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."
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. 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 ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
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:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
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. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
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 ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
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. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
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