In the remaining weeks of January, every employee and manager need to be talking about how to work from home in 2021, so we can prepare better for when the next wave hits us here.
Despite a bored media and twitterati talking up a storm, nothing substantive has changed since before Xmas.
The only thing left is a complete border closure, but Ardern's leadership style since this virus began indicates she is not going to initiate that without a good reason & absolute certainty the public is behind it.
A complete border closure & big MIQ changes will only be accepted by the wider public if there another community outbreak that requires a lockdown. Ardern has been careful to not to try and lead public opinion on more restrictions on personal freedoms and human rights, but rather she likes to wait for the clamouring crowd marching in the direction of a full border closure to reach an irresistible size and then place herself at it's head.
Yes the " closing the gate after the horse has bolted policy " as it was as Covid started to bear down towards NZ in the beginning. They dillied and dallied. Too late and the consequential unnecessary extra financial cost to NZ Lock Down 4.
Out of the scenarios we considered, an earlier start to AL4 by 5 days resulted in the greatest reduction in numbers of cases and deaths, with approximately 500 fewer cases in total and 10 fewer deaths. However, in reality, the rapid escalation of the COVID-19 situation in mid-March may have made an earlier start to AL4 impractical and would have allowed less time to prepare for ongoing provision of essential services under AL4.
To Janet, New Zealand has one of the best responses in the world. In comparison to many countries where Covid19 is surging and the death toll is mounting, New Zealand has had 25 deaths and there is currently no community transmission. In regards to the economy…
"New Zealand roared out of a Covid-19 driven recession with a 14 per cent gain in gross domestic product (GDP) over the September quarter"
Isn't it against the law to render New Zealanders stateless to stop them from coming home? hence a border closure with the exception of returning New Zealanders/residents and some exemptions.
Certainly problems in restricting citizens rights to return back to their country of citizenship.
NZ could stop entry to NZ by permanent resident visa holders – particularly those that were not in NZ for say the 6 months prior to February 2020. PRVs have citizenship of another country so will not be stateless. I understand that around 30,000 people who have come through MiQ are just PRVs – not citizens.
Then again, Samoa shut it's borders to it's citizens for a lengthy period. One could argue that there is a justifiable limitation (protecting the health of the remaining population) on restricting the ability of citizens to come back.
One way of doing it would be to shut the borders to all unless they have a real and genuine desire to permanently relocate to NZ. That would get rid of the rich who just want to fly in for a few months before leaving again.
I'm very annoyed at the likes of the pizza owner published in stuff who's come back to NZ "for a break from USA" and criticising our Covid response without actually recognising he's putting our Covid response to the test.
Pretty sure its against international law to render a citizen stateless. Permanent resident holders live permanently in New Zealand and are basically afforded the same rights as New Zealanders, so on what grounds would you strip them of that? Dont tar everyone with a dirty brush due to 1 idiot who obviously has a legal right to return home to New Zealand.
A major donor to the National Rifle Association is poised to challenge key aspects of the gun group’s bankruptcy filing, in an attempt to hold executives accountable for allegedly having defrauded their members of millions of dollars to support their own lavish lifestyles.
Dave Dell’Aquila, a former tech company boss who has donated more than $100,000 to the NRA, told the Guardian on Saturday he was preparing to lodge a complaint in US bankruptcy court in Dallas, Texas. If successful, it could stop top NRA executives discharging a substantial portion of the organisation’s debts.
It could also stop Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s controversial longtime chief executive, avoiding ongoing lawsuits that allege he defrauded the pro-gun group’s members to pay for luxury travel to the Bahamas and Europe and high-end Zegna suits.
I have just brought a bottle of tomato sauce and I could not unscrew the cap to peel back the foil so the sauce could pour. I then thought to poke the hole and realised the new design had a soft plastic over the hole.
So now another brand which is made out of tin or card cannot be used to refill the bottle.
This is probably occurring with a lot of products. It is not about being cheap it is about excess use of plastic.
I had friends over christmas and they came with two meals from a box company called 'hello fresh'. OMG the plastic, seriously, everything is wrapped individually in some plastic bag or pouch. 4 sauces in pouches, coriander, basil, etc in bags, noodle portions in little bags, condiments in little bags, it is sheer madness, of course all branded.
That sucks. Seems like 'time poor' is just an excuse to do next to nothing these days. But some of this companies clientele will indeed own a bamboo yoga mat – 'sustainable' (shipped from Asia).
those companies need to be shamed on social media majorly. Plenty of other companies doing the right thing or heading in the right direction, zero excuse for starting new companies now with lots of plastic packaging.
Hello Fresh and their likes aren't food companies, they are packaging companies that package individual ingredients to make a complete packaged product / meal.
That packaged convenience is than sold to a seemingly very receptive market.
It's the convenience culture, and the need for that to exist that needs the attention as much as the type of packaging.
I agree that the consumer end needs addressing too. But there's still no excuse for new businesses starting up to be doing this. It's not like their need to run a business is akin to someone's need to eat in an easier manner. But seeing as how we're apportioning blame, may as well take a poke at central and local government too. Who could be both legislating at the production end and fining/charging at the waste stream end. I'd do both.
The headline caught my eye so read the story. It is about a young woman doing her two week isolation in a hotel. She claims she was too fearful to leave her room for exercise because of a young soldier's behaviour towards her. The soldier's viewpoints are in need of an overhaul and he probably put his views in an unfortunate way, but it was obvious he was not personally threatening her. Her boyfriend (a lawyer, who was on the other side of the fence) and who was party to the conversation must have recognised it was not a personal threat.
The upshot is, there is now a formal investigation into her claims and a young soldier – plus some other staff it would seem – are being put through the mill as a result of over-blown and questionable sets of grievances.
Having been through that kind of circumstance where a person (also a woman) was making false claims which prompted two investigations into me, I feel sympathy for the young soldier and the other personnel involved.
It makes me angry whenever I read about this kind of thing because it casts aspersions on other women whose claims are genuine and should be recognised as such.
Stuff have basically declared themselves the newspaper of record for identity politics, so this story is right up their street. It will be interesting to see how it is before they merge with thespinoff and publish a story from twit complaining about how Indian restaurants all have racist names full of colonial tropes and it has to stop.
The media have been pushing panic and fear mongering about COVID the entire Xmas break, there was some usual suspect – self important and opinionated expat from LA – opining in the paper the other day "…“I guarantee, if the virus has not already spread to the community, it will any day now…”
Well golly, thanks for the insight.
COVID is now the go-to story to whip up those clicks when most of the newsroom is on holiday.
“We are not a communist country because of, you know, the Anzacs, the world wars, there are so many people that died for us to be here right now”
“Argentina … they literally, they’re armed dudes, they rock around with like weapons and stuff and I’d love them to do that here”
I certainly wouldn't be giving a loaded weapon to someone stupid enough to believe world wars were fought to prevent communism in NZ, especially when he really, really wants one to ride around with.
I don't cut him slack for being young, any more than I do for appearing ignorant.
It's a worry if idiots like this are commonplace throughout the military.
No, I also don't believe there was a threat in his comments, but looking at the 'have you been raped or murdered' logic and believing truck loads of armed imbeciles have ever stopped either from happening, just adds to his general projection of being really stupid.
Ex-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: A New War Is About To Be Imposed on The Middle East!
"On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the former President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He discusses the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the possibility of a military attack by the United States in the last days of the Trump Presidency, his hopes for reconciliation and friendship with Middle Eastern rival Saudi Arabia, the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Yeme."
@ RedLogix, I replied but it ended up as comment #7, not sure what happened there?..anyway this was the follow up to that comment.
BTW, incredibly this is the guy we are meant to believe when he tells us Iran is now protecting al Qaeda behind their boarders…and credible news sources disseminate that garbage as fact…and Weka wonders why so many people have turned to conspiracy theories when it is MSM that are one of the biggest sources of either fake or through withholding news, disinformation in the world today.
<strong>Pompeo reveals Iran-al Qaeda secret terror alliance</strong>
Of course, it is all complete and utter baloney, but how can we tell? How can we separate the wheat from the chaff? How can we go past the one person’s reckons vs. another person’s reckons? What is your truth-distinguishing algorithm? A YT clip doesn’t cut it for me; do you know how many clips there are on YT?
"A YT clip doesn’t cut it for me"…not sure why you would say that?. some YT clips (and YT news channels) are useful others are not, just as some news stories on or from established media are useful while other are not.
It's pretty easy to find trust worthy news sources in today's world really, just google up whom ever it is you are getting a story from currently and compare their coverage of past controversial or disputed events/stories that you know the facts around today and see how they covered that story back then…a pattern will soon emerge.
Where they stood on Iraq Afghanistan and Venezuela is a pretty good starting point IMO.
Thank you, I think this is a critical issue and not just now.
Yes, there’s useful YT content, of course, but the question is how to find and discern the ‘good’ stuff. Personally, I prefer the written word over audio or audio/visual for most factual information. It is generally easier to track and verify and less distractive. When possible, I read transcripts of YT clips.
Google and other search engines are a double-edged sword because of their algorithms. Again, they can be useful for finding good factual information, but only if you really know what you’re doing. I believe that the vast majority of people don’t use Google in any critical/sceptical or research-like manner and few go beyond the first page of results. In many cases, even a subtle change of keyword(s) can produce dramatically different results, certainly of the top-ranked ‘hits’.
When it comes to searching for quality opinions, it becomes even more difficult to not slide down into one rabbit hole or another, following the helpful ‘hits’ of a search engine. One analogy is the use of GPS in cars and how many people have gone wrong or been led astray and ended literally in a paddock, for example?
Yes, (historical) patterns are a good way of finding and filtering content online. However, how many people look for these beyond merely their YT ‘heroes’ let alone opposing viewpoints? If your pattern only contains two points/sources, it is a straight line. You tend to see a lot of this one-dimensional ‘fact-finding’, commenting, and ‘thinking’ online.
The point is that it takes time, effort, critical judgement (vigilance), and experience to separate the wheat from the chaff. There’s no easy & quick way. Heuristics such as ‘common sense’ or ‘common knowledge’ are intellectual/conceptual cul-de-sacs.
One option is to throw something into an online group, e.g. a blogsite that allows comments, and get a good discussion going on the merits of it, et cetera. Hypothetically, this could build a community of people whom you’d trust and whose opinions and insights you’d value and respect even though you may not always agree with them, i.e. not an echo chamber 😉
Well for a start that comparison leaves out the Iran/Iraq war, which more or less deals to the credible intentions of whoever did it.
And it leaves out Iran's deep sponsorship of Hezbollah and a number of similar troublesome actors in the ME.
And it assumes the two nations can be valued in such a unidimensional manner.
It also betrays a profound lack of understanding about the critical role the US played by fighting the Cold War, largely accidentally and with no real master plan, in creating virtually everything about the modern global economy you take utterly for granted.
And what that list also hides, is that in terms of loss of life in major power warfare, the world has just lived through the most peaceful time ever. This didn't mean there were not a lot of secondary, smaller scale conflicts the US was involved in, but the it also ensured that no-one else was allowed to engage in war. The remarkable thing about that list is not the number of engagements the US became entangled in (for better or worse); it's that it's virtually the entire list of significant conflicts. No-one else other than the US (and it's client allies) were allowed to conduct warfare.
The news that's about to kick the world in the nuts, big time, is that the US has finally reached the point where it no longer neither needs to undertake this role. It no longer needs to protect it's trade with the rest of the world, because outside of NAFTA, they have only a tiny handful of free trade agreements and the rest of world just doesn’t count. They will still run the world's most substantial military by an order of magnitude, but outside a much more narrowly defined self-interest, they've got no interest in imposing global stability anymore.
And lots of regional wannabe powers are waking up to this.
… the Iran/Iraq war, which more or less deals to the credible intentions of whoever did it.
That war was started by Saddam Hussein, at the behest of his sponsor, the United States.
Iran's deep sponsorship of Hezbollah…
Hezbollah is a strictly local, Lebanese resistance movement.
And it assumes the two nations can be valued in such a unidimensional manner.
They can. As that graphic irrefutably demonstrates, one of them is the world's leading terrorist state, sponsoring brutal regimes from Tel Aviv to Manila.
… and a number of similar troublesome actors in the ME.
As that graphic irrefutably demonstrates, one of them is the world's leading terrorist state, sponsoring brutal regimes from Tel Aviv to Manila.
What it proves is that the USA is largely (but not exclusively) responsible for 70 years of no major power war, which in turn enabled an era of massive growth in trade and human development virtually everywhere.
It didn't really have any master plan for this; it was mostly accidental, so yes there are many things they got wrong and have been rightly criticised for. But everything you take totally for granted about the world you live in, has been in many ways shaped by the role the USA has played since the end of WW2.
That you've turned all this into a unidimensional, anti-US bigotry is fairly typical of the unhinged left.
But everything you take totally for granted about the world you live in, has been in many ways shaped by the role the USA has played since the end of WW2.
You're correct there. The USA is in large part responsible for the destruction of democracy in much of Central and South America; Africa (the CIA, as well as being involved in the killing of Patrice Lumumba, a couple of years later ratted out Mandela to the apartheid regime); Indonesia, the Philippines, …. (hell, you know the rest.)
That you've turned all this into a unidimensional, anti-US bigotry is fairly typical of the unhinged left.
? That graphic that upsets you so much is neither right nor left. That its strictly empirical evidence makes you angry is your problem.
You're not angry, you reckon. In your last two posts you have accused me of "unidimensional, anti-US bigotry", of being part of the "unhinged left", you've called me a "bigot" and even (bizarrely) claimed that I have been yelling "Yankees go home" for decades.
You're angry, all right. I suggest you take a few minutes before you rush into print next time.
The fact that you can sweep away the ultra-aggressive and destructive history of the USA and her allies resulting in the deaths and displacement of who knows how many civilians and the downfall of countless elected governments around the world in one brush of your hand because your life and I assume those of your friends are unaffected and probably even benefited from that carnage is one of the most despicable comments I have read on the Standard..you should be ashamed of yourself, but I am sure that you are not, which is quite sad really.
in one brush of your hand because your life and I assume those of your friends are unaffected and probably even benefited from that carnage
I'm not sure where you got the idea that I think the USA is above criticism; maybe it was where I wrote:
"It didn't really have any master plan for this; it was mostly accidental, so yes there are many things they got wrong and have been rightly criticised for."
Essentially we've had one power capable of imposing it's reality on most of the world for 70 plus years, and while I'm not painting the USA as an entirely benign, or even especially competent hegemon, objectively it's been better than anything that came before. Less deaths in wars, less total violence, and a massive increase in human development everywhere.
The only reason there has been less deaths over the past seventy years is solely because of the nuclear bomb and all that implies, I certainly wouldn’t give the USA any credit for those numbers…
" I'm not sure where you got the idea that I think the USA is above criticism"…
"which in turn enabled an era of massive growth in trade and human development virtually everywhere."…that part right there is where I got that idea.
I forgot to mention the United States' destruction of democracy in Vietnam in 1956, followed by its destruction of most of the country in the 1960s and 70s, as well as ravaging Cambodia and Laos.
Oh, and there's what they did to North Korea too…
Now, maybe Americans don’t remember very well, but North Koreans have a memory of not too long ago, when North Korea was absolutely flattened, literally, by American bombing. There was—there was literally no targets left. And I really urge people who haven’t done it to read the official American military histories, the Air Quarterly Review, the military histories describing this. They describe it very vividly and accurately. They say, “There just weren’t any targets left. So what could we do?” Well, we decided to attack the dams, the huge dams. That’s a major war crime. People were hanged for it at Nuremberg. But put that aside. And then comes an ecstatic, gleeful description of the bombing of the dams and the huge flow of water, which was wiping out valleys and destroying the rice crop, on which Asians depend for survival—lots of racist comment, but all with exaltation and glee. You really have to read it to appreciate it. The North Koreans don’t have to bother reading it. They lived it. So when nuclear-capable B-52s are flying on their border, along with other threatening military maneuvers, they’re kind of upset about it. Strange people. And they continue to develop what they see as a potential deterrent that might protect the regime from—and the country, in fact—from destruction. This has nothing at all to do with what you think about the government. So maybe it’s the worst government in human history. OK. But these are still the facts that exist.
The context Chomsky is omitting here is of course the Cold War which is the critical backdrop to understanding the Korean War. Their goal was not so much as to defeat Nth Korea (who incidentally had been a bitter foe on the ground), but to also establish their willingness to hit hard against communism.
Missing from this article is of course the critical role both Stalin and Mao Zedong played in supporting Kim's invasion of South Korea. Both were convinced that the strategic balance had tilted in their favour and that the US would not value Korea highly enough to use nuclear weapons in such a conflict. (Which in fact they did not; while they remained an active option, the US generals were vividly aware of the costs of using them.)
All wars are brutal and bloody, both sides racked up atrocities and war crimes. But the root cause of the conflict did not lie with a US bloody-thirsty desire to bomb Korea into oblivion, but it lies absolutely with both Mao and Stalin's desire to confront the USA, who both gave permission and promises of support to Kim Il-sung's invasion of Sth Korea. Three of the world's most notorious leaders in modern times, conspired to invade a nation the US had committed to protecting – whitewashing that out from the narrative amounts to a selective, ideological version of the consequent catastrophe.
Arguably the bombing of North Korea went beyond the principle of 'the least force necessary' to achieve their purpose; yet history shows us that whenever one side gains a dominant strategic position late in a war, they're very prone to exactly this kind of over-kill. More than anything they want the damned thing to be over. And with the prospect of a protracted stalemate on the ground, still costing many lives, the US command reached for the one tool they could safely use to pressure North Korea into an armistice. Which eventually it did.
Took another quick scan of your linked article – no mention of the Cold War that I can see. Maybe I missed it.
If you want to understand an event properly, it's essential to have a clear grasp of the context. The left is supposed to be good at this sort of thing.
But stepping back from this diversion, my real point is this. Yes the USA (and it's allies) have been involved in a long list of conflicts since the end of WW2. But crucially all of them are over, and in virtually all of them the USA never replicated the pre-WW2 imperial model of permanently occupying and colonising.
For a start the US is at it's origins an anti-colonial enterprise; it's rebellion from being a British colony is still a strong thread in it's history.
Perhaps more pragmatically, the US never really needed to do colonies in the same way prior empires needed to. The advent of coal and oil meant that the land area needed for photosynthesis powered economies was no longer necessary. Occupying is always comes at an escalating cost, and eventually it exceeds the benefits; and the Americans, secure and largely self-sufficient in their homeland, never really needed to expand territory for it's own sake.
As a result, we now live in a world of almost 200 largely independent nations. Since WW2 we've seen both the collapse of conventional empire, and an unprecedented surge in nation building. And mostly this was possible because if you played to be on their side, the US provided the security and trade infrastructure to allow otherwise unviable nations to develop well beyond their capacity to do so in isolation.
There is no need to overplay any altruistic card here; the primary American motive was essentially bribe up a global coalition of nations, strong enough to present a united front against the Soviets, and win what would become called the Cold War. Yes it was sometimes a messy and ugly process, we all understand this.
Yet it has had another immensely important consequence, that of creating a nascent version of global order and cohesion never before seen in human history – and unleashing an astonishing leap in human development also never seen before.
Now the Americans were probably the least qualified people to lead this, they tend to act without thinking too much, don't understand geography very well and don't speak many languages. They never had a sophisticated idea of how they might best use this global power they'd accidentally landed up with. They fucked up many times, yet despite this the end result has been remarkably beneficial for most of humanity.
Now consider this – what might be the outcome if a new globalisation effort was driven by real principle and committed competency? What might we achieve then?
Took another quick scan of your linked article – no mention of the Cold War that I can see.
He also neglected to mention that Korea is an Asian country. I think we can take it as understood that Chomsky, of all people, was aware that the Cold War was under way. What the U.S. did in Korea, by the way, was the antithesis of a "cold" war.
No but it as catastrophic as the Korean Was was locally, it was not a major power war. So yes the Cold War had it's hot spots, but no-one wanted it to engulf the whole world again.
But this is not my main point. In many ways we've been coasting on a legacy bequeathed to the world by the humbling, chastening experience of WW2. That generation understood viscerally the consequences of major power empire and conflict, and acted to try and end it. They fumbled and stumbled and often didn't do very well, but for 70 years they more or less succeeded.
Well in my view that legacy is just about used up. We can see this in the dramatic reduction in US engagement and troop posted overseas. These are now at a lower level than any time since the 1920's. We can see this in a resurgent isolationism in Washington, even the chaotic and highly impulsive Trump didn't manage to start any new wars, and I very much doubt Biden's administration will either.
Your viewpoint had some merit back in the 80's, but the ground has shifted. Yes the US will retain the world's largest military and anyone stupid enough to confront what the American's still define as their 'interests' will pretty much get what they deserve. But this also means Europe, Asia, the ME and Africa are on their own now, and this will have consequences.
???? In your message at 10:45 am you wrote of "the critical role both Stalin and Mao Zedong played in supporting Kim's invasion of South Korea."
That generation understood viscerally the consequences of major power empire and conflict, and acted to try and end it.
They "acted to try and end it"? The only thing they tried to end—and succeeded in ending—was democracy in Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam, the Congo, Indonesia, Chile— the list goes on and on and on. How do you explain the destruction of lives and democratic government throughout S.E. Asia, Central and South America, and Africa? Do they just not matter?
… anyone stupid enough to confront what the American's still define as their 'interests' will pretty much get what they deserve.
The West presents North Korea as a paranoid state whose fear and distrust of the US emerged ex nihilo. But North Korea’s seemingly irrational need for deterrence has a history.
US bombing of North Korea was not confined to military targets during the Korean War. The US carpet bombed North Korea, dropping around 635,000 tons of explosives and chemicals, including napalm. Cities were obliterated; Pyongyang was destroyed. Every installation, factory, city and village over thousands of square miles of North Korea was bombed into oblivion. B-29s bombed hydroelectric and irrigation dams, flooding farms and drowning crops. The US even gave serious consideration to dropping atomic bombs on North Korea. General Curtis LeMay, the head of the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War, said US bombs killed 20 percent of the entire population of North Korea. With 8-9 million Koreans killed, Polk says that “practically no families alive in Korea today are without a close relative who perished” in the US atrocity. This small adjustment to history puts North Korea’s desire for a deterrent in a slightly more nuanced focus.
While as I said it was clearly a catastrophe locally; it was not on the scale of WW2 or anything like a direct confrontation between the US and the Soviets.
After the better part of two decades of steady decline, what exactly has been changed to turn around the fortunes of these publications?
They've come back with exactly the same formula as before – past their use by date boomers and tired gen-x writers ideologically wedded to neoliberal centrism and obsessed with being the jesters to court politics talking in tired cliches about the issues the affect an aging, white and well off demographic.
They are probably a bit more debt free but the vision is stale and bereft of any real new ideas to stop the slow march to their inevitable demise.
These magazines are necessary components of essential NZ infrastructure such as waiting rooms of GPs and dentists, the shabby corners of garages and tyre shops, and lunch cafés & cafeteria, et cetera. They are not just for snobs and semi-cultured unthinking people who value and recognise cheap infotainment when they browse it.
I have to agree with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he pretty much says it makes no difference who the elected leader of the USA is (for Iran), as the decisions on foreign policy is a straight line through them all…with the occasional exception of course, like Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, which was probably his greatest single action as POTUS.
So many holes for tiny marbles to fall through. That stuff is for boys children, not for toddlers, as they tend to stick these up their noses or down their throats.
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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, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
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Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
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A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
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The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
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Really well-explained. Click mine then radhika’s tweet to read the thread of them:
https://twitter.com/SachaDylan/status/1350515484072894464
They need to expand the phone bluetooth app so all visits to shops are recorded automatically.
Already considered. They certainly need to do something different.
Agreed Sacha….I know I should be scanning but while there are no community cases I am as lazy as most people and don't bother.
I think scanning should be compulsory in law….impossible to police but it might make more people do it.
[Removed the same “S” from user name again. Please pay more attention next time.]
[Removed the same “S” from user name again. Please pay more attention next time.]
In the remaining weeks of January, every employee and manager need to be talking about how to work from home in 2021, so we can prepare better for when the next wave hits us here.
Despite a bored media and twitterati talking up a storm, nothing substantive has changed since before Xmas.
The only thing left is a complete border closure, but Ardern's leadership style since this virus began indicates she is not going to initiate that without a good reason & absolute certainty the public is behind it.
A complete border closure & big MIQ changes will only be accepted by the wider public if there another community outbreak that requires a lockdown. Ardern has been careful to not to try and lead public opinion on more restrictions on personal freedoms and human rights, but rather she likes to wait for the clamouring crowd marching in the direction of a full border closure to reach an irresistible size and then place herself at it's head.
Yes the " closing the gate after the horse has bolted policy " as it was as Covid started to bear down towards NZ in the beginning. They dillied and dallied. Too late and the consequential unnecessary extra financial cost to NZ Lock Down 4.
Taken from the article linked in this comment: https://thestandard.org.nz/plan-b-activists-still-think-nz-should-be-like-sweden/#comment-1772647.
The other reckons in your comment are unsubstantiated and/or not supported at all, and mostly incorrect IMO.
To Janet, New Zealand has one of the best responses in the world. In comparison to many countries where Covid19 is surging and the death toll is mounting, New Zealand has had 25 deaths and there is currently no community transmission. In regards to the economy…
"New Zealand roared out of a Covid-19 driven recession with a 14 per cent gain in gross domestic product (GDP) over the September quarter"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/nz-economy-bounces-out-of-recession-with-14-gain-in-gdp/YQCAXB65VFYBPEIJL2UKFQWJPE/
Isn't it against the law to render New Zealanders stateless to stop them from coming home? hence a border closure with the exception of returning New Zealanders/residents and some exemptions.
Certainly problems in restricting citizens rights to return back to their country of citizenship.
NZ could stop entry to NZ by permanent resident visa holders – particularly those that were not in NZ for say the 6 months prior to February 2020. PRVs have citizenship of another country so will not be stateless. I understand that around 30,000 people who have come through MiQ are just PRVs – not citizens.
Then again, Samoa shut it's borders to it's citizens for a lengthy period. One could argue that there is a justifiable limitation (protecting the health of the remaining population) on restricting the ability of citizens to come back.
One way of doing it would be to shut the borders to all unless they have a real and genuine desire to permanently relocate to NZ. That would get rid of the rich who just want to fly in for a few months before leaving again.
I'm very annoyed at the likes of the pizza owner published in stuff who's come back to NZ "for a break from USA" and criticising our Covid response without actually recognising he's putting our Covid response to the test.
Pretty sure its against international law to render a citizen stateless. Permanent resident holders live permanently in New Zealand and are basically afforded the same rights as New Zealanders, so on what grounds would you strip them of that? Dont tar everyone with a dirty brush due to 1 idiot who obviously has a legal right to return home to New Zealand.
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/about-visa/permanent-resident-visa
Anyone going weepy over the NRA filing for bankruptcy? Generations of good Democrat politicians and Democrat candidates just demolished by them.
Aren't they only filing in NY state so they can move their HQ to Texas? #NotReallyBankrupt
Looking forward to seeing how that plays out.
It's going to be fun.
A major donor to the National Rifle Association is poised to challenge key aspects of the gun group’s bankruptcy filing, in an attempt to hold executives accountable for allegedly having defrauded their members of millions of dollars to support their own lavish lifestyles.
Dave Dell’Aquila, a former tech company boss who has donated more than $100,000 to the NRA, told the Guardian on Saturday he was preparing to lodge a complaint in US bankruptcy court in Dallas, Texas. If successful, it could stop top NRA executives discharging a substantial portion of the organisation’s debts.
It could also stop Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s controversial longtime chief executive, avoiding ongoing lawsuits that allege he defrauded the pro-gun group’s members to pay for luxury travel to the Bahamas and Europe and high-end Zegna suits.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/16/nra-donor-bankruptcy-dave-dellaquila-wayne-lapierre
I have just brought a bottle of tomato sauce and I could not unscrew the cap to peel back the foil so the sauce could pour. I then thought to poke the hole and realised the new design had a soft plastic over the hole.
So now another brand which is made out of tin or card cannot be used to refill the bottle.
This is probably occurring with a lot of products. It is not about being cheap it is about excess use of plastic.
I had friends over christmas and they came with two meals from a box company called 'hello fresh'. OMG the plastic, seriously, everything is wrapped individually in some plastic bag or pouch. 4 sauces in pouches, coriander, basil, etc in bags, noodle portions in little bags, condiments in little bags, it is sheer madness, of course all branded.
That sucks. Seems like 'time poor' is just an excuse to do next to nothing these days. But some of this companies clientele will indeed own a bamboo yoga mat – 'sustainable' (shipped from Asia).
those companies need to be shamed on social media majorly. Plenty of other companies doing the right thing or heading in the right direction, zero excuse for starting new companies now with lots of plastic packaging.
+1 for being shamed majorly on media.
Hello Fresh and their likes aren't food companies, they are packaging companies that package individual ingredients to make a complete packaged product / meal.
That packaged convenience is than sold to a seemingly very receptive market.
It's the convenience culture, and the need for that to exist that needs the attention as much as the type of packaging.
I agree that the consumer end needs addressing too. But there's still no excuse for new businesses starting up to be doing this. It's not like their need to run a business is akin to someone's need to eat in an easier manner. But seeing as how we're apportioning blame, may as well take a poke at central and local government too. Who could be both legislating at the production end and fining/charging at the waste stream end. I'd do both.
Wrap Rage…its an actual thing…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrap_rage
(Those little plastic/foil caps under the lid are called in our household IUDs)
The little plastic thing in the pouring hole was a little cap thing with a x in the centre. Some sort of diaphragm thing as it could be removed.
I would be interested in other people's opinion of this story on the STUFF website:
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300202050/covid19-managed-isolation-soldier-spoke-of-rape-military-rule-to-scared-returnee
The headline caught my eye so read the story. It is about a young woman doing her two week isolation in a hotel. She claims she was too fearful to leave her room for exercise because of a young soldier's behaviour towards her. The soldier's viewpoints are in need of an overhaul and he probably put his views in an unfortunate way, but it was obvious he was not personally threatening her. Her boyfriend (a lawyer, who was on the other side of the fence) and who was party to the conversation must have recognised it was not a personal threat.
The upshot is, there is now a formal investigation into her claims and a young soldier – plus some other staff it would seem – are being put through the mill as a result of over-blown and questionable sets of grievances.
Having been through that kind of circumstance where a person (also a woman) was making false claims which prompted two investigations into me, I feel sympathy for the young soldier and the other personnel involved.
It makes me angry whenever I read about this kind of thing because it casts aspersions on other women whose claims are genuine and should be recognised as such.
Clumsy communication by what was probably a young defence force member nothing more – over sensationalised by the MSM on a slow news day.
Wonder why those involved felt the need to go to the media ?
My reaction too. As for why they went to the media. Part of the me, me, me brigade and a chance for 15 minutes of fame?
Stuff have basically declared themselves the newspaper of record for identity politics, so this story is right up their street. It will be interesting to see how it is before they merge with thespinoff and publish a story from twit complaining about how Indian restaurants all have racist names full of colonial tropes and it has to stop.
The media have been pushing panic and fear mongering about COVID the entire Xmas break, there was some usual suspect – self important and opinionated expat from LA – opining in the paper the other day "…“I guarantee, if the virus has not already spread to the community, it will any day now…”
Well golly, thanks for the insight.
COVID is now the go-to story to whip up those clicks when most of the newsroom is on holiday.
Pain in the arse high maintenance clown with wanker boyfriend.
Good one, Cleetus. lol
This soldier sounds like a right dopey knob head.
“We are not a communist country because of, you know, the Anzacs, the world wars, there are so many people that died for us to be here right now”
“Argentina … they literally, they’re armed dudes, they rock around with like weapons and stuff and I’d love them to do that here”
I certainly wouldn't be giving a loaded weapon to someone stupid enough to believe world wars were fought to prevent communism in NZ, especially when he really, really wants one to ride around with.
I don't cut him slack for being young, any more than I do for appearing ignorant.
It's a worry if idiots like this are commonplace throughout the military.
No doubt he ain't the sharpest tool in the shed ,but when you read his comments in context it was in no way a threat.
Yes, that was the context I made my initial remarks. But Al1en is right… that soldier's got a lotta learnin to do.
No, I also don't believe there was a threat in his comments, but looking at the 'have you been raped or murdered' logic and believing truck loads of armed imbeciles have ever stopped either from happening, just adds to his general projection of being really stupid.
Ex-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: A New War Is About To Be Imposed on The Middle East!
"On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the former President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He discusses the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the possibility of a military attack by the United States in the last days of the Trump Presidency, his hopes for reconciliation and friendship with Middle Eastern rival Saudi Arabia, the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Yeme."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsHrfAP7Nd4
The US military no longer recognises Trump as it's CinC in any practical sense. There will be no US led war in the next 3 days.
@ RedLogix, I replied but it ended up as comment #7, not sure what happened there?..anyway this was the follow up to that comment.
BTW, incredibly this is the guy we are meant to believe when he tells us Iran is now protecting al Qaeda behind their boarders…and credible news sources disseminate that garbage as fact…and Weka wonders why so many people have turned to conspiracy theories when it is MSM that are one of the biggest sources of either fake or through withholding news, disinformation in the world today.
<strong>Pompeo reveals Iran-al Qaeda secret terror alliance</strong>
https://nypost.com/2021/01/12/mike-pompeo-reveals-iran-al-qaeda-secret-terror-alliance/
<strong>Mike Pompeo About CIA : We lied, We cheated, We stole</strong>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RmEsPE7iq0
Of course, it is all complete and utter baloney, but how can we tell? How can we separate the wheat from the chaff? How can we go past the one person’s reckons vs. another person’s reckons? What is your truth-distinguishing algorithm? A YT clip doesn’t cut it for me; do you know how many clips there are on YT?
"A YT clip doesn’t cut it for me"…not sure why you would say that?. some YT clips (and YT news channels) are useful others are not, just as some news stories on or from established media are useful while other are not.
It's pretty easy to find trust worthy news sources in today's world really, just google up whom ever it is you are getting a story from currently and compare their coverage of past controversial or disputed events/stories that you know the facts around today and see how they covered that story back then…a pattern will soon emerge.
Where they stood on Iraq Afghanistan and Venezuela is a pretty good starting point IMO.
Thank you, I think this is a critical issue and not just now.
Yes, there’s useful YT content, of course, but the question is how to find and discern the ‘good’ stuff. Personally, I prefer the written word over audio or audio/visual for most factual information. It is generally easier to track and verify and less distractive. When possible, I read transcripts of YT clips.
Google and other search engines are a double-edged sword because of their algorithms. Again, they can be useful for finding good factual information, but only if you really know what you’re doing. I believe that the vast majority of people don’t use Google in any critical/sceptical or research-like manner and few go beyond the first page of results. In many cases, even a subtle change of keyword(s) can produce dramatically different results, certainly of the top-ranked ‘hits’.
When it comes to searching for quality opinions, it becomes even more difficult to not slide down into one rabbit hole or another, following the helpful ‘hits’ of a search engine. One analogy is the use of GPS in cars and how many people have gone wrong or been led astray and ended literally in a paddock, for example?
Yes, (historical) patterns are a good way of finding and filtering content online. However, how many people look for these beyond merely their YT ‘heroes’ let alone opposing viewpoints? If your pattern only contains two points/sources, it is a straight line. You tend to see a lot of this one-dimensional ‘fact-finding’, commenting, and ‘thinking’ online.
The point is that it takes time, effort, critical judgement (vigilance), and experience to separate the wheat from the chaff. There’s no easy & quick way. Heuristics such as ‘common sense’ or ‘common knowledge’ are intellectual/conceptual cul-de-sacs.
One option is to throw something into an online group, e.g. a blogsite that allows comments, and get a good discussion going on the merits of it, et cetera. Hypothetically, this could build a community of people whom you’d trust and whose opinions and insights you’d value and respect even though you may not always agree with them, i.e. not an echo chamber 😉
As long as the the 20,000 national guardsmen that a flooding the capital are loyal to the flag and not his tannedness
That is reassuring.
Are you talking about Pelosi's attempt to get military leaders to defy Trump?
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/us/politics/trump-pelosi-nuclear-military.html
The urgency to get rid of Trump by whatever means possible may end up with the constitution being more broken than ever.
A comparison of the United States and Iran….
https://twitter.com/sahouraxo/status/1349083488457170944
Well for a start that comparison leaves out the Iran/Iraq war, which more or less deals to the credible intentions of whoever did it.
And it leaves out Iran's deep sponsorship of Hezbollah and a number of similar troublesome actors in the ME.
And it assumes the two nations can be valued in such a unidimensional manner.
It also betrays a profound lack of understanding about the critical role the US played by fighting the Cold War, largely accidentally and with no real master plan, in creating virtually everything about the modern global economy you take utterly for granted.
And what that list also hides, is that in terms of loss of life in major power warfare, the world has just lived through the most peaceful time ever. This didn't mean there were not a lot of secondary, smaller scale conflicts the US was involved in, but the it also ensured that no-one else was allowed to engage in war. The remarkable thing about that list is not the number of engagements the US became entangled in (for better or worse); it's that it's virtually the entire list of significant conflicts. No-one else other than the US (and it's client allies) were allowed to conduct warfare.
The news that's about to kick the world in the nuts, big time, is that the US has finally reached the point where it no longer neither needs to undertake this role. It no longer needs to protect it's trade with the rest of the world, because outside of NAFTA, they have only a tiny handful of free trade agreements and the rest of world just doesn’t count. They will still run the world's most substantial military by an order of magnitude, but outside a much more narrowly defined self-interest, they've got no interest in imposing global stability anymore.
And lots of regional wannabe powers are waking up to this.
"Iran/Iraq war" where Iraq invaded Iran
"Iran's deep sponsorship of Hezbollah and a number of similar troublesome actors in the ME"
similar troublesome actors eh.
"outside a much more narrowly defined self-interest, they've got no interest in imposing global stability anymore."
Right.
So we're all good.
If you imagine global 'instability' is going to be a good thing; refer to your pre-WW2 world history.
… the Iran/Iraq war, which more or less deals to the credible intentions of whoever did it.
That war was started by Saddam Hussein, at the behest of his sponsor, the United States.
Iran's deep sponsorship of Hezbollah…
Hezbollah is a strictly local, Lebanese resistance movement.
And it assumes the two nations can be valued in such a unidimensional manner.
They can. As that graphic irrefutably demonstrates, one of them is the world's leading terrorist state, sponsoring brutal regimes from Tel Aviv to Manila.
… and a number of similar troublesome actors in the ME.
There’s one actor that is responsible for nearly all of the mayhem in the ME.
https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/386535580500992050/
As that graphic irrefutably demonstrates, one of them is the world's leading terrorist state, sponsoring brutal regimes from Tel Aviv to Manila.
What it proves is that the USA is largely (but not exclusively) responsible for 70 years of no major power war, which in turn enabled an era of massive growth in trade and human development virtually everywhere.
It didn't really have any master plan for this; it was mostly accidental, so yes there are many things they got wrong and have been rightly criticised for. But everything you take totally for granted about the world you live in, has been in many ways shaped by the role the USA has played since the end of WW2.
That you've turned all this into a unidimensional, anti-US bigotry is fairly typical of the unhinged left.
But everything you take totally for granted about the world you live in, has been in many ways shaped by the role the USA has played since the end of WW2.
You're correct there. The USA is in large part responsible for the destruction of democracy in much of Central and South America; Africa (the CIA, as well as being involved in the killing of Patrice Lumumba, a couple of years later ratted out Mandela to the apartheid regime); Indonesia, the Philippines, …. (hell, you know the rest.)
That you've turned all this into a unidimensional, anti-US bigotry is fairly typical of the unhinged left.
? That graphic that upsets you so much is neither right nor left. That its strictly empirical evidence makes you angry is your problem.
No it doesn't make me angry; that's just you projecting probably.
What I'm trying to convey is that bigots like you have been yelling 'Yankees go home' for decades, and now your wishes are going to come true.
You may not like what you've asking for however.
You're not angry, you reckon. In your last two posts you have accused me of "unidimensional, anti-US bigotry", of being part of the "unhinged left", you've called me a "bigot" and even (bizarrely) claimed that I have been yelling "Yankees go home" for decades.
You're angry, all right. I suggest you take a few minutes before you rush into print next time.
Redlogix called you a bigot?! Extraordinary.
Not helpful, not even remotely Please drop these personal snide remarks, thanks.
@ RedLogix
The fact that you can sweep away the ultra-aggressive and destructive history of the USA and her allies resulting in the deaths and displacement of who knows how many civilians and the downfall of countless elected governments around the world in one brush of your hand because your life and I assume those of your friends are unaffected and probably even benefited from that carnage is one of the most despicable comments I have read on the Standard..you should be ashamed of yourself, but I am sure that you are not, which is quite sad really.
in one brush of your hand because your life and I assume those of your friends are unaffected and probably even benefited from that carnage
I'm not sure where you got the idea that I think the USA is above criticism; maybe it was where I wrote:
"It didn't really have any master plan for this; it was mostly accidental, so yes there are many things they got wrong and have been rightly criticised for."
Essentially we've had one power capable of imposing it's reality on most of the world for 70 plus years, and while I'm not painting the USA as an entirely benign, or even especially competent hegemon, objectively it's been better than anything that came before. Less deaths in wars, less total violence, and a massive increase in human development everywhere.
Yet you brush this off as somehow unimportant.
The only reason there has been less deaths over the past seventy years is solely because of the nuclear bomb and all that implies, I certainly wouldn’t give the USA any credit for those numbers…
" I'm not sure where you got the idea that I think the USA is above criticism"…
"which in turn enabled an era of massive growth in trade and human development virtually everywhere."…that part right there is where I got that idea.
There are way too many assumptions in your comment about the commenter and their personal life and that of his friends even.
Please stick to the comment and leave the personal stuff out of it, thanks.
Please stick to the comments and avoid labelling/stereotyping the commenter(s).
I forgot to mention the United States' destruction of democracy in Vietnam in 1956, followed by its destruction of most of the country in the 1960s and 70s, as well as ravaging Cambodia and Laos.
Oh, and there's what they did to North Korea too…
The context Chomsky is omitting here is of course the Cold War which is the critical backdrop to understanding the Korean War. Their goal was not so much as to defeat Nth Korea (who incidentally had been a bitter foe on the ground), but to also establish their willingness to hit hard against communism.
Missing from this article is of course the critical role both Stalin and Mao Zedong played in supporting Kim's invasion of South Korea. Both were convinced that the strategic balance had tilted in their favour and that the US would not value Korea highly enough to use nuclear weapons in such a conflict. (Which in fact they did not; while they remained an active option, the US generals were vividly aware of the costs of using them.)
All wars are brutal and bloody, both sides racked up atrocities and war crimes. But the root cause of the conflict did not lie with a US bloody-thirsty desire to bomb Korea into oblivion, but it lies absolutely with both Mao and Stalin's desire to confront the USA, who both gave permission and promises of support to Kim Il-sung's invasion of Sth Korea. Three of the world's most notorious leaders in modern times, conspired to invade a nation the US had committed to protecting – whitewashing that out from the narrative amounts to a selective, ideological version of the consequent catastrophe.
Arguably the bombing of North Korea went beyond the principle of 'the least force necessary' to achieve their purpose; yet history shows us that whenever one side gains a dominant strategic position late in a war, they're very prone to exactly this kind of over-kill. More than anything they want the damned thing to be over. And with the prospect of a protracted stalemate on the ground, still costing many lives, the US command reached for the one tool they could safely use to pressure North Korea into an armistice. Which eventually it did.
The context Chomsky is omitting here is of course the Cold War…
???? Chomsky does no such thing.
Arguably the bombing of North Korea went beyond the principle of 'the least force necessary'…
Good, you got one thing right. That's encouraging.
Took another quick scan of your linked article – no mention of the Cold War that I can see. Maybe I missed it.
If you want to understand an event properly, it's essential to have a clear grasp of the context. The left is supposed to be good at this sort of thing.
But stepping back from this diversion, my real point is this. Yes the USA (and it's allies) have been involved in a long list of conflicts since the end of WW2. But crucially all of them are over, and in virtually all of them the USA never replicated the pre-WW2 imperial model of permanently occupying and colonising.
For a start the US is at it's origins an anti-colonial enterprise; it's rebellion from being a British colony is still a strong thread in it's history.
Perhaps more pragmatically, the US never really needed to do colonies in the same way prior empires needed to. The advent of coal and oil meant that the land area needed for photosynthesis powered economies was no longer necessary. Occupying is always comes at an escalating cost, and eventually it exceeds the benefits; and the Americans, secure and largely self-sufficient in their homeland, never really needed to expand territory for it's own sake.
As a result, we now live in a world of almost 200 largely independent nations. Since WW2 we've seen both the collapse of conventional empire, and an unprecedented surge in nation building. And mostly this was possible because if you played to be on their side, the US provided the security and trade infrastructure to allow otherwise unviable nations to develop well beyond their capacity to do so in isolation.
There is no need to overplay any altruistic card here; the primary American motive was essentially bribe up a global coalition of nations, strong enough to present a united front against the Soviets, and win what would become called the Cold War. Yes it was sometimes a messy and ugly process, we all understand this.
Yet it has had another immensely important consequence, that of creating a nascent version of global order and cohesion never before seen in human history – and unleashing an astonishing leap in human development also never seen before.
Now the Americans were probably the least qualified people to lead this, they tend to act without thinking too much, don't understand geography very well and don't speak many languages. They never had a sophisticated idea of how they might best use this global power they'd accidentally landed up with. They fucked up many times, yet despite this the end result has been remarkably beneficial for most of humanity.
Now consider this – what might be the outcome if a new globalisation effort was driven by real principle and committed competency? What might we achieve then?
Took another quick scan of your linked article – no mention of the Cold War that I can see.
He also neglected to mention that Korea is an Asian country. I think we can take it as understood that Chomsky, of all people, was aware that the Cold War was under way. What the U.S. did in Korea, by the way, was the antithesis of a "cold" war.
No but it as catastrophic as the Korean Was was locally, it was not a major power war. So yes the Cold War had it's hot spots, but no-one wanted it to engulf the whole world again.
But this is not my main point. In many ways we've been coasting on a legacy bequeathed to the world by the humbling, chastening experience of WW2. That generation understood viscerally the consequences of major power empire and conflict, and acted to try and end it. They fumbled and stumbled and often didn't do very well, but for 70 years they more or less succeeded.
Well in my view that legacy is just about used up. We can see this in the dramatic reduction in US engagement and troop posted overseas. These are now at a lower level than any time since the 1920's. We can see this in a resurgent isolationism in Washington, even the chaotic and highly impulsive Trump didn't manage to start any new wars, and I very much doubt Biden's administration will either.
Your viewpoint had some merit back in the 80's, but the ground has shifted. Yes the US will retain the world's largest military and anyone stupid enough to confront what the American's still define as their 'interests' will pretty much get what they deserve. But this also means Europe, Asia, the ME and Africa are on their own now, and this will have consequences.
… the Korean War…was not a major power war.
???? In your message at 10:45 am you wrote of "the critical role both Stalin and Mao Zedong played in supporting Kim's invasion of South Korea."
That generation understood viscerally the consequences of major power empire and conflict, and acted to try and end it.
They "acted to try and end it"? The only thing they tried to end—and succeeded in ending—was democracy in Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam, the Congo, Indonesia, Chile— the list goes on and on and on. How do you explain the destruction of lives and democratic government throughout S.E. Asia, Central and South America, and Africa? Do they just not matter?
… anyone stupid enough to confront what the American's still define as their 'interests' will pretty much get what they deserve.
Such as being stupid enough to elect an independent, democratic government, as Venezuela foolishly has done, in spite of the most ominous threats and spectacularly incompetent coup attempts by Washington’s idiotic proxies.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/dumbest-aspects-of-the-mercenary-coup-plot-in-venezuela.html
Europe, Asia, the ME and Africa are pretty much on their own now, and this will have consequences.
They're better off on their own than being "helped" by the likes of these people….
https://www.hrw.org/report/2005/09/22/leadership-failure/firsthand-accounts-torture-iraqi-detainees-us-armys-82nd
https://theintercept.com/2017/05/28/villagers-say-yemeni-child-was-shot-as-he-tried-to-flee-navy-seal-raid/
https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2012-apr-18-la-na-afghan-photos-20120418-story.html
In your message at 10:45 am you wrote of "the critical role both Stalin and Mao Zedong played in supporting Kim's invasion of South Korea."
If you don't understand the term 'proxy war', then I don't think you should be participating in this conversation.
They're better off on their own than being "helped" by the likes of these people.
You need to go check on the history of Europe, the ME and Asia before you imagine that.
If you don't understand the term 'proxy war'…
So if it was just a little "proxy war", was it?
While as I said it was clearly a catastrophe locally; it was not on the scale of WW2 or anything like a direct confrontation between the US and the Soviets.
After the better part of two decades of steady decline, what exactly has been changed to turn around the fortunes of these publications?
They've come back with exactly the same formula as before – past their use by date boomers and tired gen-x writers ideologically wedded to neoliberal centrism and obsessed with being the jesters to court politics talking in tired cliches about the issues the affect an aging, white and well off demographic.
They are probably a bit more debt free but the vision is stale and bereft of any real new ideas to stop the slow march to their inevitable demise.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/16/the-remarkable-bounce-back-of-new-zealands-magazines
You twenty-plus hipsters with your … hmmm … phones and things … and all that interwebby stuff. You just don't understand.
These magazines are necessary components of essential NZ infrastructure such as waiting rooms of GPs and dentists, the shabby corners of garages and tyre shops, and lunch cafés & cafeteria, et cetera. They are not just for snobs and semi-cultured unthinking people who value and recognise cheap infotainment when they browse it.
These magazines are necessary components of essential NZ infrastructure such as waiting rooms of GPs and dentists…
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/A_man_in_a_doctor%27s_waiting_room_tells_a_woman_that_he_has_c_Wellcome_V0011500.jpg
very apt
Catering to the ppl who actually buy them rather than who whinge about them, seems sensible.
I have to agree with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he pretty much says it makes no difference who the elected leader of the USA is (for Iran), as the decisions on foreign policy is a straight line through them all…with the occasional exception of course, like Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, which was probably his greatest single action as POTUS.
I agree it makes little difference, because what matters to Iran now really lies in the hands of Israel and Saudi.
Engineering apprenticeships. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/prosper/123946767/engineering-firm-says-not-enough-companies-take-on-apprentices
Will no one think of the incels…
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1350542281636524032
They’re easy to spot by the horns and fake fur in their profile pictures.
https://twitter.com/parlertakes/status/1350575370550927360
I can feel his pain and it makes me nauseous. At least he found his missing piece. Next: where are his marbles?
I can vividly recall the old man hopping around and howling with a piece of this embedded in his hoof.
So many holes for tiny marbles to fall through. That stuff is for
boyschildren, not for toddlers, as they tend to stick these up their noses or down their throats.Play-Doh mushed into woolly carpet is one of my personal favourites. The kids have to be ready for it …
https://www.insider.com/capitol-riot-detainee-q-shaman-mocked-for-demanding-organic-food-2021-1
50 years ago ZZ Top released their first album – ZZ Top’s First Album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W8d8YIsDkk&feature=youtu.be
During the period of John Key's holding office, a Standard reader kept a log of the "leaders" lies. It ran into pages.
It would be an interesting exercise to chronicle the changes of National's stance on Covid.
"We should open our borders to Australia immediately (circa March/April '20).
"We should stop everyone coming through our borders …"
"Let's have a bubble with Australia now…"
Just what is their policy now?