Interesting article in a food industry journal overnight reporting on a pre-print (not yet reviewed) of a scientific study evaluating how long COVID-19 can live on frozen food or food packaging. The answer: up to three weeks, and the experimental design specifically tested chilled or frozen foods/packaging in light of the small, but growing, number of incidents like the Auckland outbreak.
Just another reason to ban the import of meat.
Actually the whole pandemic story has proven the consequences of our reckless and cruel animal food industry.
Frozen goods logistics is also essential for our own nourishment. Have a look at where the frozens in your freezer, and the supermarket freezer, come from. A very large proportion of it is imported. Restricting this trade will have consequences around what we eat, and how much it costs. A lot of business models from producers through to supermarkets could be challenged by this affecting a lot of what we eat.
Will be interesting to see what changes have been made already to procedures in the coolstores, and the rest of the supply chain, and what's in the pipeline. Also what changes consumers have already made.
Changes we are unlikely to hear about anytime soon….no one is going to speculate on this possibility without absolute certainty, the price would be too high for everyone.
The principle is often used by policy makers in situations where there is the possibility of harm from making a certain decision (e.g. taking a particular course of action) and conclusive evidence is not yet available.
It implies that there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to such harm, when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk. These protections should be relaxed only if further scientific findings emerge that provide sound evidence that no harm will result.
The frequent problem with invoking the precautionary principle is its abuse by nutters to block "something I don't like but have no rational argument or evidence against". It's a tactic that's very easy to use by simply endlessly calling for more evidence without ever acknowledging the weight of evidence that has already built up on a topic.
As touched on by the Criticisms section in your wikipedia link.
An opinion not based upon facts has no value and needs to be treated that way.
This false dichotomy and binary ‘logic’ is one of the main reasons why many debates fail from the outset, especially the ones on or associated with contentious and complex social issues.
Restricting this trade will have consequences around what we eat, and how much it costs.
So, what you're saying is that the number of farms and farmers in NZ would decrease (as they couldn't export) and what those left would produce would greater diversification?
This sounds good. It'd certainly be good for our environment although we'd still need better environmental protections and enforcement of those protections.
… in light of the small, but growing, number of incidents like the Auckland outbreak.
Please enlighten us what “incidents” you are referring to that involve infection with the virus from frozen food packaging. Have they contract traced any cases to a frozen chicken that crossed the street?
The other incidents referred to in the article are in Vietnam and China where areas that had previously had no infections for many months had an outbreak based around a food processing facility. These were considered interesting both for the possibility that frozen food was the vector of the virus into the facility, plus the crowded and slighly less-than-ideal conditions that food processing workers operate in which creates the perfect environment for rapid infection.
Both those cases, plus Auckland, were cited as being suggestive, and used as justification for the experimental design in which it was established that the virus did indeed remain viable on frozen foods and packaging for three weeks.
Nothing that conclusively makes this the confirmed vector at Americold, but certainly enough evidence to suggest we shouldn't totally discount it and assume that the only possible vector was a person coming over the border.
Paul Buchanan reminds us that spooks spy. I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with Z:
News that Zhenhua Data, an arm of China Zhenhua Electronics Group, itself a subsidiary of the military-connected China Electronic Information Industry Group, maintains a list of 800 New Zealanders on an “Overseas Key Information Database” that contains personal information on more than 2.4 million foreign individuals, has caused some consternation in Kiwi political circles. https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/17-09-2020/china-is-running-furtive-surveillance-of-innocents-lives-online-and-so-are-we/
Zhenhua Data is not alone in using its private business status as a front for or complement to State intelligence-gathering operations. The US firm Palantir, co-founded by New Zealand citizen Peter Thiel with seed money provided by the CIA venture capital arm In-Q-Tel, specialises in big data analysis, including software-based analytic synergies involving data mining, AI and facial recognition technologies.
Palantir has an office in Pipitea House, Headquarters of the GCSB and SIS, and its local clients exclusively reside within the New Zealand Intelligence Community.
So our spooks, working hand in velvet glove with yank spooks, are busy spying. On us, on the Chinese spooks, on the Russian spooks too, no doubt. Do we get value from all that spying, funded by the taxpayer? We'll never know: the establishment prevents accountability to the public. If they've got a list of quarantine rule-breakers then they're not totally useless, eh?
Our 'security' is not upheld when our spooks spy on the wrong folk, eg animal rights or peace activists groups rather than heavily armed 4chan devotees.
That Lincoln was not a conservative, in helping to end slavery and that he received fan mail from Karl Marx.
There are plenty of bite size presentations from this journalist, including the US as a failed state and how policing is effective only with the consent of society.
Mental chewing gum for me as I push a lawn mower round today.
Pike River widow Anna Osborne, who is also the Family Reference Group's chair, said the recovery of Pit Bottom in Stone needed strong scrutiny.
"The families need to know that the scene examination will be done by the best experts, using the right equipment and knowledge.
"This is an absolutely critical part of the recovery and we are being very clear with police and the recovery agency that it must be a focused effort and that there needs to be transparency to ensure families can trust the outcome."
Sonya Rockhouse, who lost her son Ben in the explosion, said reaching Pit Bottom in Stone had been an important goal for years.
"This is the one place likely to hold evidence crucial to seeing justice being done.
"There are a lot of conspiracy theories floating around about Pike that have caused a lot of grief to family members. This is the chance to get a clear run at the truth."
Neither the gathering of public information, nor of specific information about persons of interest is in any way different from what might be done by the most benign of states or intelligence organs. More relevant is the use to which it is put, for which we have little evidence, beyond Chinese links with our weakest and most compromised politicians.
There is an issue of potential for abuse. Having an essentially monarchial government, Chinese policy may change very quickly if the head of state does, as it did with the incumbent declaring himself effectively president for life. But of course the same potential for abuse applies with our own intelligence organs, which monitored the Locke family exhaustively but neglected the likes of the Chch shooter.
China may well be up to no good, and certainly shouldn't be let near politicians of weak moral character (most of them, frankly) but this bit of data is no smoking gun.
The next two years will be interesting ones re China.
2021 is the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. To celebrate the fact, Xi has repeatedly vowed that Taiwan will return to China by choice or by force by then.
2022 is the next Chinese National Congress, at which time Xi will either be ousted by the far more moderate Li or will indeed become President for Life. Powerful incentive to invade Taiwan before then. Every dictator under pressure needs a war.
re Taiwan. There was a posting on Weixin (the full Chinese version of Wechat only open to those with a Chinese ID) about two weeks ago with a reprint of a Chinese government declaration that Taiwan airspace is considered part of Chinese airspace.
The declaration stated in clear terms that any land or air attempts to intercept Chinese aircraft flying over Taiwan would be considered terrorism. And of course Chinese fighters are now crossing Taiwanese airspace on a near daily basis . Very worrying.
I should have saved and posted here. Have looked extensively on MSM but not a mention. As Weixin is owned by Ten Cent and Ten Cent is a Chinese government company, and given the extreme level of censorship, if it was posted it presumably had government approval.
I've stopped following China closely – I quite liked Hu Jintao – Xi seems to exemplify negative traits.
Taiwan must seen like a ripe durian to China – Is it better to pluck it, or wait till Trump weakens the US so much that it falls into their hands? Because Trump's presidency could really use a short victorious war about now too.
Its not just about the US though, most of the countries bordering the South China Sea (Vietnam, Japan, even the Philippines) are affected by what China does to Taiwan and increasingly forming a combined approach. And Taiwan itself is arming up.
It is not necessarily certain China would succeed in any action against Taiwan, as its forces are spread thinly, and already building up in Tibet so as to be altitude ready by spring for likely conflict with India over the ALOC.
Yes – I follow the military end of things – used to use the Sprattly dispute with English classes.
Things would not be so one-sided that US commitment of air forces would not make invasion difficult to sustain – though preventing occupation falls a long way short of preserving Taiwan.
The Chinese navy still has a few issues, though land based aircraft could probably cover that flank to some extent over Taiwan. The US would probably prefer to avoid or limit committing ground forces, which a conflict centred around Taiwan would allow. A big question would be whether the theatre expanded, and whether merchant shipping would be affected.
Pity that China could not leave Taiwan as it is – a little brother going its own way and China watching how what they do. It could be a measure of how effective the communist-state is in comparison. If they let them go provided that they don't allow the USA to set up bases there, then Taiwan can always choose to do the Prodigal Son thing one day.
If those terms were made clear to Taiwan, it could become an anomaly, also with Hong Kong. This wave of fascism going round the world is odd, and limits humanity and its intelligent expression rather than going towards greater human development, something like Maslow's pyramid. If all our thoughts are directed towards one aim, following one line, the other possibilities of thinking and actions that we and China could take get dismissed, ignored or pushed away beyond thought.
This is an interesting thinkpiece on Maslow's thinking. https://socialcapitalmarkets.net/2010/10/the-pyramid-to-enlightenment-is-upside-down/ My issues are two-fold. One is a corollary of the other, dealing with the progressive manner in which the stages of the pyramid are commonly presented. And the other is a much larger point: our tendency to target the upper stages of the pyramid in developed countries and the lower in developing countries, almost exclusively. I’ll start with the smaller, and I’ll caveat all of this with the fact that this is a “thought-in-progress”; I don’t claim to speak on the pain and potential of humanity with any greater authority than anyone else.
The pyramid of needs is commonly framed as a stepping stone, or a linear path – a progressive hierarchy, where one step leads to the other. I heard this at the conference repeatedly, as very well intentioned entrepreneurs explained that in the US, we were enlightened at the top of the pyramid, but countries in Africa were in need of much greater and fundamental basic needs – they hadn’t advanced to the top of the pyramid yet.
Our great thinker –
Lord Rutherford: “We haven't got the money, so we'll have to think”.
Greywarshark: "We're ruining our world and our humanity, so we'll have to think".
Some more from our 'original thinker' Ernest Rutherford who expressed himself in the popular idiom we can understand:
An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.
All science is either physics or stamp collecting.
I have broken the machine and touched the ghost of matter.
We're like children who always want to take apart watches to see how they work.
And this, which indicates that if we want to run our country well we have to become like the scientists he describes and work at it thoughtfully together.
Scientists are not dependent on the ideas of a single man, but on the combined wisdom of thousands of men, all thinking of the same problem, and each doing his little bit to add to the great structure of knowledge which is gradually being erected. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Rutherford
There has been abuse of confidential information about citizens in NZ in the past. Whether it has come from officialdom or loose tongues allowing info. to get into the wrong hands is beside the point. It has happened. For the target it can be a distressing situation to be in.
Whether China plans to use the information for unethical purposes we don't know yet. They may be doing no more than what the Five Eyes nations – and other nations – do. That is, gather information on citizens from other countries in case they may be of interest one day.
“One of the issues is although the funding has been allocated, a lot of those schools haven’t actually seen it yet, and I can imagine that’s where some of the frustration comes from.” From the budget, more than $68 million of capital funding was spent on Taranaki school property between 2017 and 2019, and $11.75 million had been allocated to 78 schools in the region over the next two years, to accelerate school-led upgrade projects. But Shaw said the funding likely “doesn’t even touch the sides” of the needs schools have these days, and he wanted to change that.
You mean change Grant Robertson's mind?? You & which army?
The head of the organisation representing Taranaki secondary school principals says educators felt the co-leaders of the Green Party had listened to them… “There were some very informed opinions expressed at the meeting by members who had done their homework on the matter.” Shaw said the meeting had been “really productive”.
“Many appreciated us taking the time to come and hear what they need from the Government next term,” he said in a text statement. “The issue of deteriorating schools from decades of neglect is a longstanding issue, and the Green Party have long called for better resourcing"
Bipartisan neglect of infrastructure has been a deepening problem for a long time (but is even worse in the USA). Nat/Lab delinquency got institutionalised by a design flaw in representative democracy: the system rewards short-term political partisan strategising, and penalises long-term planning and policy for the common good.
What we get from msm framing. They came with a couple of female organisers who set up a meeting with the Taranaki Greens late in the day, which we appreciated. About a dozen folks showed up.
They told us the day had gone well. It was evident from the body language & natural conversational rapport between the co-leaders that the Green School thing hadn't created a rift. The effortless ease at which they slipped into just being members of our group suggests that they are each adept at connecting into new group situations. I'm therefore not surprised their sessions at the schools were well-received.
Commentariat gets off on it, so gotta toss it out. In theory, the inducement then leads them into comment on the substantive issues. Gotta wait for that, sometimes.
Indeed, the Commentariat gets off on it. It is counter-productive to more substantive comments/commenting. So, why do you do it? Is confirming your bias more important than constructive debate? I do despair about you here at times, Dennis.
What bias?? If being serious was a better option, folks would respond more when I do that, eh? I'm well aware of the contrary pattern: the more serious, the more it scares them. You can always tell by the lack of responses in those instances.
There are dimensions of our shared reality that freak mainstreamers out and they go straight into denial. Indulging that weakness isn't a good idea when the public interest lies in engaging with what is revealed.
Climate change and the pandemic are prime examples but the chronic bipartisan underfunding of infrastructure maintenance is another goody.
Such self-deprecating wit! The irony is that you asked yourself why so few respond to your comments yet you refuse to look in the mirror and accept what you see!?
You can always tell by the lack of responses in those instances.
Not always. Sometimes, people don't respond because what's been posted is incredibly boring, pretentious, repetitive, nonsensical or unhinged. Sometimes, the only response a piece warrants is an eye-roll and a shake of the head. Sometimes, 'mainstreamers' aren't in denial, they just find someone incredibly dull and/or obnoxious.
Leftists on social media posing as members of Retards Anonymous is nothing new. I think the public would be more impressed if they engaged the issues instead.
There's only so many times you can evade them by being trite or banal before other mainstreamers decide leftists are unable to get real (so they may as well vote National).
Connecting those dots will be a struggle, of course, but good luck with the trying…
Infotainment not helpful? I recall having that quaint notion myself for rather a long time. Sometimes, though, we do need to go with the flow of contemporary culture. Flippancy, one could even argue, is timeless…
Sure, but why would you want to perpetuate it? Davidson and Shaw were both there, it's insulting to marginalise MD this way. Had your comment been about MSM framing then some pointed sarcasm might have warranted your framing, but it wasn't.
Still, look at the replies to your comment. No-one is talking about what you actually raised. Framing matters. I know this writing posts. If I put something in the headline or first sentence that goes against what I am writing about there's no pulling the conversation back from that.
Sometimes folks just get the urge to respond to something easy. Doesn't mean they'll never get beyond that. Cerebral process does require energy, and as people age they function more slowly in the mornings. Even at rest the brain uses 20% of our energy intake. Thinking about political issues would ramp that up considerably!
The old canard of Assange recklessly revealing names of informants refuted by Daniel Ellsberg in court yesterday
Daniel Ellsberg’s testimony this afternoon continued to tear down the prosecution’s argument that Julian recklessly released sensitive information that caused harm. Ellsberg noted that Julian “took every effort” to redact or hold back damaging information, even working with media outlets and the government in the redaction process — but that the government “would not lift a finger to help people who might be at risk” because they were more interested in building a case against Julian.
Wikilealks' appalling negligence with vulnerable people's personal information in information releases is well-documented. So I'll take a guess Ellsberg's assertion that every effort was taken to redact sensitive information is strictly limited to the release of military information at issue in the extradition hearing.
You want to link to Ellsberg's actual testimony? Francesca has only linked to the front page of some sort of Assange-cult propaganda outfit.
All other reporting I've seen suggests Ellsberg's testimony about redaction is strictly limited to Wikileaks' releases of the information provided by Manning, and makes no mention of the other incidents where Wikileaks actually was appallingly careless about vulnerable people's personal information.
To be clear, I'm not disputing Ellsberg's suggestion that Wikileaks responsibly redacted information from the info Manning leaked. What I'm pushing against is the apparent attempt to imply Wikileaks was universally careful about personally sensitive information, when it's been clearly documented that their negligent carelessness with personal info in other document releases has put vulnerable people at risk.
About endangering people involved with people in state jobs. I remember that one USA Senator? revealed secret details of a woman CIA agent in the Senate thus putting all her contacts in danger and upsetting whatever lines of communication she had built up. And that was for petty personal revenge on her I think. So worrying about principles of secrecy and behaviour; it depends who's doing it and who's secrets are being revealed.
Sorry can't recall the actual names but it happened about two decades ago. Should be reports on google but haven't time as I have just been doing a bit on thinking (towards a goal of wise and positive humanity and planet), which it seems is an important personal habit that is going out of fashion in lots of places around the world.
tl;dr: Russia is mostly looking to sow chaos and distrust in government, and their man for that is obvious.
China is much more focused on promoting their interests and countering the the propaganda against them, as part of the project of becoming the global dominant competitor to the US.
Iran's efforts are mostly about their local issues – Kurds, Saudis etc.
In general, it seems they all find it more successful to just amplify home-grown nuttery rather than trying to outright fabricate shit and inject it into the discourse.
…and as we watch from the side lines the devolution of many on the 'left' to become nothing more than hysterical mouth pieces of the establishment status quo….
…funny how they have seamlessly morphed to become carbon copies of those they once most probably (and rightly) loudly reviled..
This article demonstrates why Trump is America's president. No evidence of interference just conjecture and conspiracy. And you and your fellow Americas seem to swallow it lock, stock and barrel, without a moment of uncertainty, as proof their election is being meddled with by the wicked Arabs, Orientals, and Commies.
Lets look at the countries whose governments have been interfered with by the United States
"Carnegie Mellon University, has identified 62 American interventions in foreign elections between 1946 and 1989. The large majority—like Russia’s in 2016—were conducted in secret."
Talking about US fuckery in elections elsewhere in reply to a comment about foreign fuckery in US elections is at best mindless diversionary whataboutery, or possibly diversionary schadenfreude. It makes it appear you approve of fuckery in US elections.
When there's evidence of US fuckery here or anywhere else anyone cares about, by all means raise that as a separate topic to be considered on its own merits. Because that kind of fuckery is shitty and wrong, regardless of who does it or how tainted the recipient may be.
All I've seen from them so far is complaints which, as I say, they don't have a right to do because of their own previous actions. Now, if they turned round and apologised for doing it themselves and that they were going to stop doing it then they may have a valid point. But,
Where's the line saying that they're going to stop fucking around in other nations politics?
You might be confusing the ordinary everyday conversation meaning of complaint with criminal complaint, which is a legal term to do with starting actions against people who have broken actual laws. Which happened plenty of times for the 2016 election and quite likely is happening now, by American citizens as well as foreign actors.
I'm fairly confident that when Americans are busted doing illegal election fuckery in other countries, they too get attention from the local law along with their local collaborators.
I'm fairly confident that when Americans are busted doing illegal election fuckery in other countries, they too get attention from the local law along with their local collaborators.
So, according to you the USians fucking around in other countries politics is fine and its only when other countries fuck around in the USians that it isn't?
The impact of Covid-19 on New Zealand has been laid bare in a Salvation Army report which found more than a third of survey respondents had suffered a hit to their income through the loss of a job.
Their State of our Communities report, released on Thursday, was based on more than 500 interviews with residents and key community leaders from Rotorua, Queenstown and Johnsonville and found “almost everybody knew somebody that was financially impacted by Covid-19.”
The report also found a rise in people concerned about mental health provision and housing.
The report authors’ also found communities “crying out for serious effort to deal with a lack of mental health support, insecure housing and inadequate incomes.”
“Any recovery and rebuilding effort from the impacts of Covid-19 must include local communities and address existing and emerging critical social and health issues, and also build on the strength already found in these communities,” said Ika.
“In Election 2020, these real voices of communities must be listened to.”
yeah, nah nah….the government did the best they could, no go to winz beg for some support go to get a study grant for something – anything really and learn the 'value of work', the govenrments spokes person for the poor and needy spoke last week and she said nothing much of substance and certainly is not offering any real and above all 'monetary' help. Besides, Mr. Roberston said to day that the books look scary and we have given you all the money we thought was enough for youse and now we have other priorities. After all we only need the poor every few years to vote for us.
Well The Sally Army did at the very least send someone out to speak to people rather then not, and they covered what they covered. And non of that makes their finding less valid, less in line what people are experiencing in real live and the lack of action in regards to the finding.
New Zealand’s June quarter GDP fell by 12.2 per cent Stats NZ has reported. The decline covers most of the period between the end of March and mid-May, when the whole country spent seven weeks in level 4 and level 3 lockdowns. New Zealand is one of the last developed countries to calculate the decline in its second-quarter GDP. The fall in average GDP within the OECD has been 10.6 per cent.
"Collins says she understands that health and education are priorities for many voters, including many female voters. " So how about some pointed questions from the hacks about their 3 terms of underfunding health, screwing teachers over, closing schools, plummeting ratings etc ?
Collins again doubled down on the line that National would have "not let Covid-19 into New Zealand" as a way of saying what her party would have done differently to the Government. She said tomorrow, when National unveils its economic policy, it would show a clear difference between her party and Labour's. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12365736
It's also the rear view mirror as there is likely a solid bounce back after lockdown that we don't have the figures for. Not that the MSM or Judith will mention this.
The numbers are from June? that was 2 month after lockdown and would have at least reflected the good month of may – after what was a total write off of April?
if there is a bounce its not coming from people spending their money, chances are they are like everyone else putting in extra holes to the belt so as to tighten it further.
Key facts
All figures are actual unless otherwise specified.
For the June 2020 quarter compared with the June 2019 quarter:
total value of retail sales (with price effects included) fell 15 percent ($3.6 billion)
Gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — shrank at an annual rate of 32.9% in the second quarter as restaurants and retailers closed their doors in a desperate effort to slow the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 150,000 people in the U.S.
The economic shock in April, May and June was more than three times as sharp as the previous record — 10% in 1958 — and nearly four times the worst quarter during the Great Recession.
What did Jenny Marcroft do to piss off Winnie so badly? Getting demoted to #17 on the list – that's harsher than what got done to Richard Tosser Prosser who only got bumped down to #15.
With interest rates going negative is it time to cut the banks out with a bit of farm to table lending? The idea of a $10k mortgage advance with interest of an annual meat pack has some appeal?
Commentators here struggled to get their heads around it the other day. Perhaps it may help them clarify their thinking if they were to consider how experts see it…
Ivan Diaz-Rainey, an associate professor at the University of Otago and head of the Climate and Energy Finance Group, told Newsroom the move "could be the biggest win for the Greens in this political term". He said it "will lead to more concrete action and change and investment" than the Zero Carbon Act. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/greenroom/is-this-nzs-most-significant-climate-policy
Mark Baker-Jones, a special counsel at Simpson Grierson and the head of the firm's climate practice, was also effusive. "For me, it's probably the most significant piece of policy work that's come out of this Government," he told Newsroom.
"The Zero Carbon Act introduced a target and [emissions] budgets and the Climate Change Commission and [the Government] reformed the Emissions Trading Scheme, they're all very, very significant and necessary, but this step towards mandating the financial disclosure of that climate-related risk is very significant because it sends such a clear message to our financial institutions and to the markets. I think it will probably have the biggest impact on Aotearoa New Zealand's efforts to reduce emissions.
While dozens of other countries are exploring similar regimes, the Tuesday morning announcement by Climate Change Minister James Shaw makes New Zealand the first country in the world to commit to implementing one. The framework to be used was devised by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), led by former Bank of England governor Mark Carney.
I presume James was seeking political advantage for the Greens. Credit for getting it into the legislation pipeline, I mean. Also showing that he's unfazed by the Green School saga – and confident that the Greens will remain in parliament.
This could be the type of news content and scenario we in Aot (NZ) might be likely to see in the near future if things get any worse than they are now.
WAKE UP!
A new strain (animal-human) of Covid_2000+ could be on it's way, and the greenhouse gases surrounding us may soon block most of our hot air from escaping.
Maybe;
BLOCK the damn borders!
STOP using petroleum fuels immediately!
GET PREPARED by purchasing gas masks right now for just in case the face masks are no longer effective!
FOLLOW YOUR LEADERS AND GOVERNMENTAL AS BEST YOU CAN-BUT REMEMBER THAT THEY MAY NOT ALWAYS BE ABLE TO GET THROUGH TO YOU ALL!
If you need to find a supplier of gas masks, I know of a former colleague who had the forethought and wisdom to source a manufacturer of new, full face gas masks and filters that could save ALL of you in the event of things getting even worse.
He is not a greedy person and so I am sure that the masks would be sold at an affordable price, especially for bulk family purchases.
And they come in a variety of colors and sizes for kids, infants and even those domestic pets you love and may soon assist to save you all from a newer form of Corona.
With this website's approval I would endeavor to provide a link to his E-Commerce site.
Let's be safe and kind out there.
We may well be facing worrying times more unique than we might have ever imagined them to be.
No more anything spent on EV. Not time, not resource, nothing. They are probably full of harmful EMF floating around everywhere in any case.
Only horse & cart, horse & buggy, bicycle and tricycle research, development and resourcing should be allowed in AOTearoa (AKA Godzone).
We need to go back about two to three hundred years when things were simple and where every inhabitant appeared charitable and community supportive with another.
A time when they all knew who the chief was, and what their own respective roles and positions were. That is, before technology wrecked it for them all.
Noteworthy is that there are at least 9 million electric bicycles in the category of ride and charge that we know about around the Indo-Pacific and the Pacific region already, and with just a little more CO2 emitted, we could increase this a hundred fold, so as to have bicycles that would last for decades.
I feel that in relation to true socialism and reverting back to; "A La Naturale" transport and domestic methods, we're high on a wire with the world in our sight.
It just takes IMAGINATION AND AOTEAROA WILL POWER! Just like in the good old days.
There is a wealth of opportunity for peddle powered runabout and dinghy motors (additional to oars) for the foreshores, river ways and lakes. It is just that major vested interests as well as both the intelligencia and the bourgeois from our own bordered bourgs have become comfortable with the convenience of modern day technologies.
Look at the Amish, they, at least try to walk (or ride) the talk.
Come on K1W1, let's get our hands really dirty in the soil and get ourselves superbly fit by throwing away all of these 20th and 21st Century luxuries.
Get governmental to seize all motor powered vehicles and convert them to emergency housing or wind powered coastal transport, which is what we have not yet done with freight containers.
Get rid of petrol or electric lawn mowers as well.
Build more maternity hospitals and breed like there is no tomorrow so that we can produce fine farm specimens to work the fields.
Man, the possibilities are limitless.
We could reserve about two thirds of arable land for grass and fodder to feed the horses, sheep and cattle with, and the remainder for growing kai (carrots and other veggies). Broccoli also. No more eating of animals either!
Never again let any store assistant or green grocer tell us; "There is no f…… broccoli"
The other third of arable land for orchards, berry farms and vineyards so we can produce beautiful fruits for consumption, juices, potatoes, hemp, Mary J and copious quantities of precursor alcohol product for a wealth of alcoholic beverage so that most of us can be as happy as sand boys (and sand girls).
But it starts with US, and it starts NOW.
Air New Zealand has taken a good first step by parking up some of it's fleet in the desert mothball fashion, and now we need a good home run (economically, perhaps a 1929 scenario) so that they will have the impetus to follow through and park the entire fleet up.
This is surely the home grown K1W1 spirit, especially from what I've observed throughout rural NZ in small towns in and around the King Country, South Waikato and the Ruapehu District. They may talk grand tourist plans and modernization, but deep down inside they really do foster the simple life and the "back to basic" spirit and they do not really want outsiders or foreigners interfering with them and theirs doing things their way.
Why can we not pick up our pitch forks, our shovels and our ploughshares behind the coulter?
We can then form a massive Campaign for Modern Technology Disablement and organize hikoi as well as home guard units to repel any sod who has any intention of coming to these shores to either introduce or support any of these Technologies of Mass Destruction.
I'm about to stop posting because I have deliberated on collecting up all of my computer related material, my entertainment equipment, all of my household appliances (including whiteware). I will consider only be keeping earthenware and greyware, and I may well gift the rest back to Mother Nature. Back to the good earth.
We must all strive to be good earth worms, my dears.
Live humble, live simple and let hope, faith and charity be our guiding lights (or our Matariki).
As election bribes go it's pretty low ball. At least in the past with interest free student loans and one years free tuition, there's a knock on benefit down the road that doesn't end up costing the health service budget.
Let's hope he won't be in a position to make it come about, or he'll have to raid the super fund to boost oncology departments and palliative care homes.
Nah, that's bollocks. If you're going to reduce it to a fiscal argument, you also have to incorporate the fact that half of smokers won't take a cent in pension money.
Smoking is bad, m'kay. But it's good for the economy.
But we don't just measure in financial terms, do we? There's the human cost, the toll on families, the treating nurses, doctors and care home workers.
If the argument is solely about smokers not getting their pension money, then you may have a point if that amount is transferred to health, but do you think that will happen via Winston, knowing his protector of the gold card club's assets status?
There are many good reasons against smoking. "costing the health service budget" isn't one of them.
Getting lazy about something that should be such a slam dunk is, I believe, actually detrimental to the position. Frankly, I believe that ASH were just as willing to lie about smoking as BAT was – the "healthcare budget" bullshit made a regular apprearance. It was certainly a justification for me to ignore them when I was smoking (a pasttime I miss, but sadly not a long term plan, like the very enjoyable heavy drinking).
And I think that on a wider perspective, making sure our arguments on an easy topic stand up to basic examination is a habit that prepares us for the difficult argument on a different subject entirely.
Despite the attempted smugging (lol), the financial part isn't really getting lazy in debate, as the consequences of smoking do affect the health budget all the way through treatment and palliative care. That has to be undeniable fact as much as your point that dead people don't get the pension, which is also true.
As for making sure our arguments on easy topics stand up to basic examination, in this context, before I'd settle out of court, I'd have to see the costings for treating dying smokers against average length of payments of super, factoring in lost taxes when people get too sick to work including projected losses from the age of death til super eligibility, adding any benefit entitlements paid out along the way.
And I'd also like to see the costs for treating non-smokers intheir last twenty years or so of life, to see if there's actually a difference. Don't forget the excise, as well.
The health budget money comes from somewhere.
The idea that smokers cost money is a common trope that is frankly unsupported. And yet it's an example of "this is bad, therefore it must be bad in every aspect, so I won't check that".
"Low quality Chinese steel cannot be ruled out as the cause of a train derailment in Auckland, though KiwiRail says focusing on faulty steel rails is premature before an investigation is complete."
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 ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
He’s bringing ‘Sophie’ back, yeah. Goodshirt’s ‘Sophie’ music video is one of the most instantly recognisable New Zealand music videos of all time. Featuring a woman listening to the song on headphones while her entire house is burgled behind her, the video won the New Zealand music award for Best ...
Interesting article in a food industry journal overnight reporting on a pre-print (not yet reviewed) of a scientific study evaluating how long COVID-19 can live on frozen food or food packaging. The answer: up to three weeks, and the experimental design specifically tested chilled or frozen foods/packaging in light of the small, but growing, number of incidents like the Auckland outbreak.
https://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Article/2020/09/16/COVID-19-virus-can-survive-on-chilled-and-frozen-salmon-chicken-and-pork-for-three-weeks-Study?utm_source=meat_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=16-Sep-2020#
Maybe the Ministry of Health shouldn't be dismissing this so quickly as a plausible explanation of the Americold outbreak.
Just another reason to ban the import of meat.
Actually the whole pandemic story has proven the consequences of our reckless and cruel animal food industry.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/4/22/21228158/coronavirus-pandemic-risk-factory-farming-meat
And a very good reason for a produce exporting country not to consider that as a method of transmission unless absolutely certain.
Frozen goods logistics is also essential for our own nourishment. Have a look at where the frozens in your freezer, and the supermarket freezer, come from. A very large proportion of it is imported. Restricting this trade will have consequences around what we eat, and how much it costs. A lot of business models from producers through to supermarkets could be challenged by this affecting a lot of what we eat.
Will be interesting to see what changes have been made already to procedures in the coolstores, and the rest of the supply chain, and what's in the pipeline. Also what changes consumers have already made.
Changes we are unlikely to hear about anytime soon….no one is going to speculate on this possibility without absolute certainty, the price would be too high for everyone.
There is no absolute certainty in this. Just probabilities and the precautionary principle:
The frequent problem with invoking the precautionary principle is its abuse by nutters to block "something I don't like but have no rational argument or evidence against". It's a tactic that's very easy to use by simply endlessly calling for more evidence without ever acknowledging the weight of evidence that has already built up on a topic.
As touched on by the Criticisms section in your wikipedia link.
There are faults in everything we come up with. We're not perfect after all.
That said, there is a simple solution to no rational argument or evidence against: Ignore all arguments that have no basis.
An opinion not based upon facts has no value and needs to be treated that way.
This false dichotomy and binary ‘logic’ is one of the main reasons why many debates fail from the outset, especially the ones on or associated with contentious and complex social issues.
Simple fact really.
Even the contentious social issues have research on them showing the better option. Like, say, the smacking issue.
So, what you're saying is that the number of farms and farmers in NZ would decrease (as they couldn't export) and what those left would produce would greater diversification?
This sounds good. It'd certainly be good for our environment although we'd still need better environmental protections and enforcement of those protections.
Actually, this would indicate that we need to ban the import of food and the factory farming of meat here in NZ.
You want to ban the import of food? Hope you aren't a fan of pineapple or coffee…
Being a fan of those things means that I should be in favour of endangering others?
Can’t wait until you launch a political party. Telling people they can only eat what grows here is bound to be a vote winner.
Apparently, telling people that they can continue to kill random people just so that they can have coffee is.
I’m going to regret asking because I know the answer will be asinine but in what way does importing coffee kill people?
Did you miss the bit that this thread was about the potential of food to carry the covid-19 virus and this it is thus a threat vector?
Totally agreed.
We need to ban:
a. the import of all meat
b. factory farming.
Please enlighten us what “incidents” you are referring to that involve infection with the virus from frozen food packaging. Have they contract traced any cases to a frozen chicken that crossed the street?
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-can-you-catch-covid-19-from-frozen-or-chilled-food-12008007
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/science/covid-19-infected-frozen-food-can-cause-virus-outbreaks-report/article32421192.ece#
https://news.yahoo.com/chinese-cities-coronavirus-frozen-food-215128757.html
The other incidents referred to in the article are in Vietnam and China where areas that had previously had no infections for many months had an outbreak based around a food processing facility. These were considered interesting both for the possibility that frozen food was the vector of the virus into the facility, plus the crowded and slighly less-than-ideal conditions that food processing workers operate in which creates the perfect environment for rapid infection.
Both those cases, plus Auckland, were cited as being suggestive, and used as justification for the experimental design in which it was established that the virus did indeed remain viable on frozen foods and packaging for three weeks.
The original scientific article (pre-print) that the trade journal was referring to is here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.17.255166v1.full
Nothing that conclusively makes this the confirmed vector at Americold, but certainly enough evidence to suggest we shouldn't totally discount it and assume that the only possible vector was a person coming over the border.
Excellent comment, thank you!
Paul Buchanan reminds us that spooks spy. I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with Z:
So our spooks, working hand in velvet glove with yank spooks, are busy spying. On us, on the Chinese spooks, on the Russian spooks too, no doubt. Do we get value from all that spying, funded by the taxpayer? We'll never know: the establishment prevents accountability to the public. If they've got a list of quarantine rule-breakers then they're not totally useless, eh?
Tiresome false equivalence from Buchanan.
Spying for our security is necessary.
We contract Palantir.
We don't contract CCP fronts.
Our 'security' is not upheld when our spooks spy on the wrong folk, eg animal rights or peace activists groups rather than heavily armed 4chan devotees.
Correct but that just means that we need better regulations to prevent them from doing so not that we need to do without the security apparatus.
Yes, we do.
Perhaps you need to re-read Tsun Zu.
An interesting take on Progressives and the Republican party in the U.S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEHM5Cegmko
That Lincoln was not a conservative, in helping to end slavery and that he received fan mail from Karl Marx.
There are plenty of bite size presentations from this journalist, including the US as a failed state and how policing is effective only with the consent of society.
Mental chewing gum for me as I push a lawn mower round today.
Pike River widow Anna Osborne, who is also the Family Reference Group's chair, said the recovery of Pit Bottom in Stone needed strong scrutiny.
"The families need to know that the scene examination will be done by the best experts, using the right equipment and knowledge.
"This is an absolutely critical part of the recovery and we are being very clear with police and the recovery agency that it must be a focused effort and that there needs to be transparency to ensure families can trust the outcome."
Sonya Rockhouse, who lost her son Ben in the explosion, said reaching Pit Bottom in Stone had been an important goal for years.
"This is the one place likely to hold evidence crucial to seeing justice being done.
"There are a lot of conspiracy theories floating around about Pike that have caused a lot of grief to family members. This is the chance to get a clear run at the truth."
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/west-coast/pike-river-mine-recovery-team-reach-critical-part
Aye !
Neither the gathering of public information, nor of specific information about persons of interest is in any way different from what might be done by the most benign of states or intelligence organs. More relevant is the use to which it is put, for which we have little evidence, beyond Chinese links with our weakest and most compromised politicians.
There is an issue of potential for abuse. Having an essentially monarchial government, Chinese policy may change very quickly if the head of state does, as it did with the incumbent declaring himself effectively president for life. But of course the same potential for abuse applies with our own intelligence organs, which monitored the Locke family exhaustively but neglected the likes of the Chch shooter.
China may well be up to no good, and certainly shouldn't be let near politicians of weak moral character (most of them, frankly) but this bit of data is no smoking gun.
The next two years will be interesting ones re China.
2021 is the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. To celebrate the fact, Xi has repeatedly vowed that Taiwan will return to China by choice or by force by then.
2022 is the next Chinese National Congress, at which time Xi will either be ousted by the far more moderate Li or will indeed become President for Life. Powerful incentive to invade Taiwan before then. Every dictator under pressure needs a war.
re Taiwan. There was a posting on Weixin (the full Chinese version of Wechat only open to those with a Chinese ID) about two weeks ago with a reprint of a Chinese government declaration that Taiwan airspace is considered part of Chinese airspace.
The declaration stated in clear terms that any land or air attempts to intercept Chinese aircraft flying over Taiwan would be considered terrorism. And of course Chinese fighters are now crossing Taiwanese airspace on a near daily basis . Very worrying.
I should have saved and posted here. Have looked extensively on MSM but not a mention. As Weixin is owned by Ten Cent and Ten Cent is a Chinese government company, and given the extreme level of censorship, if it was posted it presumably had government approval.
I've stopped following China closely – I quite liked Hu Jintao – Xi seems to exemplify negative traits.
Taiwan must seen like a ripe durian to China – Is it better to pluck it, or wait till Trump weakens the US so much that it falls into their hands? Because Trump's presidency could really use a short victorious war about now too.
Its not just about the US though, most of the countries bordering the South China Sea (Vietnam, Japan, even the Philippines) are affected by what China does to Taiwan and increasingly forming a combined approach. And Taiwan itself is arming up.
It is not necessarily certain China would succeed in any action against Taiwan, as its forces are spread thinly, and already building up in Tibet so as to be altitude ready by spring for likely conflict with India over the ALOC.
Yes – I follow the military end of things – used to use the Sprattly dispute with English classes.
Things would not be so one-sided that US commitment of air forces would not make invasion difficult to sustain – though preventing occupation falls a long way short of preserving Taiwan.
The Chinese navy still has a few issues, though land based aircraft could probably cover that flank to some extent over Taiwan. The US would probably prefer to avoid or limit committing ground forces, which a conflict centred around Taiwan would allow. A big question would be whether the theatre expanded, and whether merchant shipping would be affected.
Pity that China could not leave Taiwan as it is – a little brother going its own way and China watching how what they do. It could be a measure of how effective the communist-state is in comparison. If they let them go provided that they don't allow the USA to set up bases there, then Taiwan can always choose to do the Prodigal Son thing one day.
If those terms were made clear to Taiwan, it could become an anomaly, also with Hong Kong. This wave of fascism going round the world is odd, and limits humanity and its intelligent expression rather than going towards greater human development, something like Maslow's pyramid. If all our thoughts are directed towards one aim, following one line, the other possibilities of thinking and actions that we and China could take get dismissed, ignored or pushed away beyond thought.
This is an interesting thinkpiece on Maslow's thinking.
https://socialcapitalmarkets.net/2010/10/the-pyramid-to-enlightenment-is-upside-down/
My issues are two-fold. One is a corollary of the other, dealing with the progressive manner in which the stages of the pyramid are commonly presented. And the other is a much larger point: our tendency to target the upper stages of the pyramid in developed countries and the lower in developing countries, almost exclusively. I’ll start with the smaller, and I’ll caveat all of this with the fact that this is a “thought-in-progress”; I don’t claim to speak on the pain and potential of humanity with any greater authority than anyone else.
The pyramid of needs is commonly framed as a stepping stone, or a linear path – a progressive hierarchy, where one step leads to the other. I heard this at the conference repeatedly, as very well intentioned entrepreneurs explained that in the US, we were enlightened at the top of the pyramid, but countries in Africa were in need of much greater and fundamental basic needs – they hadn’t advanced to the top of the pyramid yet.
Our great thinker –
Lord Rutherford: “We haven't got the money, so we'll have to think”.
Greywarshark: "We're ruining our world and our humanity, so we'll have to think".
Some more from our 'original thinker' Ernest Rutherford who expressed himself in the popular idiom we can understand:
And this, which indicates that if we want to run our country well we have to become like the scientists he describes and work at it thoughtfully together.
Scientists are not dependent on the ideas of a single man, but on the combined wisdom of thousands of men, all thinking of the same problem, and each doing his little bit to add to the great structure of knowledge which is gradually being erected.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Rutherford
SM @ 5
There has been abuse of confidential information about citizens in NZ in the past. Whether it has come from officialdom or loose tongues allowing info. to get into the wrong hands is beside the point. It has happened. For the target it can be a distressing situation to be in.
Whether China plans to use the information for unethical purposes we don't know yet. They may be doing no more than what the Five Eyes nations – and other nations – do. That is, gather information on citizens from other countries in case they may be of interest one day.
It's been going on for umpteen decades.
With the way China is acting I'm pretty sure we can make a valid assumption that they do, as a matter of fact, intend to.
Centuries if not longer. I'm pretty sure that Caesar would have had people watching his enemies leaders as well.
The James gang rode into town yesterday. Flew, actually.
You mean change Grant Robertson's mind?? You & which army?
Bipartisan neglect of infrastructure has been a deepening problem for a long time (but is even worse in the USA). Nat/Lab delinquency got institutionalised by a design flaw in representative democracy: the system rewards short-term political partisan strategising, and penalises long-term planning and policy for the common good.
The “James gang”? Are you another one who thinks that the Green Party is a one-man show? Your poor choice of words seems to suggest so.
In some ways maybe prophetic. We all know what happened to the real James gang, and Jesse himself, ( shot in the back by a member of his crew) 😊
Different Party, wrong gang.
What we get from msm framing. They came with a couple of female organisers who set up a meeting with the Taranaki Greens late in the day, which we appreciated. About a dozen folks showed up.
They told us the day had gone well. It was evident from the body language & natural conversational rapport between the co-leaders that the Green School thing hadn't created a rift. The effortless ease at which they slipped into just being members of our group suggests that they are each adept at connecting into new group situations. I'm therefore not surprised their sessions at the schools were well-received.
Little snippets for parrots?
Commentariat gets off on it, so gotta toss it out. In theory, the inducement then leads them into comment on the substantive issues. Gotta wait for that, sometimes.
Indeed, the Commentariat gets off on it. It is counter-productive to more substantive comments/commenting. So, why do you do it? Is confirming your bias more important than constructive debate? I do despair about you here at times, Dennis.
What bias?? If being serious was a better option, folks would respond more when I do that, eh? I'm well aware of the contrary pattern: the more serious, the more it scares them. You can always tell by the lack of responses in those instances.
There are dimensions of our shared reality that freak mainstreamers out and they go straight into denial. Indulging that weakness isn't a good idea when the public interest lies in engaging with what is revealed.
Climate change and the pandemic are prime examples but the chronic bipartisan underfunding of infrastructure maintenance is another goody.
Such self-deprecating wit! The irony is that you asked yourself why so few respond to your comments yet you refuse to look in the mirror and accept what you see!?
Yet again you evade the issue by being flippant. Still, you've proved my point effectively thereby. Have a nice day. 😇
I’m sad I could confirm your bias yet again for you. Sadly, you run away from debating and potentially resolving this issue. Therefore: QED.
Not always. Sometimes, people don't respond because what's been posted is incredibly boring, pretentious, repetitive, nonsensical or unhinged. Sometimes, the only response a piece warrants is an eye-roll and a shake of the head. Sometimes, 'mainstreamers' aren't in denial, they just find someone incredibly dull and/or obnoxious.
Not always… but sometimes.
not sometimes… but often.
Leftists on social media posing as members of Retards Anonymous is nothing new. I think the public would be more impressed if they engaged the issues instead.
There's only so many times you can evade them by being trite or banal before other mainstreamers decide leftists are unable to get real (so they may as well vote National).
Connecting those dots will be a struggle, of course, but good luck with the trying…
So why call it 'the James gang'? You are not helping.
Infotainment not helpful? I recall having that quaint notion myself for rather a long time. Sometimes, though, we do need to go with the flow of contemporary culture. Flippancy, one could even argue, is timeless…
Sometimes it's almost as if Oscar Wilde was in the room.
Feels more like James Joyce.
And reads like Enid Blyton.
Oh Timmy, you're so licky
Flippant infotainment: a new lens for (re)viewing past and future comments
Flippant: frivolously disrespectful, shallow, or lacking in seriousness
Just joking. Hur hur
"What we get from msm framing."
Sure, but why would you want to perpetuate it? Davidson and Shaw were both there, it's insulting to marginalise MD this way. Had your comment been about MSM framing then some pointed sarcasm might have warranted your framing, but it wasn't.
I don't believe, based on my conversations with her, that she'd be insulted! She's got a sense of humour. 🙄
Still, look at the replies to your comment. No-one is talking about what you actually raised. Framing matters. I know this writing posts. If I put something in the headline or first sentence that goes against what I am writing about there's no pulling the conversation back from that.
Sometimes folks just get the urge to respond to something easy. Doesn't mean they'll never get beyond that. Cerebral process does require energy, and as people age they function more slowly in the mornings. Even at rest the brain uses 20% of our energy intake. Thinking about political issues would ramp that up considerably!
Your framing heightens the activation barrier. If I want flippant infotainment, I’m spoiled for choice, elsewhere.
So, make a bigger effort. Eat some fish or sutin.
If mainstreamers were to eat fish for breakfast they'd stop being mainstreamers toot sweet. Therefore I suspect they'll ignore you.
Doubleyouteeeff!
For a moment you sounded like a dentist on drugs 😉
There are dentists on drugs!!!!
So try it, you may get beyond it.
Activating the brain well before the mouth might help.
The fontal lips are directly connected to the frontal lobe hence the saying ‘shooting off one’s mouth’.
The old canard of Assange recklessly revealing names of informants refuted by Daniel Ellsberg in court yesterday
https://assangedefense.org/
Wikilealks' appalling negligence with vulnerable people's personal information in information releases is well-documented. So I'll take a guess Ellsberg's assertion that every effort was taken to redact sensitive information is strictly limited to the release of military information at issue in the extradition hearing.
https://apnews.com/b70da83fd111496dbdf015acbb7987fb/private-lives-are-exposed-wikileaks-spills-its-secrets
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wikileaks-documents-private-lives-become-collateral-damage/
A few more linlks.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/private-lives-exposed-wikileaks-spills-its-secrets
https://www.abc12.com/content/news/Private-lives-are-exposed-as-WikiLeaks-spills-its-secrets-391046071.html
https://panow.com/2016/08/23/private-lives-are-exposed-as-wikileaks-spills-its-secrets/
https://bostonglobalforum.org/global-cybersecurity/initiatives/wikileaks-destroys-privacy-of-many-innocent-people/
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/14698747.rape-victims-among-private-lives-exposed-as-wikileaks-spills-its-secrets/
Wikileaks details how NZ spies will work – Nicky Hager, Sep 08 2013
"Wikilealks' appalling negligence with vulnerable people's personal information"
It might be an idea to read Ellsberg's testimony.
You want to link to Ellsberg's actual testimony? Francesca has only linked to the front page of some sort of Assange-cult propaganda outfit.
All other reporting I've seen suggests Ellsberg's testimony about redaction is strictly limited to Wikileaks' releases of the information provided by Manning, and makes no mention of the other incidents where Wikileaks actually was appallingly careless about vulnerable people's personal information.
To be clear, I'm not disputing Ellsberg's suggestion that Wikileaks responsibly redacted information from the info Manning leaked. What I'm pushing against is the apparent attempt to imply Wikileaks was universally careful about personally sensitive information, when it's been clearly documented that their negligent carelessness with personal info in other document releases has put vulnerable people at risk.
The Assange defense link takes you to a daily coverage of the trial
Not covered by any of your fave corporate media
Funny that
I understand that there is little or no evidence to support the contention that Assange endangered families of serving military, as has been claimed.
The release of diplomatic correspondence, however amusing, didn't really meet the standards of public good journalism however.
About endangering people involved with people in state jobs. I remember that one USA Senator? revealed secret details of a woman CIA agent in the Senate thus putting all her contacts in danger and upsetting whatever lines of communication she had built up. And that was for petty personal revenge on her I think. So worrying about principles of secrecy and behaviour; it depends who's doing it and who's secrets are being revealed.
Sorry can't recall the actual names but it happened about two decades ago. Should be reports on google but haven't time as I have just been doing a bit on thinking (towards a goal of wise and positive humanity and planet), which it seems is an important personal habit that is going out of fashion in lots of places around the world.
Valery Plame I think Grey
An interesting compare and contrast of the US election fuckery efforts by Russia, China, and Iran.
https://www.vox.com/21418513/china-iran-us-election-meddling-russia
tl;dr: Russia is mostly looking to sow chaos and distrust in government, and their man for that is obvious.
China is much more focused on promoting their interests and countering the the propaganda against them, as part of the project of becoming the global dominant competitor to the US.
Iran's efforts are mostly about their local issues – Kurds, Saudis etc.
In general, it seems they all find it more successful to just amplify home-grown nuttery rather than trying to outright fabricate shit and inject it into the discourse.
…and as we watch from the side lines the devolution of many on the 'left' to become nothing more than hysterical mouth pieces of the establishment status quo….
…funny how they have seamlessly morphed to become carbon copies of those they once most probably (and rightly) loudly reviled..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEuFtVf6oSw
Good grief.
This article demonstrates why Trump is America's president. No evidence of interference just conjecture and conspiracy. And you and your fellow Americas seem to swallow it lock, stock and barrel, without a moment of uncertainty, as proof their election is being meddled with by the wicked Arabs, Orientals, and Commies.
" There is no evidence any votes were changed, though another bipartisan Senate report found that in some instances, the Russians could have if they wanted to."
'could have if they wanted to' That's hilarious!!
Lets look at the countries whose governments have been interfered with by the United States
"Carnegie Mellon University, has identified 62 American interventions in foreign elections between 1946 and 1989. The large majority—like Russia’s in 2016—were conducted in secret."
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/07/the-us-has-a-long-history-of-election-meddling/565538/
Talking about US fuckery in elections elsewhere in reply to a comment about foreign fuckery in US elections is at best mindless diversionary whataboutery, or possibly diversionary schadenfreude. It makes it appear you approve of fuckery in US elections.
When there's evidence of US fuckery here or anywhere else anyone cares about, by all means raise that as a separate topic to be considered on its own merits. Because that kind of fuckery is shitty and wrong, regardless of who does it or how tainted the recipient may be.
No, I just say that their previous actions give the US no right to complain when it happens to them.
And, here's the thing, the US still fuck around in other peoples elections. They have an entire NGO to do it with.
Where's the line between publicising it to raise awareness, and complaining about it?
All I've seen from them so far is complaints which, as I say, they don't have a right to do because of their own previous actions. Now, if they turned round and apologised for doing it themselves and that they were going to stop doing it then they may have a valid point. But,
Where's the line saying that they're going to stop fucking around in other nations politics?
You might be confusing the ordinary everyday conversation meaning of complaint with criminal complaint, which is a legal term to do with starting actions against people who have broken actual laws. Which happened plenty of times for the 2016 election and quite likely is happening now, by American citizens as well as foreign actors.
I'm fairly confident that when Americans are busted doing illegal election fuckery in other countries, they too get attention from the local law along with their local collaborators.
So, according to you the USians fucking around in other countries politics is fine and its only when other countries fuck around in the USians that it isn't?
Engage your reading comprehension skills and read the whole thread. My view is expressed a few comments upthread. See if you can find it.
More about one nation under god pissing into the wind and getting its own back.
no one could have predicted this
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/122782352/i-feel-like-i-have-failed-covid19s-impact-on-kiwis-revealed-in-new-report
yeah, nah nah….the government did the best they could, no go to winz beg for some support go to get a study grant for something – anything really and learn the 'value of work', the govenrments spokes person for the poor and needy spoke last week and she said nothing much of substance and certainly is not offering any real and above all 'monetary' help. Besides, Mr. Roberston said to day that the books look scary and we have given you all the money we thought was enough for youse and now we have other priorities. After all we only need the poor every few years to vote for us.
Not good outcomes. Would be good for the interviews to have covered a wider selection of communities
Well The Sally Army did at the very least send someone out to speak to people rather then not, and they covered what they covered. And non of that makes their finding less valid, less in line what people are experiencing in real live and the lack of action in regards to the finding.
Recession now official: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300109161/election-2020-live-judith-collins-holds-press-conference-as-nz-falls-into-recession
12.2%…sounds impressively accurate dosnt it?
Wonder what number the subsequent reviews will place on it?
"Collins says she understands that health and education are priorities for many voters, including many female voters. " So how about some pointed questions from the hacks about their 3 terms of underfunding health, screwing teachers over, closing schools, plummeting ratings etc ?
Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song, and make it better… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_MjCqQoLLA
Jude should be asked if they learned their lessons from PSA, as they let that in.
Will someone call out this BS, they show how owned they are by letting it go as national was all for herd immunity at some point.
Conservative govt's around the world have the worst records of containing Covid 19.
A well funded public service is required to provide the healthcare levels contact tracing and economic response
It's also the rear view mirror as there is likely a solid bounce back after lockdown that we don't have the figures for. Not that the MSM or Judith will mention this.
The numbers are from June? that was 2 month after lockdown and would have at least reflected the good month of may – after what was a total write off of April?
Since then consumer confidence has been down
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8506-anz-roy-morgan-nz-consumer-confidence-rating-august-2020-202008280153
business confidence is a mixed bag of goods
https://www.anz.co.nz/content/dam/anzconz/documents/economics-and-market-research/2020/ANZ-BusinessOutlook-20200909-Prelim.pdf
and income is down:
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/labour-market-statistics-income-june-2020-quarter
if there is a bounce its not coming from people spending their money, chances are they are like everyone else putting in extra holes to the belt so as to tighten it further.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/retail-trade-survey-june-2020-quarter
By comparison US GDP fell 32.9% in second quarter 2020.
What did Jenny Marcroft do to piss off Winnie so badly? Getting demoted to #17 on the list – that's harsher than what got done to Richard
TosserProsser who only got bumped down to #15.https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122800003/election-2020-nz-first-drops-sitting-mp-jenny-marcroft-to-number-17-on-list
Maybe, in her capacity as health spokesperson, told him to stop smoking
That'd do it, fer sure.
Maybe threw something in about the amount of scotch he enjoys for good measure….
on the bright side, NZF still have two women MPs in the top ten.
For as long as they don't mention the smokes or the scotch.
or presumably the sexism
With interest rates going negative is it time to cut the banks out with a bit of farm to table lending? The idea of a $10k mortgage advance with interest of an annual meat pack has some appeal?
A few decades ago a cheque on a piece of paper or even a steel plate was classed as legal tender. Wonder when it became not legal?
Pretty sure it wasn't.
An agreed method of payment between parties, sure, but not Legal Tender.
A cheque is a contract and therefore enforceable
But not legal tender.
That’s why I put in the RBNZ link.
fair enough..youre right, not legal tender
As far as I know it still is…but the post was because as soon as I read RBCVs post I envisaged the cheque cow….pure reflex
Commentators here struggled to get their heads around it the other day. Perhaps it may help them clarify their thinking if they were to consider how experts see it…
Not there yet…
"If approved by Parliament, financial entities could be required to make disclosures in 2023 at the earliest."
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2009/S00127/new-zealand-first-in-the-world-to-require-climate-risk-reporting.htm
Now i may be being somewhat cynical but I find it curious that this should be announced post the rising of Parliament and pre election.
I presume James was seeking political advantage for the Greens. Credit for getting it into the legislation pipeline, I mean. Also showing that he's unfazed by the Green School saga – and confident that the Greens will remain in parliament.
Indeed. The guy's good.
Theres something to be said for confidence….what, Im not sure
I've just found a very scary clip on youtube that does not look like nonsense to me (as a K1W1 identity):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI2z27Ufy8k
This could be the type of news content and scenario we in Aot (NZ) might be likely to see in the near future if things get any worse than they are now.
WAKE UP!
A new strain (animal-human) of Covid_2000+ could be on it's way, and the greenhouse gases surrounding us may soon block most of our hot air from escaping.
Maybe;
BLOCK the damn borders!
STOP using petroleum fuels immediately!
GET PREPARED by purchasing gas masks right now for just in case the face masks are no longer effective!
FOLLOW YOUR LEADERS AND GOVERNMENTAL AS BEST YOU CAN-BUT REMEMBER THAT THEY MAY NOT ALWAYS BE ABLE TO GET THROUGH TO YOU ALL!
If you need to find a supplier of gas masks, I know of a former colleague who had the forethought and wisdom to source a manufacturer of new, full face gas masks and filters that could save ALL of you in the event of things getting even worse.
He is not a greedy person and so I am sure that the masks would be sold at an affordable price, especially for bulk family purchases.
And they come in a variety of colors and sizes for kids, infants and even those domestic pets you love and may soon assist to save you all from a newer form of Corona.
With this website's approval I would endeavor to provide a link to his E-Commerce site.
Let's be safe and kind out there.
We may well be facing worrying times more unique than we might have ever imagined them to be.
"STOP using petroleum fuels immediately!"
So no more fuel for extraction of raw materials for EV's
OR feedstock for the 750 kgs of plastics and composites in each EV
OR insulation for the wiring on EV's
OR fuel for transport of EV's to market
OR fuel for Bulldozers and other equipment and transport in remote areas
Nice idea …. BUT very destructive to any changes yet to be made by other than muscle power.
YES!
Entirely, Maurice. Muscle power only.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE AND POWER TO THE ANIMALS.
No more anything spent on EV. Not time, not resource, nothing. They are probably full of harmful EMF floating around everywhere in any case.
Only horse & cart, horse & buggy, bicycle and tricycle research, development and resourcing should be allowed in AOTearoa (AKA Godzone).
We need to go back about two to three hundred years when things were simple and where every inhabitant appeared charitable and community supportive with another.
A time when they all knew who the chief was, and what their own respective roles and positions were. That is, before technology wrecked it for them all.
Noteworthy is that there are at least 9 million electric bicycles in the category of ride and charge that we know about around the Indo-Pacific and the Pacific region already, and with just a little more CO2 emitted, we could increase this a hundred fold, so as to have bicycles that would last for decades.
I feel that in relation to true socialism and reverting back to; "A La Naturale" transport and domestic methods, we're high on a wire with the world in our sight.
It just takes IMAGINATION AND AOTEAROA WILL POWER! Just like in the good old days.
There is a wealth of opportunity for peddle powered runabout and dinghy motors (additional to oars) for the foreshores, river ways and lakes. It is just that major vested interests as well as both the intelligencia and the bourgeois from our own bordered bourgs have become comfortable with the convenience of modern day technologies.
Look at the Amish, they, at least try to walk (or ride) the talk.
Come on K1W1, let's get our hands really dirty in the soil and get ourselves superbly fit by throwing away all of these 20th and 21st Century luxuries.
Get governmental to seize all motor powered vehicles and convert them to emergency housing or wind powered coastal transport, which is what we have not yet done with freight containers.
Get rid of petrol or electric lawn mowers as well.
Build more maternity hospitals and breed like there is no tomorrow so that we can produce fine farm specimens to work the fields.
Man, the possibilities are limitless.
We could reserve about two thirds of arable land for grass and fodder to feed the horses, sheep and cattle with, and the remainder for growing kai (carrots and other veggies). Broccoli also. No more eating of animals either!
Never again let any store assistant or green grocer tell us; "There is no f…… broccoli"
The other third of arable land for orchards, berry farms and vineyards so we can produce beautiful fruits for consumption, juices, potatoes, hemp, Mary J and copious quantities of precursor alcohol product for a wealth of alcoholic beverage so that most of us can be as happy as sand boys (and sand girls).
But it starts with US, and it starts NOW.
Air New Zealand has taken a good first step by parking up some of it's fleet in the desert mothball fashion, and now we need a good home run (economically, perhaps a 1929 scenario) so that they will have the impetus to follow through and park the entire fleet up.
This is surely the home grown K1W1 spirit, especially from what I've observed throughout rural NZ in small towns in and around the King Country, South Waikato and the Ruapehu District. They may talk grand tourist plans and modernization, but deep down inside they really do foster the simple life and the "back to basic" spirit and they do not really want outsiders or foreigners interfering with them and theirs doing things their way.
Why can we not pick up our pitch forks, our shovels and our ploughshares behind the coulter?
We can then form a massive Campaign for Modern Technology Disablement and organize hikoi as well as home guard units to repel any sod who has any intention of coming to these shores to either introduce or support any of these Technologies of Mass Destruction.
I'm about to stop posting because I have deliberated on collecting up all of my computer related material, my entertainment equipment, all of my household appliances (including whiteware). I will consider only be keeping earthenware and greyware, and I may well gift the rest back to Mother Nature. Back to the good earth.
We must all strive to be good earth worms, my dears.
Live humble, live simple and let hope, faith and charity be our guiding lights (or our Matariki).
New Zealand First aims to cut price of cigarettes to $20
As election bribes go it's pretty low ball. At least in the past with interest free student loans and one years free tuition, there's a knock on benefit down the road that doesn't end up costing the health service budget.
Horrible little man and nasty little party.
Next, subsidising sherry and Best Bets..
And court case where you've no chance of winning
Saves on pensions, though.
Let's hope he won't be in a position to make it come about, or he'll have to raid the super fund to boost oncology departments and palliative care homes.
Or 'donors' as he calls them.
With every trip to the cancer doctor you get a NZ1st foundation membership
Collect a thousand empty whisky bottles for a free kidney upgrade.
Nah, that's bollocks. If you're going to reduce it to a fiscal argument, you also have to incorporate the fact that half of smokers won't take a cent in pension money.
Smoking is bad, m'kay. But it's good for the economy.
But we don't just measure in financial terms, do we? There's the human cost, the toll on families, the treating nurses, doctors and care home workers.
If the argument is solely about smokers not getting their pension money, then you may have a point if that amount is transferred to health, but do you think that will happen via Winston, knowing his protector of the gold card club's assets status?
There are many good reasons against smoking. "costing the health service budget" isn't one of them.
Getting lazy about something that should be such a slam dunk is, I believe, actually detrimental to the position. Frankly, I believe that ASH were just as willing to lie about smoking as BAT was – the "healthcare budget" bullshit made a regular apprearance. It was certainly a justification for me to ignore them when I was smoking (a pasttime I miss, but sadly not a long term plan, like the very enjoyable heavy drinking).
And I think that on a wider perspective, making sure our arguments on an easy topic stand up to basic examination is a habit that prepares us for the difficult argument on a different subject entirely.
Despite the attempted smugging (lol), the financial part isn't really getting lazy in debate, as the consequences of smoking do affect the health budget all the way through treatment and palliative care. That has to be undeniable fact as much as your point that dead people don't get the pension, which is also true.
As for making sure our arguments on easy topics stand up to basic examination, in this context, before I'd settle out of court, I'd have to see the costings for treating dying smokers against average length of payments of super, factoring in lost taxes when people get too sick to work including projected losses from the age of death til super eligibility, adding any benefit entitlements paid out along the way.
And I'd also like to see the costs for treating non-smokers intheir last twenty years or so of life, to see if there's actually a difference. Don't forget the excise, as well.
The health budget money comes from somewhere.
The idea that smokers cost money is a common trope that is frankly unsupported. And yet it's an example of "this is bad, therefore it must be bad in every aspect, so I won't check that".
Finance ministers love euthanasia.
Rail problems
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/426300/britomart-train-station-shuts-after-cracks-found-on-tracks
Over 2 years ago….
"Low quality Chinese steel cannot be ruled out as the cause of a train derailment in Auckland, though KiwiRail says focusing on faulty steel rails is premature before an investigation is complete."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/103850254/chinese-steel-cant-be-ruled-out-as-cause-of-auckland-train-derailment
I did have big debates re the neolib nats allowing sub grade Chinese "steel" into NZ. I wonder how the "Investgations" went ?
https://youtu.be/nWCPhAVMh6g
They are using any means to take this whanau Whare from them twisting the court once again to suppress the poorest people tangata whenua
Link below.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300111036/crowds-gather-at-maketu-to-fight-eviction-from-inherited-land
How did I get here?
Here's another link to prove my point suppressing the brown tangata.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018764472/major-ethnic-pay-gap-in-dhbs-revealed-in-research