After “Super Storm Sandy” struck New York, gaining wall to wall media coverage.
After the deadly tornado struck North Auckland, (following the track of the deadly tornado that struck the same area last year).
After last Tuesday’s “Super Storm” Bopha devastated the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines, (Despite Super Storm Bopha being “unprecedented” that close to the equator, unlike Sandy this terrible tragedy barely gained a mention in the local media, despite leaving hundreds dead and missing and an estimated 400,000 homeless.)
And due to hit about now, “Super Cyclone Evan” after killing ten people in Samoa is reportedly gaining strength and is bearing down on Fiji. Samoa was savaged by Evan on Thursday leaving four confirmed dead and eight people missing from fishing boats.
However unlike “Super Storm” Bopha, earlier in the week, “Super Cyclone”,Evan has gained the media’s attention here.
<blockquote>In an unusual speech to the nation, Tuilaepa told the largely Christian state that there was a time for every season, and that God balances all things.
“The most poignant concerns that are distressing world leaders at the moment are the disastrous changing weather patterns that will allow the occurrences of cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding and other disasters, which all emanates from man abusing the garden that God appointed him to tend, such as the mindless cutting of trees excessively warming the environment resulting in disasters not often experienced before,” he said.
He said deforestation near rivers and streams led to Samoa’s disaster.
“Likewise the extreme deforestation near rivers and streams which, consequently, now results in the loss of lives and the destruction of homes nearby due to flash floodings.” http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/8086706/Fiji-under-curfew-as-cyclone-arrives</blockquote>
Once is a coincidence, twice is a happenstance, three times is a conspiracy
Winston Churchill
As more energy is trapped in the system due to the Greenhouse effect, are these “Super Storms”, “Super Cyclones” and tornadoes to become regular events?
Storms, cyclones, and, tornado’s have for all of history been regular events, attaching the epithet ‘super’ to these weather events is the only thing that is ‘new’ about them…
In 1853 Dobson published a list of 24 Hurricanes from Pacific Island groups, Dobson and several subsequent records were cited in ‘Tropical Cyclones of the Pacific’, (Visher 1925), Visher lists ‘325’ Cyclones passing through the various island groups in the South Pacific,
The record includes Cyclones between 1789 and 1923.
A review of these sources and the data compilation for Western Samoa, (Puaga and LeFale 1988), has resulted in a list of 79 cyclones which have impacted Western Samoa between 1831 and 1990, the list indicated that more than 5 events with winds of 30 or more knots wind speed can be expected each decade….
Google= Probability andf recurrence of tropical cyclones in Western Samoa.
ict.sopac.org/VirLib/TR0106.pdf
Ps, The above is talking of cyclones that actually impact Western Samoa, there’s plenty more that miss which are not included….
So what happens when under the TPPA the U.S. guns and ammo manufacturers decide they’re being unfairly locked out of the NZ market by our relatively restrictive gun laws?
I think this kind of stereotyping is really beneath you, mickey. Non-neurotypical people are no more likely to commit violence than neurotypical people, and labelling all homicidal shooters as “crazy” is just a really good way to stop people taking the scarier parts of America’s gun culture seriously.
You say that, yet here you are rubbishing us for not having faith and trust in Key and his government.
See hs, when all the available facts contradict your beliefs but you continue to hold them, as you’re doing here and in the boot-camp thread and pretty much every time you post anywhere, that’s faith.
And in your case that faith is currently placed in Key and his govt. Pretend all you like, it’s here in black and white.
Apparently you have some facts about changes in gun law or gun importation/export post a potential TPPA care to share ?
My position is there is no evidence nor precedent to support your suggestion that the TPPA or indeed any FTA will lead to any change in gun law, access or importation into or out of NZ.
Given the facts, and the international precedents, the onus is on you to show that the weapons industry won’t have the investor-state provisions of the agreement at its disposal under the TPPA.
I may be wrong but I am pretty sure Australia hasn’t changed its gun laws in light of a free terade deal with the States. Neither has Britian for that matter.
The USA has free trade with 17 different countries all with varying gun laws. Going by this it would seem highly unlikely that we’d have to change ours.
Never mind the whole investor-state issue, never mind that companies will be able to sue NZ if we limit their rights to our markets, never mind what the tobacco companies are up to, and never mind applying the same logic to other industries.
higherstandard says it’s rubbish, despite having been totally schooled every time he has pretended to be an expert on the TPPA, so that’s that.
1) The agreements being made are confidential so you have no way of knowing what Key & Co. intend to sign us up for
2) The whole issue with the TPPA is that it allows foreign companies to seek damages from our government for any law that disadvantages them commercially. It is naive and shortsighted to assume that nothing will happen. As long as we are considering being a party to the TPPA then the sovereignty of our nation is at risk.
@FelixViper – good point. There are so many other nasty consequences of the TPPA that you are the first that I know of to question the guns/ammo issue. God help us if the Amercian gun lobby gets a foot in NZ. Could even force the arming of our police.
The way this government is going it won’t be long that our police are armed any way. They’ve already given the police more power and easier access to guns.
Are you in a position financially or otherwise to make good on your guarantee in the event you are wrong? The head of the Police union is constantly seeking the arming of our police (greater arming) which will require a change “to NZZ’s gun laws”. You may be safe in that the gun lobby (here and overseas) will funnel their message and drive through that organisation so it may never appear it was TPPA driven.
IF tobacco companies selling a product they admit harms and can kill people can sue for damages for not being allowed to have their brand on packets….
I saw Shearer on TV3 not too bad, no stutters as such. But what a dreamer he is. “The Leadership battle is well and truly over,” he says. “Labour had a good year”.
The Leadership battle is NOT over, and Labour had one of the worst years on record I say again. what a dreamer!!!
If that’s a good year for Labour wonder what a bad one looks like.
One after another shoocker from the NACT and sweet FA pinned on them either in the house or ouside it….Dreamer isn’t a word I’d use. Dellusional more like.
When Shearer obtained the leadership I hoped Labour was getting real person to front it rather than a politician, as has always been the case with the Greens.
Alas, with comments such as this and his bland, emptily verbose ‘statements’ carried on this blog Shearer is showing himself to be just another politician with no regard for or appreciation of the fact that his audience might have a shred of intelligence and views of their own rather than empty vessels to be filled with whatever he wants them to believe, even when he doesn’t believe it himself.
Not that I believe Cunliffe would be any better.
Shearer is possibly a good Manager -but never a Leader.
Not the same thing.
Very rare to find both.
Clark was great at both, as she had Heather alongside too.
But perhaps she overmanaged finally.
Shearer saying the leadership issue is over, once again, he is not accpeting the membership’s
wishes with regard to leadership,there are many members and potential voters wanting and expecting a genuine election for leadership in Feb 13, his stance will increase the mana and greens vote in 2014.
Shearer say’s ‘I know nothing, I see nothing, I hear nothing’
His ignorance is bliss.
Something else i noticed during the segment… Kathryn Ryan appeared to be getting her hackles up a bit when both Hooton and mike had a go at Nick Smith. It made me wonder if there is a bit of a personal connection between them.
I used to respect Mike Williams a lot. But somtime over the past few years he seems to have turned into a ‘yes’ man. Says just whatever the current Leadership team wants him to say and I worry about his grwoing policy vacuum – if he has a spine I’m not seeing or hearing it.
Occasionally Williams has taken it to Hooton and humiliated him. The pity of it is that most of the time all he does is, as you say, make a point of finding common ground with Hooton.
Williams is still far better than Josie Pagani, although occasionally even she has taken it to Hooton—and triumphed. Hooton is not impressive when his statements are challenged, so it’s a pity that his opponents so rarely challenge him.
Hooton always says same old rubbish week in week out . lets have debate He is the only one who gets anything out of disscussion.. re just picks up another cheque from RNZ
What was slightly enlightening was Williams joining in with Hooten to bag the Greens Russell Norman,
Hooten, hardly a full to overflowing suitcase of intellectual rigor was again taking to Russell over the Greens willingness to print money to spend into the New Zealand economy according to ‘the little fat toad’, (as opposed to His mate Blubber Boy,’the big fat toad’), ”No Government can print money unless interest rates are zero”, unquote,
What really gets me when such ‘comment’ is allowed to be repeated over and over as Nine to Noon gives Hooten free rein to do, without allowing Russell Norman the courtesy of a reply is that ‘what’s her face’ the presenter and even the pathetic Williams didn’t demand of Hooten a factual basis for such an assertion,
Perhaps ‘the little fat toad’ should have taken more notice of both the US and just held Japanese elections, the Prez quoted during His election campaign openly stated that each month He will print the monies needed and every month until there is ‘a recovery’ He will cause the same to happen,
The next Prime Minister of Japan elected as late as yesterday is promising to do exactly the same thing…
I endorse everything you’ve said about the way Williams, Pagani, Peter Harris (remember HIM?) and a host of other utterly ineffective “commentators from the left” have simply sat back and let Hooton say anything he wants.
Only two people ever challenged him strongly: Laila Harre and Sue Bradford.
Hell yeah ! We’ve no redundancy if stn cross cable goes down and Telecom and partners are taking the piss with pricing on a cable that’s not even fully utilised currently.
Competition is desperately needed to overcome our small population/bottom of the world factors.
More common sense agenda setting from the greens.
As for the actual policy, they’re suggesting taking a cornerstone stake in a second international fibre-optic link, to ensure both competition and redundancy in case of failure. This is priced at $100 million, but as they point out, that’s just 0.8% of the amount National has wasted on its “Roads of National Significance”. national would no doubt complain that investment should be left to the market, but the market has failed to provide this basic infrastructure, therefore its the government’s job to step in – just as it did for electricity and railways in their day.
Secondly, they’re pushing changes to government procurement, to push them towards local providers for IT services, and to use open standards and open source software where possible. Finally, they want to reverse Nationals’ proposed change to the Patents Bill, and outlaw software patents.
I know that you’re being facetious but that would actually be the best option. Selling Telecom means that we’ve lost ~$16b dollars due to the dead weight loss of profit just from Telecom. Adding competition means that we’re now adding in even more costs as well as more of the dead weight loss from profit.
News of the Day in a Moronic Way
The Panel, National Radio, Monday 17 December 2012
Jim Mora: What else have you got for us, Richard?
Richard Langstone: Danny Boyle has turned down a knighthood.
Mora: Oh yes. Maybe he’s hanging out to be Lord Boyle.
Barry Corbett: Ho ho ho ho ho!
Langstone: He he hee heeee heeeee!
Mora: Lord Boyle! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Langstone: It’s not a surprise, really, though, is it? He’s from Lancashire, so he would have thought, I don’t want any of your soft southern honours! A hee heee heeee heeee.
Corbett: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Mora: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Thus a serious moral and political point is reduced to nothing by the lofty thinkers on The Panel.
The best reason for anyone listening to either Nine to Noon or Afternoons with Jim Moron these days is to gain a understanding of just how badly ‘dumbed down’ the political/social discourse has become in New Zealand,
The best defence i can mount on behalf of RadioNZ National is that i got spoiled by Kim Hill….
Um, to be a semantic bore, the reason he could kill that many people was his access to firearms.
His actual motives are unknown. The Secret Service did note in their 2002 report into school shootings that a quarter of shooters in the study had at least a partial motive of getting attention or recognition.
Oh, and that 4/5ths apparently had some sort of grievance before they went berserk.
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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 ...
By Adi Briantika in Jakarta A group of Papuan students in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Jakarta, who were planning to hold a protest action opposing the extension of Papuan Special Autonomy (Otsus), have been arrested and taken to the Metro Jaya regional police headquarters. “Around ...
By RNZ News The two new cases of covid-19 confirmed yesterday in New Zealand are the South African variant and initial results show they are connected to the Northland case at the Pullman Hotel. This morning the Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, confirmed to Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Overhype can be a dead giveaway of under-confidence. When Anthony Albanese on Thursday compared his situation to that of Joe Biden, it sounded rather desperate. Some journalists, he said, had predicted a certain Trump win. ...
The New Zealand public sector and judiciary has again been ranked the least corrupt in the world. The 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released today by global anti-corruption organization Transparency International ranks New Zealand first equal ...
New Zealand is again ranked first equal with Denmark in the Transparency International annual index of perceived levels of public sector corruption. Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has welcomed New Zealand’s position in the 2020 index. He says New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Kaufman, Research Fellow, Vaccine Uptake Group, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute The federal government’s A$23.9 million COVID-19 vaccination information campaign, launchedyesterday, aims to reassure the public about vaccine safety and effectiveness. It will also provide information about the vaccine rollout. We’ve ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Hongi Luo, brand director at TikTok.In terms of cultural reach and impact, the ...
After Covid devastated its 2020, Basement Theatre comes roaring into 2021 with its Summer Season. Here’s the rundown of shows in-store, with some comments from programmer Nisha Madhan.Pre-FringeLust IslandWhen’s it on: February 2-6, 8pmWho’s involved: The women of improv troupe Hearthrobs (McKenzie’s Daughters, Salem Bitch Trials), including Brynley Stent, Alice ...
The whānau of Te Ahikaiata Turei supported by Māori and non-Māori staff at Unitec will take back a portrait of the Tūhoe leader who led the establishment of Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae and the values that brought the institute back from the brink of ...
A poll across the Early Childhood Education community found 93% in favour of pausing the ‘lunchbox rules’, or the Ministry of Education’s new Food Safety/choking changes to the Licensing Criteria, which came into effect on 25 January. “The message ...
Cycling advocates are calling for the transformation of urban transport, as New Zealand races to cut carbon. The Climate Change Commission will release its initial advice on Sunday 31 January. “Bikes and e-bikes are perfect for many local trips, ...
Three Ministers, led by the PM, joined in chorus today to warble about a bunch of measures aimed at helping to meet New Zealand’s 2050 carbon neutral target, create new jobs and boost innovation. Mind you, the measures mentioned seem to be more matters of decisions yet to be made ...
Michelle Kidd defines her role at Auckland’s specialist family violence court as te kaiwhakatere – the navigator. It’s a one-of-a-kind job, helping guide defendants through the court system. And there’s no one better suited to it than Whaea Michelle.First published November 24, 2020.Whaea Michelle is part of Frame, a series of short ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sallie Yea, Associate professor & Principal Research Fellow, La Trobe University Each year, thousands of men and boys labour under extremely exploitative conditions on commercial fishing vessels owned by Taiwanese, Chinese and South Korean companies. The Taiwanese fleet, which operates in all ...
Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis believes the Crown should maintain responsibility for the care and protection of at-risk and vulnerable children, regardless of their race. Moreover, he is confident his all-Maori team of advisers will not be taking race into account as they help to improve Oranga Tamariki’s care and protection of ...
It’s easy to sacrifice John Banks. It’s a lot harder for brands, sports organisations and government to truly stop funding racism. Are they willing to try?Yesterday John Banks, the former Auckland mayor and MP, became subject to one of the fastest firings in media history when audio covering his approving ...
A community is outraged after Auckland Council granted consent for a row of trees planted by local kids to be removed along a revitalised waterway in South Auckland, reports Justin Latif. An Auckland Council decision to give contractors the all-clear to chop down 12 mānuka and kānuka trees shading Māngere’s Tararata ...
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu hopes that the recent changes to Oranga Tamariki leadership present an opportunity for a long overdue paradigm shift that will place whānau at the heart of the child welfare sector. Pouārahi Helen Leahy says that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rice, Professor of Management, University of New England Elon Musk is now the world’s richest person, edging out previous title holder Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. His rocketing fortune is due to the booming share price of Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles ...
There are now three returnees who contracted the virus in the Auckland isolation facility then left into the community while positive. These are some of the questions that need to be resolved. At 10.20pm last night the Ministry of Health confirmed that the two cases they’d been treating as probable ...
Having a hard time remembering to scan in on the NZ Covid Tracer app when you’re out and about? Get this song stuck in your head and you’ll never forget again.Learn the lyrics:Aotearoa, it’s time to get scanning!I mean if you think about it, it never really wasn’t time we ...
We conclude our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with a review of his stories by John Newton Roger Hickin’s Cold Hub Press is one of the small miracles of contemporary New Zealand publishing. Over the last decade, on what can only be a shoe-string budget, the ...
Thursday 28th January, AUCKLAND: Drive Electric, the not-for-profit with one mission – making electric vehicle uptake in New Zealand mainstream, welcomes the announcement by the Government today as a sign of what’s to come through 2021, and we are confident ...
The Government announced today key policy decisions on the proposed clean car policies. The MIA has stated on many occasions that we support well thought out and constructive policies that will lead to an increased rate in the reduction of CO2 emissions from ...
Get wild, get cultured, get fed and then get to bed: the essential guide to a perfect few days in the southern city. There’s one thing that preoccupies the staff of The Spinoff almost as much as arranging popular food items into arbitrary lists, and that’s Dunedin. A quite remarkable ...
John Banks’ racist exchange with a Magic Talk listener on Tuesday was the latest in nearly 50 years of talkback controversies. Donna Chisholm has the receipts.John Banks axed over Māori ‘stone age culture’ comments on Magic Talk1972: On Radio I, sports talkback host Tim Bickerstaff launches a “Punch a Pom ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission.Two new community Covid-19 cases have been identified as the more infectious South African variant, but Auckland Mayor Phil Goff sayit would be "premature to go into lockdown now". The two new cases of Covid-19 identified in the ...
Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine in Southland to Fonterra’s ...
KiwiRail STOP Hauling COAL Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Dunn, Associate professor, University of Sydney The government is rolling out a new public information campaign this week to reassure the public about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, which one expert has said “couldn’t be more crucial” to people actually getting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan University The COVID vaccine rollout has placed the issue of vaccination firmly in the spotlight. A successful rollout will depend on a variety of factors, one of which is vaccine acceptance. One potential hurdle to vaccine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernard Walker, Associate Professor in Organisations and Leadership, University of Canterbury Kiwis know what it’s like when life throws curveballs. We’ve had major quakes, floods, fires, an eruption, a terrorist attack and now a pandemic. In those situations, it’s the ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Irwin, Emeritus professor, Murdoch University While we continue to be occupied with the COVID pandemic, another life-threatening disease has emerged in northern Australia, one that’s cause for considerable alarm for the millions of dog owners around the country. This disease — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cath Ferguson, Academic, Edith Cowan University Almost half of Australian adults struggle with reading. Similar levels of struggling readers are reported in the United Kingdom and United States. This does not mean all struggling readers are illiterate. It means they often struggle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abbas Shieh, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design, Islamic Azad University The industrial revolution transformed cities, resulting in places of residence and work becoming more distant than ever before. This spatial segregation is still largely embedded in the design of our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: Occupation: Rainfall, written and directed by Luke Sparke Historically, when a sequel to a film was greenlit, you could rest assured this was because the first film made a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 28, 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 ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tourism suffers in the shadow of Covid-19, two new positive cases in Auckland confirmed, and National will contest the Māori electorates.The front page of the January 4 Greymouth Star carried grim tidings for several of the glacier towns on the ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Two people who left managed isolation on January 15 have been confirmed as positive Covid-19 cases, with the Ministry of Health urging anyone who visited the same locations during the same time period as the infected pair in Auckland to ...
The watchlist of 'offensive or unreasonable' babies' names is to be reviewed, to include more names from other languages. Generations of the Īhaka family have played a meaningful role in bringing Te Reo and stories of Māori to our wider community. Archdeacon Sir Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka (Te Aupōuri, 1921-93) was known as the orator of ...
After Morocco’s flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara on Friday 13 November 2020 war broke out between the two sides. In the midst of this war Tauranga based Ballance Agri-Nutrients has decided to carry on importing phosphate ...
Nicholas Agar suggests that our handling of the pandemic could be partly down to our distinctive Treaty of Waitangi relationship, and Māori ideas that enabled us to make it through without tens of thousands of deaths A mission for universities in the coming decade will be a deep understanding of the meaning ...
A young girl who once sent $5 to an embattled America's Cup team is now among the women on the water helping run the contest for the Auld Mug. As an eager and generous nine-year-old, Melanie Roberts posted a letter, with a $5 note, to OneAustralia’s America’s Cup team. It was 1995, ...
At 5am today, cock’s crow, the embargo lifted on the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist. Here are the books in the race, followed by thoughts from poetry editor Chris Tse and books editor Catherine Woulfe. A shortlist of four books in each category will be announced March 3, with ...
Ignoring those QR codes when you drop into the supermarket? Can’t be bothered when you grab a coffee? The people serving you notice, and you’re freaking them out.So far, New Zealanders’ use of the Covid-19 Tracer app has been notably woeful. Food industry workers who’ve watched streams of customers walk ...
Steve Braunias reveals the longlist of the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards Apart from one or two unfortunate omissions which cast doubt on the sanity and intellectual acumen of judges, especially the nobodies who judged this year's non-fiction, the longlist for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards is ...
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, ...
‘
After “Super Storm Sandy” struck New York, gaining wall to wall media coverage.
After the deadly tornado struck North Auckland, (following the track of the deadly tornado that struck the same area last year).
After last Tuesday’s “Super Storm” Bopha devastated the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines, (Despite Super Storm Bopha being “unprecedented” that close to the equator, unlike Sandy this terrible tragedy barely gained a mention in the local media, despite leaving hundreds dead and missing and an estimated 400,000 homeless.)
And due to hit about now, “Super Cyclone Evan” after killing ten people in Samoa is reportedly gaining strength and is bearing down on Fiji. Samoa was savaged by Evan on Thursday leaving four confirmed dead and eight people missing from fishing boats.
However unlike “Super Storm” Bopha, earlier in the week, “Super Cyclone”,Evan has gained the media’s attention here.
<blockquote>In an unusual speech to the nation, Tuilaepa told the largely Christian state that there was a time for every season, and that God balances all things.
“The most poignant concerns that are distressing world leaders at the moment are the disastrous changing weather patterns that will allow the occurrences of cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding and other disasters, which all emanates from man abusing the garden that God appointed him to tend, such as the mindless cutting of trees excessively warming the environment resulting in disasters not often experienced before,” he said.
He said deforestation near rivers and streams led to Samoa’s disaster.
“Likewise the extreme deforestation near rivers and streams which, consequently, now results in the loss of lives and the destruction of homes nearby due to flash floodings.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/8086706/Fiji-under-curfew-as-cyclone-arrives</blockquote>
Once is a coincidence, twice is a happenstance, three times is a conspiracy
Winston Churchill
As more energy is trapped in the system due to the Greenhouse effect, are these “Super Storms”, “Super Cyclones” and tornadoes to become regular events?
Storms, cyclones, and, tornado’s have for all of history been regular events, attaching the epithet ‘super’ to these weather events is the only thing that is ‘new’ about them…
In 1853 Dobson published a list of 24 Hurricanes from Pacific Island groups, Dobson and several subsequent records were cited in ‘Tropical Cyclones of the Pacific’, (Visher 1925), Visher lists ‘325’ Cyclones passing through the various island groups in the South Pacific,
The record includes Cyclones between 1789 and 1923.
A review of these sources and the data compilation for Western Samoa, (Puaga and LeFale 1988), has resulted in a list of 79 cyclones which have impacted Western Samoa between 1831 and 1990, the list indicated that more than 5 events with winds of 30 or more knots wind speed can be expected each decade….
Google= Probability andf recurrence of tropical cyclones in Western Samoa.
ict.sopac.org/VirLib/TR0106.pdf
Ps, The above is talking of cyclones that actually impact Western Samoa, there’s plenty more that miss which are not included….
Pity that the “science” which is “settled” does not support your scare mongering.
Latest from the IPCC
http://climatedepot.com/a/18800/Prof-Pielke-Jr-Analysis-of-UN-IPCC-Draft-report–IPCC-shows-almost-complete-reversal-from-AR4-on-trends-in-drought-hurricanes-floods
But……. Higher temps mean more energy for storms to feed on .. please junk this idea?
BUT….Hotter water ,more petrol for storm engine makes it have more power … please debunk..
So what happens when under the TPPA the U.S. guns and ammo manufacturers decide they’re being unfairly locked out of the NZ market by our relatively restrictive gun laws?
I hate to think but no doubt in Court the gun companies will argue that guns do not kill people, people do …
“the gun companies will argue that guns do not kill people, people do …” This is the dumbest argument in the universe.
Surely it is clear that people with guns kill people.
And people without guns, particularly homicidal maniacs or the insane, will not be able to.
I agree.
It is just the weird place that the US right to bear arms debate has got to.
particularly homicidal maniacs or the insane
I think this kind of stereotyping is really beneath you, mickey. Non-neurotypical people are no more likely to commit violence than neurotypical people, and labelling all homicidal shooters as “crazy” is just a really good way to stop people taking the scarier parts of America’s gun culture seriously.
{ conn usa }4 people dead a few hours ago domestic dispute with girlfriend …. Ban girlfriends or guns ?
[lprent: If you want to assert a fact, then generally link to it so other people can see what you’re talking about. ]
DunnoKeyo version ….
“It a lack of heartbeat that kills people”, how it stopped beating is not my pervue M8!
nothing.
What makes you say that? The tobacco companies certainly don’t share your view.
And what on earth is the point of the agreement if nothing happens?
In that fellow’s case, Felix, “nothing” refers to the amount of thought, and reading, he has put in on the matter.
Not only is your dogwhistle in poor taste it’s been answered in my single statement.
Nothing will change in relation to NZ’s gun laws under a TPPA.
And why not? Do the gun manufacturers not have the “right” to insist their product have open access to New Zealand?
Or do you think Smith & Wesson, etc. are not as hard-headed and brutal as Big Tobacco?
“Do the gun manufacturers not have the “right” to insist their product have open access to New Zealand?”
No.
They WILL if the Key regime gets away with signing the TPP agreement.
Rubbish.
higherstandard, I don’t understand why you have such faith and trust in the government, not to mention John Key and his merry band of robbers.
I have little to no faith in this or any government.
You say that, yet here you are rubbishing us for not having faith and trust in Key and his government.
See hs, when all the available facts contradict your beliefs but you continue to hold them, as you’re doing here and in the boot-camp thread and pretty much every time you post anywhere, that’s faith.
And in your case that faith is currently placed in Key and his govt. Pretend all you like, it’s here in black and white.
Felix
Apparently you have some facts about changes in gun law or gun importation/export post a potential TPPA care to share ?
My position is there is no evidence nor precedent to support your suggestion that the TPPA or indeed any FTA will lead to any change in gun law, access or importation into or out of NZ.
Merry XMAS
Your faith is touching. Misplaced, but touching.
Given the facts, and the international precedents, the onus is on you to show that the weapons industry won’t have the investor-state provisions of the agreement at its disposal under the TPPA.
What international precedents ? What facts ?
The precedents of sovereign governments being sued and/or bullied into submission by corporations under the terms of free-trade agreements, of course.
Silly goose.
Links ?
Relevance to guns and gun law ?
Silly gander.
There’s nothing controversial in what I’ve written. Everything I’ve referred to has been well reported.
However I’m in no mood to chase links for a self-admitted trool who has already had them provided before.
ps I’m not the one who’s trying to present guns and ammo as a special class of product that will magically be unaffected by the TPPA, you are.
Wow another argument you’ve won you are the king of the standard.
I may be wrong but I am pretty sure Australia hasn’t changed its gun laws in light of a free terade deal with the States. Neither has Britian for that matter.
The USA has free trade with 17 different countries all with varying gun laws. Going by this it would seem highly unlikely that we’d have to change ours.
What would you know you RWNJ.
And there’s higherstandard’s whole argument.
Never mind the whole investor-state issue, never mind that companies will be able to sue NZ if we limit their rights to our markets, never mind what the tobacco companies are up to, and never mind applying the same logic to other industries.
higherstandard says it’s rubbish, despite having been totally schooled every time he has pretended to be an expert on the TPPA, so that’s that.
Nothing to see here.
higherstandard
Quite right – what a bullshit comment from Morrissey.
But I suppose all right as it is Monday – he is still churning from the weekend.
You really are a True Believer.
1) The agreements being made are confidential so you have no way of knowing what Key & Co. intend to sign us up for
2) The whole issue with the TPPA is that it allows foreign companies to seek damages from our government for any law that disadvantages them commercially. It is naive and shortsighted to assume that nothing will happen. As long as we are considering being a party to the TPPA then the sovereignty of our nation is at risk.
@FelixViper – good point. There are so many other nasty consequences of the TPPA that you are the first that I know of to question the guns/ammo issue. God help us if the Amercian gun lobby gets a foot in NZ. Could even force the arming of our police.
Lots of things to hunt in NZ.
The way this government is going it won’t be long that our police are armed any way. They’ve already given the police more power and easier access to guns.
Are you in a position financially or otherwise to make good on your guarantee in the event you are wrong? The head of the Police union is constantly seeking the arming of our police (greater arming) which will require a change “to NZZ’s gun laws”. You may be safe in that the gun lobby (here and overseas) will funnel their message and drive through that organisation so it may never appear it was TPPA driven.
IF tobacco companies selling a product they admit harms and can kill people can sue for damages for not being allowed to have their brand on packets….
Arm the police and their life expectations will be shortened. This has been well established in the U.S.A.
Len Snee will vouch for that.
Children speak to Obama, the weeping President….
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1355617642.html
I saw Shearer on TV3 not too bad, no stutters as such. But what a dreamer he is. “The Leadership battle is well and truly over,” he says. “Labour had a good year”.
The Leadership battle is NOT over, and Labour had one of the worst years on record I say again. what a dreamer!!!
If that’s a good year for Labour wonder what a bad one looks like.
One after another shoocker from the NACT and sweet FA pinned on them either in the house or ouside it….Dreamer isn’t a word I’d use. Dellusional more like.
Either way it’s been another sad year for new zealand society and the future.
Thank you TC I stand corrected.
When Shearer obtained the leadership I hoped Labour was getting real person to front it rather than a politician, as has always been the case with the Greens.
Alas, with comments such as this and his bland, emptily verbose ‘statements’ carried on this blog Shearer is showing himself to be just another politician with no regard for or appreciation of the fact that his audience might have a shred of intelligence and views of their own rather than empty vessels to be filled with whatever he wants them to believe, even when he doesn’t believe it himself.
Not that I believe Cunliffe would be any better.
After the stella successes of
Class sizes
novopay
CH reorganization
Salisbury school
The MOE are now reorganizing the truancy services according to an interview on 9 to noon.
Shearer is possibly a good Manager -but never a Leader.
Not the same thing.
Very rare to find both.
Clark was great at both, as she had Heather alongside too.
But perhaps she overmanaged finally.
Shearer saying the leadership issue is over, once again, he is not accpeting the membership’s
wishes with regard to leadership,there are many members and potential voters wanting and expecting a genuine election for leadership in Feb 13, his stance will increase the mana and greens vote in 2014.
Shearer say’s ‘I know nothing, I see nothing, I hear nothing’
His ignorance is bliss.
The twin to Key, and his “I See Notzink” Shultz’s Joyce and Jabba’
Great to hear Mike Williams agree so much with Matthew Hooton on RadioNZ right now…
Yes I’m also disappointed to hear Mike start every statement with “I agree with Matthew”. Mike must be fishing for BBQ invites.
There is one thing I agree with Hooton on however: “Hekia Parata should be fired.”
Something else i noticed during the segment… Kathryn Ryan appeared to be getting her hackles up a bit when both Hooton and mike had a go at Nick Smith. It made me wonder if there is a bit of a personal connection between them.
I used to respect Mike Williams a lot. But somtime over the past few years he seems to have turned into a ‘yes’ man. Says just whatever the current Leadership team wants him to say and I worry about his grwoing policy vacuum – if he has a spine I’m not seeing or hearing it.
Occasionally Williams has taken it to Hooton and humiliated him. The pity of it is that most of the time all he does is, as you say, make a point of finding common ground with Hooton.
Williams is still far better than Josie Pagani, although occasionally even she has taken it to Hooton—and triumphed. Hooton is not impressive when his statements are challenged, so it’s a pity that his opponents so rarely challenge him.
Unfortunately, he also agreed with Hooton’s generalisation that pregnant women were unfit for work.
What?! You have got to be joking!
About 22:15 onwards.
Hooton: “You’re meant to take leave when you’re pregnant, aren’t you? You take leave from work.”
Ryan: “Keep digging, Matthew…”
Williams: [laughs] “Matthew is quite right”.
Whatever Mahuta’s faults, I don’t think they’re due to her lady-parts.
Why am I completely unsurprised that Matthew Hooton has no fucking idea about the situation of pregnant working people?
I’m trying to listen to it right now, but it hasn’t maintained my attention. It’s a boring rambling discussion, with little that’s enlightening.
Hooton always says same old rubbish week in week out . lets have debate He is the only one who gets anything out of disscussion.. re just picks up another cheque from RNZ
What was slightly enlightening was Williams joining in with Hooten to bag the Greens Russell Norman,
Hooten, hardly a full to overflowing suitcase of intellectual rigor was again taking to Russell over the Greens willingness to print money to spend into the New Zealand economy according to ‘the little fat toad’, (as opposed to His mate Blubber Boy,’the big fat toad’), ”No Government can print money unless interest rates are zero”, unquote,
What really gets me when such ‘comment’ is allowed to be repeated over and over as Nine to Noon gives Hooten free rein to do, without allowing Russell Norman the courtesy of a reply is that ‘what’s her face’ the presenter and even the pathetic Williams didn’t demand of Hooten a factual basis for such an assertion,
Perhaps ‘the little fat toad’ should have taken more notice of both the US and just held Japanese elections, the Prez quoted during His election campaign openly stated that each month He will print the monies needed and every month until there is ‘a recovery’ He will cause the same to happen,
The next Prime Minister of Japan elected as late as yesterday is promising to do exactly the same thing…
I endorse everything you’ve said about the way Williams, Pagani, Peter Harris (remember HIM?) and a host of other utterly ineffective “commentators from the left” have simply sat back and let Hooton say anything he wants.
Only two people ever challenged him strongly: Laila Harre and Sue Bradford.
Good move by the greens:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8089859/Govt-should-fund-internet-cable-Greens
Hell yeah ! We’ve no redundancy if stn cross cable goes down and Telecom and partners are taking the piss with pricing on a cable that’s not even fully utilised currently.
Competition is desperately needed to overcome our small population/bottom of the world factors.
More common sense agenda setting from the greens.
Nice +1
Liking the Greens more and more! +1
NRT has a good post on it too.
Won’t they just nationalise Telecom? Surely they can’t be thinking of relying on competition to bring the price down. That’s neolib thinking.
I know that you’re being facetious but that would actually be the best option. Selling Telecom means that we’ve lost ~$16b dollars due to the dead weight loss of profit just from Telecom. Adding competition means that we’re now adding in even more costs as well as more of the dead weight loss from profit.
Patrick Cockburn on Syria:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/syria-the-descent-into-holy-war-8420309.html
News of the Day in a Moronic Way
The Panel, National Radio, Monday 17 December 2012
Jim Mora: What else have you got for us, Richard?
Richard Langstone: Danny Boyle has turned down a knighthood.
Mora: Oh yes. Maybe he’s hanging out to be Lord Boyle.
Barry Corbett: Ho ho ho ho ho!
Langstone: He he hee heeee heeeee!
Mora: Lord Boyle! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Langstone: It’s not a surprise, really, though, is it? He’s from Lancashire, so he would have thought, I don’t want any of your soft southern honours! A hee heee heeee heeee.
Corbett: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Mora: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Thus a serious moral and political point is reduced to nothing by the lofty thinkers on The Panel.
Barry Corbett a lofty thinker? Ha ha ha ha ha ha
Corbett is a Noam Chomsky compared to the drone who’s talking right now, i.e. Chris Wikaira.
The best reason for anyone listening to either Nine to Noon or Afternoons with Jim Moron these days is to gain a understanding of just how badly ‘dumbed down’ the political/social discourse has become in New Zealand,
The best defence i can mount on behalf of RadioNZ National is that i got spoiled by Kim Hill….
Morgan Freemans quote was fake. Apparenly re RNZ panel . but valid ..
Whether it was made up or not, it was NOT valid. It was vacuous.
If Clint Eastwood is the most doo-lally old coot in Hollywood, without a doubt Morgan Freeman is the most boring.
“Glory killing” seems to be gaining traction for these events ,media has a part to play in this? Less focus on killers THAT is the key.
Nonsense. The reason he killed those children was because he had such ready access to those lethal weapons.
If you want censorship, why don’t you and the most boring grandpappy in the world move to North Korea?
If you looking for nonsense look no further than the first part of your comment.
“If you [sic!] looking for nonsense look no further than the first part of your comment.”
What? What was nonsensical about “the first part” of my comment?
“What? What was nonsensical about “the first part” of my comment?”
Just the whole thing. Slowly read what you said and think about it.
edit: I see McFliper has already pointed this out
Um, to be a semantic bore, the reason he could kill that many people was his access to firearms.
His actual motives are unknown. The Secret Service did note in their 2002 report into school shootings that a quarter of shooters in the study had at least a partial motive of getting attention or recognition.
Oh, and that 4/5ths apparently had some sort of grievance before they went berserk.
Not censorship maybe,just read a book on psychology .This might be a new phenomenon?
By “a new phenomenon”, you mean the last link that Jim Mora has latched on to during the superficial web-surfing he does instead of serious reading.
Would be nice if there was more depth. I dream of NZ “HARDTALK” As on BBC Mmmmmmmm
“BBC Hardtalk”? Bad suggestion, my friend. Have you watched it lately? It’s a disgrace.