“So this time Labour’s beating the housing drum, playing to its constituents who don’t and will probably never own a home, by getting at the fat cats that do. To an extent it’s a politics of envy. Only trouble is to play that game you’ve got to be on firm ground and Andrew Little’s example actually made him the envy of those struggling to get on to the home ownership ladder.”…..
Soper has always been a dog. Will never forget the time he tried to take over a meeting between Winnie and John McCain in Washington DC for some bitchiness he harboured against Winnie. Winnie turned Rotty’. Ordered the scruffy terrier hack out of the room. Was beautiful to watch the hack roundly fail in his attempt to look ‘Da Man’……
“And with his promise this week to cut the tax dodges for landlords, rents are bound to rise making it even harder for those who are trying to scrape together an ever increasing deposit.”
and from http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/05/its_land_not_owners_who_are_the_problem.html
Problem for me with this uneducated sensationalism is that it is based on a very small minority of landlords that would be negatively geared ( and for those landlords in the 50+ properties would be companies that should losses be incurred would carry over these until profitable when they would be liable for taxes so this is not applicable for to such companies),
Some of those individuals who are incurring losses, the IRD has legislation that these would not comply as a profitable going concern and that their “business case” is based on loss making but compensated by a capital gain, and under this situation the capital gain is taxable income.
And the situation of being negatively geared has been reduced with banks requiring 40% deposit, so the 80-95% mortgage does not apply.
Remember he is one of the gnats lapdogs and his misses got her job with Duncan because she is buddy wuddy with uncle john and the gnats and by the way what is the age difference as he is quick to put the boot into others this fellow.
I switch of anything he is on, sop- a he is just as bad if not worse than listening to Larry Williams on the radio same old bias self opinionated and one sided bullshert
Then we have hoskings using his TV role state owned TV1 to advocate for the gnats he has been a bit quieter since his mate uncle john left hooray!
Back in the day I was unfortunate enough to have some mutual friends with this horrible little man and wound up at a dinner party with him. The food was beautiful but the conversation was dire thanks to him! What a self opinionated loudmouthed ethic-free twit!
“What is it about New Zealand’s economic mentality that is so fatally and stupidly drawn to boom and bust?
You’d think the tourism industry would have a wee shufti over at the dairy wallahs, take a deep breath, and ask themselves how they’re going to avoid the same problems with rapid and unmanageable expansion.”…..
“What is it about New Zealand’s economic mentality that is so fatally and stupidly drawn to boom and bust?”
It’s the famous Anglo-American economic tradition to make cheap bulk commodities, which we inherited and have always held to.
DoC should make it clear that all New Zealand citizens and residents can do any Great Walk free of charge, and charge the bejeezus out of the tourists.
“DoC should make it clear that all New Zealand citizens and residents can do any Great Walk free of charge, and charge the bejeezus out of the tourists.”
Get a reality check Ad. No one is going to to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
More the Nats don’t want to upset all their donors in the lower end of the tourism industry. I think that’s what you mean by “the goose that lays the golden egg”
Reality is that if a $100 border tax is going to kill the profit on a tour operator’s punter, there’s fuck all for the country in that punter either.
We’ve got a government, and industry that is only interested in numbers, more more and more. Nothing about yield, just greater numbers.
Lucky then we have bloggers like No Right Turn to give us the real information.
“National is finally promising to tackle the housing crisis by building some houses, with plans to “build 34,000 new Auckland houses”. Except that when you scratch the surface, its not all its cracked up to be. Firstly, those houses are being built by demolishing 8,300 existing homes, so the total is only 26,000. Secondly, it includes already announced and underway (and in some cases, built) projects in Tamaki, Northcote and Point England – so they’re back to re-announcing old news to get a new headline. Thirdly, two thirds of those houses will be sold to speculators rather than being state houses – so we’re looking at a program to bulldoze and sell off state homes. And finally, its over ten years, with a deadline on the never-never so National can avoid accountability – just as with their climate change, renewable electricity, and water quality promises. In short, its the usual story: PR as a substitute for policy, spin as a substitute for action. Because the goal isn’t to fix the bloody problem, but simply to generate positive headlines.”
It is no right turn that is not telling the truth.
In particular suggesting that two thirds will be sold to speculators. Unless of course you consider first home buyers to be speculators.
Yes it is an aggregation of all prior announcement, plus new ones. Whats wrong with that? It is all about what will happen in the next ten years. It makes sense to aggregate them so people get a sense of the actual scale. Otherwise it is all lost in piecemeal announcements.
Yes, some houses are being demolished, and frankly about time. Tonah St for instance is really substandard housing.
“Yes it is an aggregation of all prior announcement, plus new ones. Whats wrong with that? ”
Ummm..? Misleading for the sake of deception, perhaps? Putting lipstick on a pig is the baser expression.
” so they’re back to re-announcing old news to get a new headline” says, I/S. He directs us to think this strategy has been used before by the National Party for reasons we can only guess at.
It is all about the plans for the next ten years. The fact some of it has been previously announced (Northcote, Tamaki) does not change that it is all about the next ten years.
One of my concerns about Nationals housing plans was that there had been a plethora of announcements, and it almost impossible to work out the overall plan.
Amy Adams has done everyone a favour by pulling it all together, then announcing it as an overall plan.
That means it is possible to compare the packages of both major parties, which has now been done, including on the lead item of The Standard.
Because there have been previous announcements, you know some of the houses will be started within the next year, rather than just planned.
On reflection I imagine Labours housing plans also include these projects.
Then why’s it including all their plans for the last nine years? (Which didn’t work either)
One of my concerns about Nationals housing plans was that there had been a plethora of announcements, and it almost impossible to work out the overall plan.
I’m reasonably certain that’s done on purpose so that they can continue to lie in all of the confusion that they create.
Because there have been previous announcements, you know some of the houses will be started within the next year, rather than just planned.
Ah, no, we don’t know that. Many of the ones that have been announced haven’t been built and never will be. Managed to funnel lots of wealth to some National’s major donors though.
On reflection I imagine Labours housing plans also include these projects.
@ Wayne But when they are demolishing 8,000 houses as part of the 34,000 this is simply lying. You could at least acknowledge this Wayne or you are simply trolling.
Most of the houses in question will be sold at market value; the others are “affordable” at $650k. Little was spot-on on Morning Report this AM when he said this was “smoke and mirrors”.
What’s interesting here is that people like Hoskin say the Labour/Green bloc will not win the election on the housing issue yet Amy Adams finds it necessary to lie through her teeth with announcements like this to defend the government’s position.
I love Labour’s new policy to abolish tax write-offs for housing speculators. A strong and bold policy that will push resources into productive investment. This “mum and dad” investors terminology is crap-they are speculators buying houses whether they are buying one extra house or ten.
“when they are demolishing 8,000 houses as part of the 34,000 this is simply lying. You could at least acknowledge this Wayne or you are simply trolling”
How is it a lie when Amy Adams has it front and centre of her press release?
Who cares ! national screwed over akl so badly it’s a ceremonial position with virtually no actual power and control.
Hide and key made sure that they appointed the CCO chiefs of which I note some rats already jumping ship such as akl transport.
Other mates like Jim, I plundered kiwirail, Quinn enjoy highly paid do nothing roles also, goffs just making noise and pointing out the obvious really which gets the nactiods and their media muppets all frothy and righteous.
Ethiopia ahead of NZ on Childrens Rights Statistics/Index, NZ standing at 158th out of 165, it is sobering reading ?
We are not going particularly well with our young people here in NZ especially with our 94,000 unemployed youth aged between 15-24 years old, but we do hold the Rugby World Cup ?
“The Government has confirmed that countries not signed up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, including the United States, will be able to reap the benefit of concessions New Zealand has made on pharmaceuticals.
Yet New Zealand will not benefit from better access to the US market in return, because president Donald Trump pulled it out of the pact.”
Oh the intel came from Israel? No wonder they were mad about the Russians getting hold of it. They don’t want Baathist Syria to beat Salafism, they want it to fall to Salafism, so that they have the pretext to pour the IDF out of the Golan heights and annex some more Lebensraum for their US, UK, and RSA born ‘settlers’. Then they will ‘miraculously’ make some ‘archaeological’ ‘discoveries’ within said Lebensraum which proves that ancient Hebrews once lived there, which is generally their out of the can pretext for taking other people’s land on a permanent basis
[lprent: You appear to have missed the point of the post – which was about missing the point. ]
[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.]
Bigotry? Continue, I’m looking forward to it. You do realise that some of us need more than just SJW buzzwords to do much more than raise an eyebrow, right?
Why do you think I said that about SMs response to CJ?
Context boy, context!
Now your projecting and deflecting like a rank amateur who can’t comprehend the relevance of context vs ‘at least be funny’ when throwing a naked insult
Brakes are on the handle bars, and no amount of back peddle can prevent the inevitable
Dude, we’re not two gentlemen meeting in a sparring contest with mutual respect.
I regard you as a vacuous jerk whose ego writes cheques his IQ can’t cash. You don’t deserve graciousness, and I require neither your respect nor your approval. In fact, affirmation from such a source would normally require deep introspection as to where my life went astray.
Here of course it’s all about choice for union busting sake.
Another week, another round of evidence that providing parents with more “school choice,” especially the kind that lets them opt out of public schools, is not a very effective vehicle for ensuring students improve academically or that taxpayer dollars are spent more wisely.
The latest evidence comes from a study of the voucher program in Washington, DC that allows parents to transfer their children from public to private schools at taxpayer expense. The study found that students “who attended a private school through the program performed worse on standardized tests than their public school counterparts who did not use the vouchers,” reports the New York Times.
This study adds to others – from Ohio, Indiana, and Louisiana – finding that school vouchers have negative impacts on students.
Despite these results, many proponents of school choice contend the purpose of school choice was never about generating better results. It’s about choice for choice’s sake.
So Russia has done and is doing more to fight isis than anyone else and trump shares intelligence on isis and this is somehow a problem? Only if you buy into the russia as supreme evil meme. Trump has done plenty wrong but collaborating on the battle against isis is eminently sensible. This and his stance on tpp. Some say even a broken clock is correct twice…
[lprent: It looks like you missed the point of the post as well. Perhaps you could try reducing your self-indulgent wanking some time and actually read what people write. ]
[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.]
Comey memos coming out now – trump toast – death by 1000 cuts and we are up to 100 or so by now – not bad for just over 100 days. Whatever you do don’t mention Russia that peace loving utopia where everyone has a full tummy – Putin must be slysmiling at all this trumpstuff.
[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.]
Read that a few days back and did some digging. There’s a prof at Washington University looks at ‘deep time’. The story goes like this – each mass extinction has been accompanied by rises in atmospheric CO2. (One was an impact that also had increasing CO2 levels)
The CO2 has come from basalt flows in the past. (eg – the Siberian Traps). Today we’ve got industry smoke stacks and cars. Anyway. As temp increases, the poles heat far faster than the tropics, the temperature differential that drives ocean currents is lost and oxygen doesn’t get mixed into the deep ocean.
As the existing oxygen in the ocean is used up, they become stagnant and a breeding ground for bacteria that give off hydrogen sulphide. And that then kills just about everything everywhere. (Mammals more so than reptiles apparently which was why we got dinosaurs – off the back of mammals getting ‘totaled’ 200 odd million years back)
Anyway, as that’s unfolding, that same loss of temperature differential kills the jet stream. And that means that weather doesn’t form or move. (The jet stream is already slowing and meandering which is giving rise to prolonged droughts etc)
The figure of 1000ppm was suggested as the atmospheric concentration that accompanies all that crap…not necessarily the level that triggers it. We’re at 400+ and rising at about 2ppm per year.
With current warming, we have ‘locked in’ sea level rise of over 1 metre with some respected quarters suggesting we may be looking at 1.5m by as soon as 2050. Now, how much of the worlds agriculture is on flood plains – ie, at sea level?
Will National’s willingness to proceed with the TPP (as initially negotiated) become a major election issue?
McClay said countries would discuss whether the TPP as negotiated should stay in place – NZ’s preferred route – or the deal should be renegotiated now the US has quit.
The existing text of the TPP has all the toxic rules a good number of New Zealanders opposed. Bringing into question the Government’s position. Moreover, how badly will it hurt National in the polls?
Shocking. Would be good for Labour to publicly condemn Natz wasting time and money trying to resurrect this zombie deal that is NOT a good deal for NZ especially destructive for copy write and medicine and for the neanderthal ISDS clauses.
Shocking indeed. And yes, the silver lining is the opposition should be able to capitalize off this.
The Government is taking a risk trying to resurrect this with the elections only months away. There is a good chance voters will express their discontent at the polling booths come election day.
Did the insult posing as a question lift your self esteem?
I don’t spend energy trying to rationalize such ‘events’, because really…who ‘knows’
You don’t!
Prententing to ‘know’, or trying to rationalize…is fruitless IMO
[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.]
[lprent: Perhaps if you’d read the post and the notice at the end of it then you would have realized what it was about and not irritated me by blathering irrelevant nonsense. ]
Trump is bowing down to his masters. Sharing confidential information from Five Eyes, and carrying on in an unprecedented manner with the Kremlin stooges in the White House as photos show, which were not meant for the eyes of US citizens. This latest breech by by Trump is a big concern not only to the Democrats in Congress but Trump’s fellow Republicans. Why is Trump so friendly with the Russians? Perhaps it has something to do with who has been financing TTO. Money laundering out of Russia and big loans from a German bank, has given Trump massive support when his commercial empire was crumbling.
[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.]
Trump noise show continues. Pense for President! Wow, Israeli secrets divulged to Russia and leaked to the press. Coz Russoa would have told then too! Are we saying Russia leaked them to undermine Trump and give Pense the Whitehouse, thought Russia and Israel weren’t friendly, why would Russia want a fundamental christian in the Whitehouse when the far christian rig are one of Isreals biggest friends. So, who leaked and why can Trump trust nobody.
If Trump makes a habit of disclosing ‘facts’, on top of his fake facts, he’ll just put Congres and allies out of sorts and Pense in charge. Like that wasn’t the plan!
[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.]
Parsing the difference between the DGAF lies coming from some parts of the Chump administration, and the ordinary misdirection by weasel words of those with at least a vestigial sense of shame that makes them want to later be able say “I didn’t technically lie”.
Who’s doing the collection, sales bottling marketing distributio, Taking the risk on capital etc I suggest that where the profits go, the public resource just enjoys a royalty, ie the water
What’s with the Auditor General Martin Mathews now in the firing line by Winnie. Winnie says under his watch as Head of the Ministry of Transport a female employee embezzled three quarters of a million. She was brought to the attention of Mr Mathews on more than one occasion over financial anomalities but he did not intervene. Now he is our Auditor General. It could only happen in New Zealand. I wonder how much auditing is being done and how much scrutiny is being applied to the nation’s books these days. Wonders will never cease. No wonder Winnie is having an apoplexy tiss wizz over it.
All parties are to blame – the committee who selected him had Trevor Mallard representing Labour along with other representatives – Little says nobody was aware of this happening in the MOT when the decision was made to elect him Auditor General. . WTF
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Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
A Waitomo-based Jobs for Nature project will keep up to ten people employed in the village as the tourism sector recovers post Covid-19 Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “This $500,000 project will save ten local jobs by deploying workers from Discover Waitomo into nature-based jobs. They will be undertaking local ...
Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw spoke yesterday with President Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. “I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Kerry this morning about the urgency with which our governments must confront the climate emergency. I am grateful to him and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today announced three diplomatic appointments: Alana Hudson as Ambassador to Poland John Riley as Consul-General to Hong Kong Stephen Wong as Consul-General to Shanghai Poland “New Zealand’s relationship with Poland is built on enduring personal, economic and historical connections. Poland is also an important ...
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...
A skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whānau, and ...
The green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea’s biggest hospital is straining to provide medical services to the growing population of the capital Port Moresby – with an estimated growth rate of 3 percent annually, a medical executive says. Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Nationals who attend Thursday’s memorial service in Tweed Heads for Doug Anthony, who died last month aged 90, may muse on the contrast between the state of their party when he led it and now. ...
Returning to quarantine-free travel in 2021 doesn't just need a vaccine, but a way to check whether arriving passengers are actually immune to the virus. A smart Kiwi science start-up is working with a global biometrics giant to make that happen. A deal signed between Kiwi research and development company Orbis Diagnostics, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlyn Forster, PhD Candidate, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney This summer’s wetter conditions have created great conditions for flowering plants. Flowers provide sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen, attracting many insects, including bees. Commercial honey bees are also thriving: ...
Lotto scratchie tickets featuring the pop band Six60 are being withdrawn after a public backlash. In a statement, Lotto NZ said there had been a mutual decision made with the band to remove the tickets from sale following the negative feedback, and it offered an apology. The band faced criticism, both ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England Shell-crushing predation was already in full swing half a billion years ago, as our new research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals. A hyena devouring ...
Vodafone has suspended advertising on the radio station amid calls for talkback host John Banks to be taken off air after yet another racist outburst. Alex Braae reports. In an alarming segment of talkback radio, former Auckland mayor John Banks endorsed the views of a caller who described Māori as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Welch, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland When a COVID-19 case was found in Northland last Sunday, Aotearoa’s second-longest period with no detected community case came to an end. ESR scientists worked late into Sunday night to obtain a whole genome sequence ...
He has the perfect moustache, an exceptional mullet, and he uses terms like ‘face hole’ on national TV. Who or what is Dr Joel Rindelaub?I was drawn in by the moustache, but it was the mullet that really kept me there. Watching TVNZ’s Breakfast yesterday morning I was fixated. Often, ...
We’ll never be royals with nearly a quarter of declined baby names featuring “Royal” in some form or another. Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs has released the list of names declined in 2020 by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and ...
After a raft of inquiries delving into and recommending what should be done about the politically beleaguered Orangi Tamaraki, along with the briefing papers we suppose he has been given, we imagined Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis would have no more need for expert advice. Wrong. He has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University There’s a common assumption men take longer than women to poo. People say so on Twitter, in memes, and elsewhereonline. But is that right? What could explain it? And if ...
Just as sexuality is a spectrum, so too is asexuality. In Ace of Hearts, members of New Zealand’s asexual community talk about the challenges and misconceptions of identifying as ace.First published November 17, 2020.Ace of Hearts is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff.“A ...
Sam Brooks wasn’t allowed to watch kids TV as a kid. Now, as a 30 year old man, he watches it for the first time.My mother’s approach to parenting was unorthodox. I wrote weekly book reports on top of my actual homework, I did maths equations in Roman numerals and ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk More leading Indonesian figures have made racial slurs against Natalius Pigai, former chair of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) – and all West Papuans, says United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda. “Since the illegal Indonesian invasion in 1963, Indonesian ...
“The Government’s failure to even conduct a standard cost-benefit analysis for the most expensive infrastructure project in New Zealand’s history is mind-bogglingly arrogant,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “A ...
The Ministry of Health is today drawing backlash from the local New Zealand vaping industry following its release of proposed regulations for the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act. Vaping Trade Association New Zealand (VTANZ) President, ...
Sophie Gilmour and Simon Day are joined by special guest Hugo Baird, co-owner of Grey Lynn’s Honey Bones and Lilian, to talk about opening new pub Hotel Ponsonby.Auckland is a city of many bars but few really good pubs – the kind of places you’d be just as comfortable going ...
The appointment of an advisory board for Oranga Tamariki is welcome and should be a step toward a total transformation of the care and protection system to a by Māori, for Māori approach, Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft said today. Minister ...
Taking control of your financial wellbeing can have cascading positive impacts for your life and it can also be fun. With the help of the team at Kiwi Wealth, we’ve compiled some simple tricks for balancing your books in 2021. There’s something about the beginning of a new year, especially after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology As we know, getting into New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult. There are practicalities, such as high airfare and managed isolation costs. And there are legal requirements, including pre-flight testing, mandatory ...
New Zealand faces the risk of a generation being locked out of the housing market unless land is freed up and more houses built, National Party leader Judith Collins says. ...
On Sunday, Stuff published a months-long investigation by Alison Mau detailing allegations of harassment and exploitation within the local music industry.The piece, ‘Music industry professionals demand change after speaking out about its dark side’, includes allegations of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power by male artists, international acts and executives; ...
“The Government is all at sea on timelines for Australia and New Zealand’s respective vaccine roll-outs, with the worst news coming from the mouth of Pfizer Australia CEO Anne Harris,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Yesterday, under increasing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Higgins, Senior Research Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden promised the US would demonstrate “global leadership on refugees”. Once elected, he pledged to vastly increase refugee resettlement in the US. If history is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Baumann, Casual Academic, School of Social Sciences & Psychology, Western Sydney University Among the many hard truths exposed by COVID-19 is the huge disparity between the world’s rich and poor. As economies went into freefall, the world’s billionaires increased their already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jan Lanicek, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and Jewish History, UNSW On January 27 communities worldwide commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz — the largest complex of concentration camps and extermination centres during the Holocaust. This is the first year the International ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorinda Cramer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Australian Catholic University The summer break is over, marking a return to the office. For some, this ends almost a year of working from home in lockdown. Some analysts are predicting it might also mark an enduring ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 27, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato New Zealand has a strong history of protecting and promoting human rights at home and internationally, and prides itself on being an outspoken critic and global leader in this area. So, when the most ...
Good morning and welcome to the Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins outlines the plan forward for National, no spread of Covid spotted yet in Northland, and students return for climate protest.In front of a Rotary Club at the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, National leader Judith Collins yesterday set out her ...
*This articlefirst appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The tourism industry isn't holding its breath for a trans-Tasman travel bubble being in place after Australia temporarily closed its borders to New Zealand. New Zealanders could be waiting even longer for a full trans-Tasman bubble, with the ...
We continue our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with an essay by Anahera Gildea on cultural appropriation Every night at 7pm sharp, my Irish Catholic father and his eight siblings would have to kneel on the carpet of the living room, facing the freshly polished nudity of ...
A Covid reset will force costly and inflexible cities to take a hard look at their planning systems, or people will vote with their feet. Broken urban planning systems make for misery even in the best of times. If land use and housing regulations prevent metropolitan areas from growing up or out as ...
Children's Minister Kelvin Davis will have independent eyes and ears across Oranga Tamariki over the next five months as the Government tries to change the work and practices of the ministry. The Government has created a Māori-led watchdog to oversee how the children's ministry, Oranga Tamariki, deals with parents and ...
When an Auckland school classroom went up in flames in December last year, exploding asbestos over neighbouring houses, five separate government agencies were involved. Yet stressed residents dealing with the aftermath on their homes say the response felt chaotic and uncoordinated; even local MPs who got involved couldn't get the information they wanted. Hundreds of thousands of ...
The pandemic has accelerated the trend of doing our banking online instead of in person. This rapid digital embrace has, in turn, sped up the closure of many smaller bank branches. But, as Mark Jennings writes, there are new branches springing up with a different look and purpose. Auckland’s Wynyard ...
Corrina Gage has represented New Zealand in a trio of water sports. But it's her love for waka ama - and the opportunities it gives paddlers from 5 to 85 - that keeps her racing and coaching around the world. Lake Karāpiro is quiet and still now. But last week, it was all noise ...
Telling a Rotary Club audience that housing is a serious problem and they should care deeply about it landed flat but took some daring from the National leader, writes Justin Giovannetti.Judith Collins’ level of control over the National Party is still a question best answered by a shrug.Elevated to her ...
A gang turf war gripped the South Auckland suburb in late 2020, forcing schools to lock down and armed police to patrol the streets. Community leaders are now warning the cycle of violent retribution could continue in 2021, unless radical interventions are made.The violent altercations that loomed large in Ōtara ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Véronique Duché, A.R. Chisholm Professor of French, University of Melbourne In this series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on the page and on screen. When I first heard that Rowan Atkinson was to put on Maigret’s velvet-collared overcoat, I wondered ...
Auckland writer Olivia Hayfield* explains how she resurrected 16th-century playwright Christopher Marlowe to star in her new novel, Sister to Sister. Olivia Hayfield is a pen name. Real name: Sue Copsey. When I’m planning my modern retellings of historical tales, I read widely on the characters and see who leaps out at ...
The Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine could be approved as early as next week, Marc Daalder reports Medsafe will be asked to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 on February 2, the Government has announced. The Medicines Assessment Advisory Committee (MAAC) is an independent panel that provides advice on some medicine approvals in ...
COMMENT:By Bryan Kramer, PNG’s Minister of Police who has defended Commissioner Manning’s appointment today in The National My last article, announcing that I intend to make a submission to the National Executive Council (NEC) to amend the Public Service regulation to no longer require the Commissioner of Police to ...
The Point of Order Trough Monitor was triggered today by the announcement of a $9 million handout for Southlanders – sorry, some Southlanders. The news came from the office of Grant Robertson who, as Minister of Finance, prefers to invest public money rather than give it away – especially when ...
Few people outside of her campaign team gave Chlöe Swarbrick any chance of winning in Auckland Central this year – but the Green Party MP was too busy to listen. Here’s how they turned the electorate green.First published November 12, 2020.Three Ticks Chlöe is part of Frame, a series of short ...
Interactions between parents and healthcare providers could have a big impact on the wellbeing of our children, according to new research. The way parents and healthcare providers interact has lasting implications for children’s health, new research has found – and that includes immunisation uptake.Released today, the report is based on research ...
The Opposition starts the political year calling for emergency, temporary legislation to free up house building National leader Judith Collins has set five priorities for her party over the next three years - but excluded climate change, education and Crown-Māori relations. Giving her first 'state of the nation' speech as party ...
One of the biggest challenges facing the Ardern government is in public health. New Zealand may have escaped the pressures heaped on other health systems by the Covid-19 pandemic but its health service has had its problems, not least those exposed in the first report from Heather Simpson and her ...
New Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has revealed that 14 close contacts of the Northland community case have returned negative test results. Yesterday he announced two close contacts – her husband and hair dresser – were negative. In his tweet, Hipkins described the news as “encouraging”. However, New ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the arbitrary and opaque experiments that Google is conducting with its search engine in Australia, with the consequence that many national news websites are no longer appearing in the search results seen by some users. The Australian, ABC, Australian Financial ...
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says councils can take stronger action against companies dumping contaminated waste water, even though they have identified loopholes in the law on fines. ...
Drag Race Down Under, part of the popular RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise, is filming in New Zealand. In their own words, local drag talent share what drag means to them and how it might be impacted by the show.RuPaul’s Drag Race is, quite simply, a television phenomenon. Love it or ...
For a long time, weighted blankets were considered a specialist device. Now they’re popular with even the most normal sleepers.Growing up, Temple Grandin spent time on her aunt’s cattle ranch in America, watching cow after stressed cow enter a squeeze chute and come out calm as the dead sea. She ...
Increased provisional tax thresholds, immediate low-value asset write offs and allowing the deferral of tax payments and use of money interest (UOMI) write offs were the most popular tax measures introduced by the Government to help businesses survive ...
The latest fleeing driver statistics show the numbers of incidents sky-rocketing out of control through 2020 with Police deciding the only tactic is to give up on chasing altogether, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The inconvenient truth is ...
With new revelations of the appalling racism behind Israel’s refusal to provide Covid-19 vaccines to 4.5 million Palestinians under its occupation and control, PSNA has renewed our call for the government to speak out alongside the United Nations ...
The Youth of NZ will be standing up for climate action once again, on January 26th outside of Parliament for School Strike 4 Climate NZ’s 100 Days 4 Action campaign rally. “COVID-19 may have stopped us in our tracks in the past. However, I tend ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Parwinder Kaur, Associate Professor | Director, DNA Zoo Australia, University of Western Australia Koalas are unique in the animal kingdom, living on a eucalyptus diet that would kill other creatures and drinking so little their name comes from the Dharug word gula, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By S. Anna Florin, Research fellow, University of Wollongong Archaeological research provides a long-term perspective on how humans survived various environmental conditions over tens of thousands of years. In a paper published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, we’ve tracked rainfall in northern ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Binoy Kampmark, Senior Lecturer in Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, RMIT University Since 2005, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has been one of the most stable and enduring of political forces, both in Europe and on the global stage. During her 16 ...
The depths of journalism.
Barry Soper pimping for this wretched government.
“So this time Labour’s beating the housing drum, playing to its constituents who don’t and will probably never own a home, by getting at the fat cats that do. To an extent it’s a politics of envy. Only trouble is to play that game you’ve got to be on firm ground and Andrew Little’s example actually made him the envy of those struggling to get on to the home ownership ladder.”…..
it’s embarrassing to read.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11857277
Soper has always been a dog. Will never forget the time he tried to take over a meeting between Winnie and John McCain in Washington DC for some bitchiness he harboured against Winnie. Winnie turned Rotty’. Ordered the scruffy terrier hack out of the room. Was beautiful to watch the hack roundly fail in his attempt to look ‘Da Man’……
“And with his promise this week to cut the tax dodges for landlords, rents are bound to rise making it even harder for those who are trying to scrape together an ever increasing deposit.”
and from
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/05/its_land_not_owners_who_are_the_problem.html
Problem for me with this uneducated sensationalism is that it is based on a very small minority of landlords that would be negatively geared ( and for those landlords in the 50+ properties would be companies that should losses be incurred would carry over these until profitable when they would be liable for taxes so this is not applicable for to such companies),
Some of those individuals who are incurring losses, the IRD has legislation that these would not comply as a profitable going concern and that their “business case” is based on loss making but compensated by a capital gain, and under this situation the capital gain is taxable income.
And the situation of being negatively geared has been reduced with banks requiring 40% deposit, so the 80-95% mortgage does not apply.
Remember he is one of the gnats lapdogs and his misses got her job with Duncan because she is buddy wuddy with uncle john and the gnats and by the way what is the age difference as he is quick to put the boot into others this fellow.
I switch of anything he is on, sop- a he is just as bad if not worse than listening to Larry Williams on the radio same old bias self opinionated and one sided bullshert
Then we have hoskings using his TV role state owned TV1 to advocate for the gnats he has been a bit quieter since his mate uncle john left hooray!
Back in the day I was unfortunate enough to have some mutual friends with this horrible little man and wound up at a dinner party with him. The food was beautiful but the conversation was dire thanks to him! What a self opinionated loudmouthed ethic-free twit!
Williams, Hoskings Garner or Soper?
Soper – and I ignore Garner totally – he’s as thick as a brick!
Have you heard his sidekick Richardson. He makes Garner look intelligent and Hosking appear left wing.
No – heaven help us, I haven’t! Is he related to Ruth perhaps?
Never listen to ZB or watch TVNZ or watch Garner in the morning.
Makes for a less polluted day.
The heights of journalism.
Rachel Stewart speaking truth to power.
“What is it about New Zealand’s economic mentality that is so fatally and stupidly drawn to boom and bust?
You’d think the tourism industry would have a wee shufti over at the dairy wallahs, take a deep breath, and ask themselves how they’re going to avoid the same problems with rapid and unmanageable expansion.”…..
Read it all here.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11856866
“What is it about New Zealand’s economic mentality that is so fatally and stupidly drawn to boom and bust?”
It’s the famous Anglo-American economic tradition to make cheap bulk commodities, which we inherited and have always held to.
DoC should make it clear that all New Zealand citizens and residents can do any Great Walk free of charge, and charge the bejeezus out of the tourists.
“DoC should make it clear that all New Zealand citizens and residents can do any Great Walk free of charge, and charge the bejeezus out of the tourists.”
Get a reality check Ad. No one is going to to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
Many countries charge a “tourist tax” and don’t kill that goose, Johan. There’s no reason why NZ shouldn’t, ‘cept National.
Well past time that DoC started to make some proper gold out of them – out of tourists.
More the Nats don’t want to upset all their donors in the lower end of the tourism industry. I think that’s what you mean by “the goose that lays the golden egg”
Reality is that if a $100 border tax is going to kill the profit on a tour operator’s punter, there’s fuck all for the country in that punter either.
We’ve got a government, and industry that is only interested in numbers, more more and more. Nothing about yield, just greater numbers.
The dominate ideology – Liberal economics.
It’s amazing how a headline can hide the truth.
‘Govt to build 34,000 homes.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11857181
Lucky then we have bloggers like No Right Turn to give us the real information.
“National is finally promising to tackle the housing crisis by building some houses, with plans to “build 34,000 new Auckland houses”. Except that when you scratch the surface, its not all its cracked up to be. Firstly, those houses are being built by demolishing 8,300 existing homes, so the total is only 26,000. Secondly, it includes already announced and underway (and in some cases, built) projects in Tamaki, Northcote and Point England – so they’re back to re-announcing old news to get a new headline. Thirdly, two thirds of those houses will be sold to speculators rather than being state houses – so we’re looking at a program to bulldoze and sell off state homes. And finally, its over ten years, with a deadline on the never-never so National can avoid accountability – just as with their climate change, renewable electricity, and water quality promises. In short, its the usual story: PR as a substitute for policy, spin as a substitute for action. Because the goal isn’t to fix the bloody problem, but simply to generate positive headlines.”
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2017/05/the-usual-story.html
Sadly, however, many people will not read past the Herald Editor’s headline.
And therein lies the problem.
Any progressive government must reform the media so corporations do not have their present level of control over the message people hear,
It is no right turn that is not telling the truth.
In particular suggesting that two thirds will be sold to speculators. Unless of course you consider first home buyers to be speculators.
Yes it is an aggregation of all prior announcement, plus new ones. Whats wrong with that? It is all about what will happen in the next ten years. It makes sense to aggregate them so people get a sense of the actual scale. Otherwise it is all lost in piecemeal announcements.
Yes, some houses are being demolished, and frankly about time. Tonah St for instance is really substandard housing.
“Yes it is an aggregation of all prior announcement, plus new ones. Whats wrong with that? ”
Ummm..? Misleading for the sake of deception, perhaps? Putting lipstick on a pig is the baser expression.
” so they’re back to re-announcing old news to get a new headline” says, I/S. He directs us to think this strategy has been used before by the National Party for reasons we can only guess at.
Why is it misleading?
It is all about the plans for the next ten years. The fact some of it has been previously announced (Northcote, Tamaki) does not change that it is all about the next ten years.
One of my concerns about Nationals housing plans was that there had been a plethora of announcements, and it almost impossible to work out the overall plan.
Amy Adams has done everyone a favour by pulling it all together, then announcing it as an overall plan.
That means it is possible to compare the packages of both major parties, which has now been done, including on the lead item of The Standard.
Because there have been previous announcements, you know some of the houses will be started within the next year, rather than just planned.
On reflection I imagine Labours housing plans also include these projects.
Then why’s it including all their plans for the last nine years? (Which didn’t work either)
I’m reasonably certain that’s done on purpose so that they can continue to lie in all of the confusion that they create.
Ah, no, we don’t know that. Many of the ones that have been announced haven’t been built and never will be. Managed to funnel lots of wealth to some National’s major donors though.
i doubt it.
” piecemeal announcements” indeed.
And 8,300 is “some”?
That’s some “some”!
@ Wayne But when they are demolishing 8,000 houses as part of the 34,000 this is simply lying. You could at least acknowledge this Wayne or you are simply trolling.
Most of the houses in question will be sold at market value; the others are “affordable” at $650k. Little was spot-on on Morning Report this AM when he said this was “smoke and mirrors”.
What’s interesting here is that people like Hoskin say the Labour/Green bloc will not win the election on the housing issue yet Amy Adams finds it necessary to lie through her teeth with announcements like this to defend the government’s position.
I love Labour’s new policy to abolish tax write-offs for housing speculators. A strong and bold policy that will push resources into productive investment. This “mum and dad” investors terminology is crap-they are speculators buying houses whether they are buying one extra house or ten.
“when they are demolishing 8,000 houses as part of the 34,000 this is simply lying. You could at least acknowledge this Wayne or you are simply trolling”
How is it a lie when Amy Adams has it front and centre of her press release?
https://beehive.govt.nz/release/govt-build-34000-new-houses-auckland
That’s Tonar St, for those that don’t live in the Shore bubble.
its called recycling Ed
Now Phil Goff has ensured he is a one term mayor, anyone got any idea on a good replacement?
Who cares ! national screwed over akl so badly it’s a ceremonial position with virtually no actual power and control.
Hide and key made sure that they appointed the CCO chiefs of which I note some rats already jumping ship such as akl transport.
Other mates like Jim, I plundered kiwirail, Quinn enjoy highly paid do nothing roles also, goffs just making noise and pointing out the obvious really which gets the nactiods and their media muppets all frothy and righteous.
Yeah, I noticed that. Typical neo-liberal giving away our wealth without even consulting with us.
Ethiopia ahead of NZ on Childrens Rights Statistics/Index, NZ standing at 158th out of 165, it is sobering reading ?
We are not going particularly well with our young people here in NZ especially with our 94,000 unemployed youth aged between 15-24 years old, but we do hold the Rugby World Cup ?
which index?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11857119
Seems odd, even if they did go by worst case.
[citation needed]
“The Government has confirmed that countries not signed up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, including the United States, will be able to reap the benefit of concessions New Zealand has made on pharmaceuticals.
Yet New Zealand will not benefit from better access to the US market in return, because president Donald Trump pulled it out of the pact.”
Brilliant.
Oh the intel came from Israel? No wonder they were mad about the Russians getting hold of it. They don’t want Baathist Syria to beat Salafism, they want it to fall to Salafism, so that they have the pretext to pour the IDF out of the Golan heights and annex some more Lebensraum for their US, UK, and RSA born ‘settlers’. Then they will ‘miraculously’ make some ‘archaeological’ ‘discoveries’ within said Lebensraum which proves that ancient Hebrews once lived there, which is generally their out of the can pretext for taking other people’s land on a permanent basis
[lprent: You appear to have missed the point of the post – which was about missing the point. ]
[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.]
Didn’t do a very good job of hiding your bigotry there CJ.
Bigotry? Continue, I’m looking forward to it. You do realise that some of us need more than just SJW buzzwords to do much more than raise an eyebrow, right?
What a little mind you have!
Says the chap who uses his pseudonym to count his brain cells…
That’s your incorrect interjection, seeking an opportunity…and flailing once again…
Because you ‘don’t understand’, is not an excuse..
At least make a funny interjection, if you must continue to be wrong!
I totally understood that your entire comment was to say stunned mullet had a little mind.
And now when it’s flipped back you say “at least make a funny interjection”.
Does your hypocrisy cause your stupidity, or vice versa?
Gordon Bennett, that’s poor
Why do you think I said that about SMs response to CJ?
Context boy, context!
Now your projecting and deflecting like a rank amateur who can’t comprehend the relevance of context vs ‘at least be funny’ when throwing a naked insult
Brakes are on the handle bars, and no amount of back peddle can prevent the inevitable
Why do you think I made the comment about your pseudonym matching your number of brain cells?
Context, dear boy, context!
And please don’t call me “context boy” in the future. It’s not like you wear a cape and insist everyone calls you “Cogent Argument Man”.
Good job, McFlock
That was quite a funny retort!
Well, the first one went over your head, so I had to make it obvious and use an old Zucker/Abrams pattern.
No surprise in the lack of graciousness..
Obvious….Yes, quite so!
Dude, we’re not two gentlemen meeting in a sparring contest with mutual respect.
I regard you as a vacuous jerk whose ego writes cheques his IQ can’t cash. You don’t deserve graciousness, and I require neither your respect nor your approval. In fact, affirmation from such a source would normally require deep introspection as to where my life went astray.
Yellow-eyed penguins will disappear from mainland within 40 years, warn researchers
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/south-island/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503933&objectid=11857519
Here of course it’s all about choice for union busting sake.
Another week, another round of evidence that providing parents with more “school choice,” especially the kind that lets them opt out of public schools, is not a very effective vehicle for ensuring students improve academically or that taxpayer dollars are spent more wisely.
The latest evidence comes from a study of the voucher program in Washington, DC that allows parents to transfer their children from public to private schools at taxpayer expense. The study found that students “who attended a private school through the program performed worse on standardized tests than their public school counterparts who did not use the vouchers,” reports the New York Times.
This study adds to others – from Ohio, Indiana, and Louisiana – finding that school vouchers have negative impacts on students.
Despite these results, many proponents of school choice contend the purpose of school choice was never about generating better results. It’s about choice for choice’s sake.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/05/evidence-school-choice-hurts-student-performance.html
So Russia has done and is doing more to fight isis than anyone else and trump shares intelligence on isis and this is somehow a problem? Only if you buy into the russia as supreme evil meme. Trump has done plenty wrong but collaborating on the battle against isis is eminently sensible. This and his stance on tpp. Some say even a broken clock is correct twice…
[lprent: It looks like you missed the point of the post as well. Perhaps you could try reducing your self-indulgent wanking some time and actually read what people write. ]
[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.]
Stop triggering people with reality bro.
Comey memos coming out now – trump toast – death by 1000 cuts and we are up to 100 or so by now – not bad for just over 100 days. Whatever you do don’t mention Russia that peace loving utopia where everyone has a full tummy – Putin must be slysmiling at all this trumpstuff.
[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.]
Thanks just saw all the movement to om ☺
I like how he insulted us, but not you 🙂
Yeah I liked that too ☺
Me too
Four legs good, two legs bad, etc.
Realpolitik good, woo woo bad.
woo woo goes the train
blah blah go the putinescca
Still can’t Mossad the Assad; still can’t put the boot in the Putin.
Oceans are at the ‘edge’ of losing all oxygen
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=11855362
Read that a few days back and did some digging. There’s a prof at Washington University looks at ‘deep time’. The story goes like this – each mass extinction has been accompanied by rises in atmospheric CO2. (One was an impact that also had increasing CO2 levels)
The CO2 has come from basalt flows in the past. (eg – the Siberian Traps). Today we’ve got industry smoke stacks and cars. Anyway. As temp increases, the poles heat far faster than the tropics, the temperature differential that drives ocean currents is lost and oxygen doesn’t get mixed into the deep ocean.
As the existing oxygen in the ocean is used up, they become stagnant and a breeding ground for bacteria that give off hydrogen sulphide. And that then kills just about everything everywhere. (Mammals more so than reptiles apparently which was why we got dinosaurs – off the back of mammals getting ‘totaled’ 200 odd million years back)
Anyway, as that’s unfolding, that same loss of temperature differential kills the jet stream. And that means that weather doesn’t form or move. (The jet stream is already slowing and meandering which is giving rise to prolonged droughts etc)
The figure of 1000ppm was suggested as the atmospheric concentration that accompanies all that crap…not necessarily the level that triggers it. We’re at 400+ and rising at about 2ppm per year.
With current warming, we have ‘locked in’ sea level rise of over 1 metre with some respected quarters suggesting we may be looking at 1.5m by as soon as 2050. Now, how much of the worlds agriculture is on flood plains – ie, at sea level?
I’ll stop now…;-)
Will National’s willingness to proceed with the TPP (as initially negotiated) become a major election issue?
McClay said countries would discuss whether the TPP as negotiated should stay in place – NZ’s preferred route – or the deal should be renegotiated now the US has quit.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/92664440/the-us-is-set-to-reap-the-benefits-of-nz-concessions–without-joining-tpp
The existing text of the TPP has all the toxic rules a good number of New Zealanders opposed. Bringing into question the Government’s position. Moreover, how badly will it hurt National in the polls?
Shocking. Would be good for Labour to publicly condemn Natz wasting time and money trying to resurrect this zombie deal that is NOT a good deal for NZ especially destructive for copy write and medicine and for the neanderthal ISDS clauses.
Shocking indeed. And yes, the silver lining is the opposition should be able to capitalize off this.
The Government is taking a risk trying to resurrect this with the elections only months away. There is a good chance voters will express their discontent at the polling booths come election day.
Did the insult posing as a question lift your self esteem?
I don’t spend energy trying to rationalize such ‘events’, because really…who ‘knows’
You don’t!
Prententing to ‘know’, or trying to rationalize…is fruitless IMO
[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.]
[lprent: Perhaps if you’d read the post and the notice at the end of it then you would have realized what it was about and not irritated me by blathering irrelevant nonsense. ]
Well the so called oligarchical kleptocracy,turned down a protection racket.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/saudis-russia-sochi-olympics-terrorism-syria-2013-8?r=US&IR=T
[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.]
Whoa man, commentary like this is now designated ‘RT speak’.
Trump is bowing down to his masters. Sharing confidential information from Five Eyes, and carrying on in an unprecedented manner with the Kremlin stooges in the White House as photos show, which were not meant for the eyes of US citizens. This latest breech by by Trump is a big concern not only to the Democrats in Congress but Trump’s fellow Republicans. Why is Trump so friendly with the Russians? Perhaps it has something to do with who has been financing TTO. Money laundering out of Russia and big loans from a German bank, has given Trump massive support when his commercial empire was crumbling.
[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.]
Trump noise show continues. Pense for President! Wow, Israeli secrets divulged to Russia and leaked to the press. Coz Russoa would have told then too! Are we saying Russia leaked them to undermine Trump and give Pense the Whitehouse, thought Russia and Israel weren’t friendly, why would Russia want a fundamental christian in the Whitehouse when the far christian rig are one of Isreals biggest friends. So, who leaked and why can Trump trust nobody.
If Trump makes a habit of disclosing ‘facts’, on top of his fake facts, he’ll just put Congres and allies out of sorts and Pense in charge. Like that wasn’t the plan!
[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.]
heh
Parsing the difference between the DGAF lies coming from some parts of the Chump administration, and the ordinary misdirection by weasel words of those with at least a vestigial sense of shame that makes them want to later be able say “I didn’t technically lie”.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/16/15646836/mcmaster-trump-russia-lie
It’s our water and our wildlife, therefore if we are going to allow this shouldn’t the profits also be ours?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/92665865/controversial-west-coast-water-bottling-operation-awarded-final-resource-consents
Yep. More NZ public resources going into private hands.
Who’s doing the collection, sales bottling marketing distributio, Taking the risk on capital etc I suggest that where the profits go, the public resource just enjoys a royalty, ie the water
if it goes bust who do you think will pick up the tab to dismantle the crumbling ruins?
That would be fine if it was billed at the same rate as we have to pay Metrowater here in Auckland…. but it’s more billed in magic bean territory.
Aside from that there is beauty and prosperity in having an untouched natural resource.
Some things should not be modified.
The claytons trade agreement persists.
http://werewolf.co.nz/2017/05/gordon-campbell-on-dealing-with-japan-over-the-tpp/
Another outcome from overseas investment.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/92687101/silver-ferns-farms-to-cut-fairton-plant-but-keep-pelt-house
What’s with the Auditor General Martin Mathews now in the firing line by Winnie. Winnie says under his watch as Head of the Ministry of Transport a female employee embezzled three quarters of a million. She was brought to the attention of Mr Mathews on more than one occasion over financial anomalities but he did not intervene. Now he is our Auditor General. It could only happen in New Zealand. I wonder how much auditing is being done and how much scrutiny is being applied to the nation’s books these days. Wonders will never cease. No wonder Winnie is having an apoplexy tiss wizz over it.
All parties are to blame – the committee who selected him had Trevor Mallard representing Labour along with other representatives – Little says nobody was aware of this happening in the MOT when the decision was made to elect him Auditor General. . WTF