You may have forgotten that Labour officially endorsed wizardry, so here's a reminder of that history:
The Wizard, who was born in England, began performing acts of wizardry and entertainment in public spaces shortly after arriving in New Zealand in 1976. When the council originally tried to stop him, the public protested. In 1982, the New Zealand Art Gallery Directors Association said he had become a living work of art, and then, in 1990, the prime minister at the time, Mike Moore, asked that he consider becoming the Wizard of New Zealand. “I am concerned that your wizardry is not at the disposal of the entire nation,” Moore wrote on his official letterhead.
“I suggest therefore that you should urgently consider my suggestion that you become the Wizard of New Zealand, Antarctica and relevant offshore areas … no doubt there will be implications in the area of spells, blessings, curses, and other supernatural matters that are beyond the competence of mere Prime Ministers.”
Not just implications. Imprecations. Incantations. Chants, even. Sadly, the Labour Party failed to follow through on the initiative, and under Helen Clark reverted to merely copying the National Party.
Jacinda has displayed a noteworthy talent for enchanting people, but few observers would use magical thinking to account for that. There's a lack of evident espousal of witchery in her messaging. Unlike several of my old female friends – one of whom has the number plate BRMSTCK on her EV.
Cultural commentators tend to forget that an entire generation of teenage rebels in the 1960s went on to explore the possibilities of magical thinking, and the culture of Western civilisation got transformed as a result. Political scientists are too stupid to learn from the political consequences – that goes without saying – so they remain a fertile area of investigation for thesis writers of the future.
The Wizard, whose real name is Ian Brackenbury Channell, 88, had been contracted to Christchurch city council for the past two decades to promote the city through “acts of wizardry and other wizard-like services”, at a cost of $16,000 a year. He has been paid a total of $368,000.
Chch was a hotbed of leftism through the 1970s. Notable survivor from that era is Murray Horton, still operating his Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aoteroa (CAFCA). As Ad pointed out yesterday, the foreign control over Aotearoa is primarily exercised by a couple of Aussie banks – but that's the economy. Sovereign control of Aotearoa still resides in the British Crown. A triumvirate of foreign control can be discerned if you factor in Facebook, Five-Eyes, and the century in which the CFR has directed the USA foreign policy regardless of the coming & going of US presidents…
It was 1969, and he was starting a new position in the Department of Social Science and Sociology at the University of New South Wales, where he specialised in religion and revitalisation movements.
During this period, he was looking into new ways to challenge social and political ideology. But he wanted to activate this by steering clear of violence, and instead, confronting people with what he refers to as ‘unusually creative responses.’
It was the zeitgeist. Yippies using street theatre to warp mass consciousness alt-left. Establishment left had spines permanently horizontal in obeisance to their overlords. The real pioneers of the technique were Kesey & the Pranksters, after he liberated LSD from the chem lab around '62 & they got into freaking straights with day-glo.
Exposé on that origin of hippie came via The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. I read my brand-new paperback copy early 1970 and it was a revelation. Shadbolt was using the technique in Albert Park that year when we first saw him. Jumping Sundays, the media called it.
Oh christ on a bike !, save us from self-indulgent middle-class hippies, affluent New Age fantasists with vastly more money than sense … & worst of all … far, far worse than anything else … spoilt narcissists of dubious talent terrorising the general public with ostentatious displays of street theatre … everyone fiercely competing against each other to be the centre of attention as a desperate substitute for the cloying indulgence of their comfortably-off parents after leaving home … [a bit like Woke Twitter when you think about it].
Could there be anything worse than the smug self-indulgence of the children of the Establishment ?
“If I was invisible for the day I think I’d kick a mime artist to death. At least he'd go with people thinking he's great at his job":
Yeah yeah but there's always been a world of difference between the trend-setters & the trend-followers. You're right about the narcissism bit. The yanks did rather go to an extreme with that. Jung would explain it as compensatory reaction to a childhood of extreme repression.
Dunno if it's that simple tho. I had that. I didn't lose the plot like the narcissists. Gotta remember that growing up in a world where the political left and right are threatening you with competing forms of totalitarian govt, not to mention nuclear war, did make a rebel wave that was rather fervent…
“What we’re seeing now is a Cambrian explosion of activity where the superior courts are in several contexts affirming tikanga Māori,” says high court judge Christian Whata. It’s a shift which could profoundly alter the way New Zealand law is applied in areas as diverse as defamation and trust law. Ultimately, it represents the indigenisation of a legal system which has been dominated by English thinking since its inception.
The Cambrian explosion is a geological metaphor. So the old thing about restless natives is ramping up to a higher level.
One of the few Māori serving in New Zealand’s higher courts, he has recently been appointed to the Law Commission (a government thinktank charged with guiding legal reform) to define and chart the future relationship between tikanga and state law.
A welcome move. Seems to indicate a shift in the hierarchy from pretending to be progressive into actually making progress.
“What is tikanga? I’m not an expert on that. It’s a massive topic in itself. How can tikanga be used in a state law context? That’s its own topic. Should [we even] use tikanga in a state law context?” Despite the immensity of these questions and the courts’ usual preference for more incremental change, to some extent they have little choice but to keep up.
Worthy questions, those. Worth an essay onsite here! My intuitive response to the one about the state is yes, but I'll defer to those with more grasp of tikanga first.
I've got family guests, so I can't devote any time to this at the moment, but yes, I think the time is ripe for NZ to develop some of its own legal code & jurisprudence around, & incorporating concepts like tikanga Māori.
I believe the Peter Ellis appeal is a bold step in the right direction & suspect that will be around Ellis's mana, which survives him, & also affects his family's mana. The English law idea that when you die you no longer have a reputation to be restored (for example) so you have no need of redress, in my view is wrong. Your mana remains & should be legally capable of being restored.
Peter Martin, a political reporter for Bloomberg News, reports on Xi's exemplary demonstrations of how to lose friends and depress people (contrary to Dale Carnegie's `how to win friends & impress people' advice).
A global poll released in June 2021 showed that negative perceptions of China were near historic highs in nearly every one of the 17 advanced economies surveyed. These setbacks matter. As global politics is increasingly defined by Sino-American rivalry, the ability to compete diplomatically will help shape the history of the twenty-first century.
Taken together with economic, military, technological, and ideological prowess, diplomacy is a key part of what makes any power great. American strategists have long defined it as a core element of any nation’s power: diplomatic, informational, military, and economic capabilities are often reduced to the acronym “DIME.”
As in `ain't worth a dime'. Geopolitics from an establishment perspective. The future, as defined by the past. Automata rule, ok? Am I being too hard on the control system? Probably. Establishment folk do sometimes improvise.
The foreign media began to brand this new confrontational approach “wolf warrior diplomacy” after a series of Chinese action movies that depicted Rambo-like heroes battling China’s enemies at home and abroad.
Yeah, I get it. Copy the Reagan model. Must've made quite an impression on Xi at the time. Martin explores the historical development of the regime's diplomacy.
Diplomats were instructed to ask permission before they acted, even on the most trivial matters, and to always report what they said, did, and heard to their superiors. They were banned from dating or marrying foreigners. They were told to stick rigidly to pre-approved talking points, even when they knew these often failed to resonate with foreign audiences.
Born of necessity more than seventy years ago, these rules and practices are still in place today. Zhou’s approach has survived and evolved through revolution, famine, capitalist reforms, and the rise of China as a global power. “We’re very different to other ministries,” one diplomat said. “We’re unusual in that we’ve had a strong culture that’s lasted since 1949.”
Dunno if this `diplomats as automata' praxis has accomplished a hell of a lot for China really. Seven decades of the Chou model correlates with rise of China, sure, but correlation ain't causation. Globalising is coming together. Using a separatist policy in that context is likely to ensure minimal gains.
Kris Faafoi has a thankless task. Organise billets for those returning plus sports people business people arts people emergency quota of returns, essential workers with everyone wanting his attention "NOW". With the outbreak of Delta MIQ spots are under pressure. He has tried to be fair to those stranded those with visa requests in the pipeline, while he has done sterling work in the commercial sphere, and has stood the buffeting from all sides for months on end.
mac1's reply @5.1 relates to the last sentence in your brief comment. 5.1 begins by quoting that sentence, making it difficult to fathom the depths of your confusion.
Well obviously, but it isn't the ones hiding as pressure is on them, Like Collin's a few weeks ago, Fa'afoi and Ardern with Hosking
Edit: Throwing some associate minister at question time and you giving a list of mps who have fronted on their behalf doesn’t change the fact the others didn’t There is 120 of them ffs
You wrote "TBF. having meet him a few times before he became a politician and thinking he was a twat, Hipkins always fronts."
TBF means 'to be fair'. Well, Chris T, in your comment at #5, you were not fair. You made a very wild claim, with no substantiation, which is what I called you on, with 13 recent examples as evidence.
I'd call it a boycott rather than hiding. And who could disagree with withdrawing from that toxic sicko. When a so-called professional treats the PM in such a rude and disrespectful manner consistently he really should be sent home and told not to return. Calling any woman guest a lying hussy should result in a final warning at the very least.
If I saw that prick down here in Kapiti I'd break his nose.
Good point. Absolutely not. No politician should feel in any way obligated to appear on any programme generated by commercialism (ie, a right-wing outlet) where they are likely to be grilled by some right-wing nut job.
To create a level playing-field, we need impartial media with intelligent, disinterested interviewers. Kim Hill on RNZ is about the last example that I have heard make a reasonable effort at being so.
Talkback radio is commercialised cacklemush, and the right wing of society would like to eliminate state radio (or any kind of radio independent to their commercially-driven system) and hold a right-wing monopoly over the media, pretending it is independent because there is an artificial competitive market.
If it's of any help Chris T, I took your original comment to mean that you thought Shaw's performance was so lacklustre he might as well have not been there, but kudos to him for trying.
Could be wrong, but don't understand why you are being harried on this particular comment. Seems of little consequence.
Covid is getting close and very real. Thank you for yesterdays confirmation of our commitment to community, Jacinda Ardern and all the many people involved. I await the final totals with a sense of hope.
However, we have just had an unsettling email from our Doctor's surgery team. They have reorganised into Red and Green zones, to help when covid arrives. (definitely when not if) A portable cabin for the red zone , the surgery the green zone. Full PPE for all staff, patients to remain in cars 'till they are checked.
We are glad they are as prepared as possible, but the tone of gravity with the mention of no relief staff if they get sick, their efforts not to take the virus home, and their fully vaccinated status, all felt too "close to home".
We have known this excellent team for forty years, and know this is preparing to meet the enemy head on. I am thankful for these brave people who will strive to keep us safe, and I realised how lucky we are to have a wee safe bolt hole. They stressed vaccination was key in keeping this manageable. Again thanks to everyone who turned up to be vaccinated, you helped your local medical team.
Anyone who is dithering, don't wait, do it asp, 1st now 2nd in 3 weeks plus 2 weeks to build immunity and by 29th of November you will have "done your bit" for your health your Doctors and Nurses and others in the community.
Thank You in advance. “Let’s Do This”
Shaun Hendy said 7,000 deaths a year if 80% of over 5 year old's vaccinated. We are only vaccinating over 12's but are probably over 80% by now. So hopefully less than 7,000.
"The latest tests released by the company have found 83 percent of groundwater samples exceed drinking water standards as well as regional council guidelines for aluminium and toxic fluoride.
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters says no one uses the groundwater for drinking."
But it turned sour when almost half of the 112 diners fell ill after eating the turkey.
A long-time restaurateur's legal battle to overturn a conviction brought by the NZ Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) looks to have ended after more than three years before four courts.
But Robin Pierson, owner of Gisborne's Bushmere Arms, says he has not decided what he will do now to protect the reputation of his restaurant and bar. He maintains a norovirus is responsible for the outbreak which affected 50 to 53 diners, whose symptoms included vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps.
We are told that Jacinda and Clarke, while visiting a hotel out of Auckland, had identified it as a possible venue for their wedding reception – but the negotiations had broken down when the couple had stipulated that their friend, the celebrated chef Peter Gordon, should be responsible for the catering. The proprietor was unwilling to accede to this request and the negotiations had therefore broken down.
We are further told that the disappointed proprietor had produced, as a term in the “contract” that had yet to be agreed, a cancellation clause that required the couple to pay a cancellation fee of $5000.
One does not need to be a lawyer to recognise that such a claim would be unlikely to succeed, but this does not deter the Herald from giving prominence to the story. Leopards, after all, do not change their spots.
In Jack's Solar Garden in Boulder County, Colorado, owner Byron Kominek has covered 4 of his 24 acres with solar panels. The farm is growing a huge array of crops underneath them—carrots, kale, tomatoes, garlic, beets, radishes, lettuce, and more. It’s also been generating enough electricity to power 300 homes. “We decided to go about this in terms of needing to figure out how to make more money for land that we thought should be doing more,” Kominek says.
Rooftops are so 2020. If humanity’s going to stave off the worst of climate change, people will need to get creative about where they put solar panels. Now scientists are thinking about how to cover canals with them, reducing evaporation while generating power. Airports are filling up their open space with sun-eaters. And space doesn’t get much more open than on a farm: Why not stick a solar array in a field and plant crops underneath? It’s a new scientific (and literal) field known as agrivoltaics—agriculture plus photovoltaics—and it’s not as counterintuitive as it might seem.
Anchovies and kalamata olives, when I'm making it myself.
Although, since I needed to use an oven to test some materials at high temperatures for a project at work, the last one I made tasted like hot epoxy and vinyl ester. I don't recommend that.
The cheese-eating surrender monkeys have a habit of taking individual things that are quite interesting on their own, and blending them into some sort of weird unidentifiable goo that's even more wrong than vegemite. That looks like another one of those.
The surrender monkeys ain't the only ones to do stomach-churning things with unmentionables.
I joyfully and easily eat all manner of shellfish from gulper clams to mussels much to the astonishment of my children. I cannot, however, bring myself to eat woodcock with the trail left in place to cook and the juices to run free.
I found a recipe on the internet for ‘flambe woodcock’ where after cooking them whole with the guts intact the entrails were scooped out and mixed with bacon, olive oil, mustard, port, and lemon juice to make a puree.
The puree and woodcock are then warmed in a frying pan for a few minutes before tipping cognac over and setting alight. Simple as that and it is apparently delicious. Other cooks roast the bird intact then scoop out the ‘trail’ into a hot pan, add some red wine and seasoning and spread on bread or toast when heated.
Pizza is basically cheese on toast. Putting marmite on that is not that uncommon – down in the southwest anyway. That exta vegemitey one from Adelaide does look pretty vile though. The entire point of a (small) smear of marmite on top of cheese on toasted bread (crumpets by my preference) is the slighty caramelised brittleness it gets during the grilling, putting a lake of it under the cheese just seems weird to me!
It's all rather moot though, as that NZH article concludes:
The vegemite pizza is not available in New Zealand.
The Givalittle page to help Tairawhiti get a mobile clinic for vaccines and medical needs for their remote area has reached $90 000 from public donations. Wonderful news. Good among the thoughtless Jester.
Up in Auckland were we not fortunately that the weather arrived today? Everything appeared to align for a successful day. My thanks to all those unseen volunteers and community leaders who heavily contributed to the last few weeks success.👏🏿
"But, a few men do cause immense harm to both women and men. And many other men, consider that sex-based harm to be women's problems and do not bother to keep track or speak out against those members of their sex."
BTW There have been quite a few women that have caused harm. Especially to their kids, so you might want to take a step off your pedestal for a sec.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
If you want to argue that men as a class aren't responsible for most of the violence against humans, then you can do it in OM rather than derail my post (the derail is in accusing a feminist of putting herself or women on a pedestal when she was talking about men). However if you do run that argument I will expect you to provide evidence as you go.
Otoh, you could just stop taking it personally when women point out the problems they have with men as a class and subgroups of those men, and instead make the time to learn what we are talking about.
weka, just noticed this had been moved to OM. Was trying to think of a good response, but saw yours. Much more succinct, but exactly what I wanted to ask.
Thread on the likely Covid end-game in the US – a death rate of 40/100K a year, twice the current flu rates, and costly burdens on resources and systems but probably deemed tolerable enough to avoid radical public health measures.
Scotland has 3.8 million people double vaccinated with Pfizer.
It also stresses that the 616 who have died from the disease after being fully vaccinated represent just 0.016% of the 3.8 million people to date given both doses.
The report states: "These individuals had several co-morbidities which contributed to their deaths.
"Of the [616] confirmed Covid-19 related deaths, in individuals that have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine, 80.4% were in the 70 and over age group."
Further on, it states that the death rate drops drastically if a booster shot is given.
Prof Ferguson said: “I’d like to see us be a little more aggressive in rolling out booster doses, because the sooner we can, the sooner we’ll reap the benefits of that and I think the data supports that not just after six months, probably after four months after second doses, you still get a very big effect of booster doses.”
Data this week from Israel has found that the rate of hospitalisation for Covid was just 2.6 per 100,000 among over-60s who had had a third booster shot, compared to 28.5 per 100,000 for individuals the same age group who have had just two Pfizer doses.
The double vaccination target is just the beginning – not the end goal.
Class distinctions also matter. Within the power structure, without consideration for sex, there are mechanisms that serve to keep the elite classes immune from the privations of the lower classes.
That deserves attention as well, and should be recognised. I would wholeheartedly support any who chose to address this inequity, and only if they had not considered the distinct experiences of racial minorities or women would I bring those extra considerations up. Because to solve issues like this with effectiveness, you have to make sure to identify the problem as fully as you can.
As regards power and privilege in our current society – if you believe there currently exists equity between men and women, then I would disagree.
The point is it is power and privilege as a whole, not the noticeable few. Some few 'chicks' are in positions of power. Totally agree.
But all the other 'chicks' in our present society are still dealing with sexism in society, work and relationships, while just trying to feed their kids, with or without partners.
(BTW, can we start referring to the categories as women and men now? I feel like I've wandered on to an 80's movie set.)
Id prefer females and males, as man and women tends to have turned into some weird made up inner touchy feely gender thing if ok, but all good. Will do.
I don't think you got my point I agree with you.
But just the other way round
Most blokes males aren't walking around actively oppressing females.
Apart from "noticeable few" males the rest of us are just trying to look after our kids and work our arse off, like our partners.
Just an aside but it reminds me of the whole pay equity thing.
Jobs predominently female? Not enough women studying STEM, they must be oppressed! WTF?
There is nothing stopping females doing STEM. They just may not be into it as much as males. Why are no females asking why there is not enough men doing child teaching?
But I totally agree their have been far to many "noticeable few" that were male and not enough "noticeable few" that have been female.
But this is just a culture change that is happening. Probably too slowly and in some particuar religiously nutty countries not happening
"But way to paint everyone in tetiary education with the same brush as a few arseholes hiding behind computer keyboards"
But that is not what was said.
Gamergate was getting close to a decade ago and again was a small bunch of arssehole males.
Interestingly, just had a conversation on this topic last week with my twenty-year old son. Learnt a lot, and went away looking for updates. Found this.
A suggestion: I think it might help if you stopped assuming that every time someone uses the word 'men' they are referring to you as an individual. If someone references women being involved in atrocities, I don't go into defensive mode just because I am a woman, I seek to know more.
There are social cues, implicit boundaries and many varied and legal ways of making people feel uncomfortable. Women often experience the same discomfort in certain industries because the culture has been formed on the sensibilities and priorities of men.
"There are social cues, implicit boundaries and many varied and legal ways of making people feel uncomfortable. Women often experience the same discomfort in certain industries because the culture has been formed on the sensibilities and priorities of men."
I'm sorry, but this is just not my experience in places I have worked in the last 15 or so years. TBF most of them were run by females.
Do you honestly think a male primary school teacher is not in the same predicament?
It is normally the vibe you are creating within yourself, more than automatically assuming everyone of the opposite bio sex is against you.
Though I think my male primary school teacher has it harder than the vast majority of (persecuted females"
Edit actually ignore the teacher bit. Re-read your post. Sorry. Cocked that one up agree
Just read this comment which raises a whole lot of responses, that will make it difficult to rest easy. Can we take a raincheck and come back to this some other time?
I wrote a whole post Chris. If you didn't understand it, you can just ask.
I'm not going to provide evidence for things that you can very easily look up yourself. Start with the stats on which sex commits most violence, then look at which sex commits most violence against women, then look at which sex commits most violence against trans women.
when there is no reply button, scroll upwards from the comment you want to reply to until you find the first comment with a reply button that is inline with the comment you are replying to. That way your comments will go in the right place and it will make more sense.
I'm less interested in you saying it was your fault than I am in you just getting the basics right. Use the reply conventions, and/or quote what you are replying to so people reading can understand.
And if you are going to accuse me of whinging, then be specific about what you mean so I can address it.
"Jobs predominently female? Not enough women studying STEM, they must be oppressed! WTF?
There is nothing stopping females doing STEM. They just may not be into it as much as males. Why are no females asking why there is not enough men doing child teaching?"
These are relevant questions, for which there are no easy answers.
You may well think that women are not into STEM, but those that are do find that their qualifications often are not enough to get them jobs or pay parity. My partner did a post-graduate university course a few years ago with a female engineer. She was the only one in the course to achieve 100% scores on papers, but in her work environment she was often ignored and did not have pay parity with others with the same qualifications and experience.
Go look at the experience of women in NZ within the Fire Department, and try to determine what kind of culture allowed those actions to not only occur, but for the perpetrators to be promoted. Apparently, firefighters are the top profession of trust for most people, and yet women were still not safe in that space – solely because of their biological sex.
By 2004, those numbers were 82 per cent in primary schools and 57 per cent in secondary schools.
The proportions have actually been relatively stable since then, with women rising to 84 per cent at primary and 60 per cent at secondary level.
Despite this long history, most primary and intermediate school principals were men until 2012, and most secondary principals are still men. Last year 55 per cent of primary, and only 33 per cent of secondary, principals were women.
(Note: Although men teaching children was a low percentage, the percentage of men as principals – the authority over the teachers was higher than proportional. The power positions were allocated to men.)
There is a distinct difference in talking about individual lived experiences as a particular sex, and a collective experience of a sex.
The first relates to the very distinct and unique experience of a particular person. They may or may not experience the general common experiences of their sex, and that is just life.
However, there are wider experiences of being a woman – or a man – and it is the attributes of those regular commonalities that are being referenced when we talk about biological sex differences in society.
"but those that are do find that their qualifications often are not enough to get them jobs or pay parity."
This is a fair point worth actual investigation, and I also suspect if true it might be a who you know thing as well. But again. It will be a small bunch of arsehole males, not a whole sex working in the industry.
"It will be a small bunch of arsehole males, not a whole sex working in the industry."
Once again, not all individual males experience the privilege of men as a biological class. However, the power structures within our society are formed and maintained most particularly by men.
I’m going to think about what you are writing, and think about how I am explaining myself and try and figure out why we seem to be misunderstanding each other. I might not reply again because it’s an early night for me, but didn’t want you to think I’m abandoning this discussion for good.
She was the only one in the course to achieve 100% scores on papers, but in her work environment she was often ignored and did not have pay parity with others with the same qualifications and experience.
This is pretty much the common experience of all juniors – having a cervix is certainly not the whole explanation in play here.
As a working engineer let me do a rough description of my current work team – totaling about 40 people across controls, process and operations:
Fully 45% of the entire group are women
The lead process engineer is a woman.
The cultural and ethnic diversity is pretty typical of Australia as a whole, with a tilt toward Asian's.
Our Chair of the Board is an Asian – and a woman.
Our CEO is of Nigerian heritage
Chris T has a point – that workplaces of the last 15 years or so have changed a fair bit. As a contractor I get to move around quite a lot so my experience is reasonably representative I'd suggest.
That's good. If my son training to be an engineer completes his degree, I'll send him your way. (BTW, he's in the process of selecting his branch of engineering. Would you mind sharing what branch you are in, and what are the recommendations and pitfalls that you consider related to that branch?)
His older brother was put off engineering when he volunteered for a year at a local vintage railway workshop. Unknown to me, the workshop was covered in pictures of naked ladies, and tea break talk was often sexual. He was young, and only told me how uncomfortable he felt after he had left.
Goes without saying why his younger sister didn't follow his volunteer path.
I started in Electrical but if I had my time again I'd probably do Process Engineering. After a wobbly start in my 20s I found myself doing Industrial Automation and have never looked back. Decades later and I still look forward to each day. Or night as it happens right now.
There is a huge diversity of roles in Engineering and not all of them are strictly professional as such. The key thing is to have an abiding interest in the nature of the work. That alone will carry anyone a long way.
Honestly I haven't seen a porno parlour like your son encountered since the 80s. If they still exist it would be mostly in marginal non-professional settings like the one described.
As for sexual talk, the most wonderfully vivid banter along these lines belonged to a female Control operator I worked with in Canada. Takes all sorts.
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In this week’s “A View from Afar” podcast Selwyn Manning and spoke about the upcoming US elections and what the possibility of another Trump presidency means for the US role in world affairs. We also spoke about the problems Joe … Continue reading → ...
Hi,Two years ago I briefly featured in Justin Pemberton’s Web of Chaos documentary, which touched on things like QAnon during the pandemic.I mostly prattled on about how intertwined conspiracy narratives are with Evangelical Christian thinking, something Webworm’s explored in the past.(The doc is available on TVNZ+, if you’re not in ...
The Government is leaving the entire construction sector and the community housing sector in limbo. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government released the long-awaited Bill English-led review of Kāinga Ora yesterday, but delayed key decisions on its build plan and how to help community housing providers (CHPs) build ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons Farmers who can’t sleep, worrying they’ll lose everything amid increasing drought. Youth struggling with depression over a future that feels hopeless. Indigenous people grief-stricken over devastated ecosystems. For all these people and more, climate change is taking a clear toll ...
New Zealand’s relationship with China is becoming harder to define, and with that comes a worry that a deteriorating political relationship could spill over into the economic relationship. It is about more than whether New Zealand will join Pillar Two of Aukus, though the Chinese Ambassador, more or less, suggested ...
Been hoping we would see something like this from Sir Geoffrey Palmer. This is excellent.The present Bill goes further than the National Development Act 1979 in stripping away procedures designed to ensure that environmental issues are properly considered. The 1979 approach was not acceptable then and this present approach is ...
He’s Got The Moxie: Only Willie Jackson possesses the credentials to meld together a new Labour message that is, at one and the same moment, staunchly working-class, union-friendly, and which speaks to the hundreds-of-thousands of urban Māori untethered to the neo-tribal capitalist elites of the Iwi Leaders Forum.IT’S ONE OF THE ...
Tree-huggers may well accuse the Government of giving them the fingers, after Energy Minister Simeon Brown announced new measures to protect powerlines from trees, rather than measures to protect trees from powerlines. It can be no coincidence, surely, that this has been announced at the same as Fisheries Minister Shane Jones ...
Willie Jackson will participate in the prestigious Oxford Union debate on Thursday, following in David Lange’s footsteps. Coincidentally, Jackson has also followed Lange’s footsteps by living in his old home in South Auckland. And like Lange, Jackson might be the sort of loud-mouth scrapper who could take over the Labour ...
Barrister Gary Judd KC’s complaint to the Regulatory Review Committee has sparked a fierce debate about the place of tikanga Māori – or Māori customs, values and spiritual beliefs – in the law.Judd opposes the New Zealand Council of Legal Education’s plans to make teaching tikanga compulsory in the legal curriculum.AUT ...
Alwyn Poole writes – In New Zealand we have approximately 460 high schools. The gaps between the schools that produce the best results for students and those at the other end of the spectrum are enormous.In terms of the data for their leavers, the top 30 schools have ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand First Cabinet Minister Shane Jones has become the best advertisement against the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill. In selling the radical new resource consenting processes, in which ministers can green light any mine, dam, or other major development, Jones seems to be ...
Brian Eastonwrites – The Fast-Track Approvals Bill enables cabinet ministers to circumvent key environmental planning and protection processes for infrastructure projects. Its difficulties have been well canvassed. This column suggests a different way of thinking about the proposal. I am ...
The split opening up in Israel’s “War Cabinet” is not just between PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his long-term rival Benny Gantz. It is actually a three-way split, set in motion by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. It was Gallant’s open criticism of Netanyahu that finally flushed Gantz out into the open. ...
On Thursday 17 May, the Mayoral Proposal for Auckland’s Long Term Plan 2024-2034 was passed by Auckland Council, 20 to 1. It is set to be formally adopted by the Governing Body at its June 27th meeting. The entire process took 8 hours, with the vast majority of that time ...
Pakanga o muaTukua, ka ngaroPuritia taku ringaNgaro ana te ara ki pae rauThere's a battle aheadMany battles are lostBut you'll never see the end of the roadWhile you're travelling with meLate yesterday morning I headed to Wynyard Quarter to see Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick give their pre-budget State of ...
Maybe the Prime Minister and his Finance Minister expected the worst, so they mounted a stout defence of the Budget tax cuts to their party faithful at a party conference over the weekend. In turn, they were greeted with applause, which, though it may have been less than wildly enthusiastic, ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 12, 2024 thru Sat, May 18, 2024. Story of the week “The legislation I signed today [will] keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and ...
TL;DR: Here’s six links that stood out to me in the last day in Aotearoa’s political economy to 6:06am on Sunday, May 19:Aotearoa-NZ is the seventh worst in the OECD’s homelessness rankings, just behind the United States and just ahead of Australia. BlackRock thinks rate hikes actually worsen inflation because ...
Halfway up a historic tower in York, we are neither up nor down. At the top you will have views of a city steeped in antiquity, made and remade by Romans, Normans, Vikings, Tescos. Below, you will find a retired minister happy to tell you all about this most astonishing ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does breathing contribute to CO2 ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: KiwiRail’s seemingly endless requests for more money is damning. At one point, KiwiRail assured Robertson when he was the Finance Minister that the worst-case scenario would be an extra $300 million before requesting $1.2 billion a few months later. Not what most people ...
No one knows what it's likeTo be the bad manTo be the sad manBehind blue eyesNo one knows what it's likeTo be hatedTo be fatedTo telling only liesHave you ever wondered what life must be like for Mike Hosking? Seeing things in black and white through blue tinted specs? In ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two week’s editions.Share More Than A FeildingBike bling, London Read more ...
Hi,I think we all made it through another week — congratulations. I’ve been digesting the new Arab Strap record, which is astonishing. In other news, I’m going to be doing a Webworm popup in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday July 13. I’ll bring a bunch of merch, and some other ...
The Fast-Track Approvals Bill enables cabinet ministers to circumvent key environmental planning and protection processes for infrastructure projects. Its difficulties have been well canvassed. This column suggests a different way of thinking about the proposal. I am going to explore the Bill from the perspective of its proponents with their ...
New Zealand First Cabinet Minister Shane Jones has become the best advertisement against the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill. In selling the radical new resource consenting processes, in which ministers can green light any mine, dam, or other major development, Jones seems to be shooting the proposal in the foot. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Associate Education Minister David Seymour is urging the PostPrimary Teachers Association to put learning ahead of ideology. He wants the union leaders to call off their teachers meetings around the country where they hope to muster the strength to undo the government’s plans to establish several ...
What are police for? "Fighting crime" is the obvious answer. If there's a burglary, they should show up and investigate. Ditto if there's a murder or sexual assault. Speeding or drunk or dangerous driving is a crime, so obviously they should respond to that. And obviously, they should respond to ...
Michael Reddell writes – I got curious yesterday about how the Australia/New Zealand real exchange rate had changed over the last decade, and so dug out the data on the changes in the two countries’ CPIs. Over the 10 years from March 2014 to March 2024, New Zealand’s ...
Graham Adams writes that 20 years after the land march, judges are quietly awarding a swathe of coastal rights to iwi. Early this month, an hour-long documentary was released by TVNZ to mark the 20th anniversary of the land-rights march to oppose Helen Clark’s Foreshore and Seabed Act. The account ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: Suspended Green MP Darleen Tana has passed an unpleasant milestone: she has now been absent for as many parliamentary sitting days as she has been present for this year. Tana is on full pay while she is suspended, and will benefit from a ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is no coincidence that two Labour should-have-been MPs are making the most noise about public sector cuts. As assistant general secretary of the Public Service Association, Fleur Fitzsimons has been at the forefront of revealing where the next round of state sector job ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a ...
This is one of the (extra) weekly columns on music or movies. Plenty of solid analyses of Possession exist online and most of them – inevitably – contain spoilers. This column is more in the way of a first-timer’s aid to getting your initial bearings. You don’t need to have ...
I am painting in oil, a portrait of a manWho has taken all the heart aches,And all the pain he can stand.I am using all the colors of blue,I have here on my stand.I am painting in oil, a portrait of a man.This has been an interesting week for me. ...
Helen Clark joins the Hoon as a special guest talking whether Aotearoa should join Aukus II, and her views on the fast track legislation and how Luxon and the new Government are performing. File Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts ...
With an election due in less than nine months, Britain’s embattled PM, Rishi Sunak, gave a useful speech earlier this week. He made a substantial case for his government, perhaps as compelling as is possible in the current environment. Quite an achievement. His overall theme was security, first pulling ...
Open access notablesPublicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions, Pearson et al., Climatic Change:We analysed a recently released corpus of climate-related tweets to examine the macro-level factors associated with public declarations of climate change scepticism. Analyses of over 2 million geo-located tweets in the U.S. showed that climate ...
You can be all negative about these charter schools if you want, but I’m here to accentuate the positive. You can get all worked up, if you want to, by the contradiction of Luxon saying We’re going to make sure that every school in the country is teaching exactly the same ...
Losing The Room: One can only speculate about what has persuaded the Coalition Government that it will pay no electoral price for unreasonably pushing ahead with policies that are so clearly against the national interest. They seem quite oblivious to the risk that by doing so they will convince an increasing ...
Name suppression decisions can be tough sometimes. No matter your views on free speech, you have to be hard-hearted not to be torn by the tug of the competing arguments. I think you can feel the Supreme Court wrestling with that in M v The King. The case for ...
The Merchants of Menace: The Coalition Government has convinced itself that the “Brahmins’” emollient functions have become much too irksome and expensive. Those who see themselves as the best hope of rebuilding New Zealand’s ailing capitalist system, appear to have convinced themselves that a little bit of blunt trauma is what their mollycoddled ...
When National first proposed its Muldoonist "fast-track" law, they were warned that it would inevitably lead to corruption. And that is exactly what has happened, with Resources Minister Shane Jones taking secret meetings with potential applicants:On Tuesday, in a Newsroom story, questions were raised about a dinner Jones ...
Buzz from the Beehive One day – hopefully – we will push that Russian rascal, Vladimir Putin, beyond breaking point. Perhaps it will happen today, when he learns that Foreign Minister Winston Peters is again tightening the thumbscrews. Peters announced further sanctions, this time on 28 individuals and 14 entities ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought New Zealand to the brink of economic and cultural chaos.TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition Government’s failure to retain, and build upon, the public ...
“Members of Parliament don’t work for us, they represent us, an entirely different thing. As with so much that has turned out badly, the re-organising of MPs’ responsibilities began with the Fourth Labour Government. That’s when they began to be treated like employees – public servants – whose diaries had ...
It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a third medical school in New Zealand, ...
Time To Choose: Like it or not, the Kiwis are either going into AUKUS’s “Pillar 2” – or they are going to China.HAD ZHENG HE’S FLEET sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks ...
Henry Ergas writes – When in Randall Jarrell’s Pictures from an Institution, a college president is accused of being a hypocrite, the novel’s narrator retorts that the description is grossly unfair. After all, the man is still far from the stage of moral development at which the charge ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ reports: The Education Review Office says too many new teachers feel poorly prepared for their jobs. In a report published on Monday, the review office said 60 percent of the principals it interviewed said their new teachers were not ready. ...
New Zealand’s economic performance and the PM’s vision Michael Reddell writes – When I wrote yesterday morning’s post, highlighting how poorly both New Zealand and its Anglo peer countries have been doing in respect of productivity in recent times (ie, in the case of New ...
Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...
Half of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd’s directors and its chair resigned en masse last night in protest at Christchurch City Council’s demand to front-load dividends File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The chair of Christchurch City Council’s investment company and four of its independent directors resigned in protest last ...
The University of Waikato has reworded an advertisement that begins the tender process for its new $300 million-plus medical school even though the Government still needs to approve it. However, even the reworded ad contains an architect’s visualisations of what the school might look like. ACT leader David Seymour told ...
As a follow-up to the Rings of Power trailer discussion, I thought I needed to add something. There has been some online mockery about the use of the same actor for both the Halbrand and Annatar incarnations of Sauron. The reasoning is that Halbrand with a shave and a new ...
This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...
Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...
Te Pāti Māori have launched a petition to stop the repeal of Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. This announcement comes prior to the first reading of the Section 7AA repeal bill in Parliament today. “Section 7AA forces the Government to adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi with respect ...
The Government has yet again failed to do the one thing that needs to happen to ensure houses can be built – commit to ongoing funding, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Treasury officials have outlined many ways in which the Fast Track Approvals Bill is deeply flawed, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking says. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick used this year's State of the Planet to call on the Government to prioritise people and planet as the delivery of the Budget approaches. A full transcript of their speeches can be found below. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have used their State of the Planet speeches to challenge the Government to prioritise people and planet over profit as the delivery of the Budget approaches. ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
Thousands more young New Zealanders will have better access to mental health services as the Government delivers on its commitment to fund the Gumboot Friday initiative, says Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey. “Budget 2024 will provide $24 million over four years to contract the ...
The Coalition Government’s Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, which will improve tenancy laws and help increase the supply of rental properties, has passed its first reading in Parliament says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “The Bill proposes much-needed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 that will remove barriers to increasing private ...
Standing here in Cassino War Cemetery, among the graves looking up at the beautiful Abbey of Montecassino, it is hard to imagine the utter devastation left behind by the battles which ended here in May 1944. Hundreds of thousands of shells and bombs of every description left nothing but piled ...
I present a legislative statement on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill Mr. Speaker, I move that the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services and Community Committee to consider the Bill. Thank you, Mr. ...
The Bill to repeal Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has had its first reading in Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the care and safety of children in care, says Minister for Children Karen Chhour. “When I became the Minister for Children, I made ...
Kia ora koutou, good morning, and zao shang hao. Thank you Fran for the opportunity to speak at the 2024 China Business Summit – it’s great to be here today. I’d also like to acknowledge: Simon Bridges - CEO of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. His Excellency Ambassador - Wang ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing them ...
The Coalition Government will introduce legislation this year that will enable roadside drug testing as part of our commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Alcohol and drugs are the number one contributing factor in fatal road crashes in New Zealand. In ...
The Government has announced a series of immediate actions in response to the independent review of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “Kāinga Ora is a large and important Crown entity, with assets of $45 billion and over $2.5 billion of expenditure each year. It ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour is pleased that Pseudoephedrine can now be purchased by the general public to protect them from winter illness, after the coalition government worked swiftly to change the law and oversaw a fast approval process by Medsafe. “Pharmacies are now putting the medicines back on their ...
Tēnā koutou katoa. Da jia hao. Good morning everyone. Prime Minister Luxon, your excellency, a great friend of New Zealand and my friend Ambassador Wang, Mayor of what he tells me is the best city in New Zealand, Wayne Brown, the highly respected Fran O’Sullivan, Champion of the Auckland business ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melanie Ashe, PhD Candidate, School of Media, Film & Journalism, Monash University Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures The Mad Max films are set in an arid, barren, post-apocalyptic world known in the movies as “the wasteland”. This is a world of ...
New Zealand police have a lot of guns, and every year one or two are briefly misplaced. Oscar Francis reports on an official investigation into a singularly striking case, that of a helicopter-borne constable who dropped their pistol into an illegal cannabis plantation. You know how sometimes you find yourself ...
An alliance of mental health organisations is urging the Minister for Mental Health, Matt Doocey and the Coalition Government to invest in the Aotearoa New Zealand’s mental health system in an open letter. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Bartley, Postdoctoral Fellow, RMIT Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation, RMIT University In the occupied far east of Ukraine, Russian forces are aiming waves of missiles against Ukrainian civilian targets. Each of Russia’s state-of-the-art missile launch systems costs more than ...
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Barring an unplanned byelection, the July 20 council election will be our only major election of the year, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The National Party insists there has been no conflict of interest in David Macleod's chairing the committee considering the contentious fast-track bill. ...
Joel MacManus endures five hours of fear and hatred as some of New Zealand’s most controversial figures – and a sitting MP – gather to fight against trans rights. Note: This article contains quotes that may offend. They have been included to present an accurate report of what was said ...
It raises valid concerns about Kāinga Ora, but there’s little to suggest the new direction for state housing charted in Sir Bill English’s report will address Aotearoa’s chronic shortage of affordable rental housing, argues Alan Johnson.Given previous National governments’ indifference or even hostility toward the idea of state housing, ...
The publishing sensation of 2024 is wartime memoir The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour and Jude Dobson, which tells the amazing story of a woman who operated behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France. Sales went through the roof as soon as it was published: in its first week it became ...
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Comment: NZ’s main political parties need to reach a consensus on how to adjust to China’s dominance and coercion The post Bridging the Aukus chasm appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Jacinda Ardern’s leadership significantly enhanced New Zealand’s profile on the global stage. In the first five months of her second term of government, between December 2020 and April 2021, her name appeared 24 times in the Washington Post, 10 in the New York Times, 27 in the Times and ...
Comment: The public has seen the PM’s ruthless side, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where a member of the coalition faces the same punishment The post Christopher Luxon the disciplinarian appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Education is facing a bunch of changes, but the important ones are not banned cell phones or ‘woke’ foods. The Government has ordered teachers to adopt ‘structured literacy’ to get children reading. That means Reading Recovery, a system New Zealand pioneered and spread to the world, along with ‘whole language’, ...
What a difference a year has made for Caroline Powell. After coming last at the Badminton Horse Trials in 2023, Powell triumphed at this year’s event earlier this month, on board her sometimes-feisty Irish-bred mare Greenacres Special Cavalier – much to her astonishment. Now she hopes to succeed at the ...
By Maia Ingoe, RNZ News journalist A NZ Defence Force plane carrying 50 New Zealanders evacuated from New Caledonia landed at Auckland International Airport last night. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it would be working with France and Australia to ensure the safe departure of several evacuation ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Snow, Research Scientist, CSIRO CSIRO How often do you check your local weather forecast? How about your local climate projections for 2050? For many farmers, the answer to the first question is all the time. But the answer to the ...
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Reacting to today’s Budget Speech from Labour’s Finance spokesperson, Barbara Edmonds, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “It is encouraging to see that one of Labour’s stated priorities is to focus on creating ‘a level ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Turner, System Lead, Sustainable Economies, Climateworks Centre atk work/Shutterstock In the budget last week, the government was keen to talk about its efforts to turn Australia into a renewable superpower under the umbrella of the Future Made in Australia policies. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Opposition Leader Peter Dutton might have done us a favour. As part of his budget reply speech on Thursday night he promised to stop foreigners buying existing Australian homes. ...
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RNZ Pacific A New Zealand author, journalist and media educator who has covered the Asia-Pacific region since the 1970s says liberation “must come” for Kanaky/New Caledonia. Professor David Robie sailed on board Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior until it was bombed by French secret agents in New Zealand in July 1985 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Renwick, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Lincoln University, New Zealand Fonterra caught the business world by surprise last week with plans to sell off its consumer brands and businesses – including supermarket mainstays such as Anchor, Fresh’n Fruity and Mainland. The move ...
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Wizard put out to pasture: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/15/new-zealand-council-ends-contract-with-wizard-after-two-decades-of-service
You may have forgotten that Labour officially endorsed wizardry, so here's a reminder of that history:
Not just implications. Imprecations. Incantations. Chants, even. Sadly, the Labour Party failed to follow through on the initiative, and under Helen Clark reverted to merely copying the National Party.
Jacinda has displayed a noteworthy talent for enchanting people, but few observers would use magical thinking to account for that. There's a lack of evident espousal of witchery in her messaging. Unlike several of my old female friends – one of whom has the number plate BRMSTCK on her EV.
Cultural commentators tend to forget that an entire generation of teenage rebels in the 1960s went on to explore the possibilities of magical thinking, and the culture of Western civilisation got transformed as a result. Political scientists are too stupid to learn from the political consequences – that goes without saying – so they remain a fertile area of investigation for thesis writers of the future.
Chch was a hotbed of leftism through the 1970s. Notable survivor from that era is Murray Horton, still operating his Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aoteroa (CAFCA). As Ad pointed out yesterday, the foreign control over Aotearoa is primarily exercised by a couple of Aussie banks – but that's the economy. Sovereign control of Aotearoa still resides in the British Crown. A triumvirate of foreign control can be discerned if you factor in Facebook, Five-Eyes, and the century in which the CFR has directed the USA foreign policy regardless of the coming & going of US presidents…
RNZ's Eyewitness did a profile on The Wizard.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/eyewitness/audio/2018810599/the-wizard-a-living-work-of-art
It was the zeitgeist. Yippies using street theatre to warp mass consciousness alt-left. Establishment left had spines permanently horizontal in obeisance to their overlords. The real pioneers of the technique were Kesey & the Pranksters, after he liberated LSD from the chem lab around '62 & they got into freaking straights with day-glo.
Exposé on that origin of hippie came via The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. I read my brand-new paperback copy early 1970 and it was a revelation. Shadbolt was using the technique in Albert Park that year when we first saw him. Jumping Sundays, the media called it.
.
Oh christ on a bike !, save us from self-indulgent middle-class hippies, affluent New Age fantasists with vastly more money than sense … & worst of all … far, far worse than anything else … spoilt narcissists of dubious talent terrorising the general public with ostentatious displays of street theatre … everyone fiercely competing against each other to be the centre of attention as a desperate substitute for the cloying indulgence of their comfortably-off parents after leaving home … [a bit like Woke Twitter when you think about it].
Could there be anything worse than the smug self-indulgence of the children of the Establishment ?
Yeah yeah but there's always been a world of difference between the trend-setters & the trend-followers. You're right about the narcissism bit. The yanks did rather go to an extreme with that. Jung would explain it as compensatory reaction to a childhood of extreme repression.
Dunno if it's that simple tho. I had that. I didn't lose the plot like the narcissists. Gotta remember that growing up in a world where the political left and right are threatening you with competing forms of totalitarian govt, not to mention nuclear war, did make a rebel wave that was rather fervent…
I would like to know if the wizard is pro or anti vaccination?
I have a wonderful photo of the wizard taken in 1991 on a ladder in the square in Christchurch when I did my decade trip there.
Sweety Pook
Aw…I mucked that up. Try again…
Sweety Pook
Legal ructions in Aotearoa: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/17/explosion-of-ideas-how-maori-concepts-are-being-incorporated-into-new-zealand-law
The Cambrian explosion is a geological metaphor. So the old thing about restless natives is ramping up to a higher level.
A welcome move. Seems to indicate a shift in the hierarchy from pretending to be progressive into actually making progress.
Worthy questions, those. Worth an essay onsite here! My intuitive response to the one about the state is yes, but I'll defer to those with more grasp of tikanga first.
I've got family guests, so I can't devote any time to this at the moment, but yes, I think the time is ripe for NZ to develop some of its own legal code & jurisprudence around, & incorporating concepts like tikanga Māori.
I believe the Peter Ellis appeal is a bold step in the right direction & suspect that will be around Ellis's mana, which survives him, & also affects his family's mana. The English law idea that when you die you no longer have a reputation to be restored (for example) so you have no need of redress, in my view is wrong. Your mana remains & should be legally capable of being restored.
Peter Martin, a political reporter for Bloomberg News, reports on Xi's exemplary demonstrations of how to lose friends and depress people (contrary to Dale Carnegie's `how to win friends & impress people' advice).
As in `ain't worth a dime'. Geopolitics from an establishment perspective. The future, as defined by the past. Automata rule, ok? Am I being too hard on the control system? Probably. Establishment folk do sometimes improvise.
Yeah, I get it. Copy the Reagan model. Must've made quite an impression on Xi at the time. Martin explores the historical development of the regime's diplomacy.
Dunno if this `diplomats as automata' praxis has accomplished a hell of a lot for China really. Seven decades of the Chou model correlates with rise of China, sure, but correlation ain't causation. Globalising is coming together. Using a separatist policy in that context is likely to ensure minimal gains.
Far out. James Shaw is a bit awkward on Q and A this morning.
At least he fronted I guess. Which is more than other politicians do.
"Which is more than other politicians do."
Seen on Q & A recently. MPs Verrall, Chhour, Jackson, Packer, Bridges, Bishop, Shaw, Luxon, Seymour, Robertson, Hipkins, Collins, Mahuta.
Just a brief survey of this blog and the Q&A site brought up these names.
One very incorrect 'reckon'. This kind of comment epitomises the danger of social media.
Thanks for the check. Mac
Kris Faafoi seems to be doing a pretty good job hiding from media currently…
Kris Faafoi has a thankless task. Organise billets for those returning plus sports people business people arts people emergency quota of returns, essential workers with everyone wanting his attention "NOW". With the outbreak of Delta MIQ spots are under pressure. He has tried to be fair to those stranded those with visa requests in the pipeline, while he has done sterling work in the commercial sphere, and has stood the buffeting from all sides for months on end.
/mind saying that in Wnglish?
I was just talking about Shaw on Q and A this morning
mac1's reply @5.1 relates to the last sentence in your brief comment. 5.1 begins by quoting that sentence, making it difficult to fathom the depths of your confusion.
Are you trying to pretend politicians don't hide.
Ardern from Hosking. Collins a couple of weeks ago from everybody. Faafoi has gone AWOL
TBF. having meet him a few times before he became a politician and thinking he was a twat, Hipkins always fronts
No. What an odd question.
Still can't fathom your "/mind saying that in Wnglish?" comment @5.1.3.
I just had no idea what this meant
And apologies for the spelling mistake. I am thinking you knew what I meant even though it is there
"
Just a brief survey of this blog and the Q&A site brought up these names.
One very incorrect 'reckon'. This kind of comment epitomises the danger of social media."
Edit: I mean wtf has social media got to do with it?
You really had no idea what a list of 13 politicians who recently appeared on Q & A meant, in the context of your comment @5? Extraordinary!
Well obviously, but it isn't the ones hiding as pressure is on them, Like Collin's a few weeks ago, Fa'afoi and Ardern with Hosking
Edit: Throwing some associate minister at question time and you giving a list of mps who have fronted on their behalf doesn’t change the fact the others didn’t There is 120 of them ffs
You wrote "TBF. having meet him a few times before he became a politician and thinking he was a twat, Hipkins always fronts."
TBF means 'to be fair'. Well, Chris T, in your comment at #5, you were not fair. You made a very wild claim, with no substantiation, which is what I called you on, with 13 recent examples as evidence.
Now, what was that about being a 'twat'?
Chris have you heard of The Standard, a popular social media site?
"Ardern" from Hosking"
I'd call it a boycott rather than hiding. And who could disagree with withdrawing from that toxic sicko. When a so-called professional treats the PM in such a rude and disrespectful manner consistently he really should be sent home and told not to return. Calling any woman guest a lying hussy should result in a final warning at the very least.
If I saw that prick down here in Kapiti I'd break his nose.
Ardern was unable to answer Hoskings basic questions and came across terribly. Hipkins, Robertson and Little still go on his show.
Is that supposed to be an excuse for his misogynistic abusive bullying?
Does Kate let him treat her that way?
In what way was it "unfair"?
Saying people don't do things when they do do things is unfair. It's also untrue. Facts makes for truth and trust.
So the 2021 Nobel Peace prize winner, Maria Ressa, tells us. "A world without facts means a world without truth and trust."
I think we might have to agree to disagree, as obviously you are not getting my point and I am not getting yours.
Probably mt fault tbh.
If an MP, (or anyone for that matter) does not accept an invitation to appear on some media entertainment show, does that mean they are 'hiding?'
Good point. Absolutely not. No politician should feel in any way obligated to appear on any programme generated by commercialism (ie, a right-wing outlet) where they are likely to be grilled by some right-wing nut job.
To create a level playing-field, we need impartial media with intelligent, disinterested interviewers. Kim Hill on RNZ is about the last example that I have heard make a reasonable effort at being so.
Talkback radio is commercialised cacklemush, and the right wing of society would like to eliminate state radio (or any kind of radio independent to their commercially-driven system) and hold a right-wing monopoly over the media, pretending it is independent because there is an artificial competitive market.
Fallacy.
If it's of any help Chris T, I took your original comment to mean that you thought Shaw's performance was so lacklustre he might as well have not been there, but kudos to him for trying.
Could be wrong, but don't understand why you are being harried on this particular comment. Seems of little consequence.
That was basically my point
Covid is getting close and very real. Thank you for yesterdays confirmation of our commitment to community, Jacinda Ardern and all the many people involved. I await the final totals with a sense of hope.
However, we have just had an unsettling email from our Doctor's surgery team. They have reorganised into Red and Green zones, to help when covid arrives. (definitely when not if) A portable cabin for the red zone , the surgery the green zone. Full PPE for all staff, patients to remain in cars 'till they are checked.
We are glad they are as prepared as possible, but the tone of gravity with the mention of no relief staff if they get sick, their efforts not to take the virus home, and their fully vaccinated status, all felt too "close to home".
We have known this excellent team for forty years, and know this is preparing to meet the enemy head on. I am thankful for these brave people who will strive to keep us safe, and I realised how lucky we are to have a wee safe bolt hole. They stressed vaccination was key in keeping this manageable. Again thanks to everyone who turned up to be vaccinated, you helped your local medical team.
Anyone who is dithering, don't wait, do it asp, 1st now 2nd in 3 weeks plus 2 weeks to build immunity and by 29th of November you will have "done your bit" for your health your Doctors and Nurses and others in the community.
Thank You in advance. “Let’s Do This”
The double-vaccinated have much less to fear now. That's almost all older people already.
Peak fear is passing, replaced with peak re-organisation.
This is a good phase.
What's the current estimate of deaths if 90% are fully vaxxed?
What's the estimate for long covid?
"less to fear" is accurate and fudges reality at the same time.
Shaun Hendy said 7,000 deaths a year if 80% of over 5 year old's vaccinated. We are only vaccinating over 12's but are probably over 80% by now. So hopefully less than 7,000.
From RNZ on Tiwai Pt
"The latest tests released by the company have found 83 percent of groundwater samples exceed drinking water standards as well as regional council guidelines for aluminium and toxic fluoride.
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters says no one uses the groundwater for drinking."
But I think a few people eat Bluff oysters
Little wonder you weren't involved in the catering at all, sport.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pms-wedding-stoush-jacinda-ardern-and-clarke-gayford-given-5000-bill-jilted-venue-owner-robin-pierson-says-dealings-insulting/KHSROFLW2FTBJAWYWHOADDN254/
But it turned sour when almost half of the 112 diners fell ill after eating the turkey.
A long-time restaurateur's legal battle to overturn a conviction brought by the NZ Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) looks to have ended after more than three years before four courts.
But Robin Pierson, owner of Gisborne's Bushmere Arms, says he has not decided what he will do now to protect the reputation of his restaurant and bar. He maintains a norovirus is responsible for the outbreak which affected 50 to 53 diners, whose symptoms included vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3568092/Restaurateur-loses-final-legal-bid
Covid can be a wedding spoiler even if everything was meticulously planned for the day.
I would like to know what the situation would be due to a level lockdown regarding all costs?
Brian Gould give more bGround.
https://bryangould.com/blog/
Surprise.
https://twitter.com/nealejones/status/1449524709280796676
I thought in court cases there were claims that Slater was incapacitated with a stroke.
Anyone know? If so, did it affect his body or his mind?
He's a veritable Lazarus.
Word of the day – agrivoltaics.
In Jack's Solar Garden in Boulder County, Colorado, owner Byron Kominek has covered 4 of his 24 acres with solar panels. The farm is growing a huge array of crops underneath them—carrots, kale, tomatoes, garlic, beets, radishes, lettuce, and more. It’s also been generating enough electricity to power 300 homes. “We decided to go about this in terms of needing to figure out how to make more money for land that we thought should be doing more,” Kominek says.
Rooftops are so 2020. If humanity’s going to stave off the worst of climate change, people will need to get creative about where they put solar panels. Now scientists are thinking about how to cover canals with them, reducing evaporation while generating power. Airports are filling up their open space with sun-eaters. And space doesn’t get much more open than on a farm: Why not stick a solar array in a field and plant crops underneath? It’s a new scientific (and literal) field known as agrivoltaics—agriculture plus photovoltaics—and it’s not as counterintuitive as it might seem.
https://www.wired.com/story/growing-crops-under-solar-panels-now-theres-a-bright-idea/
Yet another reason to never go to Australia. Vegemite pizza. Truly a crime against humanity.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/this-has-gone-too-far-is-the-surprise-new-dominos-pizza-topping-a-bridge-too-far/6PGJUZ7RS5X56R4BGWQJLSWVVI/
And you all thought this was satire, didncha?
Just stick with whatever combination of sausage, ham, pepperoni, cheese and onion and be done with it
Adding more stuff to pizza just works it worse
Thats also a scientific fact.
Anchovies and kalamata olives, when I'm making it myself.
Although, since I needed to use an oven to test some materials at high temperatures for a project at work, the last one I made tasted like hot epoxy and vinyl ester. I don't recommend that.
maybe you should do this at home then? https://www.undejeunerdesoleil.com/2019/08/anchoiade-maison.html
Oh I dunno.
The cheese-eating surrender monkeys have a habit of taking individual things that are quite interesting on their own, and blending them into some sort of weird unidentifiable goo that's even more wrong than vegemite. That looks like another one of those.
The surrender monkeys ain't the only ones to do stomach-churning things with unmentionables.
I joyfully and easily eat all manner of shellfish from gulper clams to mussels much to the astonishment of my children. I cannot, however, bring myself to eat woodcock with the trail left in place to cook and the juices to run free.
I found a recipe on the internet for ‘flambe woodcock’ where after cooking them whole with the guts intact the entrails were scooped out and mixed with bacon, olive oil, mustard, port, and lemon juice to make a puree.
The puree and woodcock are then warmed in a frying pan for a few minutes before tipping cognac over and setting alight. Simple as that and it is apparently delicious. Other cooks roast the bird intact then scoop out the ‘trail’ into a hot pan, add some red wine and seasoning and spread on bread or toast when heated.
https://www.countrymansweekly.com/gamekeeper/risky-woodcock/
Oh no sir, you are greatly mistaken.
this is nicois as it gets and it is delish, and easy to make.
Pizza is basically cheese on toast. Putting marmite on that is not that uncommon – down in the southwest anyway. That exta vegemitey one from Adelaide does look pretty vile though. The entire point of a (small) smear of marmite on top of cheese on toasted bread (crumpets by my preference) is the slighty caramelised brittleness it gets during the grilling, putting a lake of it under the cheese just seems weird to me!
It's all rather moot though, as that NZH article concludes:
please fix email address typo on next comment, ta.
Worked in a 'prestige' restaurant on Hamilton Island in the 80's.
Diluted Grenadine to accompany the monkfish, and chicken served with watered down Vegemite.
I don’t know, vegemite, cheese, white carbs, sounds classic. Just needs some pineapple.
Unfortunately soon there is going to be more and more of this.
Alleged 'influencer party' infuriates locked-down Aucklanders, police receive multiple complaints – NZ Herald
The Givalittle page to help Tairawhiti get a mobile clinic for vaccines and medical needs for their remote area has reached $90 000 from public donations. Wonderful news. Good among the thoughtless Jester.
Up in Auckland were we not fortunately that the weather arrived today? Everything appeared to align for a successful day. My thanks to all those unseen volunteers and community leaders who heavily contributed to the last few weeks success.👏🏿
"But, a few men do cause immense harm to both women and men. And many other men, consider that sex-based harm to be women's problems and do not bother to keep track or speak out against those members of their sex."
BTW There have been quite a few women that have caused harm. Especially to their kids, so you might want to take a step off your pedestal for a sec.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
If you want to argue that men as a class aren't responsible for most of the violence against humans, then you can do it in OM rather than derail my post (the derail is in accusing a feminist of putting herself or women on a pedestal when she was talking about men). However if you do run that argument I will expect you to provide evidence as you go.
Otoh, you could just stop taking it personally when women point out the problems they have with men as a class and subgroups of those men, and instead make the time to learn what we are talking about.
"If you want to argue that men as a class aren't responsible for most of the violence against humans"
I haven't and they obviously have been, but this doesn't make us all bad as a group.
How are Mary 1, Myra Hindley Rosemary West going?
You see when we speakof evil women we say their names and don't paint the who sex with it.
Nwlson Mandela's missus was into necklessing people. I don't blame her for it because she was a chick
what's your point? That male violence isn't done by men, they just happen to be male people?
weka, just noticed this had been moved to OM. Was trying to think of a good response, but saw yours. Much more succinct, but exactly what I wanted to ask.
@chris T – What she said above.
Thread on the likely Covid end-game in the US – a death rate of 40/100K a year, twice the current flu rates, and costly burdens on resources and systems but probably deemed tolerable enough to avoid radical public health measures.
https://twitter.com/trvrb/status/1448297954306150401
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1448297954306150401.html
Good data in an article in the Scottish Herald.
Scotland has 3.8 million people double vaccinated with Pfizer.
Further on, it states that the death rate drops drastically if a booster shot is given.
The double vaccination target is just the beginning – not the end goal.
Weka. I realise this now. Which is why I apologised.
Molly. I wish people could work out it wasn't the fact they were dudes.
There have in hisotry been plenty of evil powerful women.
Jence my Mary 1 post.
The point is it is power and privilege, not sex. Some few dudes were the ones that got it. Totally agree.
But all the other dudes in past history prior to about 1800 starving their arses off and just trying to fee their kids, with their wives
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Hold on to your hat, Chris. The ride might get wild from here on out.
Class distinctions also matter. Within the power structure, without consideration for sex, there are mechanisms that serve to keep the elite classes immune from the privations of the lower classes.
That deserves attention as well, and should be recognised. I would wholeheartedly support any who chose to address this inequity, and only if they had not considered the distinct experiences of racial minorities or women would I bring those extra considerations up. Because to solve issues like this with effectiveness, you have to make sure to identify the problem as fully as you can.
As regards power and privilege in our current society – if you believe there currently exists equity between men and women, then I would disagree.
"If you believe there currently exists equity between men and women, then I would disagree."
In what respect fo you mean equity?
Money? Status?
The PM, Leader of the opposition and Governer General are all woman.
Probably the 3 most up there jobs in the country.
There is a chick "The queenster! running the commonwealth)
Did you need a female ABs coach?
The point is it is power and privilege as a whole, not the noticeable few. Some few 'chicks' are in positions of power. Totally agree.
But all the other 'chicks' in our present society are still dealing with sexism in society, work and relationships, while just trying to feed their kids, with or without partners.
(BTW, can we start referring to the categories as women and men now? I feel like I've wandered on to an 80's movie set.)
Id prefer females and males, as man and women tends to have turned into some weird made up inner touchy feely gender thing if ok, but all good. Will do.
I don't think you got my point I agree with you.
But just the other way round
Most blokes males aren't walking around actively oppressing females.
Apart from "noticeable few" males the rest of us are just trying to look after our kids and work our arse off, like our partners.
Just an aside but it reminds me of the whole pay equity thing.
Jobs predominently female? Not enough women studying STEM, they must be oppressed! WTF?
There is nothing stopping females doing STEM. They just may not be into it as much as males. Why are no females asking why there is not enough men doing child teaching?
But I totally agree their have been far to many "noticeable few" that were male and not enough "noticeable few" that have been female.
But this is just a culture change that is happening. Probably too slowly and in some particuar religiously nutty countries not happening
Barriers to women in STEM
https://www.google.com/search?q=stem+sexism&client=firefox-b-d&channel=trow5&ei=xNdrYaWaFNKy9QPln7GgBQ&ved=0ahUKEwiljN7o_NDzAhVSWX0KHeVPDFQQ4dUDCA0&uact=5&oq=stem+sexism&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQgAEIAEMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeOgcIABBHELADOgcIABCwAxBDOgUIABCRAjoICAAQFhAKEB5KBAhBGABQwBBYsRtgjB9oAXACeACAAZMDiAGmEZIBBzItNC4yLjGYAQCgAQHIAQrAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz
Also, gamergate,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamergate_(harassment_campaign)
There is nothing stopping females doing STEM
Gamergate was getting close to a decade ago and again was a small bunch of arssehole males.
But way to paint everyone in tetiary education with the same brush as a few arseholes hiding behind computer keyboards
"But way to paint everyone in tetiary education with the same brush as a few arseholes hiding behind computer keyboards"
But that is not what was said.
Gamergate was getting close to a decade ago and again was a small bunch of arssehole males.
Interestingly, just had a conversation on this topic last week with my twenty-year old son. Learnt a lot, and went away looking for updates. Found this.
A suggestion: I think it might help if you stopped assuming that every time someone uses the word 'men' they are referring to you as an individual. If someone references women being involved in atrocities, I don't go into defensive mode just because I am a woman, I seek to know more.
There are social cues, implicit boundaries and many varied and legal ways of making people feel uncomfortable. Women often experience the same discomfort in certain industries because the culture has been formed on the sensibilities and priorities of men.
"There are social cues, implicit boundaries and many varied and legal ways of making people feel uncomfortable. Women often experience the same discomfort in certain industries because the culture has been formed on the sensibilities and priorities of men."
I'm sorry, but this is just not my experience in places I have worked in the last 15 or so years. TBF most of them were run by females.
Do you honestly think a male primary school teacher is not in the same predicament?
It is normally the vibe you are creating within yourself, more than automatically assuming everyone of the opposite bio sex is against you.
Though I think my male primary school teacher has it harder than the vast majority of (persecuted females"
Edit actually ignore the teacher bit. Re-read your post. Sorry. Cocked that one up agree
See my comment below.
Just read this comment which raises a whole lot of responses, that will make it difficult to rest easy. Can we take a raincheck and come back to this some other time?
Hey. Edited my post earlier sorry.
Cocked that one up a tad.
Mis-read
KO. Nighty-night.
Have a good night mate 🙂
you don't really have any argument do you, just a bunch of reckons.
No offence, but you ain't exactly filling my day with any coherent, relevant ones.
I am completely open to any you may have if there is actual evidence behind it.
I wrote a whole post Chris. If you didn't understand it, you can just ask.
I'm not going to provide evidence for things that you can very easily look up yourself. Start with the stats on which sex commits most violence, then look at which sex commits most violence against women, then look at which sex commits most violence against trans women.
Gamergate again?
That is turning into a winge more than an argument?
Or aplogies if I missed a relevant one.
no idea what you are on about, and you're starting to look like a troll.
It would help if you either used the reply conventions on TS, or cut and paste what you are referring to.
I apologise.
I obviously got the wrong end of the stick , and this is my fault.
when there is no reply button, scroll upwards from the comment you want to reply to until you find the first comment with a reply button that is inline with the comment you are replying to. That way your comments will go in the right place and it will make more sense.
I'm less interested in you saying it was your fault than I am in you just getting the basics right. Use the reply conventions, and/or quote what you are replying to so people reading can understand.
And if you are going to accuse me of whinging, then be specific about what you mean so I can address it.
"Jobs predominently female? Not enough women studying STEM, they must be oppressed! WTF?
There is nothing stopping females doing STEM. They just may not be into it as much as males. Why are no females asking why there is not enough men doing child teaching?"
These are relevant questions, for which there are no easy answers.
You may well think that women are not into STEM, but those that are do find that their qualifications often are not enough to get them jobs or pay parity. My partner did a post-graduate university course a few years ago with a female engineer. She was the only one in the course to achieve 100% scores on papers, but in her work environment she was often ignored and did not have pay parity with others with the same qualifications and experience.
Go look at the experience of women in NZ within the Fire Department, and try to determine what kind of culture allowed those actions to not only occur, but for the perpetrators to be promoted. Apparently, firefighters are the top profession of trust for most people, and yet women were still not safe in that space – solely because of their biological sex.
There are men involved in child teaching, a quick Google search comes up with a 2018 article:
(Note: Although men teaching children was a low percentage, the percentage of men as principals – the authority over the teachers was higher than proportional. The power positions were allocated to men.)
There is a distinct difference in talking about individual lived experiences as a particular sex, and a collective experience of a sex.
The first relates to the very distinct and unique experience of a particular person. They may or may not experience the general common experiences of their sex, and that is just life.
However, there are wider experiences of being a woman – or a man – and it is the attributes of those regular commonalities that are being referenced when we talk about biological sex differences in society.
"but those that are do find that their qualifications often are not enough to get them jobs or pay parity."
This is a fair point worth actual investigation, and I also suspect if true it might be a who you know thing as well. But again. It will be a small bunch of arsehole males, not a whole sex working in the industry.
"It will be a small bunch of arsehole males, not a whole sex working in the industry."
Once again, not all individual males experience the privilege of men as a biological class. However, the power structures within our society are formed and maintained most particularly by men.
I’m going to think about what you are writing, and think about how I am explaining myself and try and figure out why we seem to be misunderstanding each other. I might not reply again because it’s an early night for me, but didn’t want you to think I’m abandoning this discussion for good.
She was the only one in the course to achieve 100% scores on papers, but in her work environment she was often ignored and did not have pay parity with others with the same qualifications and experience.
This is pretty much the common experience of all juniors – having a cervix is certainly not the whole explanation in play here.
As a working engineer let me do a rough description of my current work team – totaling about 40 people across controls, process and operations:
Chris T has a point – that workplaces of the last 15 years or so have changed a fair bit. As a contractor I get to move around quite a lot so my experience is reasonably representative I'd suggest.
That's good. If my son training to be an engineer completes his degree, I'll send him your way. (BTW, he's in the process of selecting his branch of engineering. Would you mind sharing what branch you are in, and what are the recommendations and pitfalls that you consider related to that branch?)
His older brother was put off engineering when he volunteered for a year at a local vintage railway workshop. Unknown to me, the workshop was covered in pictures of naked ladies, and tea break talk was often sexual. He was young, and only told me how uncomfortable he felt after he had left.
Goes without saying why his younger sister didn't follow his volunteer path.
Queenie got her boy off the hook.
https://twitter.com/Forbes/status/1447548936844189696
We ignore these developments in Singapore at our peril.
There the business classes and the expatriates pushed to open the country.
And everyone is paying for it.
Note that 80 per cent of the population are fully vaccinated – and they are now re-imposing restrictions.
I may post on this in more detail tomorrow if time permits.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/300432375/living-with-covid19-singapore-confronts-division-and-fear-as-the-country-moves-away-from-zerocovid
@ Molly
I started in Electrical but if I had my time again I'd probably do Process Engineering. After a wobbly start in my 20s I found myself doing Industrial Automation and have never looked back. Decades later and I still look forward to each day. Or night as it happens right now.
There is a huge diversity of roles in Engineering and not all of them are strictly professional as such. The key thing is to have an abiding interest in the nature of the work. That alone will carry anyone a long way.
Honestly I haven't seen a porno parlour like your son encountered since the 80s. If they still exist it would be mostly in marginal non-professional settings like the one described.
As for sexual talk, the most wonderfully vivid banter along these lines belonged to a female Control operator I worked with in Canada. Takes all sorts.
Thanks RedLogix. You seem to be aware how unusual and fortunate you are to have a job you enjoy, I appreciate you taking the time to share.
I hope you're right about the changing culture, there do seem to be changes in some of the bigger companies especially.