriland Charitable Trust will receive a $900,000 Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) grant to upgrade the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • PGF funding for Jobs for Nature programme
    The Provincial Growth Fund will provide $11.88 million to fund fencing and waterway projects nationwide that will improve the environment and create jobs in their communities, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. “These projects will create more than 100 jobs nationwide with work starting within the next couple ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Procurement to promote jobs, Māori and Pasifika businesses and sustainability
    As part of the COVID-19 recovery, the Government has strengthened its procurement rules to ensure its annual $42 billion spend creates more jobs, uses more sustainable construction practices and results in better outcomes for Māori and Pasifika, Government Ministers announced today.   Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says the $42 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Timaru’s Theatre Royal to be upgraded and new heritage facility built
    The Government is supporting a major upgrade of Timaru’s iconic Theatre Royal and the construction of a new connected Heritage Facility museum and exhibition space with $11.6 million from the Government’s Infrastructure Fund, Jacinda Ardern announced today. “We heard the call from the community and the council. The Theatre Royal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • District Court judge appointed
    Chrissy Montague (formerly Armstrong), barrister of Auckland has been appointed as a District Court Judge with Family Court jurisdiction to be based in Wellington, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. Ms Montague commenced practice in Auckland in 1987 and went into general practice dealing with Wills, Estates, Trusts, Conveyancing, Relationship Property ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Approval given to Commercial Film and Video Production Proposal
      A Proposal to provide for the development and operation of commercial film and video production facilities in areas of Christchurch has been given the go ahead. Hon Poto Williams, Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, has approved the Proposal, which was prepared and submitted by Regenerate Christchurch. Minister Williams ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Supporting a thriving wānanga sector to benefit Māori learners
    As part of the Government’s focus on building closer partnerships with Māori and enhancing the quality of, and access to, Māori medium education, a payment of $8 million will be made to Te Wānanga o Raukawa in partial recognition of its Waitangi Tribunal claim (WAI 2698), Associate Education Minister Kelvin ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Jobs for Nature boosts efforts to restore Kaimai-Mamaku
    The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage has announced a $19 million investment over four years in an important forest restoration project involving a partnership between the Department of Conservation, iwi/hapū, the Bay of Plenty and Waikato Regional Councils, community conservation groups and organisations such as Forest and Bird across the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand first in the world to require climate risk reporting
    New Zealand will be the first country in the world to require the financial sector to report on climate risks, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. The changes build on the huge progress this Government has made to tackle the climate crisis. “Today is another step on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Economic data highlights impact of Auckland moving out of Level 3
    Economic activity across the Auckland region and the country bounced back to levels experienced under Alert Level 1 following Auckland’s move out of Alert Level 3, analysis in the Treasury’s latest Weekly Economic Update shows. The analysis of economic data since Auckland’s move out of Level 3 shows: Auckland card ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • PM statement on Cabinet COVID-19 Alert Level review
    Takiri mai te ata, ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea, tihei mauriora! Tātou katoa ngā iwi o Aotearoa, tēnā koutou! Tēnā tātou e whakanuia ana i te wiki nei, te wiki o te reo Māori Greeting to you all from Otepoti, Dunedin.  This week is the Māori Language week and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • More mental wellbeing services for young people in regions
    More mental health and addiction services are available for young New Zealanders in Rotorua and Taupō, Wairarapa, South Canterbury, Dunedin and Southland from next month, Health Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter say. “The Government is serious about making sure New Zealanders struggling with mental health ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Government joins forces with Central Otago communities to clean up waterways
    The Manuherekia catchment in Central Otago is the third exemplar catchment to be targeted as part of the Government’s plan to clean up waterways by supporting community-led programmes.   Environment Minister David Parker said the Manuherekia catchment is vitally important to the people of Central Otago.  “The Manuherekia rises in the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Government confirms new Dunedin Hospital design
    The Government has agreed on a preferred design for the new Dunedin Hospital featuring two separate buildings, and has provided funding for the next stages of work.   Minister of Health Chris Hipkins says Cabinet has approved in principle the detailed business case for the new hospital, giving people in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

Older posts

Older posts